Overview

A celebration of the quirks, intricacies, and hallmarks of a beloved but culturally undervalued art form: the American soap opera. Adored by battalions of devotees and maligned by others for melodramatic twists and turns, soap operas have had an outsized impact on American culture, prefiguring the rise of today's reality television and character-driven prestige dramas. In Love in the Afternoon . . . and Evening, cultural critics Charlotte Druckman and Mayukh Sen salute the stories and talent that have sustained the industry since its radio days. Featured are smart yet dishy interviews with soap icons like Susan Lucci (All My Children's Erica Kane) and Erika Slezak (One Life to Live's Victoria Lord); deep dives into the genre's infamous tropes and archetypes (long-lost daughters and evil twins); and considered takes on the industry's treatment of race, reproductive rights, and queerness. Part cultural analysis, part backstage tour, and all love letter to an oft-misunderstood art form, Love in the Afternoon . . . and Evening will make you want to bust out your shoulder pads and binge your favorite show all over again.

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Author Information

Mayukh Sen is the James Beard Award-winning author of Taste Makers. He is a 2025 Fellow at New America. He teaches film and television journalism at New York University and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Charlotte Druckman is a journalist, author of Skirt Steak, and editor of the James Beard Award-nominated collection Women on Food. She lives in New York. Kevin T. Collins is a New York actor and director who has been seen Off-Broadway in Made in Heaven and Angels; on TV in Vinyl, Law & Order, As the World Turns, One Life to Live, What Would You Do?, and Guiding Light; on film in Taking Woodstock, Detachment, The Family Fang, and Zombies Anonymous; and heard on over 225 audiobooks, including AudioFile Earphones Award winners Testimony and Lone Survivor, and the 2011 Audie Award-winning Beautiful Creatures. Edelyn Okano is a Filipino-Japanese actress, singer, and writer proudly born and raised in Canada. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York with a focus on classical voice and musical theater. As a proud member of SAG/AFTRA and Actors Equity (AEA), she has been seen and/or recurring on many award-winning shows, such as Designated Survivor, The Good Doctor, Grey's Anatomy, The Bold and the Beautiful, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Jane the Virgin, to name a few. On stage, she recently played the role of Cinderella's Stepmother in Into the Woods at the iconic Hollywood Bowl alongside Sutton Foster, Skyler Astin, and Patina Miller. Edelyn cowrote and performed in Jeremy Lin, The Musical at the Zephyr Theater. She has also worked with Labyrinth Theater Company at the Public Theater in NYC, Upright Citizens Brigade, Lodestone Theatre, the Hudson Guild, and East West Players in Los Angeles. When not working, another love of her life is international travel-especially Asia. Since all travel almost always includes her four-pound yorkie Kodo, seeing the world with her pup is a top priority for fun and relaxation. She is also very passionate about hot pilates, steamed dumplings, the latest greatest anti-aging skincare device, and any opportunity for a great conversation and an amazing glass of Malbec.

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