Happy To Be Here

It is the month of October and Nerdette Book Club’s selection is ‘The Vaster Wilds’ by three-time National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. This historical novel is about a servant girl who is on the run from her corrupt, smallpox-riddled colonial settlement. She struggles to survive in the unforgiving wilderness. In this spoiler-free interview with the author, we talk about changing the narrative of the American frontier by putting a young girl at its center.

We invite you to read along and participate in the book club! We’ll be back with another episode on the last Tuesday of the month to debrief on what we read. You can contribute your thoughts to the discussion by recording a voice memo. Send your files to [email protected] and you will get the chance to hear your voice in the episode!

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This week, R. Eric Thomas, TV writer and author of Congratulations, The Best Is Over!, and Alex Abad-Santos, senior correspondent for Vox, joined us to reflect on the end of the writers’ strike and the 20th anniversary of the pumpkin spice latte.

Then, we revel in the best new books coming out this fall! We called up some of our favorite readers and writers to find out what they’re most excited to read.

Here are the titles in order of when they were mentioned in the episode. For links and full descriptions, head to our website!

‘The Woman in Me’ by Britney Spears

‘Same Bed Different Dreams’ by Ed Park

‘How to Be Multiple: The Philosophy of Twins’ by Helena de Bres

‘Iron Flame’ by Rebecca Yarros

‘Rouge’ by Mona Awad

‘Organ Meats’ by K-Ming Chang

‘A Haunting on the Hill’ by Elizabeth Hand

‘Edith Holler’ By Edward Carey

‘The Reformatory’ by By Tananarive Due

‘The Vaster Wilds’ by Lauren Groff (Nerdette Book Club pick!)

‘Land of Milk and Honey’ by C Pam Zhang (Nerdette Book Club pick!)

‘Roaming’ by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

‘Vampires of El Norte’ by Isabel Cañas

‘The Iliad’ translated by Emily Wilson

‘The Vulnerables’ by Sigrid Nunez

‘Family Lore’ by Elizabeth Acevedo

‘North Woods’ by Daniel Mason

‘The Unsettled’ by Ayana Mathis

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Nerdette Book Club is back to dig into our September pick, Angie Kim’s novel 'Happiness Falls.' During the lockdown era of COVID, college student Mia is stuck at home with her parents and two brothers. Her father, Adam, stays at home to take care of the youngest son Eugene, who has autism and does not speak. One day, Adam and Eugene leave to go on a walk, but only Eugene comes back. The more the family looks for Adam, the more secrets they uncover. It’s a mystery that also grapples with ableism, personal fulfillment, and how much you can really know the people closest to you.

We’re joined by two of our favorite readers, Ted Talks Daily host Elise Hu and Northwestern University’s audio journalism director Arionne Nettles. If you have not read the book yet and do not want to hear spoilers, go back and listen to our conversation with Angie Kim in the feed!

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This week, comedian and ‘Glamorous Trash’ host Chelsea Devantez and podcast producer Kristina Lopez stop by to chat about the Senate's extremely chill new dress code, the slow death of paper checks, and the Roman Empire.

Plus, the Nerdette Book Club pick ‘Loot’ by Tania James is one of the top 10 contenders for this year’s National Book Award for fiction! ‘Loot’ is historical fiction at its finest. In this spoiler-free interview with the author, we talk about writing a delightful, propulsive plot that also deals with the legacy of colonialism.

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In today’s episode, we play our favorite game, Burden or Delight, with Meha Ahmad, senior producer at WBEZ’s 'Reset,' and Niala Boodhoo, host of 'Axios Today!' They decide whether a new Apple charger, a flood of wine, and extended birthday celebrations are delightful or burdensome.

Then, we talk all about periods. Up until now, no one has ever published a study on menstrual products that used actual blood to test them. Dr. Bethany Samuelson Bannow, a clinician and hematologist at Oregon Health and Science University, helped change that. We talked to her about the results of her team’s study on the absorbency of period products.

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This week, City Cast Chicago host Jacoby Cochran and WBEZ metro reporter Adora Namigadde stop in to talk about Burning Man, a truly horrific accident on a plane, and whether there’s hope for salvaging New Year’s resolutions 9 months into the year.

Plus, when should we start masking in public again? How long should we isolate for if we get COVID? What’s the deal with a new booster? Is it safe to get married this fall?!? University of Chicago infectious disease specialist Emily Landon answers your questions about COVID.

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Our selection this month is Angie Kim’s sophomore novel, 'Happiness Falls.' It’s narrated by Mia, a whip smart college student who moves back under her parents’ roof during the early days of COVID. This isn’t a pandemic novel, though, as much as lockdown is used as a device to bring everyone together and move the plot forward.

One day, Mia’s younger brother Eugene, a teenager with autism who doesn’t speak, shows up at home after a walk without his dad, Adam. No one knows where Adam went, and no one can believe he’d desert his family. As the family investigates, they learn Adam was keeping a number of secrets, some of which have astounding repercussions for everyone.

We talk to the author about writing a propulsive plot that also deals with big ideas, like disability, ableism, and the immigrant experience. Read along with us and send a voice memo with your thoughts to [email protected]! We’ll be back the last Tuesday of the month for a spoiler-filled conversation with two guest readers.

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We’re starting off the weekend with two excellent panelists: Anne Helen Petersen, 'Work Appropriate' podcast host and writer of the newsletter “Culture Study,” and Nick Quah, Vulture’s podcast critic. We discuss the late night hosts turned daytime podcasters, the gender reveal of cocktail glasses, and Meg Ryan’s return to the romcom.

Then, we talk about a brewing reckoning in reality television. Real Housewives of New York alum Bethenny Frankel called out Bravo this month for exploitation of its reality show cast members and a lawsuit may be in the works. Lawyer and pop culture writer Claudia Rosenbaum fills us in.

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Our selection this month is Andrew Leland’s memoir ‘The Country of the Blind.’ It’s about Andrew’s constantly shifting world as his vision deteriorates, and it explores the mythology that blindness is a binary. It’s also about how seeing-culture perceives blindness, and the history of blindness in the US.

The wide-ranging discussion includes M. Leona Godin, a self-described “blind punk” who wrote the 2021 book ‘There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness,’ and Chloe Cooper Jones, the author of the memoir ‘Easy Beauty,’ which came out last year.

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Today’s episode starts with our friends Araceli Gomez-Aldana of WBEZ and Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks podcast. We chat about finding back-to-school vibes in scorching hot weather, why Zoomers are collecting CDs, and the biggest search for the Loch Ness Monster in over 50 years.

Then, Houston Chronicle critic Joey Guerra catches us up on some of the biggest stories in the music world, from the allegations against Lizzo to ticket prices.

Plus, we dance it out to the songs of the summer! WXPN’s Kristen Kurtis shares some tracks with us that you may not have heard before. We also hear YOUR songs of the summer! Find all of the music mentioned in today’s episode and more in our Spotify playlist.

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