--:-- Narrator: This message comes from NPR sponsor Rosetta Stone, an expert in language learning for 30 years. Right now, NPR listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership to 25 different languages for 50% off. Learn more at rosettastone.com slash NPR.
--:-- Alzo Slade: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm the man they call when Bill's had too many Mai Tais. I'm Alzo Slade, and here's your host at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, Hawaii, Peter Sagal.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. Yes, thank you all so much. We are so glad to be doing our show here in Hawaii, and we are really glad we bought the plane tickets before we lost our federal funding.
--:-- Later on, we are going to be talking to ukulele superstar Taimane, who got her start busking right here in the streets of Waikiki. But first, we want to hear what tune you're playing. Give us a call. The number is 1-888-wait-wait. That's 1-888-924-8924.
--:-- Now let's welcome our first Lill Center contestant. Hi, you are on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
--:-- Sydney: Hi, this is Sydney calling from Olympia, Washington.
--:-- Peter Sagal: I love Olympia. One of my favorite places. Capital of the state. What do you do there?
--:-- Sydney: I like to swim in the Puget Sound, and I take care of my pet shrimp, and I work for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Okay. Let me, if I may, rewind a moment. Shrimp as pets? I've never heard of that. Are they fun pets? Do they cuddle with you when you're sad?
--:-- Sydney: I think so. They like to swim around. They're fun to watch.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. So you think as they're swimming around in their tank that they have warm feelings for you.
--:-- Sydney: Yeah, exactly.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. You've never had a shrimp pet, Peter. You don't know. I don't know what it's like. No, I've had shrimp, but in a different context.
--:-- Well, Sydney, welcome to the show. Let me introduce you to our panel with us here in Honolulu this week. First up, it's a comedian whose special Love Joy is on Peacock and whose album Yell Joy is available everywhere. It's Joyelle Nicole Johnson.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Hello, Sydney.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Next up, an actor and writer who can be seen in the improv show Two Square at the Cold Town Theater in Austin, Texas, October 17th and 18th. It's our friend Peter Gross.
--:-- Peter Gross: Hello. Hi, Sydney.
--:-- Peter Sagal: And a comedian who will be in Alexandria, Virginia at the Birchmere on November 21st and 22nd and host of the weekly podcast Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. It's Paula Poundstone.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Okay, it's not a pet, but I do have a comfort mosquito.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Well, Sydney, welcome to the show. You're going to play Who's Owlzo this time. Owlzo Slade filling in for Bill Curtis is going to read you three quotations from this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you'll win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose in your voicemail. Are you ready to go?
--:-- Peter Sagal: All right, your first quote is a statement from Nashville International Airport. "Pilots have patience. Passengers expect delays." This is in response to the many airport closures and delays happening around the country due to what?
--:-- Sydney: The government shutdown?
--:-- Peter Sagal: The government shutdown. Yes, you're right. [Audience applauds] It's okay, you're applauding for her, not the shutdown. Yes. It's all right.
--:-- Even though airport disruptions are being caused by unpaid government employees just not showing up for work, the FAA says there's nothing to worry about as long as you and all of your coworkers didn't just fly to the only state in the union you can't drive home from.
--:-- It started in just one or two airports, and now it's spreading. The delays and cancellations are getting so bad that the only way to get to another state is to sign up for your own state's National Guard and wait to be deployed there.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Who knew that not paying people would make them not want to work?
--:-- Peter Sagal: I know. Strange.
--:-- One real thing we learned about this week, same airports like Burbank in California are operating in a condition called air traffic control zero. It's a real thing. And that's a system they put in place where instead of the tower, because there's nobody in the tower, pilots just talk to each other to keep from running into each other and to help land their planes.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Right. Okay. But we do that in our cars all the time.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Really? Just yelling out the window.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Right. No, just look at this idiot. Go, go, just go, Go.
--:-- Peter Gross: But on the other hand, you really don't get caught in a situation where the pilots are like, "Okay, you land." "No, you land first." "No, you land." "Okay, we'll both land at the same time. Ready?"
--:-- Peter Sagal: Well, you know, they were like, sometimes they're like, "Is there a doctor on the plane? Is there an air traffic controller on the plane who wants to just like help us not hit another plane?"
--:-- All right. Your next quote is a pop superstar singing about a certain attribute of her famous fiancée. "Do I really have to read this quote?"
--:-- Alzo Slade: Yes, yes, also.
--:-- Peter Sagal: All right. "Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see." So that's a lyric everybody's talking about from whose new album that came out last week?
--:-- Sydney: Taylor Swift.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Taylor Swift, yes. Her new album came out, Lives of the Showgirl, when they're not talking about how kind of mad the rest of the album is, everybody is talking about how suggestive her song Wood is.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Wood.
--:-- Peter Sagal: The wood in question is not wood as in tree. It's wood as in I would prefer not to hear her sing about Travis Kelsey's junk.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: It's a real i listened to that today and it's a it's a real lesson in single entendre not the most clever
--:-- Peter Gross: Yeah i also don't know if it's a compliment to have your attribute compared to a redwood nobody wants to hear like your thing it's 600 years old and endangered and you can drive a car through it i don't think this holds up
--:-- Peter Sagal: I mean one of the questions is she's the biggest star in the world, she's done this, is this going to create pressure on all the pop stars now? You know, it's like, "Hey, honey, love your new album, but where's the song about my junk?"
--:-- Paula Poundstone: I mean, until she turns on him, and then is like, the cover of her next album is her with an axe chopping down a record.
--:-- Peter Gross: Oh, she's setting it up. She's going to knock it down. She's been in love before.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Yeah, I also want to say, shout out to Travis for doing his job, okay, because she a billionaire. That's the only thing she needs from him. And he put it down and you better write a song about it, girl.
--:-- Peter Sagal: I foolishly thought you meant playing football.
--:-- Sydney, are you still with us? Because it's been a while. Sydney, are you out there?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Oh, I'm so glad. Sydney, your last quote is a warning about this year's Halloween candy. "The M&Ms were filled with berry-flavored peanut butter." That was a reporter from The Atlantic noting one way candy makers are compensating for a major shortage of what this year?
--:-- Sydney: I don't know. Can you give me a hint, please?
--:-- Peter Sagal: What are M&Ms normally filled with?
--:-- Sydney: Oh, chocolate?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Chocolate, yes! A very bad cocoa harvest means chocolate is very expensive right now, so candy makers are swapping in non-chocolate ingredients for this year's Halloween candy. M&M's has a whole new, this is real, bakery collection with non-chocolate flavors like lemon meringue pie and peanut butter cinnamon roll and the newest flavor, day-old bagel.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: It'd be like eminem puts in like old snickers like just stuff that they found around and they would have to put inside
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I'm gonna be honest I never thought that was really chocolate in there anyway like yeah I'm sure it was plastic it's like the bear it's yeah whatever they put in subway bread and the meat
--:-- Peter Gross: Yeah i don't know what this is going to do to halloween because all the kids i know really like chocolate this is going to be the first halloween where kids are going to say trick or treat, and also I'd like a receipt in case I want to return it.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Last year, you know, I ran out of candy. You did. And we don't usually get that many kids where I live. But for some reason, we did last year.
--:-- Peter Sagal: We should move out of that haunted old castle high on the hill, Paul.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Well, I ended up, you know, like, they kept coming, and so I just, you know, opened the refrigerator, and you know, I'd, like, take a big scoop of hummus and just flick it into Spider-Man's pillowcase.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I had a little cousin who from a baby didn't like chocolate, but she would open the refrigerator when she was two. She's a toddler and we'd see little fingerprints of the butter. She would eat butter. I would hate a chocolate. I was a butter eater.
--:-- Peter Sagal: When I turned four, my parents gave me a pound of butter.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: As a gift?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah, birthday present. And I just ate the sticks like candy bars.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: And I feel good.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah, you feel good. I had a heart attack when I was five.
--:-- Also, how did Cindy do in our quiz?
--:-- Alzo Slade: Beautifully. Three out of three. Congratulations, Cindy.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you so much for playing, Cindy. This was so fun.
--:-- Sydney: Thank you so much.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Peter, in a daring new plan to make up for the government funding cuts, a PBS affiliate announced it would be auctioning off what?
--:-- Peter Gross: Grover.
--:-- Peter Gross: I mean, it's coming. Auctioning off tote bags that someone touched. I don't know, I'll take a hint.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Well, appraisers say that each happy little tree is worth about $10,000.
--:-- Peter Gross: Bob Ross paintings?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Bob Ross paintings. A public TV distribution company is raising money by auctioning off 30 Bob Ross original oil paintings, including his masterpieces Happy Little Forest Snowy Mountaintop and Nude Self-Portrait with Happy Big Redwood
--:-- Paula Poundstone: It's really weird
--:-- Peter Gross: It's really weird they're selling these paintings
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Didn't you always assume they just threw them away after they finished taping?
--:-- Peter Gross: I always wondered what they did with them and I thought that there was like an Indiana Jones style warehouse of just like thousands and thousands.
--:-- Peter Sagal: So if this works, of course, they're going to do more things like that. Next will be funding the distribution of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood by auctioning off his cardigans. Then they'll sell Big Bird's eggs. Then neighborly for one lucky auction winner, a night of passion with Ken Burns.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Narrated by Sam Waterston. And it takes 12 hours.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Coming up, our panelists send their greetings in our Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT-TOL-PLAY. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPO.
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--:-- Alzo Slade: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Peter Gross, Paula Poundstone, and Joyelle Nicole Johnson. And here again is your host at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, Peter Sagal.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you, Alzo Slade. right now. Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. Right now, it's time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bluff the Listener Game. Call 1-888-Wait-Wait to play our game in the air.
--:-- Hi, you are on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
--:-- Alexandra: Hi, Peter. This is Alexandra from Maui, Hawaii.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Hey, Maui. What do you do there on Maui?
--:-- Alexandra: I'm a tattooer here in Kihei at Paradise Tattoo.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Oh, wow. Kihei, I know. Been there many a time. I was wondering about this because I saw a tattoo parlor here in Honolulu, and I wondered, is your clientele Islanders, Hawaiians, or is it like lots of tourists who are just so taken with the place, they come in and get your sea turtle or something like that?
--:-- Alexandra: It's definitely a mix, but sea turtles do pay my bills.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Really? That's the thing.
--:-- Well, welcome to the show, Alexandra. It's great to have you on. You're going to play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. Alzo, what's the topic?
--:-- Alzo Slade: There's havoc at Hallmark. So Hallmark, you know them. They're known for their heartwarming movies and their greeting cards that somehow know exactly what to say when your uncle retires. Well, this week, instead of good tidings, we heard about a controversy brewing at Hallmark. Our panel is going to tell you about it. Pick the one who's telling the truth. You win the wait waiter of your choice on your voicemail. You ready to play?
--:-- Alzo Slade: All right. First, let's hear from Joyelle Nicole Johnson.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Most greeting cards simply say, get well soon or happy birthday. But the mahogany section of Hallmark greeting cards puts the black back in salutations. That's right. There's a section of Hallmark greeting cards just for black folks with titles such as, "You got all that black excellence, fam." And of course, "You're an everyday reminder of ain't God good."
--:-- Hallmark introduced this niche years ago. But the brand went viral after a recent interview with H&G Magazine. Turns out the creator and head scribe of the slang is Cody Beckwith of Springfield, Illinois. A whole white man. Cody is a self-described redhead, corn-fed friend of Dorothy. That is Mrs. Dorothy Thomas, his next-door neighbor who practically raised him and is very black.
--:-- Beckwith credits Miss Thomas for everything he knows. Without her, his face will be way less moisturized. When asked for comment, Miss Dorothy said, "Cody always been invited to the cookout, especially because I taught him how to wash his chicken before he cooked it." Turns out the mahogany line of greeting cards for a black clientele was created by this white guy from Springfield, Illinois.
--:-- Alzo Slade: Your next Hallmark remark comes from Peter Gross.
--:-- Peter Gross: Some of the best recent Hollywood films have captured a gritty, nuanced realism. Movies like Nomadland, Uncut Gems, and The Secret Life of Pets 2. Other films missed the mark. This week, the Hallmark Channel announced their new romantic comedy, Adventures in Love and Birding. It's about a single mother who falls in love with an avid birder, but apparently the creators of the movie fell in love with inaccurate details about birds.
--:-- Even the poster of the movie is inaccurate, with one person commenting, "I wonder what those two male varied thrushes are talking about. cry laughing emoji." Get it? Because I sure don't.
--:-- One member of an LA birding community group was furious at the main character's binoculars, commenting, "If this guy's a real birder, he would not have those binoculars. Those binoculars are like poro prisms. They are very beginner level. Yikes."
--:-- I would say somebody needs to get out more, but birders are outside all the time, so that doesn't really apply. As tempting as it is to make fun of them, I imagine I would feel this way if somebody tried to make a Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me movie, and they had the panelists talking into a Neumann TLM 103 microphone as opposed to a Shure SM7B. I mean, can you imagine?
--:-- Alzo Slade: A Hallmark Channel romance movie with a birding theme angers the birding community. Your last wholesome controversy comes from Paula Poundstone.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Birthday girl, 13-year-old Janie Winchell of Lincoln, Massachusetts tore open the envelope of a Hallmark card that accompanied a brightly wrapped six-pack of flavored lip gloss gifted from a friend. The front of the card had a picture of a young girl's face covered in a thick facial mask and inside the card in large balloon font were the words, "Congratulations, you're old!"
--:-- "When I saw the card, I was outraged," said Janie's mother, Candace Winchell. "I checked out Hallmark's website and found that this horrible card is part of a new line of cards that are just disturbing."
--:-- On one, a black and white photo of a bedraggled looking girl leading a donkey by a rope opens to reveal the words, "Get your ass moving, 14 is coming." Another bears a cover photo of a young girl walking a dirt road surrounded by wildflowers and on the inside says, "Do something good this year. Your regret box is almost full." One cover bears the words, "Age is just a number." And inside is a photograph of a slack-jawed preteen with a word bubble saying, "But oh my God."
--:-- Alzo Slade: All right. So Alexandra, there was controversy at Hallmark this week. Was it from Joyelle Nicole Johnson, the mahogany line of cards for a black audience, turns out were created by this red-haired white guy who just channeled his neighbor, from Peter Gross, a birding romance in which the birding community did not fall in love with, or from Paula Poundstone, a line of birthday cards for 13-year-olds implying they're getting old. Which of these was the real story out of Hallmark this week?
--:-- Alexandra: Well, I know birders do take birds very seriously.
--:-- Peter Sagal: They do?
--:-- Alexandra: So I'm going to go with B.
--:-- Peter Sagal: You're going to go with B. You're going to go with Peter's story about the birding movie that angered the birders. All right. Well, here's somebody with some insight into the real story.
--:-- Alzo Slade: The Hallmark Channel released the poster and immediately birders had a lot of comments and critiques for how the birds were being portrayed in the poster. That was Antonia Sarajito, a host at LAS, who reported on the real story, the birding movie that the birders did not like. Congratulations, Alexandra, you got it right. You're in a point for Peter Gross. You've won our prize, the voice of your choice in your voicemail.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you so much. Thank you, and thank you for playing with us today. All right. We'll be together like birds of a feather, because some things are meant to be.
--:-- And now the game we call Not My Job. In Hawaii, the ukulele is the king of instruments, and our guest Taimane is ukulele royalty. She started busking on the streets of Honolulu at the age of five, where she was discovered by the legendary Don Ho himself. She's since been named Hawaiian Performer of the Year, among many other honors. Taimane, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
--:-- Taimane: Thank you for having me.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you. It's a pleasure to have you. We've got to get this settled. we were talking before, the correct Hawaiian pronunciation of the instrument of which you are a master is ukulele.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Ukulele.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Ukulele. You got it.
--:-- Peter Sagal: How about if you give it the appropriate respectful name and I just continue to screw it up?
--:-- Taimane: You know, we could do that for probably like 10 to 15 minutes.
--:-- Peter Sagal: We can do that. That's really great.
--:-- So you, and I mentioned this, started playing the ukulele at a very young age, right?
--:-- Taimane: Yes, I started when I was five years old. I'm born and raised here in Honolulu, Hawaii, and it's kind of a very common instrument here in the islands. Almost like how a guitar is in every house, the ukulele is in almost every house here in the islands.
--:-- Peter Sagal: And did you like was that like something you were drawn to or you was like somebody put one of these in your hand?
--:-- Taimane: Yeah, well, I loved performing. Even before getting this when I was five, I would put shows together for my dog and my parents and my house. And I just loved being on stage. I loved making people happy. And so my dad gave me my very first ukulele when I was five. Again, it's just a very common instrument here in Hawaii. And it was just the instrument that I grew up learning how to express myself. And I so happened to love classical music, metal music. but it's all played on this instrument.
--:-- Peter Sagal: I want to get to that because that's one of the things you're known for. But you were busking. You were out on the streets. At five, you went out with your father?
--:-- Taimane: I started actually when I was seven, a little bit more mature.
--:-- Peter Sagal: That's a very reasonable age to send your child out onto the street to try to make money.
--:-- Taimane: Yes. I had a hard work ethic back in the day. And so I started playing on the streets of Kalakaua Avenue.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. That's the big commercial district in Waikiki with all the big shops on it and restaurants, tourists walking up and down all night.
--:-- Taimane: Exactly. Exactly. I loved it. And I kept doing it until the age of 13. Wow. And that's where one of the singers from the Don Ho show saw me playing was on the streets of Waikiki. Yeah. And so I got to meet Uncle Don. I like to call him Uncle Don.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Sure. I like to call him Uncle Don. Right? Uncle Don.
--:-- Taimane: Oh, my gosh. He really, you know, he took me under his wing and, you know, really showed me the ropes of how much it takes to put on a show. Right. And so I was with him for five years until his passing. And he really just introduced me to Waikiki. And then from there, I started touring all over the world because the ukulele, everyone loves the ukulele.
--:-- Peter Sagal: That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true. I've never met anybody. I will say, though, that there are certain stereotypes. It's something that people play when they can't really play and they just want to be amusing, right? Which of these annoys you most?
--:-- Taimane: You know, it doesn't actually annoy me. I like to use it to my advantage.
--:-- Peter Sagal: How so?
--:-- Taimane: Because people don't expect much of you when you say you play the ukulele. Like, "Okay, that's cute. What do you actually do?" But I love to go into that with that expectation or lack of and then change that mind frame.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. And that's what I like. So you're like a pool shark.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Oh, how do you play this thing? Yeah, exactly.
--:-- So it is true that one of the things you've done is you've really expanded people's understanding of what a ukulele can do. And I was hoping you could kind of demonstrate because you're known, for example, for some remarkable covers. You just put out a cover of Joni Mitchell's Big Yilla Taxi.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right? And so is there like anything like people would not expect to hear somebody play really well in a ukulele that you love to play for them?
--:-- Taimane: I just started working on a cover of The Addams Family, but in minor key.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Oh, a minor, more mournful, thoughtful key.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right, can you...
--:-- Taimane: I'm a minor. You guys, I want to... I want to hear like the... I haven't played it yet, so...
--:-- Peter Sagal: So this is a theme to The Addams Family.
--:-- Taimane: Haven't played it. In a minor key on the ukulele. Just learned it. Okay, here we go.
--:-- [Piano plays softly]
--:-- Taimane: Okay, this is the hard part. Hold on.
--:-- Taimane: Whoo! I'm working on it. I'm working on it.
--:-- Peter Gross: You know, I just thought... I thought you were going to do like smoke on the water or something, but no.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Can you do that?
--:-- Peter Gross: You really challenged her there. You're setting us up.
--:-- Taimane: Wow, you can do the thing that beginning guitar players play and they pick up a guitar at the Guitar Center?
--:-- Taimane: Yes, Stairway.
--:-- Well, Taimane, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling Mini Guitar Meet Mini Golf. So, you like smaller instruments. We thought we'd ask you about the tiny version of golf, miniature golf. Answer two out of three questions correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Also, who is Taimane playing for?
--:-- Alzo Slade: Jim Joplin of Lawton, Oklahoma.
--:-- Peter Sagal: All right. All right, Oklahoma. And you know, they just love the ukulele in Oklahoma. So here's your first question. Most historians agree that miniature golf was invented in Scotland in the 1860s for one very specific reason. What was it? A, it was made for women who weren't allowed to play real golf because it was considered improper for them to raise their arms above their shoulders. B, a local aristocrat said, "Love the game, but can we do without all that walking?" Or C, so a notorious sports gambler could win a bet that he could finish a whole round of golf in half an hour.
--:-- Taimane: Oh, gosh. You know, I'm not much of a walker myself, so I would love to say B.
--:-- Peter Sagal: B. Maybe not the vibe.
--:-- Taimane: No. Maybe not the vibe. You know, there's other, you know, I'm just getting this feeling of A.
--:-- Peter Sagal: A. It is A. Yes, it's A.
--:-- Taimane: Yeah. Thanks, you guys.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Apparently, back in Victorian Scotland, you couldn't have ladies scandalizing society by showing their pits.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: When in doubt, go with misogyny.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Exactly. Always. Got it.
--:-- All right, that was very good. Now, back in the early days, mini golf courses used to be different than they are today. How so? Was it A, instead of mechanical obstacles like windmills, children were hired to leap onto the course and swat away your ball? B, instead of hitting your ball into the mouth of a fake clown in the last hole, you do it to a real clown? Or C, instead of turf, the surfaces were made of goat hair dyed green?
--:-- Taimane: You know, I just keep getting these feelings. Virally vibed, these feelings. Where did it come? The spirit of aloha. You know, I'm going to go with, like, the ocean, like the sea.
--:-- Peter Sagal: The sea.
--:-- Taimane: Wise choice being this being Hawaii.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yes, it was sea. Dyed goat hair was the surface of choice. This was before AstroTurf, of course.
--:-- Last question. You can play thousands of mini golf courses around the world, including in some unusual places, like which of these? on the lip of a volcano in Stromboli, Italy, with real lava providing some of the obstacles, B, 400 feet underground in an abandoned Transylvanian salt mine, or C, on the roof of the second tallest building in Dubai, where if your ball goes out of bounds, it really goes out of bounds.
--:-- Taimane: I'm going to go with B.
--:-- Peter Sagal: You're going to go with the Transylvanian salt mine. You're right. It is called...
--:-- Peter Sagal: It is called Salina Turda, and it's got a whole amusement park down there along with the mini golf. It's the most popular underground tourist attraction in the world.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: What's it called?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Salina Turda.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: No smart remarks, Paula.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Alzo, how did Taimane do on our quiz?
--:-- Alzo Slade: She's got the vibes. Three out of three.
--:-- Peter Sagal: There you go. Taimane is a singer-songwriter and one of the world's most celebrated ukulele players. For tour dates, head to taimane.com slash live. Taimane! Taimane, everybody! Give it up!
--:-- [Audience applause]
--:-- Taimane: Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you!
--:-- Peter Sagal: In just a minute, Alzo reveals his worst nightmare has a food court in the Listener Limber Challenge. Call 1-888-WIT-WAIT to join us in the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.
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--:-- Alzo Slade: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The NPR News Quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Peter Gross, Paula Poundstone, and Joyelle Nicole Johnson. And here again is your host at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, Peter Sagal.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. In just a minute, we go somewhere over the rainbow in our Listener Limerick Challenge game. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924.
--:-- Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news. Joyelle, this week the AP reported that contrary to common wisdom, it's perfectly okay for couples to do what?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Sleep in separate bedrooms?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Vacation separately?
--:-- Peter Sagal: No. This is like, I'm sure you've, I mean anybody who's ever been married or get into a serious relationship has been given this advice about you and your partner. Don't do it, right?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Oh, go to bed mad?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right, that's the advice. Don't go to bed angry. You have heard that?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I have heard that before.
--:-- Peter Sagal: You have heard. Everybody's heard that. Don't go to bed angry. Well, experts say it's often much wiser to let your dispute sit till the morning. That's why right before turning off the light, you know, in my life, I always say to my wife, "Good night, honey. And also, have you noticed you're turning into your mother?"
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Well, at least she goes to bed angry.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Exactly. But the big question the psychologist did not address, if you do go to bed angry, the two of you, instead of spooning, do you knife?
--:-- Paula Poundstone: You definitely don't fork.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Or scissor.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: That's true. There's a whole drawer's worth of things that are not happening.
--:-- Peter Gross: You don't screw.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: There's a screw.
--:-- Peter Gross: You don't do that.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: No hammering. No nailing.
--:-- Peter Gross: Honey, hammer the tenderizer.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Paula, this week we learned about a new way to deepen your friendships. Instead of hanging out at a bar or a party, you should do what together?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Hmm. Not hang out at a bar or a party. You should till the land. Make the earth yield up its fruits. That's a thing that's happening now. People are getting together to till the land. Till the land. It's actually, you're kind of on the right track. The idea is like, instead of going out and doing a special fun thing, you should get your friends together and do manual labor. I'm going to give it to you. Chores.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: I love doing chores together with other people. Is this something you like to do?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah. So, because you are, as you always are, ahead of the curve. Social trend-wise.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Yeah.
--:-- Peter Sagal: The new study says that if you really want to bond with your friends, which we all know is the key to happiness, is having a good social life, you should do boring stuff with your friends. Researchers discovered that people consistently rate common daily activities as more enjoyable when they're interacting with somebody else. You enjoy it more. You bond. It's great.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Absolutely. I am on the cutting edge on this. I often have friends over to help me trim the cat's claws.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Really? Yeah. What part do they play? Because I've had cats. Somebody has to do the clipping, and someone has to hold the cat's paws. What do you do? What do you make them do?
--:-- Paula Poundstone: We go back and forth. I don't like to hog the fun part.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Okay, here's the thing about cats clipping their claws. And I can't do hind claws. I can only do front claws.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: What's the difference?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: What's the difference?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Well, I think, if I may...
--:-- Paula Poundstone: The front claws are on the front claws.
--:-- Peter Sagal: I know that, Paula. I think Joelle was trying to say, what is the difference besides the obvious one?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: I don't know. That's why you did that.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: I would just think it's as simple as you don't want to do the hind claws because you don't want a cat's butt in your face.
--:-- Peter Sagal: No. So how many cats do you have, Paula?
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Eleven.
--:-- Peter Sagal: You have eleven cats. How many friends do you have?
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Oh, we had to go there, didn't we? I think those two numbers are intimately related. I'm alone a lot, Peter. A lot.
--:-- Peter Sagal: A woman with 11 cats is never alone, Paula.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank, but first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can see us most weeks back at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, or you can catch us on the road. We'll be in Costa Mesa, California on November 6th. For tickets and information for these events and other things we're cooking up, go to nprpresents.org. And if you like our show but wish it was about 59 minutes shorter, check out our TikTok at Wait, Wait and Beyond.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
--:-- Lydia: Hey, Peter, this is Lydia from Seattle, Washington.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Hey, beautiful Seattle, I love it there. What do you do there?
--:-- Lydia: Well, I like to be outside as much as possible, just like everyone else here. I like to hike and backpack, all the things. When I'm not doing that, I work at a conservation agency where we protect wild lands and waters in Washington State.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Thank you. That's a great thing to do. It does occur to me. Since you are, of course, you're right. Everybody I know in the Pacific Northwest loves to be outside all the time. Does it ever occur to you to take advantage of that and just rifle through their homes?
--:-- Lydia: You know, I don't get paid very much at a non-profit. So maybe I do need to do that.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Lydia, welcome to the show. Alzo Slade, filling in for Bill Curtis, is going to read you three news-related limericks with a last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly into the limericks, you will be a winner. Here is your first limerick.
--:-- Alzo Slade: Since the elderly life is so plain, silver snorters speed up a slow brain. When hair looks like snow, we get down with some blow. Yes, we old folks are doing...
--:-- Alzo Slade: Cocaine, yes. According to data released by hospitals in the UK, the number of senior citizens abusing cocaine has risen by a third in recent years.
--:-- Peter Sagal: It's true, that's why the last time you visited your nana, she asked if you were cool and wanted to get the party started.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Oh my gosh. So instead of a $5 bill, it's like a rolled up $100 bill.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Good for them.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: You think so?
--:-- Peter Sagal: I do. I would do lots of drugs then.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Right. If you hit a certain age, you're like, this is... What's the point?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Cocaine is getting so popular among older people that there's now a term for them, silver snorters. And somewhere an executive at NBC just had a great idea for an amazing Golden Girls reboot. Here is your next limerick.
--:-- Alzo Slade: Stone cold sober and yet we feel brave, music stumping but not in some cave. No more dark clubs at night, we dance in the light, and hot coffee gets served at our...
--:-- Alzo Slade: Rave, yes. Coffee raves are the latest trend among international party people. They're exactly what they sound like. Parties with DJs playing loud dance music, but it's in broad daylight with shots of espresso from the barista over there instead of alcohol at the bar.
--:-- Peter Sagal: It just goes to show it. It's true. You really do need a few drinks to have a good time.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Can't some of those old people sell cocaine to these guys? Why not?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah. Sober people, unsober people, they all love these morning coffee raves. One fan called them, quote, very nice.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: My roommate used to go to those.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Really?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Yeah. They would do them on the sunrise in New York.
--:-- Peter Sagal: And that's why I didn't like her. Here's your last limerick.
--:-- Alzo Slade: My dreams don't contain a cursed doll. No, I'm haunted by suburban sprawl. There are multiple floors with extinct anchor stores. My nightmares all feature a...
--:-- Alzo Slade: A mall, yes. Thousands of people are connecting online over having the same recurring nightmare about being trapped in a mall. This mall in their dreams is impossible to get out of because even if you can find the dream mall directory, the "you are here" arrow just points to your bedroom.
--:-- Peter Sagal: No, that is weird that more than one person has that nightmare.
--:-- Alzo Slade: Yeah, well they think it is. The users connect in a subreddit called The Mall World and they share details of this terrifying space that they all visit in their dreams with levels and stairways and no way out. They are convinced that despite the fact that none of these people have met in real life, they are all dreaming about the same mall because, really, seriously, what are the odds that they all have a Nordstrom and a Hot Topic and an Auntie Anne's?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Are all these people from New Jersey? Alzo, how did Lydia do in our quiz?
--:-- Alzo Slade: She did great. Three out of three. Terrific.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Congratulations. Nice, Lydia. Well done. Lydia, thank you so much for playing.
--:-- Lydia: Thanks so much for having me.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Take care.
--:-- [Sponsor messages play]
--:-- Peter Sagal: Now onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Alzo, can you give us the scores?
--:-- Alzo Slade: Of course. Joyelle and Paula are tied at two with Peter in the lead at three.
--:-- Peter Sagal: All right. So I'm going to arbitrarily pick Joyelle to go first. Here you go, Joyelle. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in blank.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Gaza.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. This week, the Vatican announced the dates of the new blank's first international trip.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: The Pope from Cleveland or Chicago? Detroit.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Detroit. Chicago. I said Chicago. You did. And then a number of other cities, but it is Chicago. I was in the vicinity. On Wednesday, California passed a law banning ultra-processed foods from being served in public blank.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Schools.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. This week, the 2025 Nobel Prize winner for medicine said she blanked when the Nobel Committee called her.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Choked!
--:-- Peter Sagal: No, she did not pick up the call because she thought it was spam. On Thursday, doctors in China performed the first ever blank to human liver transplant.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Cat?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Pig. Pig, pig, pig. You're right. Yeah, after her sister asked fans for their prayers, country legend blank had to release a statement saying, no, she's fine.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Dolly Parton.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yes. This week, a town in the UK had to take drastic action after a blank started terrorizing citizens there. In the UK?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: A white man in a white wig.
--:-- Peter Sagal: No, a horny swan is the answer.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Oh, horny swan.
--:-- Peter Sagal: According to locals, when Reggie, the Australian black swan, first showed up in the town, everything was great. He got along with the other swans who lived there, even became a bit of a local tourist attraction. Sadly, things took a turn for the worse just a few weeks later when he started trying to drown all the other male swans in order to have the females to himself. Terrible news for the birds and for the people in the town, but great news for England's only swan-focused true crime podcast. Alzo, how did Joyelle do in our quiz?
--:-- Alzo Slade: She got four right, which gives her eight points. With a total of ten, she is now in the lead.
--:-- Peter Sagal: There you are, Joyelle.
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: For now!
--:-- Peter Sagal: All right. Paula, you are up next. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, former FBI Director blank pleaded not guilty to lying to Congress.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: James Comey.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. For the first time ever, the price of blank reached $4,000 an ounce.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Gold?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Gold, yes. This week, members of the Texas National Guard arrived in blank.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Chicago?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah. On Monday, the White House directed FBI employees to urgently search for any records related to the 1937 disappearance of blank.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Amelia Earhart?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. This week, Weber State University's annual conference on censorship was canceled after presenters refused to blank.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Be censored.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Exactly right. On Wednesday, theme park giant blank once again raised their admission prices.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Disney.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. On Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first billionaire player in the history of blank.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Oh, Cristiano Ronaldo. Soccer?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yes. This week, a street performance in India meant to warn people about the danger of stray dog attacks was interrupted by blank.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Stray dog attack.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Exactly right. Pretty good. There are so many stray dogs in Kerala State. The government commissioned a theater troupe to put on a play about it because, as we all know, theater is the most efficient way to communicate with the public. That's why we haven't had a single witch trial since The Crucible. And this is true. When the dog, the stray dog, walked on stage during the play about the danger of stray dogs and bit one of the actors, the audience thought it was part of the show and applauded for the dog.
--:-- Paula Poundstone: That guy playing the dog did a great job. He really did.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Alzo, I think Paula did really, really well.
--:-- Alzo Slade: Paula got a lot, bro. She leaves me with a lot. She's a lot. She got eight right for 16 points with a total of 18. Wow. That put her way out front.
--:-- Peter Sagal: You didn't miss a one. She did not miss one. That was remarkable. All right, then. So how many does Peter need to win?
--:-- Alzo Slade: Peter needs eight to win.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Here you go, Peter. This is for the game. On Tuesday, President Trump suggested he may withhold back pay owed to workers affected by the blank.
--:-- Peter Gross: The shutdown.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. On Monday, renewables overtook blank as the world's biggest source of energy.
--:-- Peter Gross: Overtook, like, oil and gas?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah, fossil fuels. This week, a man was arrested in connection with starting the Palisades wildfire that burned through blank early this year.
--:-- Peter Gross: Los Angeles?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. Under pressure from the White House, the Justice Department has indicted New York Attorney General blank.
--:-- Peter Gross: But this is James.
--:-- Peter Sagal: Right. During an interview celebrating how he was turning 100 in just two months, Dick Van Dyke said blank.
--:-- Peter Gross: I regret everything.
--:-- Peter Sagal: No. He said, quote, it would be pretty funny if he didn't make it. On Monday, electric car company blank unveiled cheaper models of their two most popular cars.
--:-- Peter Gross: The one that makes those dumb trucks. Tesla?
--:-- Peter Sagal: Yeah. According to new data, tariffs have greatly increased the cost of blank costumes.
--:-- Peter Gross: Halloween costumes?
--:-- Peter Sagal: This week, a man who was ticketed for talking on his phone while driving had the ticket voided because it turns out the phone was blank.
--:-- Peter Gross: It was an Altoids box.
--:-- Peter Sagal: No, it was a candy bar, and he wasn't talking on it. He was eating it. A man was pulled over by police. They caught him talking on his phone while driving, against the law there, but he said he wasn't on the phone at all. He was just eating a candy bar. And it would have worked, too, at least until his stomach started ringing. Alzo, did Peter Gross do well enough to win?
--:-- Alzo Slade: Nope. Peter got six right for 12 points. Total of 16. Paula is the champion.
--:-- Peter Sagal: In just a minute, our panelists are going to predict what will be the controversial song on Taylor Swift's next album. But first, let me tell you all that Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Oahu Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godeker writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shana Donald. Special thanks to Hutch and Leslie Hutchinson for all their help this week. And big thanks to the staff and crew at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. B.J. Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Doranbos, and Lillian King. Special thanks this week to Blythe Robertson and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynn is not here. Emma Choi is our vibe curator. Technical director is Lorna White. Our CFO and absolute road dog is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilock. And the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is Mr. Michael Danforth. Now panel, what will be the next controversial song by Taylor Swift?
--:-- Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Come clip my cat's toes with me.
--:-- Peter Gross: A song destined to anger Chiefs fans called "Tush Push, Fly Eagles Fly, I Wanna Jail Until It Hurts."
--:-- Paula Poundstone: Well, it's either gonna be "Tight-fitting Receptacle Change Purse" or "Tiny Box."
--:-- Peter Sagal: Well, if any of that happens, we'll ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Alzo Slade. Thanks also to Peter Gross, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, and Paula Poundstone. A very special thanks to Valerie Yee and the entire staff at Hawaii Public Radio and our fabulous audience here in beautiful Honolulu. I'm Peter Sagal. We'll see you next week. This is NPR.
--:-- [Sponsor messages play]
