In the world of soaps, women’s issues take front-burner status

Making by WBEZ Chicago

Apr 15, 202500:34:19Society & Culture

Irna Phillips created the cliff-hanger in broadcast storytelling and perfected the serial drama, first in radio, then on television. She mentored the creators of All My Children, One Life to Live, The Young and the Restl...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from Making.

Becoming Bovino

Dec 23, 2025 - 00:33:54

Who is Gregory Bovino? For months, the Border Patrol Commander-at-Large led agents through Chicago on an...

A new era for daytime soaps operas: Beyond the Gates

May 20, 2025 - 00:38:22

A Chicago woman, Irna Phillips, birthed the daytime serial — and a Chicago woman, Michele Val Jean, is us...

Behind the curtain at ‘Days of Our Lives’: The lights, the sets, the pink coat

May 13, 2025 - 00:19:14

Go behind the scenes at Days of Our Lives in Burbank, California. Hear from actors, set designers and war...

TV wouldn’t be TV without soap operas

May 6, 2025 - 00:29:34

Without soaps, we wouldn’t have melodramas or reality shows. Without soaps, we wouldn’t have many of the...

Soaps take the lead on nuanced storylines about queer life

Apr 29, 2025 - 00:33:34

Before the mainstreaming of Ellen and the hit show Will and Grace, soaps did their best to bring tenderne...

Black actors don’t want to be your sidekick

Apr 22, 2025 - 00:40:03

From Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on The Guiding Light to the first Black super-couple, Jesse and Angie on Al...

Meet Irna Phillips: The Queen of Daytime

Apr 8, 2025 - 00:21:42

Soap operas have long been trivialized as low-brow women’s entertainment. Even the term “soap” is pejorat...

TRAILER: Stories Without End

Mar 6, 2025 - 00:02:27

Soap operas are the foundation of American television storytelling. From early radio days in the 1930s to...