WWDTM: One Last Gift to Unwrap

Speaker 1 Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. For many families, remembering loved ones means honoring the details that made them unique.

Speaker 1 Dignity Memorial is dedicated to professionalism and compassion in every detail of a life celebration. Find a provider near you at dignitymemorial.com.

Speaker 3 From NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait and Wait Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz Show.

Speaker 3 I'm Tim Meadows, and I'm a little disappointed that this is what Bill Curtis meant when he invited me to be part of his Christmas vacation.

Speaker 3 And here's our host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal.

Speaker 3 Thank you, Tim.

Speaker 1 And as Tim said, Bill took off early for his Christmas break, but we're so happy to have you with us because who better to share these wonderful segments from the past year than somebody who hasn't heard them yet?

Speaker 3 Well, I look forward to regretting that I missed them the first time.

Speaker 1 Let's start with what may be a true highlight of a year filled with them.

Speaker 1 In September, we went to Kansas City at the same time as legendary singer Dion Warwick, who was there on tour, and she joined us on stage to talk about her incredible life.

Speaker 1 Here is an extended version of our talk with her.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 1 So, your first of many hits, Don't Make Me Over, was released in 1962. Sure was.
It's 62 years later and you are still performing. Are you still enjoying it? Are you having fun? Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, it's something I've always tell people,

Speaker 1 I never wanted to work. To work?

Speaker 1 Ever. No.

Speaker 1 And when

Speaker 1 this ever becomes a job,

Speaker 1 That's when I take my ballet slippers and do my pirouette and say bye.

Speaker 1 You'd be done. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Do you have any idea what you'd do instead?

Speaker 1 Oh yeah. Sure.
Well like what? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Well I have already I have an interior design company. There you go.
Oh wow.

Speaker 1 Yeah, so if you need something done. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I was wondering what those paint stains were, but I know, that's great.

Speaker 1 I wonder, you have had such an extraordinary career, we can't even go into it.

Speaker 1 Is there a moment like that stands out for you in your career where you simply like, I cannot believe that a nice young woman from Orange, New Jersey is doing this?

Speaker 1 Was it, for example, performing for the Queen of England? Was it getting a lifetime achievement Grammy? Is there anything like that stands out? Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1 I actually stopped

Speaker 1 Sydney Poitier.

Speaker 1 I did. I really did.

Speaker 1 I don't think anybody can blame you for it.

Speaker 1 I think I speak for America when I say do tell.

Speaker 1 I was coming out of a recording session

Speaker 1 and we were walking down Broadway.

Speaker 1 And all of a sudden, I realized I was walking behind Sidney Poitier.

Speaker 1 And I said, Oh my god. And you know, you've seen it in film.

Speaker 1 I did it.

Speaker 1 You know, you walk behind somebody, you don't want them to know that you're walking behind them, and then they stop, and you stop, and you

Speaker 1 so he like, oh, really? So he like spins around because it's like someone's following me, and you did the thing where you looked away. Oh, no, I just happened to be standing here two feet behind you.

Speaker 1 No, he stopped at a red light. That's when he turned around and said,

Speaker 1 young lady, I said,

Speaker 1 you talking to me?

Speaker 1 You've been following me.

Speaker 1 Is there a reason?

Speaker 1 And of course I said,

Speaker 1 at a complete loss of words.

Speaker 1 And finally, I got up the nerve to ask him,

Speaker 1 will you sign this piece of paper for me?

Speaker 1 He said, of course I will. And he did and i still have that piece of paper

Speaker 1 all right forgive me

Speaker 1 but did it not occur to you at that moment to say i'm dion

Speaker 1 perhaps you know me for my many gold records i don't think he would have cared

Speaker 1 it was it was one of those really surreal moments where i mean i'm looking in the face

Speaker 1 of Sidney Foster.

Speaker 1 You know, and

Speaker 1 such a nice man. Yes.
A lovely man.

Speaker 1 Every time I was around him after

Speaker 1 years go by,

Speaker 1 every time he said,

Speaker 1 young lady, can I do something?

Speaker 1 Really? So did he remember that? Because you probably ran into him many times. You'd remember that.

Speaker 1 Did he, that first instant, did he in fact know who you were? No. He had no idea.
I didn't know who I was.

Speaker 1 It is amazing that that is the story you chose to tell from your remarkable career, and I kind of love it. Before we get to our little game with you, I did want to ask you about something else.

Speaker 1 In addition to everything else you've done, you have now been called the queen of Twitter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 You adopted Twitter,

Speaker 1 and you are very good at it. Thank you.
And I'm sure you, I have no doubt, having met you now, that you do it yourself.

Speaker 1 Here are some of your best tweets. We have them here.
Here's one from 2021. I just heard about Leonardo DiCaprio's 25-year rule, his loss, you don't know what you're missing.

Speaker 1 And it's true. It is true.

Speaker 1 Which brings up another topic. I found out you were married once.
That ended in the mid-70s. You never married again.
What is it like to be out of everybody's league?

Speaker 1 I am having the best time.

Speaker 1 I do, however, I just got to add one more tweet before we move on. This is from 2022 from Ms.
Dion Warwick the Legend. I will be dating Pete Davidson next.

Speaker 1 Oh, why not? He's dating everybody else. I know.

Speaker 1 Deion Warwick, it is such an honor to talk to you.

Speaker 1 And we have asked you here to play a game we're calling...

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 so that's what friends are for.

Speaker 1 That's what friends are for. Obviously, one of your greatest signature hits, but as great a song as it is, it doesn't cover all the things friends are for.

Speaker 1 So, we're gonna ask you three questions about other things that friends do.

Speaker 1 If you get two right, you'll win a prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose for their voicemail. Bill, who is Dion Warwick playing for you?

Speaker 1 Teresa Durkin of Kansas City, Missouri.

Speaker 1 All right. Are you ready for this? All ready.
First question.

Speaker 1 Friends are great for helping you move, and you probably should call your friends rather than a certain real moving company, A, Shattered Glass Movers in Seattle, Washington, B, Hernia Movers in Milwaukee, or C, two guys and no truck movers.

Speaker 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. One of those is real.

Speaker 1 Well, I don't like the sound of shattered glass

Speaker 1 at all. No.
I have too many valuable pieces of it. Of course.

Speaker 1 Okay, so they're out.

Speaker 1 Hernia?

Speaker 1 Yeah, with some of the stuff that I have to move, they will get a hernia.

Speaker 1 You're right. Hernia movers

Speaker 1 are real. There you go.

Speaker 1 Hernia movers has been helping.

Speaker 1 She does. Hernia movers has been helping people move around Milwaukee since 1975.
Here's your next question. Another thing that friends are good for is, of course, rides to the airport.

Speaker 1 But it was likely a very bad friend who forgot what that was left at the Dublin airport. Was it, A, a tombstone with the inscription, you will always be remembered, never forgotten?

Speaker 1 B, their friend's car, which they left in long-term parking for so long that it cost $100,000 to get get it out or see their friend who has been living at the airport now for 14 years.

Speaker 1 Sounds like so much, though.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 I've been living there. You think? So you think that somebody went to the airport to get their friend, forgot to pick him up, and he's just been there for 14 years.

Speaker 1 The audience. All right, but you don't think I'm right.
That's all right.

Speaker 1 But having spent a little time with you, I absolutely respect your confidence here. It's what I should have expected, but it is actually A, the tombstone.
All right, here's your last question.

Speaker 1 The final thing friends are for is being a wingman. That is, helping you meet dates when you're out together.
Well, one such wingman posted his story on Reddit.

Speaker 1 He said his friend got divorced, was really broken up about it, so he took the divorced friend out to a bar to meet some ladies. And then what happened?

Speaker 1 A, the bartender recognized his friend and called the police to have him arrested for robbing the place two weeks earlier.

Speaker 1 B, the wingman introduced the friend to an attractive woman there who turned out to be the friend's ex.

Speaker 1 Or C, the friend kept trying the line on the ladies, he's my wingman, but when you and I get married, he'll be our wingman.

Speaker 1 Oh, I know, yes. Making that face.

Speaker 1 You can immediately throw out three, I think.

Speaker 1 I think it was his ex that he.

Speaker 1 You think it's that one? Yeah. You're right.
That's where I'm going.

Speaker 1 He says he was chatting up this woman in the bar. He said, Hey, have you met my friend John over here? Yes, she had.

Speaker 1 Wow.

Speaker 1 Bill, how did Dion Warwick do on our quiz? Oh, you know, she got two right. I forget the third.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 But that's a winner in our game.

Speaker 1 Add that to the list.

Speaker 1 Deion Warwick is a six-time Grammy winner. She's touring around the globe this year.
You can find dates at officialdeonwarwick.com.

Speaker 1 Deion Warwick, thank you so much for gracing us with your presence at Right Wake in Academy. Get it up for Living Legends, everybody.

Speaker 1 When we come back, Alison Felix, one of the greatest to ever run track, and interior designer Nate Burkis, one of the greatest ever to help you pick out a tie rack.

Speaker 3 Oof, no wonder Bill didn't want to be here for this.

Speaker 1 That's when we come back with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

Speaker 1 Hey, it's Peter Sagal. The year is almost over, and now is the time when NPR and I come to you hat in hand and ask for your support.

Speaker 1 Now, interestingly, the idiom hat in hand does not refer to, say, a street performer walking around holding out his hat for people to put in money. I always thought it was.

Speaker 1 No, it is actually referring to an old tradition when knights would remove their helmets and show humility.

Speaker 1 So it's really more about my attitude of supplication than it is about asking for money, even though, of course, I'm going to be asking for money.

Speaker 1 Now, if you heard that and you said to yourself, wow, that's fascinating. I was also under that misapprehension as to the idiom's meaning.
Then you, my friend, are one of us.

Speaker 1 That means you enjoy our show where we do trivia and jokes for smart people.

Speaker 1 Dumb jokes for smart people, to be sure, where we give you a break from the week's news, where we make your breakfast on the weekend with your family, or your walk with your dog, or other interminable tasks bearable.

Speaker 1 with our goofy, dumb, but we always think, smart humor.

Speaker 1 Now, if you heard me say that and you said to yourself, well, I know that, everybody knows that, then you are our ideal listener and you should donate even more. You know what you should do?

Speaker 1 If you're enjoying this little riff on idioms, you should join NPR Plus.

Speaker 1 A small recurring donation gets you special perks for more than 25 NPR podcasts, like sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes, even discounted items from the NPR shop.

Speaker 1 It only takes a few minutes to sign up and you can do it right now now at plus.npr.org. And if you've already donated to your local station or joined NPR Plus, the hat and I, thank you.

Speaker 1 We will be waiting for your donation with baited breath. And that's baited, B-A-T-E-D, short for like a baited, i.e.
we're holding our breath, but come on, you knew that.

Speaker 1 This message comes from NPR sponsor Patagonia. As environmental progress stalls, Patagonia believes it's on businesses to step up.

Speaker 1 The company knows it isn't perfect, but it's proving businesses can make a profit without bankrupting the planet.

Speaker 1 Out now is Patagonia's 2025 Work in Progress Report, a behind-the-scenes look into its impact initiatives from quitting forever chemicals and decarbonizing its supply chain to embracing fair trade.

Speaker 1 Explore more at patagonia.com/slash impact.

Speaker 2 This message comes from NPR sponsor LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Finding the right leads can feel like an endless search for sellers.
What if you could get to the right conversations faster?

Speaker 2 From finding new leads to strengthening existing relationships, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is your strategic AI-powered partner.

Speaker 2 It cuts through the noise with real-time data and insights, backed by LinkedIn's network of over 1 billion professionals. Try it free for 60 days at linkedin.com slash wait wait.

Speaker 2 That's linkedin.com slash wait wait. Terms and conditions apply

Speaker 1 this message comes from npr sponsor viking committed to exploring the world in comfort journey through the heart of europe on an elegant viking longship with thoughtful service destination focused dining and cultural enrichment on board and on shore and every viking voyage is all-inclusive with no children and no casinos discover more at viking.com

Speaker 3 from npr in wb e z chicago this is Wait and Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR news quiz. I'm Tim Meadows, filling in for Bill Curtis.

Speaker 3 And here's your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal.

Speaker 1 Thank you, Tim.

Speaker 1 And so you are hearing all these segments for the very first time. What do you think so far?

Speaker 3 Well, I'm amazed at what they can do with deep fake these days.

Speaker 3 It really sounded like you were really talking to Deion Warwick.

Speaker 1 If you thought that was impressive, wait till you hear this segment with Allison Felix, one of the greatest Olympians to ever lace up track shoes.

Speaker 1 She joined us in July of this year, right before this year's Olympics, with guest host, Karen Chi.

Speaker 4 I read online that you found out you were good at track because you were trying to make new friends at a new high school, right?

Speaker 5 Yeah, that's right. I just went out for the team to meet people, but I came out for basketball before that.
Gotcha. And like very quickly, it was clear that that was not my gift.
So

Speaker 4 everyone's like passing the ball, but you're just sprinting up and down the court.

Speaker 7 Yep.

Speaker 4 That's amazing. So, at what point in your life did you realize, even if your basketball skills weren't the greatest, when did you realize that you had a superhuman talent for running?

Speaker 5 It happened pretty quickly. So, I came out for the team in ninth grade, and then the first year after I graduated, I found myself in the Olympics.
So, it was kind of a woo-hoo.

Speaker 4 Allison, that's so incredible. I love that so much.
And I just want to say for the record, I've never tried track and field, so I'm going to try and I'll be at the next Olympics, I'm sure.

Speaker 4 I have a question, which is, um,

Speaker 4 so I love watching the games on television from my couch.

Speaker 7 And

Speaker 4 I always see

Speaker 4 athletes, but especially runners kind of like murmuring to themselves right before they start a race. Do you do that? And what are you saying to to yourself?

Speaker 5 I do. I definitely, I'm like talking to myself.
I think some people are like hyping themselves up. For me, I am talking like technical thoughts.

Speaker 5 I'm like, okay, drive because you're talking about coming out of the blocks. Keep your head down.

Speaker 5 I just like to give myself a few cues so that I can make sure like I'm locked in and those are the things I need to be thinking about.

Speaker 4 Wow, and then when you're actually running, are you also actively thinking or are you sort of letting muscle memory take over?

Speaker 5 At that point, I am. I have like cues at each point of the race.
I'm thinking like what I need to be doing when I hit certain like markers.

Speaker 5 But sometimes, if like your mind can wander to a place that's not good,

Speaker 5 sometimes, like in the 400, which is a race that I feel like is just way too long,

Speaker 7 I agree. I agree.

Speaker 5 Sometimes, if I'm running that race, I might get to like the 100 meters and I'll be like, oh my gosh, I'm already tired.

Speaker 7 That's not good.

Speaker 4 Olympians are just like us.

Speaker 7 Yeah.

Speaker 4 We agree we both think the 400 meters is too long.

Speaker 7 Too long!

Speaker 4 Because you run professionally, when you have to run for stuff in your everyday life, like if you're late for the bus or something, are you kind of just like, oh, now I'm doing work for free?

Speaker 5 Runners are actually the slowest walkers ever.

Speaker 5 It's factual, so I don't know. Yeah, we don't like to go fast anywhere else but on the track.

Speaker 7 Wow.

Speaker 4 That's pretty good.

Speaker 10 Olympians, just like that.

Speaker 7 That's fantastic.

Speaker 4 All right, Allison, we've asked you here to play a game we're calling.

Speaker 11 200 meters? How about these meters?

Speaker 4 You've won many medals racing the 200 meter and the 400 meter, so we thought we'd ask you about the parking meter.

Speaker 4 If you answer two out of three questions correctly about one of the last things you can use coins for,

Speaker 4 you will win a prize for one of our listeners, the voice of any one of us on their voicemail. Bill, who is Allison playing for?

Speaker 11 Brennan Schmidt of Concord, New Hampshire.

Speaker 4 All right, Allison, here's your first question.

Speaker 4 A man named Charles Mysack has sold used books on a New York street corner since the 90s, and he found the parking meter there very convenient in what way?

Speaker 4 A, he has sold over a million 25-cent postcards to people who needed change for the meter.

Speaker 4 B, he stored his books in the car, which he kept in the same parking spot for 11 years, feeding the meter every day.

Speaker 4 Or C, he protected his crate of valuable rare books by locking it to the meter with a bike lock.

Speaker 5 Let's go with A.

Speaker 4 Oh, would you want to guess again?

Speaker 12 B?

Speaker 7 Yes, correct!

Speaker 4 That is correct. He parked in the same space for 11 years, only moving the car for street cleanings.
I guess finally someone else zipped in there real fast.

Speaker 4 All right, Allison, here's your next question. In the state of Florida, parking meters aren't just for cars.
You are also required by law to feed the meter when.

Speaker 4 A, when you tie an alligator to the parking meter.

Speaker 4 B, when you are drinking rum on the sidewalk. Or C, when you are saving good seats for the Fourth of July parade.

Speaker 5 C, I mean, that's clever. Oh,

Speaker 6 we're going to give you a second try.

Speaker 5 I wish I could do this in the Olympics.

Speaker 4 A? Yes, that's correct.

Speaker 4 A is correct. So if you see an alligator on the sidewalk, park there.
The meter is already paid.

Speaker 4 Here is your last question. A New York parking enforcement officer was sent to jail after he embezzled over $90,000 in quarters that he collected from meters over the course of five years.

Speaker 4 How was he finally caught? A. he got a hole in his pocket, and police followed a trail of coins to his house.

Speaker 4 B, he was overheard on his collection route saying, One for you, a one for me.

Speaker 4 Or C, the bank in town called the police and said, Hey, this guy in a parking enforcement uniform keeps depositing huge piles of quarters into his bank account.

Speaker 5 I'm gonna do C.

Speaker 12 Yes, that's correct!

Speaker 4 What was he supposed to do? Go back to the office with all those quarters in his pockets? No, you walk right into the back in uniform and deposit them.

Speaker 4 Bill, how did Allison do on our quiz?

Speaker 14 He broke the tape and won all three races.

Speaker 4 Allison Felix is one of the greatest sprinters of all time, a multiple world and Olympic champion. Allison, thank you truly so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

Speaker 3 Before we move on, that's what you do. You invite world-class athletes and ask them silly questions about things you know nothing about, and they agree to it.
Well,

Speaker 1 yeah, we don't warn them in advance, they think we're normal NPR.

Speaker 1 I even have a Steve Inskeep wig.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I know, I fell for too.

Speaker 1 In August,

Speaker 1 in August of this year, we went to Minneapolis and were joined by one of the most famous sons of that city, designer Nate Burkis.

Speaker 11 So let's start at the beginning. You found your love of interior design while you were very young growing up here, right? I did, yeah.
Yeah, so how old are we talking?

Speaker 13 Well, my mother was an interior designer here in Minneapolis.

Speaker 13 I have a younger sister and a middle brother, and he once coined our family phrase as what we did on the weekends is either shop or be left behind.

Speaker 13 So my mother would take us to auctions and antiques malls and Stillwater and Downton Hopkins and all these places looking at old things and looking at antiques and vintage things.

Speaker 13 And my job was to carry the wallpaper books in from the trunk of her car to her home office, which is also why I have muscles.

Speaker 14 That's true, yeah.

Speaker 11 So you started out both as an interior designer and as a gym rat early on.

Speaker 13 Exactly,

Speaker 11 So if I met you at say the age of 10, would you be like all about design and antiques?

Speaker 13 No, no, but I was definitely sidetracked if there was somebody who was setting up for a garage sale on my way to the bus stop.

Speaker 8 I'm picturing a young story, like almost a forest gump-like serendipity where Prince is putting up plaid all over his estate and you're like, my man, Paisley, and then just walk away.

Speaker 14 That was me.

Speaker 7 Yeah, that was me.

Speaker 14 I'm actually Apolloni.

Speaker 7 I have more.

Speaker 7 Oh my God. That's amazing.

Speaker 11 Do you remember the first time you ever designed something? You ever set up a room?

Speaker 14 Yeah.

Speaker 13 No, I do. My parents gave me my own bedroom because I shared a room prior to that with my filthy younger brother.

Speaker 11 The worst one.

Speaker 7 Yeah.

Speaker 13 No, but the first thing I ever was allowed to design was my own bedroom.

Speaker 13 And I actually wrote about this years ago because it was such an interesting thing for me as a 12-year-old kid to be be able to pick out at the time, you know, again, my mom was an interior designer, so she had all the carpet samples and wallpaper books, and she said to me, what do you want your room to look like?

Speaker 13 And I remember it was the 80s, and I said, I want gray, white, and red.

Speaker 13 And she was like, that's so ugly, though. And I was like, but

Speaker 14 it's cool.

Speaker 13 And so I remember, though, that it was agency. That's what it felt like.
I had the agency to pick my own environment.

Speaker 13 And I do think that that's why I've spent the greater part of 30 years helping other people create a home that means something to them.

Speaker 13 I think that that is connected.

Speaker 11 I think that's great. I do love the idea of you as a, you said, 13-year-old.
12-year-old.

Speaker 14 12-year-old.

Speaker 11 Would you know, 12, you know, the early 1980s, very rebellious age, that the source of your conflict with your mother was

Speaker 6 color pouts.

Speaker 11 Did she like, you know, search your room when you weren't there and found like illicit swatch books in your

Speaker 14 sock drawer?

Speaker 1 You'd come home and she's holding up a pan to do it.

Speaker 7 It was amazing.

Speaker 13 No gay porn, just a wallpaper sample.

Speaker 6 Which, let's just be honest.

Speaker 7 I am.

Speaker 11 If your 12-year-old kid has wallpaper sample books hidden in his sock drawer, it's essentially the same as Cape Columbi.

Speaker 6 Peter.

Speaker 11 And either way, you get there, the conclusion has got to be the same.

Speaker 7 100%. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 9 Did you, like as a young man, was it hard to find places to design? Do you know what I mean? Like if you wanted to be in a band, you get a guitar.

Speaker 9 Were you like going, I think I could really fix up your ice fishing hut?

Speaker 13 No, I mean, you know what, though? Bobcat, actually, now that you ask,

Speaker 13 I was notorious among my friends when they would invite me over for a play date or sleepover, whatever, that I remember my friend, Ronnie Swartz, his mother came home and Ronnie and I were like hanging out and like, you know, at their house, and I had pushed all the living room furniture into a different location.

Speaker 7 So, you know,

Speaker 6 it wasn't, and she said, did you move my sofa? And I said, yeah, don't you think it looks better like this?

Speaker 7 And she said, I do.

Speaker 7 Wait, I have a question.

Speaker 15 You and your husband are both hot. That has nothing to do with the question.
I just wanted to say I'm hoping. Okay.

Speaker 7 All right.

Speaker 15 Wait, so since you're both designers, who wins? Like, you have a chair in your house that you hate doing?

Speaker 14 We would.

Speaker 6 Okay, so here's the thing.

Speaker 13 If one person hates it, it's out. And we don't talk about it, and you can't try and sell it to the other person.
And boy, can we sell to each other?

Speaker 6 So you can't, like, if one, if I say I hate it, then the conversation's done, and vice versa.

Speaker 13 We will fight, like,

Speaker 13 beyond, like really, really rip each other to shreds over who ate the last piece of pizza before we fight over a sofa.

Speaker 9 That's found by couple therapy.

Speaker 13 Right? I mean, you know.

Speaker 1 Nate Burkis, we're delighted to have you here.

Speaker 11 We have asked you to play a game we're calling.

Speaker 11 Try some exterior decorating. So, you do interior decor.
We thought we'd ask you about exterior decor, namely tattoos.

Speaker 7 Perfect.

Speaker 6 Is it perfect?

Speaker 1 Yeah, this is great.

Speaker 11 So we're going to ask you three questions about tattoos. Get two right.
You win a prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Nate Burkis playing for? Martin Gardner of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Speaker 11 Here's your first question. Ready?

Speaker 11 When Ariana Grande released her single Seven Rings, she celebrated by going down to the tattoo parlor and getting a tattoo of the two Japanese characters meaning seven and ring. Seven, ring.

Speaker 11 One problem though, what was it? A, the tattoo artist inked a seven next to a little portrait of Ringo Starr.

Speaker 11 B, the tattoo artist instead did the Japanese characters for Bad and Blood because Bad Blood is a Taylor Swift single that he preferred to any of her music.

Speaker 11 Or, C, those two characters combined form a proper noun meaning a small charcoal grill.

Speaker 11 I'm going with C. You're correct.

Speaker 6 Yes, it was.

Speaker 11 Basically, I mean, it's like you try to get something and it ends up just being like a hibachi.

Speaker 7 All right.

Speaker 11 Next question. Tattoo artists sometimes make mistakes, like when a cannabis enthusiast asked for a tattoo of a pocket watch showing the time 4.20.

Speaker 11 But what happened?

Speaker 11 A, even though it's in ink and never changes, the clock is still always four minutes fast B he did the pocket watch with the lid closed so you can't see what time it is or C he accidentally drew it backwards Realizing afterwards that now the clock reads 740

Speaker 13 I Think he drew it backwards.

Speaker 11 You're right. It says 740

Speaker 13 Tend to think I've been just selling bath mats all these years.

Speaker 14 I know

Speaker 6 you could have been acing quizzes, I guess.

Speaker 7 Anyway, last question.

Speaker 11 See if you can make this as perfect as everything else is.

Speaker 11 Sometimes a tattoo artist's mistake turns out to be a kind of happy accident. Like in which of these cases? A, a tattoo reading Murphy's Law, i.e.

Speaker 11 the idea that anything that can go wrong will go wrong,

Speaker 11 and he misspelled it Murphy's Law.

Speaker 7 B,

Speaker 11 an artist

Speaker 11 putting in the name of a man's new baby put Maya, instead of the baby's name, Mara, but it turned out the doctor had made the same typo in the birth certificate.

Speaker 11 Or C, a woman got a tattoo of a forest which looked terrible, but it just so happened the tree trunks happened to form a UPC code that gets her the employee discount when she scans it at Nordstrom.

Speaker 13 I think it's B.

Speaker 11 You think it's B, the matching typos? No, it was actually Murphy's Law. It was.

Speaker 6 Murphy's Law.

Speaker 11 The client saw it and was utterly delighted.

Speaker 11 Bill, how did Nate Burkus do on our quiz? It was almost perfect, but you still got two out of three, which means you're a winner.

Speaker 11 Nate Burkus is an acclaimed interior designer who is up to so many different things. You can find them all at nateburkis.com.

Speaker 1 Nate Burkis, thank you so much for being on our late tonight.

Speaker 1 Thank you, sir. Nate Burkis, everybody.

Speaker 1 Hometown hero.

Speaker 1 When we come back, one of the greatest actors alive talks about getting his parts just right. And the comedian makes the worst mistake anybody can make taking part in a game show.

Speaker 3 Oh, come on, now you're just trolling me.

Speaker 1 That's when we come back with more of what wait, don't tell me from NPR.

Speaker 1 Support for this podcast and the following message come from Mint Mobile. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no.
No contracts, no monthly bills, no hidden fees. Plans start at $15 a month.

Speaker 1 Make the switch at mintmobile.com/slash wait. That's mintmobile.com/slash wait.
Upfront payment of $45 required equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time new customer offer for first three months only.

Speaker 1 Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra.
See Mint Mobile for details.

Speaker 1 This message comes from Superhuman, the AI productivity suite that gives you superpowers everywhere you work.

Speaker 1 With Grammarly, Mail, and Coda coming together, you get proactive help across your workflow. So you can outsmart the chaos.
Experience AI that proactively helps you go from to-do to done faster.

Speaker 1 Unleash your superhuman potential today. Learn more at superhuman.com slash podcast.
That's superhuman.com/slash slash podcast.

Speaker 3 From NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR news quiz. I'm Tim Meadows, filling in for Bill Curtis.

Speaker 3 And here's your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

Speaker 1 Thank you, Tim. Thank you, everybody.

Speaker 1 Now, we're thrilled to have Tim here because while some of the segments we are rebroadcasting this week are quite familiar familiar to you, they're new to him.

Speaker 3 Well, no, that's not actually true. I absolutely listened to some of these when they were broadcast because sometimes the Uber driver refuses to change the station.

Speaker 1 Well, I hope you didn't hear this conversation with actor Gary Oldman, who appeared in September to talk about the new season of his show about seemingly incompetent British spies, the show Slow Horses.

Speaker 1 I asked him about the character he plays, Jackson Lamb.

Speaker 12 Jackson Lamb was once a very, very good agent working for

Speaker 12 MI5.

Speaker 12 What we see when we meet him in slow horses is the sort of smoldering embers of a man that was

Speaker 12 once legendary.

Speaker 1 I think that Jackson Lamb has the greatest character introduction I have ever seen. When we meet Jackson Lamb, he's having a nap.
in the office and he farts himself awake.

Speaker 1 I mean,

Speaker 1 let's face it, you've done a lot of good work in your career, Gary, but I don't know if you've ever done anything that immediately abocative.

Speaker 12 You know, but we do. I never thought I'd see the day where I'm having email exchanges with the director

Speaker 12 talking about

Speaker 12 the quality of farts.

Speaker 12 But because that, you know, they, I'm not a method actor, so they have to double it off

Speaker 12 or should I say I'm not a methene actor

Speaker 1 I was gonna ask is it like when you have a stand-in?

Speaker 4 Like, you know, when someone doesn't want to do a nude scene, they have a stand-in. Is there somebody who is farting in place of you?

Speaker 1 Yeah. Do you have a colon double?

Speaker 1 And actually, shouldn't that be the person nominated for an ME?

Speaker 1 Be a little selfish, Gary.

Speaker 12 No, I'm sure there's someone in the room.

Speaker 12 Karen,

Speaker 12 to answer your question. I'm sure there's someone in the room.

Speaker 1 You have to be.

Speaker 1 And you were nominated for an Emmy. You were there.

Speaker 1 If I'm not mistaken, you were caught up in the great Shogun sweep of all the awards, right?

Speaker 12 Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, they were, I think they were nominated for 14 and they won 25.

Speaker 1 How do they do that?

Speaker 1 Did you have a speech ready? I've always wondered about that.

Speaker 12 Yeah, I think it's polite.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and what do you do with it if you don't get to use it?

Speaker 1 That's the unfortunate.

Speaker 12 Well, more recently, my wife has been keeping them and throwing them sort of in a box in the archive, as it were.

Speaker 1 How many do you have?

Speaker 12 Well, I've lost a lot.

Speaker 1 Not quite a collection.

Speaker 1 Gary, it is an absolute pleasure to talk to you again. And once again, we have asked you here to play a game, and this time we are calling it

Speaker 16 the slowest horses of all.

Speaker 1 You are, of course, star in slow horses, as we have discussed, so we thought we'd ask you about the very slowest horses, that is, hobby horses.

Speaker 1 Hobby horses are, of course, the toy, it's a stick with a horse's head.

Speaker 1 And people actually ride these hobby horses in competitive events called hobby horsing, where they go around gates and jump over fences and do dressage just like real horses.

Speaker 1 So, we're going to ask you three questions about hobby horsing. Get two of them right.
You will win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they may choose for their voicemail.

Speaker 1 Ayesha, who is Gary Oldman playing for?

Speaker 16 Martin Oliver of Los Angeles, California.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 Ready to do this?

Speaker 1 Have you heard or seen hobby horsing?

Speaker 12 I have seen it.

Speaker 12 Yeah, it's pretty out there.

Speaker 1 It's pretty out there.

Speaker 1 So, now if you've watched it, and there are many videos online, you can watch them, you'll notice that it's very popular with young girls.

Speaker 1 But according to Hobby Horse Riders Australia, boys are starting to get interested in the sport, but with a notable change. What is it? A, they prefer hobby war horsing with jousts.

Speaker 1 B they make and ride hobby dinosaurs. Or C, boys rules allow them to turn the horses around and pretend the sticks are guns.

Speaker 12 I'm going to go with jousting.

Speaker 1 You're going to go with jousting. That is a natural choice, but it's actually hobby dinosaurs.
No, buddy.

Speaker 1 Yeah?

Speaker 1 You still have have two more chances, so you're all good here.

Speaker 1 The very first American Hobby Horse Championships were held in Michigan, and the competitors who came had to deal with some significant obstacles, such as which of these.

Speaker 1 A, due to a quirk in Michigan law, the horses had to be stabled and given adequate food and water, even though they are not real.

Speaker 1 B, those who flew there could not bring their hobby horses on board the plane because they could be used as a weapon.

Speaker 1 Or C, the Northern Midwest Alliance for Animal Liberation, which on the first day of competition tried to liberate the quote spiritual horses.

Speaker 12 I'm gonna have to go with C.

Speaker 1 No, I'm afraid it was B. They could not bring the hobby horses onto the plane because they are essentially four-foot-long sticks.
You could use them as a weapon, so.

Speaker 12 Okay, that was the obvious one.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 All right, you have one more chance here. Let's see what happens.

Speaker 1 Some competitors use the hobby horse for every event, but you know, when it's time to retire your loyal hobby horse, don't worry, because you can always do what?

Speaker 1 A, bring them to Lincoln, Massachusetts, where they can live out to the end of their days with other hobby and rocking horses in a grassy kind of pasture.

Speaker 1 B, just break them in half to create two hobby ponies.

Speaker 1 Or C, send them to a factory to be turned into wood.

Speaker 12 I'm thinking

Speaker 12 when you're done with the horse,

Speaker 12 I'm not saying that you literally turn it into two ponies, but you just slap this thing over your knee and throw it in the pin.

Speaker 1 No, it was actually A.

Speaker 1 Nobody knows who put the first rocking horse in this pasture near Lincoln, Massachusetts, but it has been joined over the years by dozens more hobby horses, rocking horses. So Aisha,

Speaker 1 proud of

Speaker 1 Oscar winning

Speaker 1 actor Gary Oldman doing our quiz. Well,

Speaker 1 I think that because he has lost a lot with the Emmys and things like that,

Speaker 1 I think we should give it to him. I think you're right.

Speaker 1 You know?

Speaker 1 Well, congratulations on this big win. I hope it makes up for everyone.

Speaker 1 Gary Oldman is an Oscar winning actor, and if you have not yet watched him in the show Slow Horses on Apple TV, I envy you because you get to start from the beginning.

Speaker 1 Gary Oldman, thank you so much for joining us on WeightWork.com. What a pleasure to talk to you again.
Take care. Awesome.

Speaker 2 This message comes from Fisher Investments. Senior Vice President Michael Hasmar shares why he believes in empowering clients with knowledge at every step of their financial planning journey.

Speaker 10 At Fisher Investments, we prefer to use a sizable group of experts with a diverse skill set, diverse knowledge, all collaborating together to deliver what hopefully is optimal advice for our clients.

Speaker 10 I believe the best and maybe the only way to properly address client expectations is through education.

Speaker 10 Once I've met with a prospective client for the first time, I hope they feel that they've learned something. I hope they feel they've made some

Speaker 10 and they understand not only the financial markets and financial planning better, but they understand their own personal goals and objectives a bit better as well.

Speaker 10 I hope they have a little bit more peace of mind.

Speaker 2 Learn more at fisherinvestments.com. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss.

Speaker 1 Finally, also in September, we spoke to comedian and impressionist Jay Farrow, who had just become the host of a new game show called The Quiz with Balls.

Speaker 1 Really?

Speaker 1 Tim, do you happen to know Jay Farrow I actually am Jay Farrow

Speaker 1 this is us I'm doing the Tim Meadows impression right now that's pretty impressive here is Jay as himself

Speaker 1 so first of all I should say welcome to the pinnacle of human achievement the game show host it's not as it's not as easy as it looks is it no no no it's it's not as easy as it looks and you definitely just have to be able to improv and be able to just think on the fly.

Speaker 1 On the show and in your own comedy, you are known for these astounding impressions. Is there one like in your entire roster of people you can do that you're most proud of?

Speaker 1 The one that I would say I'm the originator of it, and nobody had done it like me, was Will Smith.

Speaker 1 And that one is just that's just one that's you, you know, like, you know, that's the one that you know, everybody,

Speaker 1 you know pretty much like loves

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 it it's not the kind of impression that's like just found you know it's not like a it's not like a hot pocket it was more like tenderloin

Speaker 1 that was

Speaker 1 and i'll say that was a little early is what that was i'll say i've seen jay also does a fantastic discussion and i imagine at some point you ended up slapping everybody's asking

Speaker 1 this like you know i really do apologize you know to everybody in america and everybody ubiquitously around the world.

Speaker 1 What I should have done instead of smacking Chris Rock was I should have waited for the commercial break and got away with the whole situation.

Speaker 1 Well, this might be fun because who knows, you can do this as a group. Jay Farrow, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling You Can Keep Your balls

Speaker 1 so as we have established you host the game show the quiz with balls so we thought we'd ask you about games that don't require any balls at all answer two out of three questions right and you will win our prize for one of our listeners Bill who is Jay Farrow playing for?

Speaker 1 Shane Brown of Portland, Oregon. All right, here is your first question.

Speaker 1 There's lots of games you can play with a frisbee instead of a ball, but not all frisbees are alike. You could find yourself catching which of these?

Speaker 1 A, the combat frisbee, lined with razors along the edge. B, frisbee for dummies, which has an iron coating and comes with gloves lined with magnets.

Speaker 1 Or C, a disc molded out of the ashes of Ed Hedrick, one of the inventors of the frisbee.

Speaker 1 Well, I hope it's not the third one.

Speaker 1 I don't know. I don't know, Kev.
What are you, Kev? Do you have anything on this? Ah, listen. I was thinking.

Speaker 1 Listen, people, sweat a guy. Tell you this.
Tell you this right now.

Speaker 1 I believe that the answer is B. That's what I think it is.

Speaker 1 So you're going to trust Kevin Hart on this, Jack? Is that what you're going to do? I got to trust Kev.

Speaker 1 I think you know me. He lets you down.
It was C. It's actually

Speaker 1 a guy who invented, as part of his will, one of the guys who invented the frisbee.

Speaker 1 He asked to be cremated, and then he had his ashes mixed in to plastic to make frisbees

Speaker 1 that were sold for charity and they're out there in the world.

Speaker 1 We still have two more chances. All right, here's your next question.
Cornhole, that's the game popular here in the Midwest, where you try to toss bean bags through a hole in a board.

Speaker 1 We all know this game, right? But there are international variants, such as which of these? One of these is real.

Speaker 1 A, the game of Tejo in Colombia, where players throw their bags at exploding targets filled with gunpowder.

Speaker 1 B, Tramp Hole in Australia, where you bounce off a mini trampoline and try to throw yourself through the hole.

Speaker 1 Or C, Crick Hole in England, where the other player can defend the goal with a cricket bat.

Speaker 1 You know what? Would Jay-Z help out with this one? I don't think that's. Is there something that Jay-Z says a lot that might be the answer?

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 basically,

Speaker 1 after thinking about that comparatively to the other answers,

Speaker 1 I'll say A.

Speaker 1 Jay-Z is correct. That is right.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 it's absolutely true.

Speaker 1 Imagine

Speaker 1 cornhole, but if you hit the target, an explosive charge goes off. Boom, it is the second most popular sport in Colombia after soccer.

Speaker 1 You know, my intuition spoke for me. That was the hustler, homie.

Speaker 1 All right, last question.

Speaker 1 Everybody loves to play darts, right? But it's not as easy as it looks. What is a proven way to improve your darts game?

Speaker 1 A, just closing your eyes and throwing randomly toward the target, B, spinning around four times and then throwing it like a discus toss,

Speaker 1 or C, just getting a little drunk.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 let me, before I answer this question, I'm just going to say,

Speaker 1 There is a lot of fallacy that's been spoken. A lot of things could be evil.

Speaker 1 Oh, Lord.

Speaker 1 I'm going to go with B.

Speaker 1 Sir, are you sure?

Speaker 1 You shouldn't be crying. Come on, this is a festive time.
You're just answering questions. That's all.

Speaker 1 So, So,

Speaker 1 B. Have to say it like a door.

Speaker 1 For some reason, I've never said this with more pleasure, but you're wrong.

Speaker 1 I'm having a lot of emotions here, Jay.

Speaker 1 The answer is actually C, getting drunk. Studies have proved that just a little alcohol improves your dart game.
That's why they play it in bars. But technically, Jay didn't get any of them wrong.

Speaker 1 He did, Jay. Yes,

Speaker 1 you walk out of here with a clean record. Bill, how did Jay and his friends do in our quiz? You know, he's a winner, and you're going to leave a winner.
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 It's not your fault.

Speaker 1 That's it for our It's Tim Meadows first time edition.

Speaker 1 Wait, Wait, Don't Tommy is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Hair Car Productions, Doug Berman, benevolent overlord. Philip Godeker writes our limericks.

Speaker 1 Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shane Adonald.
B.J. Lederman composed our theme.
Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Rombos, and Lillian King.

Speaker 1 Special thanks to Monica Hickey and Blythe Robertson. Peter Gwynn is our belly full of jelly.
Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Technical direction is from Lorna White.
Our CFO is Colin Miller.

Speaker 1 Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chillog.
And the executive producer of Waitweight, Don't Tell me, is Mike Danforth.

Speaker 1 Thanks to everybody you heard on today's show: our panelists, our guests, guest host, Karen Chi, guest scorekeeper Aisha Roscoe, and of course, Mr. Tim Meadows.

Speaker 1 And thanks to all of you for listening here at the Stuart Baker Baker Theater and wherever you might be. I'm Peter Sagal.
We'll be back next week.

Speaker 1 This

Speaker 1 is NPR.

Speaker 2 This message comes from Mint Mobile. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no.
No contracts, no monthly bills, no hidden fees. Plans start at $15 a month.

Speaker 2 Make the switch at mintmobile.com slash switch. That's mintmobile.com slash switch.
Upfront payment of $45 for three month 5 gigabyte plan required. Equivalent to $15 a month.

Speaker 2 New customer offer for first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra.
See Mint Mobile for details. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Capella University.

Speaker 2 With Capella's FlexPath Learning Format, you can set your own deadlines and learn on your schedule. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University.
Learn more at capella.edu.

Speaker 17 This message comes from Bombas. Treat your feet right this season with merino wool, cashmere, long staple cotton, and more.
Premium materials, better basics.

Speaker 17 Visit bombas.com/slash npr and use code NPR for 20% off your first order.