Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Ally Love

Episode Date: April 10, 2021

Ally Love, fitness instructor with Peloton, answers three questions about skeletons. She is joined by panelists Paula Poundstone, Joel Kim Booster, and Maeve Higgins.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. Hey there, MLB, why not play me? An all-star game of Base Bill. I'm Bill Curtis, and here he is, a man who somehow wrote off his eyebrows as a business expense. It's Peter Sagal. A man who somehow wrote off his eyebrows as a business expense. It's Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. And thanks one more time to our completely fake audience.

And I want you guys to know, I believe you're real. Over the last year, a lot of people have turned to the teachings of a certain spiritual leader who's given us hope, faith, and encouragement that we can emerge from this ordeal with a healthy mind and fantastic buns. I'm talking, of course, about superstar exercise guru, Allie Love. You may know her from Sundays with Love on Peloton. She'll be joining us later. So remember to do your warmup by calling in to play our games. The number is 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. It's time to welcome our first listener contestant. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, I'm Daniel Cosme here, a colleague from Jackson, Wyoming.

Hi, how are you, Daniel? Jackson is quite near the Grand Tetons, right? Yeah, exactly. Do you get to go outside and enjoy yourself at all? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you're just surrounded by any direction you go, and there's no shortage of just amazing things to do, and they're vacantly into the beautiful void.

It's pretty fantastic. You know, speaking as someone who's been locked inside my suburban house for a long time, can you tell me something about your life that sucks just to make me feel a little bit? It's snowing right now. It's snowing right now.

Is that all you got? It's snowing right now in the beautiful T Grand Teton mountains. And the ski conditions are subpar. Does that make you feel a little better? Oh, OK. I feel better. Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. Let me introduce you to our panel this week, Daniel. First up, she's a writer and comedian. You can hear weekly on The Atlantic podcast, Social Distance with Dr. James Hamblin. It's Maeve Higgins. Hi. Hi, Daniel.

Hi, Maeve. It's Maeve Higgins. Hi. Hi, Daniel. Hi, Maeve. Next, he's a comedian and host of a new show on SiriusXM that NPR rules prevent us from naming, but the name rhymes with Joy Luck Club. It's Joel Kim Booster.

Hey, Daniel. Hey, Joel. And finally, a comedian you can hear weekly on her podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone, available on her website or wherever you might get your podcast, it's Paula Poundstone. Daniel, welcome to the show. You're going to play Who's Bill this time. 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 will win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose on your voicemail. You ready to play? Yes, I am. Here's your first quote. Seems a lot like no shirt, no shoes, no service. That was a Harvard law professor talking about what new ID that Americans may need to enter businesses.

A COVID vaccine ID. Yes, or vaccine passport, as they're being called. That's right. Many states have announced plans to institute vaccine passports, as they're being called. That's right. Many states have announced plans to institute vaccine passports, a document that says you've been vaccinated and thus can go where you please. Great. Not only do we have to put on pants again, we have to carry something in the pocket. That said, passports for daily life seem fun. Oh, look, I have entry stamps for TGI Fridays and a vape shop. But remember, if you want to go to IHOP, that does require a visa. Fridays and a vape shop. But remember, if you want to go to IHOP, that does require a visa. I think it should be the other way around. I think that you should get like a stamp. So you can say like, okay, I've gotten people sick in Italy. I've gotten people sick in Peru. Like that's how it should be stamped. And then of course, what this means is that high schoolers will be going out and getting fake vaccine passports. You'll have all these 16 year olds trying to pass themselves off as a 55 year old with a comorbidity just to go see Godzilla versus Kong.

I think I first got a fake ID. It wasn't a passport, but I was like 14. I can't remember. I was dating Matt Gates at the time. dating um matt gates at the time and but i can't wait like the second i get vaccinated i'm gonna get um a little a little passport i love showing off about stuff like that oh sure i want to get one i i just wish they'd make them like fun and cute and like collectible like pokemon cards you know and i wish you got one for every vaccine that you get just imagine if they were like tradable and some of them were holographic and some of them weren't. It would be so fun and cool.

Like gamify the vaccine passport system. It occurs to me, though, if you're going to start the program of having some sort of document to allow you to enter a business, you should just go with that as far as you need to. So for example, if you're going to go into this bar, not only do you have to prove that you've had a vaccine, but also that you're a good tipper and that you understand that the bartender is not flirting with you. She's just doing her job. I don't know why you would have like maybe a little tattoo saying, you know, 15%. That's not a very good tip, is it? No. No, it's not. Maeve, what have you been tipping? Maeve, you have to get that one lasered off.

That's true. Do you have this percentage tattooed in your wrist so you know how much to tip? You're like sitting there, oh, let me calculate the bill, guys, and you look at your wrist and go, well, it's 15%. Yeah, I mean, and I have a whole load of equations to figure out what 15% of every number is. Yes. Oh, my God. You're going to have to have that removed.

It was expensive, and the tattoo artist was mad because I only tipped him 15%. You know, that's another reason to go to 20. It's just easier to calculate. It's time and brain power. Or 10, Paula. Oh, yeah. No, you want to get out alive. All right, Daniel.

Your next quote is from someone protesting on Twitter. It's official. No more Coca-Cola products in my house. It's Pepsi. That was someone announcing that the drinks in their house will now be bad because Coca-Cola decided to protest what? Georgia's voter registration restriction law. protest what? Georgia's voter registration restriction law. Yes, the Georgia voting bill. Everybody is mad at Georgia over their new voting laws. Even corporations are speaking out. You heard about Coca-Cola. There's Delta. Major League Baseball has announced they've moved the All-Star game out of Atlanta. Even the

midnight train is now going to Colorado. You know, I'll tell you something yes um i'm so glad that delta came around to opposing voter what's the word suppression suppression thank you it's critics call it yeah voter suppression and especially because uh not only do i need the option to fly Delta, but they also have these cookies that I just love. Paula, don't get me started. Don't get me started on those cookies. Was it Biscoff? Yes.

Those tan cookies. I just found some. I put on an old coat that I hadn't worn all season, and I found a pack of those cookies, and they hold up. Years old. You guys are getting excited about those incredibly stiff, nearly tasteless biscotti. Peter, you shut your mouth. Yeah, honestly, they're not. When other airlines are offering the delicacy that is a Stroopwafel and you're getting excited about those things.

That thing is gross. The company, though, that is in the real middle of all this is Major League Baseball, right? Because now you're having Republicans coming out and saying they're not going to watch baseball games. It makes sense, of course, that baseball would be the center of a political logjam because baseball is basically the filibuster of sports. But it's so strange to see what this has forced Republicans to do. They're so angry at Coke, even the Coke brothers have changed their name to the Pepsi brothers. Wait until they find out that mom and apple pie are now members of the squad.

All right, let's move on. Daniel, for your last quote, we've got some pressing questions. Why do people with baguettes think they're better than me? Why is everything at my grandma's house moist? Those were just two of the many questions posed on what online resource, which tragically, will be shutting down next month? Oh, um, can I get a hint? Well, it's where you go to get a bunch of yahoos to answer your questions.

Oh, uh, yahoo questions. Yeah, alright, technically yahoo answers, Yahoo questions. Yeah, all right. Technically, Yahoo answers, but we'll give it to you. Yahoo has announced that Yahoo Answers, the world's number one source for different spellings of the phrase,

am I pregnant, will be shut down for good on May 4th. And no, you're not pregnant. It's a place where users posed questions they did not know the answers to to other users

who also did not know the answers. It was supposed to be like this marketplace of ideas where people could meet to exchange information. Instead, when somebody asked, why do chips get stale? The most popular answer was, thug don't care. It was more of a support group for people who don't know. Exactly. I like that. One of the questions was, how does the cat's fur know how to grow around the eyes? Yeah, the right place to put the hole. That's a very good question.

It is a shame, though, to see Yahoo Answers disappear. Now, if you want to ask or answer a dumb question, you'll have to use literally any other website at all. Bill, how did Daniel do on our quiz? He did so well with 3-0. You're going to have a great time on the slopes tomorrow, Daniel. Daniel, thank you so much for calling to play. Thank you so much. This was great. Take care. Bye, Daniel. Bye. Bye. Well done. Bye. Thank you. Bandalists, we have some questions for you from the week's news. Joel, baseball is back and fans are celebrating by flooding back to the ballpark to finally do something they had to wait a whole year to do.

What is it? Eat a baseball hot dog. No, I'll give you a hint. One of the most popular ways to do this is to throw trash cans at them. Oh, my God. Heckle the other team. Yeah, I'm going to give it to you, but it's specifically heckle the Astros. And not just heckle them, but throw trash cans at them. fan, you would have known that about two years ago, the team cheated their way to a World Series title and they did it by banging on trash cans to signal the batters what pitch was coming.

And they were kind of hoping, well, you know, with the pandemic and the shortened season last year, maybe people would forget about it. Dude, it's all we've thought about. I can probably tutor you on baseball knowledge because I remember when that happened years ago, they said that the Astros had stolen the signs from another team. And I thought it meant they took the logos off the walls. You mean they ran over and like stole the big C from Cleveland and the pair of socks from the Boston Red Sox? I thought that for like a long time. So I can probably help you, Joel.

As someone who's not invested in baseball, I have to say the scheme sounds incredible. I think they should be applauded for figuring out how to cheat that way. I mean, it sounds really smart. Oh, it was pretty elaborate. It was extraordinary. I agree. So wait, they banged on the lids of trash cans, which is also in Northern Ireland,

that's how they used to signal the British Army were coming. Yeah. The more we're talking about this, the more it sounds like stomp and the more I'm interested in baseball. Okay. Coming up, our panelists get caught in our bluff.

Listener game call one triple eight. Wait, wait to play. We'll be back in a minute with more. Wait, wait, don't tell me from NPR. On NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we talk about movies, music and more. Like why the Great Pottery Throwdown is a comforting binge watch. And a look back at some of Chadwick Boseman's essential performances. All of that in around 20 minutes every weekday. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast

from NPR. From NPR and WBEC Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We're playing this week with Joel Kim Booster, Paula Poundstone, and Maeve Higgins. And here again is your host, the man whose tulip display just won first place at the local garden show, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Right now it is 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're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, this is Carrie Sherry from Flagstaff, Arizona.

Hey, how are things in beautiful Flagstaff? They are beautiful. Oh, it's great up there. I know. What do you do there? I am a school bus driver for the local school district. Hey, famously, school bus drivers are known for their colorful personalities. So do you have a, have you tried to cultivate the kids with your own colorful personality?

Oh, yes. Oh, really? So what kind of routines do you do over the PA? I make sure they know all the rules of the bus. I make sure they know there's cameras everywhere. And then I, with the little kids, I say, now if you were listening so good right now, you give me a big yeehaw,

and I let them scream as loud as they want to. Well, Carrie, it is great to have you with us. You're going to play our game, in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what's Carrie's topic? You're busted, buster. Nobody wants to get caught red-handed, unless, of course, you're one of the original cave painters of Lesko.

That is the most NPR joke ever told. Our panelists are going to tell you three stories of someone who got busted in a surprising way. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win our prize. You ready to play? Yeah. Let's hear first from Maeve Higgins. Big news out of D.C. basketball this week, as Virginia Warhawks player Moses Townsend

was finally sentenced for his part in last year's criminal conspiracy that shocked the NBA. Townsend and his associates broke into their opponents' training grounds and replaced the air inside their basketballs with bowling balls. The crime caused some bruised toes

and a lot of crying. Townsend had broken his bail and absconded. As police searched for him, it's thought he was working as a hat stand in a nice hotel. That is, until he walked into the wrong kind of court. Busted. Townsend thought he was going to a basketball court but ended up in a court of law. His big old feet betrayed him by walking there. A mistake for sure. But why? Maybe because like so many ballers, he's tall, meaning his feet are very far from his brain. So, Carrie, your guess is as good as mine as to what happened there.

And in the meantime, your next story of someone caught with their metaphorical... It's a story. It's a real story from the news, Peter. Okay, all right. Your next story of someone caught with their metaphorical pants down comes from Paula Poundstone. The order for the arrest of Italian mobster

Marc Farron Claude Biart on charges of drug trafficking for the Caciola clan was issued in 2014. Biard fled to Boca Chica, a beach town in the Dominican Republic. To avoid capture, he and his wife laid low, kept to themselves. The beautiful beach of Boca Chica is a vacation destination for many Italians. There was plenty to do there.

There are bars, restaurants, kayaking, books, a variety of bird species. The capital city is only 19 miles away. Soon the desire to make a YouTube Italian cooking show grew too much for them. Biart was careful to avoid showing his face on camera. The tattoos on his arms by which he was identified, however, were in clear sight. Biart may now be shopping to interested networks, prison cooking shows such as Chef in Irons, The Great British Off, and it would be a shame if something happened to your top chef. An Italian mafiosa on the run from the police is caught when he starts posting cooking lessons to YouTube. Your last story of someone seized at last comes from Joel Kim Booster.

Nancy Sutton's family had been in possession of a priceless Regency wall clock for generations until it was stolen along with various other valuables during a burglary in 2018. With no leads and no suspects, Sutton was devastated by the loss and resigned herself to never seeing her family's precious clock again. That is, until one fateful evening watching her favorite TV show with husband Bill, House Hunters. There it was, plain as day, right on the wall of a two-story duplex for sale in Philadelphia, Sutton explained, recognizing the clock almost immediately. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, her husband adding, and I couldn't believe that the couple thought they could afford a four-bedroom on their budget. Sutton was soon

on the phone with producers of House Hunters, telling them that the house had been carefully staged for sale with her possessions, and then she called the police. Initially, the homeowner said he had gotten all the items at an estate sale, but when asked how much he paid for them, he slipped and said, what do you mean, pay? He was arrested and soon confessed, and asked why he would allow cameras into his home to document his crimes. He simply said, House Hunters routinely All right. Here are your stories of someone being caught for a crime they might have gotten away with. From Maeve Higgins, an NBA player who replaced basketballs with bowling balls for the opposing team, caught by his own feet. From Paula Poundstone, an Italian mafia boss on the run and in hiding who revealed himself by doing a YouTube series on Italian cooking.

Or from Joel Kim Booster, a thief who got caught when he decorated his house with stolen items and put it on house hunters for sale. Which of these is the real story of someone being nabbed in an unusual way? Oh boy, this is a tricky one. I think I'm going to choose B. Okay, your choice is Paula. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to someone who covered the real story. He was filming YouTube videos of himself teaching Italian cooking recipes in which he would cut out his face but still have his tattoos visible. That was Teo Armus, a reporter at the Washington Post, the person who reported this story. And as you heard, the guy got caught because even though he was careful not to show his face, you could see his tattoos, which, you know, associates of his recognize. Congratulations.

You've won a point for Paula and you've won our game. Congratulations. Oh, thank you so much. This is a total bucket list thing to do. Oh, I'm so glad. Thank you so much. Take care. Bye.

Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. And now the game where we ask people who have better things to do to try doing something worse. It's called Not My Job. Now, the pandemic has created a few celebrities, and they're all fine in their own way. But let's face it, as great as Dr. Fauci is, nobody wants him yelling at us to pedal faster during a 45-minute spin class.

Allie Love is one of the most beloved instructors on Peloton, so much so that her regular Sunday class, Sundays with Love, well, it's taken the place of church for many people. Allie Love, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you so much for having me, Peter. I'm excited to be here. I'm very excited to see you. Would you agree that the pandemic has increased your and your other instructors visibility because so many people had to exercise indoors? I think there was a big need during the pandemic of some type of outlet. It was a way for you to turn your home into a gym, turn your home into a space that you can kind of just like get into your zone or find your pick me up or yes, have me tell you to pedal faster, but all with good intentions. And so the reality of it is, is that we want more so people to feel good, right? It was an honor and a privilege that we

were able to be in so many people's homes and in their lives and a part of such a challenging year for all of us and to share that. I know very few of us have been outside and meeting people at random, but when that happens, I'm sure you get recognized and people, I would guess, have a pretty intense reaction to meeting you, right? Because as you say, you're in their homes, you're there with them during, if not vulnerable moments, very intense moments where they're doing their best. So people must have, they must feel strong connections to you and your fellow instructors. Yes. Viscous response and reactions. It's almost like we're best friends. I just don't know it yet.

Like it's like a member who comes up and it's like, you're my best friend. Like you've told me all the things I've told my kids. I tell them yes or yes. The one response that almost makes me completely nervous is when people can't talk. And I don't know what to do because I also don't want to dominate the conversation because you hear me talk all the time yes well can i ask you a question just to explain because i know like um i'm not a peloton user because i'm asthmatic and i'm afraid um but what is your like approach to your i guess like for lack of a better word monologues when you're instructing on peloton so two things folks will often ask me am i at the same resistance and cadence that i call out and the the reality is yes, we're doing it. And it's, and sometimes it's hard

as hell. You're not secretly taking it easy. So when we see you and we're literally dying or praying for death, you're doing it just as hard as we are. Oh, absolutely. And there are times sincerely in a ride where I'm thinking, why did I do this to myself? I'm in charge. Like I created this roadmap and I'm like, why did, why did I do that? And I will say the second thing is that, you know, we don't, we don't script our, our rides out. We'll come in with themes or topics and, and points, but it's all sincerely off the top of the dome, like rappers, you know, that little thing they sell now alley for, uh, where it's, it sits on the floor and people's, they put your feet on it and it goes like this, that you pedal. Are you using that right now? I'm working out. I'm making it. Um, not right,

not right now, but I do take calls on the, on the tread. I kicked out of bed. I like let go of a bed, which was really expensive just to get the tread in my home during the pandemic, just so I can walk and take calls because in New York we walk a lot. And so that was the biggest piece I was missing is just walking. And so I'm not doing it exactly at this moment, because this is actually me coming down. This is you coming down. Oh, my God. I know. I know. No, if you don't, if you if you walk on the treadmill, because you know, not so you're not going outside. Do you have bad smells piped into your house so that you can feel like you're walking around the city? I will say my pandemic smell,

the sweat that I've accumulated in pandemic, this is a body odor is much different. I don't know about anyone else. I've talked to my friends and they're on board with this, but there is a different smell that I have in the last year that I never had before of just sitting, being in one spot. So if you're talking about that, I think I've been doing it natural. It's a natural thing. Do your friends comment on this? Yeah. You know, you got it. That's what friends are. You got to be able to

ask them the tough questions. Yeah. Me and my friends mostly just talk about Netflix. You were, you were a dancer trained and professional. You were, if I'm not mistaken, the host for the on-court host for the Brooklyn Nets. You still do that? Yes, I'm still with the Nets. And what does that job entail? So I've been with the Nets for eight seasons, and basically I am the in-arena host. So I'm on the court, I'm entertaining 18,000 fans, 41 home games, playoffs, preseason. So basically I tie the whole entertainment of the game together. And it is quite cool. I will say being able to be on the court. I take it all in every time. So I have to ask you after eight seasons of working with the Brooklyn Nets as their on-court host, how far can you throw a t-shirt?

Oh my gosh. Do you know, y'all, the one taxing thing that I know that is like of all the jobs that I have, this is like the worst is that when I get on the subway or I'm eating at a restaurant, someone will come up to me and say, Oh, you're Allie love from the Brooklyn. Do you have a t-shirt? I'm like, yes, on this, on this two chain or in this restaurant right now, or while I'm doing this class, let me reach into my Barney bag and get you a t-shirt because I carry them everywhere. This is the most common question as if I just carry a backpack and I'm just like, hey, head into Peloton, bring t-shirts. I'm like, no, I do not have a t-shirt for you. Well, Allie Love, we're delighted to have you here, but now it's time for a game we're calling Peloton meets Skeleton. So you know all about Peloton.

We thought, what do you know about skeletons? You know, the inside hard parts. We're going to ask you three questions about bones. Get two right,

you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Allie Love playing for? Hadley Hamilton Lowe of Culver

City, California. All right, first question. In the classic Western film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, filmmakers used a real human

skeleton for one of the scenes. How did they get a hold of it? Was it a Spanish actress stipulated in her will that she wanted to continue acting even after death and offered her skeleton for any open roles? B, they called up great hereafter, quote, the leading postmortem talent agency or C, they just asked Clint Eastwood to take off his makeup. Wow. C sounds... No, I'm just kidding. I'm going to go with...

Is there an obvious answer? Everyone knows the answer here and it's just me. I don't know the answer. Okay, that makes me feel good. I'm going to say it's B. You're going to say it's B that they called up great hereafter, quote, the leading post-mortem talent agency as if there's an agency that just deals in dead people. Wait, no, that's not it. Okay. My instinct gets to go with B, but because I don't

movie, don't know movies, I'll lean into A because I feel like that's a boss move that this lady's like, I'm still living as I'm dead. That's right. You got it. You got it. Yes. That's the answer. You're exactly right. The Spanish actress was like, no, death be not proud and death be not an obstacle to my continuing career. So they used her skeleton as she had requested. All right, you have two more. Good. When asked why they used real human skeletons, how did the producers answer? A, they were left on set from a previous movie, or as the producers put it, they were here. B, the set happened to be built on top of an old burial grounds. Or C, quote, no, they were cheaper than the plastic ones, unquote.

Oh, my gosh. If real skeletons are cheaper than the plastic ones, I'm going to feel unwell. I'm going to feel unwell. So I'm just going to go with that they were here. That they were there. No, I'm afraid it was actually they were cheaper than plastic. Okay. All right.

One for one. One and one. So you get this one, you win. According to scientists, most woolly mammoth skeletons they find are male. Now, scientists have theorized that the reason for this is what? A, male mammoths engaged in something scientists call mam-spreading, that spread out their bones and made them easier to find.

B, male mammoths used to try to impress females by holding their breath as long as they could. Or C, quote, males were more likely to do silly things like die in tar pits, unquote. All of those things are right. Every single one of them makes sense. They all sound right, but only one of them is, we made up two of them.

I think that maybe they, it sounds lovely that they hold their breath. But maybe they just do silly, like they die silly. That's exactly what they do. Because it turns out that men are men, whether they're humans or mammoths. Male mammoths tend to do dumb things like die in tar pits. Bill, how did Allie Love do on our quiz? Well, we're all in this thing together, and she brought a lot of energy,

and it's two out of three, which means she won! Yay! I just want to say it was so great to be here with you. You did great. Remember, as you go along the rest of your day, you were here, you were here for yourself. I'm sorry. I'm just no good at this. I'm trying, but it's, I was, I was, I just, I didn't, I didn't have that conviction that Allie has. Cause it was like, all right,

I'm going to, I'm going to ask, I'm going to, cause these are my friends here who haven't done your classes. I would like you in your amazing patented Allie love way to tell me that I did a good job of having you on my show. I would say there are obstacles that are hard. And there are a lot of people that start. And you encountered a hard obstacle. You challenged yourself. You overcame.

And you're at the finish line where we are now celebrating your victory. So thank you for having me because it's a win on my end. I learned that real skeletons are cheaper. I get to take that away and I get to share that on a ride. And I also enjoyed being with all of you. I'd say this was a victory. This was a win. You're totally a boss. Wow. I've never felt better in my life. Allie Love is a Peloton instructor and the founder of Love Squad. You can find out more about her at AllieLove.com. Allie Love, thank you so much for joining us. And wait, wait, don't tell me. Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Thank you. Yeah. It's a good feeling, man.

Everybody in the world just ride with me. Everybody in the world just ride with me. Come on, you just ride with me. Everybody in the world just ride with me. Come on, you gotta ride with me. In just a minute, Bill reveals the twisted thing Swedish people do to their pizza. It's a shocking listener limerick challenge. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. from NPR. The news is about more than what just happened. You need to know why it happened, who made it happen, how it's felt in the communities you care about. NPR's daily news podcast, Consider This, gives you all of that, with context, backstory, and analysis on a single topic every weekday. It's not just information, it's what the news means. Consider This, from NPR.

Consider this from NPR. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Joel Kim Booster, Paula Poundstone, and Maeve Higgins. And here again is your host, a man who checked this script out at his local library two weeks ago. So we have to hurry because it's overdue. Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. In just a minute, Bill gets limerick rolled in our listener limerick challenge.

Nobody was expecting that. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. Right now, a panel of some more questions for you from the week's news. Maeve, we told everyone a few weeks ago about the great grape nuts shortage of the pandemic that had been finally solved. Thank you, God. But now there is another shortage. Nobody can seem to get their hands on what? It's something like grapes as well, because they're all put into the grape nuts.

So like raisins is my answer. Yes, but no, I don't know how we got to raisins, but it's not raisins. There is no shortage of raisins as far as I know. I see you and I'm raising you. No, no. Think french fry. Oh, potatoes? Not potatoes, but this is something that most people love to have with their french fries.

Mayo, baby. Oh my God. Oh my God. that most people love to have with their french fries mayo baby oh my god oh my gosh i thought i liked you mayo on your french fries the most flavorful of all of the condiments mayonnaise think what normal people would like to have with their French fries? Tomato sauce. Tomato sauce. Oh, my gosh. She calls it tomato sauce. She's trolling us. She really is. She's trolling us hard. She really is.

Isn't that the truth, though? It is. Well, it's- In a way. Kind of. More sugar. You know what it's called, Maeve. Put more sugar in it.

Say it. You're just jerking our chain. Ketchup, yes. Ketchup, Maeve. I'm so cute. You're adorable. Yes, ketchup, Maeve. I'm so cute.

You're adorable. There is a shortage of ketchup, especially and most importantly, packets of ketchup. Nobody can find them. Restaurants can't keep up with the demand. And they haven't figured out that 90% of America's supply of ketchup packets is in that one little junk drawer. It's the same drawer responsible for shortages of expired AA batteries and single chopsticks. But it doesn't salsa outsell ketchup in America anyway? Yes, salsa does in fact outsell ketchup in America.

But you don't have that with chips. Or you do have that with chips, but you call it French fries. They're called fries! Yes. You've been here for a while, Maeve. We expect more from you. Learn the language or get out. I'm here to expose Joel Kim Booster's severe anti-migrant stance. Paula, this week we read about yet another casualty of the pandemic.

Search and rescue teams in our Western states who work in remote areas of the country are being pushed to the breaking point by having to rescue hikers who go out into the wilderness without what? Without knowing what the hell they're doing. Exactly right. People, of course, are desperate to get outside because of the pandemic, so many of them are streaming into the wilderness areas. And while it's good they're learning to appreciate nature, it's not good that they are not learning anything else. One rescue worker in Wyoming

told the New York Times about campers caught in a blizzard while wearing shorts because they did not realize that the tops of mountains get cold. And a woman who called for an emergency rescue because she was tired of hiking.

Can you imagine? It's tough to have to send a whole helicopter out there when you'd much rather say send a bear. No, they should send Allie Love. And then that woman, she would be- You'll motivate them right out of there. You're right. Just come up in a helicopter with a bullhorn and Allie Love just shouting out the bullhorn. This is going to be a win-win for all of us.

Throwing out Nets t-shirts. Long sleeve Nets t-shirts. So please, if you're planning a wilderness trip, bring adequate water, clothing, and the appropriate equipment to saw off whichever one of your appendages inevitably gets caught under a rock. All right, can you go to the next t-shirt? Can you go to the next t-shirt? We're doing this together, lost idiot. Turning round Don't stand far Coming up, it's Lightning fell 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 or click the Contact Us link on our website. It's waitwait.npr.org. And Hey besties for more wait, wait in your week. Follow us on Twitter at wait, wait. And on Instagram at wait, wait NPR. There you can be besties with our bestie intern ever, Emma Choi. Wow. We really are just letting her write whatever she wants to here. Aren't we? Hi, you're on wait, wait. Don't tell me.

Hi, this is Emma calling from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Speaking of Emmas, how are you, Emma? I'm good. How are you? What do you do in beautiful Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? I'm a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. Oh, the fine institution of higher learning right there in Pittsburgh. What do you study? Physics.

Physics. I'm glad you're here because there is a story in the week's news that we did not include because none of us could understand it. Is it about the muon G minus two? It's about the muons. Because I read this story about the muons. I read the whole thing. And according to the story that I read, this study proves that the universe does not work at all the way we thought it did. And everything has changed.

Is that right? Not quite. No, I'm going to give you 20 seconds to explain the meaning of this discovery that was announced this week. Go. Okay, I'll do my best. So a muon is an elementary particle and the standard model of physics predicts that it will have a particular magnetic moment. And this discovery suggests that it does not have the magnetic moment that we predict it should have. And I hope my advisor's not listening to this right now, because presumably he'll tell me everything I explained incorrectly in those 20 seconds. Well, we won't tell your advisor then. Emma, welcome to the show. Bill

Curtis is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. Ready to do this? Let's do it. Here's your first limerick. A tube is so crude it seems futile. I'll revamp the whole pasta caboodle. Spaghetti I'll toss because it won't hold the sauce. I'm inventing a new kind of...

Noodle. That's right. Podcaster Dan Cashman of The Sporkful took three years to develop the perfect new pasta shape, and he's done it. This is the most a podcaster has done for society. That's it. That's the sentence. It just is.

The new pasta shape he has dubbed Cascatelli, based on the Italian word for waterfall. It looks like a kind of weird little shovel, which is used for shoveling sauce in your mouth. Everybody thinks it's so great that this guy made a new pasta shape. It's not that hard. I did it. I have a whole new shape from pasta this year. I could come up with a new pasta shape in a year. Give me a year. You could? I could do it in a year.

Easy. It's going to be called Jolatavi. And it's going to be so hot, this pasta. Oh, you know what, Joel? I just made a pasta shape right then, so never mind. I beat you. What's your pasta shape? Well, I'll be honest. It looks a lot

like spaghetti. It's two spaghettis stuck together. Yeah, exactly. Okay, Emma, here is your next limerick. I'm not trusting my old Swedish nana. Those toppings aren't used in Tuscana. I sincerely dispute that they'll use a sweet fruit, but her pizza comes topped with

banana. Yes! People got so freaked out by this online viral rumor that people in Sweden put banana on their pizza that Snopes had to go and check it out, and it turns out to be true. Also,

that counts as a rumor in Sweden. Don't their celebrities have sex with each other? This disturbing Tropicana pizza has tomato sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple, banana, curry, the UK coronavirus variant, and Matt Gaetz. And by the way, pineapple, if you're listening, do not get excited. This does not help your case. People still hate you, too. All right, Emma, we have one last limerick for you.

Here it is. You do SoulCycle. I'm in a hula group. It's so fun, it will make my medulla hoop. I can eat extra chips because I wiggle my hips. I will exercise using my... Hula hoop? Hula hoop, Emma, that's right.

Adults looking to fight boredom and get some exercise during the pandemic have been turning to hula hooping. Over a million hula hoops were sold last year. That's a 20% jump over the prior year. There are now specialty hoops, there are weighted hoops, even smart hoops that connect to the internet and tell you which lamp you are about to knock over. You know what's funny? You know how it goes. On the first day of the pandemic, I got a hula hoop. But by the end of the pandemic, it was just really a belt.

Bill, how did Emma do in our quiz? We would expect nothing less from Carnegie Mellon. She got three perfect muons. Thanks, Emma. Emma, thank you so much for playing and congratulations. Thank you so much for having me. Bye-bye. Thanks so much. Well done, Emma. Bye.

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. Bill, can you give us the scores? Joel has two, Maeve has two, and Paula has three. Oh my goodness. All right. Paula's in the lead for the moment.

Tell you what, let's start with Maeve arbitrarily. So, Maeve, you're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. Here we go. On Wednesday, President Biden said he was open to compromising on the corporate tax hike included in his $2 trillion blank bill. Oh, government bill. It's a government bill, but I think we needed you to be a little bit more specific in that all bills are government bills.

This was for his infrastructure. On Tuesday, the U.S. and blank agreed to take steps to restore their 2015 nuclear deal. Infrastructure. That was the answer to the last question. This one, the answer was Iran. This week, President Biden accelerated the timeline for making all adults eligible for the blank. COVID vaccine. Yes. On Monday, Russian President Blank signed a law that could potentially keep him in power until 2036. Oh, naughty man.

Vladimir Putin. Yes, Vladimir Putin. This week, a thief who stole someone's phone in India promptly returned it after discovering blank. Oh, that he had his own phone? No, that the phone was two years old. I mean, come on. On Sunday, officials in Florida expanded an evacuation order as a faulty blank in Tampa Bay threatened to collapse. Swimming pool? No, reservoir.

This week, a coastal town in the UK was frightened when an attack submarine emerged from the water, but their fears were relieved when the crew blanked. When the crew blanked? That would be, where are we? No, when they gathered on top from the water, but their fears were relieved when the crew blanked. When the crew blanked? That would be, where are we? No, when they gathered on top of the sub for a barbecue. Residents were concerned when this giant attack sub rose from the water with its threatening black hull and torpedo bays and, is that a frisbee? Turns out the crew of the Dutch sub were just taking time off to enjoy some fun in the sun with burgers on the grill and quick dips into the bay.

The fun ended, though, when someone jumping in the water yelled cannonball and the crew panicked. Yeah, because they were thinking about the Lusitania, probably. Probably. Bill, how did Maeve do in our quiz? Maeve had two right for four more points. She now has six. And you know, she's in the lead. Well, that's great. All right, Maeve, well done. Feels good. Okay, Jill, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, President Biden announced an executive action aimed at curbing blank violence. Gun violence.

Right. On Tuesday, it was reported that embattled Representative Blank sought a blanket pardon from Trump before he left office. Uh, Matt Gaetz? Yes. On Monday, Baylor beat Gonzaga to claim their first blank. Championship. Yeah, in men's basketball on Thursday, the CDC advised against traveling to blank even if you're vaccinated. Brazil. Canada. This week, a man in Iowa who had just broken into a store was arrested by police after he tried to use blank as a getaway vehicle. A cop car.

A riding lawnmower. According to investigators, golfer blank was going 40 miles over the speed limit when he crashed his car back in February. Tiger Woods. Yes, according to new guidelines, the NYPD can no longer search a vehicle due to the smell of Blank. Marijuana. Right, it's legal there now. The University of Kentucky admissions office will have to do some explaining after they mistakenly sent out acceptance emails to Blank. 500,000 people. Exactly right.

They mistakenly accepted 500,000 high school seniors to a program at the University of Kentucky. Not only did they not really admit half a million people to the freshman class, many of the students who got the email didn't even apply. One lucky student admitted, quote, I had to Google it just to make sure it was a real college. Bill, how did Joel do in our quiz? He got six right. Look at Joel go for 12 more points. He now has 14 and the lead. All right.

So how many then? How many then does Paula need to walk away with this? She can walk with six. Six to win. Six to win. All right, Paula, here we go. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Senator Joe Manchin said there was no way he would ever vote to abolish the blank. Filibuster. Right. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Blank was offered the opportunity to form a coalition government. Yeah, no. Israeli Prime Minister Blank was offered the opportunity to form a coalition government. Again. Yes.

This week, EU regulators linked Blank's vaccine with blood clots, but said the benefits outweigh the risks. AstraZeneca. Right. According to the Commerce Department, the U.S. Blank deficit hit a record high in February. Budget. No, trade deficits. On Thursday, Jeff Bezos said that Blank supports a higher corporate tax rate.

Amazon. Right. According to the IRS, Blank paid $0 in income taxes in 2018. Amazon. Right. A man arrested after participating in the Capitol riots will have a hard time defending himself because when he was arrested, he was blanking.

Um, filming himself? No, when he was arrested, he was wearing a shirt that said, I was there, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. In addition to wearing the shirt, and again, we stress this is totally true, on the day of the riot, this man posted a selfie from inside the Capitol with the caption, I just wanted to incriminate myself a little, LOL. Bill, how did Paula do in our quiz? Paula had five riot four, 10 more points for a total of 13. That means with 14, we'll count them out.

Joel is this week's champion. Yes! Whoa. Brilliant. Congratulations, nerd. Guys, it's not about the competition. It's about how you play the game, and I played the game really well. Coming up, our panelists predict

after the MLB All-Star game left Georgia, what would be the next surprising corporate boycott and why? But first, let me tell you. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord, Philip Godeka writes, our limericks, our house managers, Gianna Capodona, our intern is Emma Choi,

our web guru is Beth Novy, BJ Liederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos, and Lillian King. Our mustache, Mike, is Peter Gwynn. Technical direction is from Lorna Bluechip White. Our business and ops manager, that's Colin Miller. Our production

manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilog. And the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is Mike Annabelle Marie Danforth. Now panel, what will be the next boycott? Maeve Higgins. Oh, women named Georgia because it turns out they're all witches.

Who knew? Joel Kim Booster. Aurea's gonna boycott Dan, the guy who went on one date with me and then stopped texting me. Paula Poundstone. Big Peach. Well, if that happens, Vandal, we're going to ask you about it

on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Paula Poundstone, Maeve Higgins, and Joel Kim Booster. Thanks to all of you for listening. Hey, listen everybody, let's all get outside this week and we'll hang out. I'm Peter Sagal. We'll see you next week. This is NPR.