OPB launches new podcast 'Relative Fiction,' based on the award-winning graphic memoir by Nicole Georges

The six-part series launches March 29; trailer available now

News provided by

Mar 11, 2021, 12:00 ET

PORTLAND, Ore., March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), a member-supported public media organization serving the Northwest, today announced the launch of "Relative Fiction," a new podcast series that delves into the heart of one of the most nebulous mysteries of the universe: family.

"Relative Fiction," a new podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting and award-winning writer/illustrator Nicole Georges. Available March 29.

Launching March 29 on Apple Podcasts, the NPR One app, opb.org and wherever podcasts are available, "Relative Fiction" is based on writer and illustrator Nicole Georges' award-winning 2013 graphic memoir, "Calling Dr. Laura." It blossoms into a much larger story though, with more twists and turns.

When Georges was two years old, her mother and half-sisters told her that her father was dead. Georges was twenty-three and living in Portland when a friend's birthday gift of a psychic reading confirmed some deep-seated suspicions that he was alive. Her sister, saddled with guilt, admitted that the psychic was right and that the whole family had conspired to keep him a secret.

Sent into a tailspin about her identity, Georges becomes an amateur sleuth, trying to piece together the different stories she was told from all sides about her father and why he was kept away from her. Is her father really a grifter con man that abandoned her at birth as her mom claims, or was he the family oriented Little League coach that kept her baby picture in his wallet, as her newly found half-brothers assert?

This six-episode series is narrated by Georges herself and features interviews with family, therapists, and psychics. Throughout the series, we get immersed in her investigation, the stories she was told, and the rollercoaster of belief and identity she went through in the process. Of her storytelling prowess, NPR states, "Georges is able to pluck the funniest and most compelling bits out of a life story…"

"Relative Fiction" is produced by Claudia Meza of OPB and Nicole Georges. Meza also provides sound design and audio editing. Sage Van Wing of OPB is the Executive Producer, and all mixing and mastering for the series is provided by Steven Kray of OPB. All original podcast music is provided by Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs. For more information, visit opb.org.

About OPB
OPB is a leader in public media, serving diverse communities of the Northwest with fact-based, in-depth news and information about politics, the environment, science, arts, history, and cultures; business, education and more. Powered by the generous support of members, OPB seeks out a variety of voices in our communities and lifts up authentic stories of the people, places, events and issues of the region, providing context and a deeper understanding. OPB's independent journalism and programs are available at opb.org, on OPB Radio and OPB TV. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

About Nicole Georges
Nicole J. Georges is a writer, illustrator, podcaster & professor from Portland, Oregon. Her Lambda Award-winning graphic memoir, "Calling Dr. Laura," was called "engrossing, lovable, smart and ultimately poignant" by Rachel Maddow, and "disarming and haunting, hip and sweet, all at once" by Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home. Allô, dr Laura? was an Official Selection at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Georges' latest book, "Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home," is the recipient of two Oregon Book Awards, and a Lambda nomination for best Graphic Novel. It received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and the Library Journal, and was voted a 2018 "Great Graphic Novel for Teens" by The American Library Association. It is currently in development for television with Sid Gentle Productions.

Georges won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Arts Education in 2012. She was the 2013 Fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies, the 2015/16 Donaldson Writer in Residence at the College of William and Mary, and currently teaches at California College for the Art's MFA in Comics Program. She has been publishing her own zines and comics for 25 years, and has toured the country extensively, including two appearances on Michelle Tea's Sister Spit tour.

Georges is the host of the podcast, Sagittarian Matters. She has been profiled on Oregon Art Beat and reviewed in the New York Times.

SOURCE Oregon Public Broadcasting