Happy To Be Here

“I’m not woke. I’m aware.”

That’s the answer Chicago comedian T. Murph gives when he’s asked about his relationship to the title of Woke, a new series that dropped on Hulu earlier this month.

T. Murph plays the role of Clovis, friend and roommate of Keef, the show’s protagonist (played by Lamorne Morris), who tries to avoid controversy in his work until the world forces him to do otherwise.

Greta talks with T. Murph about what being woke means to him, if he moves through the world like his character and whether art demands activism.

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The Bechdel test asks a simple question: Does a work of fiction have two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man?

Today we talk with Sarah Kozloff, who was a film professor at Vassar College when she learned that The Lord of The Rings movies fail the Bechdel test. That inspired her to write The Nine Realms, a series of fantasy novels about a young princess who must grow up and fight her way back to the throne.

Greta talks with Sarah about the books, her career change and why she released all four novels in the same year.

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Six weeks of movie recaps and there still seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere.

This week it’s all about the 1995 Pixar classic Toy Story, starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and all of our collective childhood memories.

Listen as Peter, Tricia and Greta recall the moments that made them weep, search for hidden religious analogs and consider the system of ethics in the 'Toy Story' universe.

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Like it or not these seasons are a changing! And that means right now is a great opportunity to embrace flavors from late summer and early fall, and to make a chocolate zucchini cake!

We talk with baker and cookbook author Shauna Sever — all about all the spices you should have, sourdoughs you should start, and pies you should scarf down immediately.

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While researching for her novel, author Maaza Mengiste says she came across a New York Times article from 1935 that described a woman leading an army of 2,000 men into victory. She was shocked. Why had she never heard about this female wartime hero?

“It struck me,” Mengiste tells Nerdette. “If there’s one, there’s two. If there’s two, there’s five.”

We talk to Mengiste about her novel, The Shadow King, which is the Nerdette Book Club’s September pick. Listen to this spoiler-free convo, then come back later this month for a not-spoiler-free panel discussion.

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The $5 milkshake. Once a shocking, exorbitant example of the scourge of inflation. Now, a hot bargain that shouldn’t be missed!

Welcome back to Nerdette Recaps with Peter Sagal! It’s the podcast where we rewatch movies of the ‘90s and dissect them like the intense nerds we are.

Episode 5 is all about 1994’s Pulp Fiction, starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis.

Listen to this conversation with Peter Sagal, Tricia Bobeda and Greta Johnsen, then join us next week for our discussion of the original Toy Story.

And don’t forget, we want to hear from you! Join the party and send us a voice recording about any of the movies we’re featuring. Just record yourself on your smartphone and send the audio file to [email protected]. Do it by Thursday!

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Of course it's not too early to talk about fall books! We got ahold of NPR books editor Barrie Hardymon to get recommendations for some great autumn reads. Find the full list of recommendations at www.wbez.org/nerdette.

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Does Dazed and Confused have a plot? Barely! Does that matter? To some people, yes!

This week's recap is all about 1993’s Dazed and Confused, starring young versions of Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, Ben Affleck and Anthony Rapp. It’s also an early film from director Richard Linklater, who went on to make critically-acclaimed movies like Before Sunset, Boyhood and A Scanner Darkly.

Listen to this conversation with Peter, Tricia and Greta, then join us next week for our discussion of Pulp Fiction.

And don’t forget, we want to hear from you! Join the party and send us a voice recording about any of the movies we’re featuring. Just record yourself on your smartphone and send the audio file to [email protected]. Do it by Thursday!

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When considering some of the milestone moments in feminist history, you might think about the Seneca Falls Conference of 1848, the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the 1990s?

“This was actually one of the most pivotal decades, I believe, for feminist history.” 

We talk with Lisa Levenstein, the Director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at UNC Greensboro and the author of They Didn't See Us Coming: The Hidden History of Feminism in the Nineties. She tells us about the importance of the ‘90s and how it shaped feminism today.

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Welcome to the Nerdette Book Club! Each month, we read a book and chat about it with a rotating group of panelists. This month’s pick is Sameer Pandya’s debut novel Members Only.

It takes place over the course of one very intense week in the life of Raj, a middle-aged Indian-American anthropology professor. When he’s asked to help his tennis club interview potential new members, he’s thrilled by the opportunity to help diversify his tennis partners. But he makes a huge gaffe in front of a Black family, and the rest of his week gets worse from there.

Listen along as Nerdette host Greta Johnsen discusses the book with Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World, and author Alisha Rai, whose Modern Love series is part of an upswell in romance novels with strong female characters and feminist sensibilities.

And then get ready for next month’s pick: The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste.

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