Happy To Be Here

Nerdette Book Club is back for another year of reading!

Our January pick is ‘Now Is Not the Time to Panic’ by Kevin Wilson. It’s about Frankie, a misfit teen girl in rural Tennessee, and the one summer she will never forget. She meets Zeke, a fellow weirdo, and the two create an enigmatic poster together that upends their small town and, eventually, the world.

Kevin joined us for a conversation about how the book came to be, his interest in strange, stunted characters, and why he sees this as his most personal novel yet.

We would love to include you in our book club conversation! First, read the book. Then, record a voice memo on your smart phone with your thoughts. Send it to NerdettePodcast [at] gmail [dot] com by Monday, January 23. We’ll try to include you in the episode. Happy reading!

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Nerdette is embarking on "Undercover," a three-part series into the different ways a book comes to life.

First up, we take a look at a seemingly small, but very important element of a book: blurbs. Praise from well-known writers can help a new author find their footing, but the system is all about who knows who. We talk to authors, editors and readers about whether it’s time for a revamp.

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Happy Holidays! Team Nerdette is taking a break this week and we're bringing you a special episode from our friends at WBEZ's Making podcast. Robyn Rihanna Fenty was just 16 when she signed a record deal with Jay-Z. She was 19 when her smash hit “Umbrella” took the world by storm. Now at 34, she is not only known as a popstar but also a fashion mogul and billionaire. But how did she get here? Listen, and find out!

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Nerdette Book Club’s December selection, Hernan Diaz’s critically-acclaimed ‘Trust,’ is a novel that invites readers to question the very act of reading.

The historical novel is actually four different pieces of writing — a novella, an unfinished autobiography, a memoir and an excerpt from a personal diary. Each section changes the meaning of the preceding piece, creating what critic Hillary Kelly called a “puzzle box” in her review for LA Times.

Kelly joined Lupita Aquino, who you can find on Instagram as @LupitaReads, to unpack the elements of this multi-layered story.

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Now that it's officially winter, there's no better time to catch up on the best TV series of the year. The New Yorker’s Inkoo Kang is back to wrap up the best in television of 2022, including a comedy special, a couple of genre-blurring memoirs and a new take on an old trope.

You can find her full list at our website: https://tinyurl.com/59yxzdfa

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MJ Franklin, editor at The New York Times Book Review, joins Greta to discuss the best books of 2022. Plus, listeners chime in with their own book recommendations. You can find a list of all the books mentioned in today’s episode here: https://tinyurl.com/4jxyduuv

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From Italian true crime to juicy gossip, Vulture podcast critic Nick Quah is back to share his top 5 podcasts of the year! You can find Nick's full list at our website: https://tinyurl.com/273xeerc

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December's Book Club pick is ‘Trust’ by Hernan Diaz. It's one of Greta's favorite books of the year.

In this spoiler-free episode, Hernan discusses the rhetoric of male power and who does – and doesn’t – have the power to tell their own story.

Stay tuned for a spoiler-filled episode later this month, but before then, tell us what you think! Email your thoughts about ‘Trust’ to NerdettePodcast [at] gmail [dot] com for a chance to be featured in the final book club discussion of the year!

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This week, Jasmine Garsd, host of NPR’s The Last Cup, and Brandon Pope, host of WBEZ’s Making, drop in to discuss the World Cup, a lawsuit against Velveeta and the word of the year: gaslighting.

Then, Radiolab reporter Heather Radke joins us to discuss her book, ‘Butts: A Backstory.’ It explores the history of the human behind and, as she puts it, "the multiple ways that patriarchy and misogyny can infect women’s bodies.”

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Nerdette Book Club is back for a spoiler-filled episode to discuss this month’s pick, ‘Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm’ by Laura Warrell.

Public radio reporter Sonari Glinton and host of NPR’s 1A, Jenn White, join us to unpack Warrell’s jazzy debut novel. We also get the chance to listen to some of our amazing listeners. Thank you for calling in!

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