Nerdette

This week, Daily Fail hosts Maura Currie and Kristen Meinzer join us to unwind from a particularly steamy week! We swap tricks for staying cool, talk about the joy of eating in front of the TV, and debunk sexist myths about hunter gatherers. Plus, in another installment of our ongoing Nerdy Jobs series, we meet Jennifer Mundt. She is a sleep psychologist at Northwestern Medicine, where she directs the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Lab and Training Program. She takes us on a trip to the lab and explains why we should accept night owls for who they are.

Nerdette Book Club’s August selection is Andrew Leland’s memoir The Country of the Blind. Andrew is gradually losing his sight due to a rare degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which he was diagnosed with as a teen.In this vulnerable, funny conversation, host Greta Johnsen shares her own experience with a degenerative eye disease. The two dig into how blind people have advocated for themselves throughout American history, the intersectionality of blindness, and the importance of getting lost. We’ll be back with two guest readers on the last Tuesday of the month for an in-depth discussion of the book. You’re invited to read along with us and join the conversation! Record a voice memo on your smartphone and email the file to NerdettePodcast@gmail.com to contribute to the discussion. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

This week, our panelists are the host of the NHPR podcast ‘The 13th Step,’ Lauren Chooljian, and Jonquilyn Hill, who hosts the Vox podcast ‘The Weeds.’ We talk about whether we indulged in Barbenheimer, then recommend some stuff to read, do, and listen to this summer. You can find a list of their recommendations here, at our website. Then, Aomawa Shields tells us about her circuitous trajectory from acting to astrophysics! Her new book is called ‘Life on Other Planets.’

Nerdette Book Club is back to discuss our July selection, Tania James’ book Loot. It’s historical fiction, but the story centers around a real artifact: a life-sized, wooden automaton of a tiger devouring an English soldier known as Tipu’s Tiger. It was built in the late 1700s in Mysore, India, and it resides in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.Our protagonist is Abbas, a young and talented woodworker who’s summoned to the Sultan’s palace to help build that tiger. But the perspective shifts to others who impact the artifact and its trajectory, from the French clockmaker who mentored Abbas to the wealthy English widow who takes the tiger into her antiquities collection.Our panelists are the authors of two former Nerdette Book Club selections: Rebecca Makkai, author of I Have Some Questions For You, and Sameer Pandya, who wrote Members Only. (This conversation includes spoilers! If you have not read the book yet, you can find our spoiler-free interview with Tania James in our feed.)

This week, we share some of the best things to watch and eat this summer! Our guests are Shilpa Uskokovic, food editor at Bon Appetit, and Shirley Li, staff writer at The Atlantic covering the entertainment industry.What to watch:‘How to With John Wilson’ season 3 (July 28) ‘Problemista’ (August 4)‘Bottoms’ (August 25)What to eat:Grilled Corn Tiger SaladLemony Zucchini with Sour Cream and DillFree Form Kebabs

It’s summer blockbuster season! Northwestern University’s Arionne Nettles and Chalkbeat Chicago’s Becky Vevea stop by to get excited about the opening week of both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer.’ We also chat about this year’s Emmy nominations and what in the world “girl dinner” is. Then, Simon Pegg reflects on an extremely nerdy career, his role in the latest ‘Mission Impossible’ movie, and whether he’s jealous of Tom Cruise’s absolutely deranged stunt skills.Plus, we have a book club announcement! August’s Book Club pick is ‘The Country of the Blind’ by Andrew Leland. It’s a memoir about the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness. You can send us a voice memo about it or July’s book ‘Loot’ at NerdettePodcast@gmail.com.

This week, we are bringing you a special episode from our friends When Magic Happens from WBEZ! The podcast features intergenerational conversations between Black women. And this episode is for the nerds! Hosts Taylor Coward, Cheryle Jackson and Jennifer “Shea Love” Long get into why some nerdy hobbies challenge traditional notions of Blackness. They embrace the idea that the Nerdette team really values – that you can be a nerd about anything, as long as you’re unapologetically enthusiastic about it. Plus, they talk to author, entrepreneur and anime-lover, Jacque Aye.

This week, the hosts of the podcast Just Between Us, Gabe Dunn and Alison Raskin, stop in to talk about the concert-goers who keep throwing objects on stage, why everyone is in Europe right now, and the people who got stuck upside down on a roller coaster. Then, The New York Times’ Alexandra Alter unpacks her story about how review-bombing on Goodreads is impacting the publishing industry. She also shares a few book recommendations of her own. Plus, we announce our 10th anniversary cake decorating contest winner!!!

July’s Nerdette Book Club pick is the historical novel 'Loot' by Tania James!The story opens in Mysore, India when a young wood carver named Abbas is summoned to the Sultan’s palace to help make a mechanical tiger. The novel spans continents and decades, but that tiger is at the center of the story. It’s based on the real artifact ‘Tippoo’s Tiger’ in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London that depicts a tiger mauling a British soldier. In this spoiler-free interview with the author, we talk about writing a delightful, propulsive plot that also deals with the legacy of colonialism. Throw a copy of 'Loot' in your beach bag and read along with us! We’ll be back the last Tuesday of the month for a spoiler-filled discussion of the book. You can take part in the conversation by sending a voice memo with your thoughts on the book to nerdettepodcast@gmail.com.

ICYMI podcast hosts Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim, stop by to play our new game, Burden or Delight? We consider the Army’s new tactical bras, location sharing, and Fall Out Boy’s updated version of Billy Joel’s classic “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Then, we dive into the Guinness Book of Records. Journalist and author Imogen West-Knights tells about how the company known for the world’s most odd and outrageous titleholders has lasted for over half a century. Plus, Amy Brady unpacks the surprising history of ice. In her new book Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks–A Cool History of a Hot Commodity, she argues that the ice industry transformed the United States in ways that might surprise you.