Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Best of WWDTM October 2021

Episode Date: October 16, 2021

We look back on our time with Joel McHale, Dr. Ellen Stofan, Tariq Trotter, and Phillpa Soo. Plus we share more of our time with Dulcé Sloan from our live performace in Philadelphia last August.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. Put your sweater on because the weather is getting a-tumble. I'm Bill Curtis, and here's your host, a man who still can't tell the difference between apple juice and apple cider. Peter Sagan. Thank you, Bill. I cannot believe it's October already. It seems like just yesterday we were sitting around refusing to believe it was September. So as a reminder to ourselves that 2021 really happened,

we are going to stop and look back on things we managed to do this year. Personally, I measure out my life in coffee spoons, solid gold coffee spoons. I have three metric tons of them now. For example, we are relatively certain that in May of this year, we talked to Joel McHale, who keeps switching back and forth from acting in shows like Community to hosting talk shows. He clearly loves an audience even when canned. Thank you for the clapping. You clearly loves an audience even when can. Thank you for the clapping. Calm down, everybody. Calm down. You've done so many things, but I actually want to start with the thing that you're doing now.

Right. Crime Scene Kitchen. Can you explain this show to us? I'd like you to explain it. Thank you. So nice nice of you No, it's called the Crime Scene Kitchen Where it's a competition baking show And there's 12 teams of bakers And they get to go into this thing Called the Crime Scene Kitchen And they have to make a dessert While a person slowly bleeds out

You have to complete it before the person dies Okay, no The bakers don't know what they're supposed to make but in the crime scene kitchen there's something something has been baked there and there's evidence left like a little pile of cocoa powder or like some fondant on a fork or like uh some wax paper with some sort of pattern and then they kind of go i think it's this dessert and then they go back and they have to make it and then we see at the end of the round, we reveal what it was. And whoever gets closest, they move forward.

And whoever really screws it up, which happens a lot, one team gets eliminated. So it's on Fox after Gordon Ramsay's show, MasterChef. Wow. That's great. Did they come up with the show or did you come up with the show? I don't know. Just a host. I love it.

What's interesting to me is, I mean, forgive me for not going, knowing you're in your early career, but I first became aware of you when you were hosting a talk soup, right? Which was a, no, that was my early career.

Okay. So talk soup was a show, which was about other television shows, including like reality shows. So you would get, and you would just talk about like the crazy things that had happened on the various franchises and other networks. Did you actually like those shows? Were you excited to talk about them? Do you like reality TV? No, no, no, there was some shows that I really liked and then others were not great. Uh, and then those were the most fun to make fun of. Uh, I, and those were the most fun to

make fun of. Uh, and, uh, you know, but there were really good reality shows like dirty jobs to this day goes down as one of my favorite reality shows of all time. It's rare for people who, who succeed in Hollywood to make fun of other people in the industry. So have you ever, uh, had the experience of like running into some of the people in the industry. So have you ever, uh, had the experience of like running into some of the people you talk trash about on that old show and them not being happy with you? Uh, without the only person that got mad was Tyra Banks. And I have since talked to her and she was cool, but, uh, everybody else, every single reality star, no matter who I made fun of, they would, if I met them, they would be like, thank you so much.

My mom was so happy, uh, that you, uh, made fun of me on bachelor in paradise. So, and I was like, yeah, when you were walking around naked and high, it was wonderful for us. So, uh, then the Kardashians once in a while would, when they first started would call when we would make fun of them. So Kris Kardashian was like a mom next door and our ball would go into her yard. And then she'd be like, this is mine. I'm keeping this.

And the president of the network would call me and be like, hey, can you just lay off the Kardashians this week? And I'll be like, yeah, no problem. And then we'd go right back. And then they became the most famous people on the planet. And then they could care less. Right. Before you got that gig, you were a stand-up primarily, right? No, I didn't just start doing stand-up until after the soup.

Because one of my agents said, hey, if you go to comedy clubs and just introduce comics, you're going to see all your fans and, and, you know, make extra money because I wanted a pool. And, uh, so, uh, that's kind of how that came together. And so now I've been doing standup for 16 years. Uh, and, uh, I, at some point it's going to start working. And so, yeah. And so that's kind of how I backed into that. I did. I was primarily an actor before the suit. Right, right, right. I once heard the story that like you were on stage performing and it went so badly, the audience tried to physically hurt you. Yeah, that definitely happened. I had to run out. And what happened? What did you do that was so offensive to them?

I was making fun of Fresh Air with Terry Gross and they were like, enough! Hold me back! hold me back hold me back they jumped at yeah i had to run away uh i think they got so mad and i don't know what was going on they clearly were not fans of the soup and uh and uh i i'm a person that can't stop going if I'm challenged. So each comic got 20 minutes. So I grabbed the clock that was the countdown clock and I turned it around and said, I'm staying on stage until this clock is at zero. And they didn't like that. They did not like that at all.

And I ran. I ran away. It was a very weird. Yes. To physically flee. So you went on, you left that show and you were on Community, which was like this great- No, I did them at the same time, and I'm not kidding. Oh, wow.

You went back and forth in the set of Community? I would go to Community, get my makeup on, run over to E, tape the soup, and then run back and shoot all day. It was good times. Oh, and Community, I've heard heard these stories like the set of community was weird uh i don't know who's ever told you that it was harmonious yeah it was a it was bananas but i am literally on a group text with the cast and we talk to each other almost probably every other day if something comes up we we all comment on it so uh we we we did a table read last year and i burst out crying at the end of it because i missed everybody so much oh you did one of those reunion table reads

that some of the shows were doing last year is sort of fun no we did a reading of modern family dude okay that also makes sense no and not for charity we just wanted to make more money two pools yeah absolutely well joel mckale it is pretty much a joy to talk to you, but we have, in fact, asked you here to play a game this time. We're calling... All about community theater. Oh, nice. Community theater.

You see? You were the star of the sitcom Community. We're going to ask you some questions about community theater. Answer two out of three questions correctly, you will win a prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Joel McHale playing for? Julie Phillips of Madison, Wisconsin. All right. You ready to do this? Julie, I just want to apologize in advance. All right. Here's your first question. Community theater, as you know, does Broadway shows,

but on a fraction of the budget. This can lead to some embarrassing moments, as in which of these, which happened during lawrence university production of into the woods a they couldn't afford a big bad wolf costume so they had to use the school mascot thus little red riding hood was eaten by a giant chipmunk b in the scene where jack sells his cow jack turned around too fast and the cow's leg flew off into the audience or c they didn't have understudies so when when one actor got sick, the other actors had to refer to the Invisible Prince. The first two seem silly. So I'm going to say it's the last one because that sounds like something community theater people would do. No, it was actually the cowleg.

Damn it. It was the cowleg. Flew off into the audience. You're welcome, Julia. You have two more chances here you have not lost if you went to a community theater in greenwich village in 1974 you might have seen a seven-year-old vin diesel in his very first acting role how did he get that part a the show's director caught him breaking into the theater and said she would not call the cops if he would be in the play b he was hiding from police in attire when it got rolled on stage Wow. It's the first one. It is the first one. Yes, he and his friends were delinquents. They broke into the theater. They were caught and the lady said, hey, if you enroll in my theater course and perform in these plays, I will not report you to the cops. And all right, get this last one right and you whim.

In one particular community theater production of Oliver, the musical, the director fired the actor who was playing the villain Bill Sykes in the middle of the run, but he didn't have an understudy. So the fired actor got to do one more show. What happened? A, the audience was treated to a new Bill Sykes song in the musical called The Director Sucks and Here's Why. B, he kept calling the other actors by their real names and asking them why they were talking in fake British accents and bursting into song.

Or C, in the scene where Bill is shot to death, he got back up like a zombie, crawled across the stage and pretended to strangle young Oliver, then announced to the audience, Oliver is dead. And then announced to the audience,

Oliver is dead and stomped out of the theater. He did it twice. No, I just repeated myself because I hit my lamp. Oh, sorry. Uh, that would have been really weird.

It would have been really weird. No, no, we get your joke, sir. We got it the first time. It would be funny if he did it, walked out of the theater, came back and said, no, wait a minute. Did it again.

Just to emphasize the point. Yeah. It's already ruined. Right. Yeah. All right. So in that case, I would say it's the last one because that was the last scene of the thing. Exactly right.

That was his exit and that's what he did exactly right very well apparently the the the kid playing oliver was like what do i do this is crazy and he finally decided the only thing to do was to play along so he went and died died quotation that is so great it was the best production of oliver ever just be like oliver oliver is a whiny little brat you want him killed let's admit it That is so great. It was the best production of Oliver ever. Oliver is a whiny little brat. You want him killed. Let's admit it. Okay, that's not where I was going.

Bill, how did Joe McHale do in our quiz? Well, here the crime scene kitchen cries out for more gruel. More, sir. You may not realize it, Joe, but you're a winner. You're a winner. Two out of three. That was amazing, Bill. That was word jazz. My gosh, this is a dream come true, and I'm not kidding. I do listen to this show, and I cannot believe I'm on it. So this is crazy. You did it. You did it. I did it.

Joel McHale's new show, Crime Scene Kitchen, airs Wednesdays on Fox. Joel McHale, thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yeah, thank you so much. And Oliver Twist is dead, everybody. He's dead. Sorry. Bye-bye, Joel. Bye, you guys.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. See you. Bye. Bye. When we come back, Dulce Sloan live and in person. And if you're a billionaire with a spaceship, have we got the perfect passenger for you? That's when we come back with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host, who wonders if you're allowed to stare dramatically into the distance while still looking at your phone, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. So this week we are taking stock as the year comes to a close to make sure it all really happened. Time is so weird these days. Is it going forward, backwards, standing still? All I know is I still look the same as I did when I was 20 years old. The painting in my attic, though, looks terrible. One great thing that happened this year was that we finally and briefly were released from our homes to do some shows in front of a live audience, including at the Mann Center in Philadelphia. And there, after a year of only doing Zoom shows from her closet in New York,

we finally got to meet Dulce Sloan in person. And of course, it was everything we dreamed of. Here's an extended taste of the Dulce Sloan experience. Dulce, for the first time in the 70 years that they have been under observation, a group of macaques, that is a baboon-like monkey, at a reserve in Japan, have a leader who is what? Uh, let's see. A group of monkeys.

Okay, so a group of... So they've been observing this group of macaques, and as you may know, these monkeys, like all monkeys and apes, have very complicated social systems. Right. And they have a leader. Yes. And for the first time in the 70 years they've been watching, the leader is a what?

Female? Yes, exactly. Congratulations. There was only two options. To Yake the macaque. Yake! Who became the first alpha female after simply beating up her own mother. But then to become overall leader of

this band of macaques, she had to defeat the alpha male, which she did, of course, through emotional understanding and cooperation. No, I'm kidding. She just beat him up too. Usually when you're a monkey and you shatter the glass ceiling, you're just escaping the zoo. So wait, she, sorry, she defeated the former leader? She defeated the alpha. That's how it works in monkey society. She macaque blocked him. Exactly. Is she teaching, is she starting a podcast just so she can, you know, share her ways with the rest of us?

No, the podcast is being started by the male she toppled because that's the only thing that men know how to do with their free time is do a podcast. They used to build things. Yeah. Dulce, according to Vanity Fair, the rich residents of the Hamptons on Long Island are all upset about the influx of whom into that area? The blacks. No.

Okay, I knew that was wrong. Can I have a clue? You can have a clue. I've never even heard of the.0001%. More richer than them? Yes, richer people. The rich people of the Hamptons are upset that even richer people are taking over the place. It's going to be so tough for Bruce Springsteen's daughter.

The Hamptons, everybody knows, famous colony for the wealthy out there. It's being overt be so tough for Bruce Springsteen's daughter. The Hamptons, everybody knows, famous colony for the wealthy out there. It's being overtaken by even wealthier people, which is like the gentrification of a Whole Foods. Polar Foods! Polar Foods. One resident of Abingansett said,

quote, there's so much money now it's nauseating. I'm a one percenter, but I bear no resemblance to those people. Unquote. Yo, you can't those people people that could those people you. Exactly. There's no recursive those people rule. You goofy heifer. That's not how this works. You're in the bottom now. Yeah, exactly. How do you like it? Now, the Uber rich thought that was a little harsh. They said, quote, I'm lowered by my servants into my yacht one leg at a time like anyone else. So houses are going for like

astronomical tens of millions of dollars. Landscapers are installing fully grown trees at like $75,000 a pop. And people are being forced to drive up to an hour away to get necessities like groceries and peasants to hunt for sport. Quick question. Yes, Tulsa. Are these men single? So, this is my cunning plan, right? Catch one of these mega billionaires slipping,

or, or... Wait a minute, slipping? What do you mean mean like physically slipping and rescue them or what absolutely not that's his maid's maid's job no uh catch him on a bad day right because listen i know i'm not a trophy wife right because i talk and but if my boat has a boat in it, I can be quiet. Wait, but he'll slip. How will he slip?

What's the scenario? Catching him slipping is this, right? You have to explain. Are you right? Welcome to NPR, Dulce. I hear you. You have to do a black to NPR explanation. Is there an app for this?

So this is brought to you by the code switch team. So catching this man slipping means I am catching him unawares. Okay. Right. So he's out and about living his best white man life, right? And then I catch him somewhere maybe picking out fine cheeses, right? That's what rich white people like to do. Mm-hmm, fine cheeses.

A cherry, like one of those $10,000, $20,000 plate things. Maybe I'm performing at that. Yeah. Right? One of those dinners, right? Because I ain't paying $20,000 a plate for this dry-ass chicken. It's not happening. I'm a Christian, right?

Right. So I'm performing at the $20,000 plate. Boom. All of a sudden, I see an old gentleman out there looking like I could maybe catch a kid out of him, because you've got to catch a kid, otherwise there's no point, right? So maybe he's had a couple to drink. I make sure he's drinking brown liquor

so he ain't, you know, on his P's and Q's, right? You have thought this out. This is great. I'm not... She storyboarded it. I know. Listen, I've been working since I was nine years old. I'm tired. These days it's hard to look up without seeing some billionaire or another

streaking across the sky in their private spaceship. I like to take potshots at them with my silver shotguns. Sure, they're out of range, but it's the thought that counts. If you want to send somebody to space who deserves to go, may we recommend Dr. Ellen Stofan. She's a planetary geologist and the former director of the Air and Space Museum, and she knows everything there is to know about the great unknown. She joined us in July, right after Jeff Bezos sent himself to space on his own rocket, or at least he said he did. Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here. We got you here. We're

delighted in talking to you about everything, but we mainly want to ask you, did Jeff Bezos and his crew actually go to space? Yes, they did. By any definition, they made it above what's called the Kármán line, so they were actually in space. The Kármán line? Yes. There's a famous mathematician called Theodor von Kármán, and he was the one that calculated where it was where you would be officially beyond the Earth's gravity, and it's where you go weightless in space. They were in the shallow end of space? They were in the shallow end of space. But you know, space is really, really big. So it's pretty good to make it to the shallow end, I will say. Right. I would say, I mean, I don't know what your standard is, and obviously,

it's more important than mine. But my standard is you're not in space, unless you had to use a zero gravity toilet. Well, I don't know, I would hold it in before I would use a zero gravity toilet. I'd have to be up in space a really long time before I'd get to that point. Oh, yeah. So you grew up as sort of a NASA brat, right? Your father was a NASA scientist or engineer? That's right. He was a NASA engineer. So I went to my first rocket launch when I was four years old, which it was an uncrewed launch that exploded on the launch pad, which probably explains why I never wanted to become an astronaut. Yeah, I was about to ask, you grew up around space, you've spent your career exploring

space, but you have no desire to go yourself? You know, if I could go to Mars and actually crack open rocks and look for evidence of ancient life on Mars, I would do that. But just going up for a couple minutes into space, it's not got a lot of appeal. So your dad took you to work and then you watched a rocket blow up. Exactly. Do you think he had anything to do with this? Do you think he didn't want you to be an astronaut? I'm going to force her to go into the arts. Honestly, I would imagine. I mean, you actually were like the chief scientist at NASA and you worked at JPL. I would imagine you'd want to stay away from rockets for the rest of your life after that trauma.

No, you know, I went to a lot of launches after that because, again, my dad was a rocket guy. So we went to an awful lot of launches and many of them were successful. I saw the first probes to Mars launch, the Viking landers, the Voyager probes that have made it out of the solar system. I was there in Florida when those were launched. So I saw a lot of great launches too. So I just want to know when that blew up and what did your dad say? Did he just go, eh, that didn't work? Well, you know, I was four. Oh, so he could have told you it was the 4th of July. Yeah, you know, I will say I really remember it, even though I was only four, but he was in the blockhouse. And apparently what I don't remember is my mother told me, apparently my sister and I got quite upset because we were like, I thought my dad like stood next to the rocket with like a big button. Oh, I see. You were afraid. So you weren't near your father. You were afraid like your father was like.

We were far away. So he was in a blockhouse and he was absolutely fine. But I apparently I got someone upset, which is probably why I remember it so well. Peter, can I ask a question? Go right ahead. Did Neil Armstrong go to the moon? And my favorite story around that is one of the astronauts, Apollo astronauts, when he was asked about it, he had this great Texas accent. He said, I can see bacon at once, but nine times. You know, we actually went to the moon nine times. That's a good response. It's not as pungent as Buzz Aldrin just punching the guy.

But, you know, you do what you do. So you became, if I'm not mistaken, a planetary geologist. That is absolutely correct. I heard Carl Sagan talking about why we were going to Mars when I was 14 and I decided that's what I wanted to do. I was obviously a bit of a nerdy kid. That's so cool. We keep being told that the discoveries being made on Mars are very, very exciting. But every time the discovery is always something along the lines of more rocks and look, dust. So what am I missing here? There might've been water here a while ago.

You know, I was trying to reach, I normally have a rock within reach. Actually, it's just slightly out of reach. You know, to a geologist, every rock is extremely exciting. But I will say, when you're trying to figure out a whole planet, even one like Mars, that's a third the size of the Earth, it's like a detective trying to figure evidence. So what we've been doing at Mars is figuring out, was there water on the surface at one point? Yes. How long did it stay on the surface? Wow, about 500 million years. That could have been long enough for life to evolve. So all those discoveries you're hearing are like pieces in a puzzle that's getting us closer and closer to saying, did life actually evolve on Mars?

And we've gotten all the way to the point now where it definitely could have, but did it is still the question. Yes. I have a question. In terms of Mars, did Matt Damon actually go to Mars and is he okay now? You know, my daughter was walking out of the movie theater and someone said, wow, this was a really great movie. I wonder when it happened. And it was like, no, that was just a movie.

Do you get mad when movies are scientifically incorrect about space? You know, science fiction is incredibly important i heard on npr once and i i've never known who who actually was the person who who said this no one ever invented something that someone didn't imagine first that was me that was me i said that hey can you answer me this? Like in Star Wars, would there really be explosions and fire? Or because the lack of oxygen would just kind of fold into each other when they got hit? No, there would be still explosions, but it wouldn't look quite like it does. They exaggerated a little bit.

No, it would still explode. You've seen the backup when the rockets are firing in space. Things still glow red and you still... Okay. And I would like to say thank you for not going, who is this idiot? So in the Planet of the Apes, you know, the first Planet of the Apes

with Charlton Heston, right? Classic. Yeah, right. Do you think there could have been enough time for the planet to evolve? Could you actually time travel in space? That's the question. No. Next question.

Okay, now she's like, I've had it with this more. I understand. Well, Dr. Stofan, it is a real pleasure to talk to you but we have in fact asked you here to test your knowledge with a game we're calling why don't you step into my attic the smithsonian as you know is known as the nation's addicts we thought we'd ask you about other people's addicts that is their weird or obsessive collections answer two or three questions correctly you'll win a prize for one of our listeners, the voice of their choice on their voicemail. Bill, who is Dr. Ellen Stofan playing for?

Lisa Edison of New York, New York. All right, you ready to do this? Yes. Okay, here we go. Here's your first question. Celebrities are often collectors. Sir Patrick Stewart, for example, collects which of these?

A, Beavis and Butthead memorabilia, B, viciously bad reviews of other actors, or C, pornographic neckties? I'm going to go with B. No, surprisingly, it was actually Beavis and Butthead memorabilia. Oh my God. He is a huge fan.

Sir Patrick Stewart, OBE, is a huge fan of Beavis and Butthead. He thinks it's the neatest. You know. All right. You still have two more chances. There's no problem. Here's your next question.

King Farouk of Egypt was one of the wealthiest playboys in the world before he was deposed. Among his many collections were which of these? A. Live crocodiles. B. Recordings of different people burping. Or C. Otherworld's possessions, which he had stolen from them. I'm going to go with A. You're going to go with A, live crocodiles. I mean, he just liked as many live crocodiles as he could get. Yeah. Before I give you the answer, where do you think he would keep them? In a large crocodile facility. Right. Some sort of large facility in which we had lots of large crocodiles crawling around. Well, they do have crocodiles in Egypt.

Which would raise the question of why we would need to collect them. You're trying to talk me out of this answer. I can see. I'm not going to say I'm not. I'm going to switch it to see them. Yes, you're right. He was a notorious thief, King Farouk was. He once famously boosted Winston Churchill's pocket watch. On another occasion, he stole the Shah of Iran's sword and medals from his open coffin. Oh, by the way, King Farouk also collected pornographic neckties. You're joking.

No, he did. Technically, that's how I found out they existed. All right, you have one more question. If you get this right, you win. Some people aren't just amateur collectors for their own pleasure. They have actually founded museums to display their collections. So if you were to leave the Smithsonian for other pastures, you could visit which of these? A, the Museum of Burnt Food, B, the Museum of Asphalt, or C, the Museum of Empty Candy Wrappers. I'm going to go with Candy Wrappers. You're going to go with Candy Wrappers?

Yeah. You're right, although all of them are real museums. So plan your vacation now, America. Yeah. Bill, how did Dr. Stofan do in our quiz? Dr. Ellen got two out of three, and that means you won our quiz. Congratulations. Dr. Ellen Stofan is the Undersecretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian. More information can be found at si.edu.

Dr. Ellen Stofan, thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Dr. Thank you all. Thank you. This is really fun to have you. Thank you. Take care. Bye.

Bye-bye. When we come back, black thought from the roots and Philippa Soo, the star of Hamilton. Try to wrap along. Or, on second thought, please don't. We'll be back in a minute with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host, a man who hopes that wearing the same sweatpants and t-shirts every day prevents aging.

Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. It seems impossible that another year is racing towards its end, so we decided to spend this week going back and retracing our footsteps in the sands of time. A place where there is just one set of footprints. That's where I took a break and had margaritas with my gal pals. We talked to a lot of great people this year, including Tariq Trotter, better known as Black Thought of the Roots. Peter asked him about how he met Roots co-founder Questlove back in high school. As I recall, we were in the principal's office on opposite sides of the fence, so to speak.

I was receiving a suspension. Yes. And I think he had come into the office to bring like flowers to the principal. He was delivering an apple or something. Yeah, I noticed he had a denim jacket with a peace sign that was hand-painted on the back of it. And I was a visual arts student. And one of my sort of side hustles was that I would do jackets and jeans with that same sort of design. So it caught my eye and I was wondering who's this guy sort of moving in on my turf. We started up a conversation and I found out he was a musician and a drummer and that he was into hip hop and sampling and stuff. um you know that he was uh you know into hip-hop and sampling and stuff and yeah so we we decided that uh once i got back from my suspension that we were gonna you know you founded the band it

was even called the roots back then right i mean no no no back then uh yeah we founded the roots in 1987 and our we were initially called radioactivity and You know it wasn't called the sea Were you always the MC of the band that was your role from the beginning yeah, yeah, that was always my role It began as as you know, just an MC ande and a drummer that was it just an emcee and a drummer yeah and did you always i mean for those who don't know you are renowned for your ability among many other things to freestyle is that something that you had back then or is that something you had to build and learn and work towards i mean it's always been you know a work in progress but um once the roots once we actually formed a band and it was like,

okay, we're going to do this thing and I'm going to rap over live instrumentation. I felt like I had to go, you know, just always be able to go above and beyond, you know, what was expected of me as an MC and as a performer. I say this as someone who's constantly making stuff up off the top of my head. Have you ever like started a phrase and had no idea where it was going to end but it just it just like and you get it it's like i hope i think of something to rhyme by the time in three seconds when i get there yeah absolutely i've impressed myself you know so you've been part of this band since 1987 and you guys had a tremendous amount of success and credibility already.

And how did you guys react when, I don't know who it was, Fallon or one of his producers came to you back, and this was when he had his late show, I remember. Yeah. Before it became The Tonight Show. And so we want you to be the house band for this late night comedy show or talk show. Initially, it was disbelief and, you know, just distrust. You know what I mean? Are we being punked? And, you know, why us sort of thing i i can't say i know i know a lot about hip-hop but i'm just assuming that you guys as established uh people

in that field were not like really excited to be the next paul schaefer right yeah no no i wasn't i don't think any of us were really excited this wasn't you know i didn't see this as part of our trajectory and it wasn't definitely not a rapper goal yeah well tarik trotter black thought we have had so much fun with you today but we have asked you here to play a game we're calling it's great just great but we have a few notes so you're of course a founding member of the roots so we thought we'd ask you about suits, that is, network executives, the ones who oversee movies and TV. Oh. You're going to get me fired.

Yeah, no, no, we're not going to ask you that. Anybody at NBCUniversal, don't worry about it. Okay. Answered three questions about these very helpful people and their contributions to the creative arts. You will win our prize. One of our listeners, the voice of anyone from our show, they might choose in their voicemail. Bill, who is Tariq Trotter playing for? Andrew Stevens of Fort Wayne, Indiana. All right. Here's your first question. So the executive in charge

of Back to the Future, back when that movie was made, thought the script was great, just great. He did have one little suggestion, though. What was it? A, instead of a DeLorean,

make the time machine a tricycle because tricycles are funny. B, the hero Marty McFly should stay in the past and in the end be revealed to be his own father. Or C, change the title from Back to the Future to Spaceman from Pluto. I'm going to say B. You're going to say B. Then he's like, Marty McFly should go back, meet his mother, and marry his mother, and become his own father. We are thinking about a network executive, so it could happen that way. Is that going to be

your choice? Yeah, it's B. I'm going to say B. No, it's actually C. He wanted them to call it Spaceman from Pluto. Really? You have two more chances. This is not a problem. Here's your next question. Mark Frost, the co-creator of Twin Peaks, among other TV series, was once hired to do a new version of Moby Dick for a movie studio in the 90s. And he says that one studio exec asked him the following question. Was it A, can it be a dolphin instead? People like dolphins.

B, how does the boat go without a motor? Or C, does Ahab have to die in the end? Massive spoiler there, Peter. It's too old to be spoiled. There's no spoiler alert for 150-year-old novels. Sorry. Okay. I'm going to say A. You're going to say... So you're saying that

the network executive who's commissioned a new version of Moby Dick said to the writer, can it be a dolphin instead? The great white whale. He said, does Ahab have to die? That's right. He said, does Ahab have to die? Mark Frost also says that this guy used to refer to the protagonist of that film that didn't get made as Ish.

Okay. Ishmael's too formal. He just wanted to call him Ish. All right. I kind of like that. Yeah. All right. Here's your last question.

Get this, you wim. Which of these was an actual comment from a network executive at NBC when they passed on the pilot for The Walking Dead? Was it A, the U.S. government would never allow a pandemic like that to get out of hand? B, instead of eating people, could the monsters have a thing for like Twinkies? Or C, this is awesome. I really love it. Does it have to have zombies in it? C.

Yes. That one you knew. That's what he said. They passed. It did pretty well, I am told, at another channel. Bill,

how did Tariq Trotter do on our show? He won, won, won! Two out of three. Congratulations! There you go. Add that to the remarkable resume.

Tariq Trotter is an actor, producer, rapper known as Black Thought. He is the co-founder of The Roots. You can see him starting May 6th in an all-remote version of Waiting for Godot. More information at thenewgroup.org. Tariq Trotter, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you for all the great things you've done. Thank you, guys. Take care. Thank you. Bye-bye. Finally, one of the best things to happen to Peter this year was a chance to talk to one of the original stars of Hamilton on Broadway, Philippa Soo, who created the role of Eliza Hamilton.

She was one of the Schuyler sisters. As you can guess, it was tough for Peter to hide his enthusiasm when we spoke to her in July. Hello, thank you for having me. How many times do people see you on the street and run up and immediately launch into the Schuyler sisters, as I am about to do now? I would say about, I don't know, 10% of the time. 10%, which is a fair amount. Does it tend to happen in like particular places? Well, I mean, I'll tell you this much.

You know, I've had a lot of Zoom conversations in the past year, as we all have. And it's always about that gasp. Oh, right. That's always a sort of common question and topic. For people who haven't seen Hamilton, the show ends kind of weirdly, not with like a big musical whatever, but with your character, who's like the last person living on stage. And it's just this weird moment where she, you, looks into the distance, like above the blaster of the audience, and gasps.

And that's the end of the show. Well, right. And then don't stop, leave and starts playing at that. Exactly. It's very strange. Suddenly comes in and we don't know if you live or die. It's very mysterious and a little unsatisfying. So the question you must always get is,

what are you looking at when you gasp? Right. That's what everybody wants to know, I'm assuming. Or what are you thinking about? Well, you know, people don't like this answer answer but it's true because it's the theater which is it's different every show i mean so i really yeah it was it was different every show i mean sometimes like you know there would be like a week where i feel like i would be exploring the idea of like looking out and seeing something very tangible like seeing like the orphanage or seeing like all the things that I'm,

I've been talking about, like in the past song that I've been singing. And then sometimes it was a little bit more figurative, like looking into the future or, you know, I thought, I thought you were gasping at Madonna on her cell phone. She,

she actually came to the show and right. And we spent the whole time on her cell phone. She actually came to the show and spent the whole time on her cell phone. Yeah, I guess she did. That's true. I didn't see her, but I heard about it. You did get a lot of celebrity visits to the show who often went backstage to take pictures with the cast. Like there's a picture we found of you

with, for example, Beyonce. Yeah. And did that go around? Did you guys know who you were performing for in any given night if there was somebody famous? You know, I mean, some people really liked to know. I know Lynn really liked to know who was out there. And that sort of like was really, there because I didn't want to make myself more scared about doing the entirety of Hamilton than I already was. So I was like, no, don't tell me who's out there. But I know I could see in people's faces like when somebody special was there.

I have a question and I'll preface it by saying that I am one. I am a big Hamilton fan. But as the recipient of this worship, do we Hamilton fans ever sometimes get annoying? Be honest. Wow, she's taking a long time to answer. Yeah, that was definitely a pregnant phone. No, I think the fans have been so sweet and so nice. And they're all really young, too.

There's a lot of like young kids. I know, I know that there are five-year-olds dressed up as you. You won a Grammy for the cast album. Is that right? Yes. Yes, we did. And we found a picture of you taking a shot out of your Grammy, which I did not know was possible. Well, that was actually a shot out of David's Grammy, I believe. Oh, really? Oh, you're not going to take a shot out of your own Grammy? No, no, no. I keep it very nice and I dust it every once in a while. Yeah, no,

David was definitely like, we're taking shots out of the Grammy. Wow. And you're up for an Emmy now because of the filmed version of Hamilton, which is very exciting. Have you thought about what you might drink out of your Emmy? I don't know. Can it hold liquid? I don't think so. The Emmys I've seen, they have that kind of globe that's made of bands of metal.

You might have to fountain it, like hold it above your head and have it dribble down over the Emmy and then into your mouth. Yeah, exactly. Ellen, that was brilliant. Thank you. That was spoken like an alcoholic. Well, Phillipa Sue, we're thrilled to talk to you, as I hope we've shown. But we have asked you here to play a game we're calling Hamilton. Try a ton of ham. You starred in Hamilton, so we're going to ask you about a ton of ham. Answer two out of three questions about ham and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of their choice on their voicemail.

Bill, who is Philippa Sue playing for? Michael Dennehy of Boston, Massachusetts. All right. Ready to do this? I came to win it. Okay. I love this. All right. Are you surprised? This is a woman who drinks out of her Grammy. No, she's a woman who drinks out of other people's Grammys. Better, better. To maintain the hygiene of her own. drinks out of other people's Grammys. Better. Better. To maintain the hygiene of her own Grammys. Exactly. That's how gangster she is. Okay,

let's say you're a big enthusiast for ham. If so, you can enjoy which of these in addition to eating ham? A, you can visit one of the many museums of ham throughout the country of Spain. B, you can visit the Ham Spa in southern France where you are fed

acorns and cured in salt, just like a ham. Or C, you can visit or even compete in the famed Westminster Ham Show. I feel like the answer is A. You feel like the answer is museums of

ham in Spain, and you're right. Oh! As you may know, the Spanish people love their jamón, and there are many museums of ham where you can see exhibits of the making of their jamón. Perhaps the world's most famous ham is a particular ham that was made in 1902 by the Gwaltney Foods Company in the UK. Why is it so famous? A, it is the only ham ever declared kosher by a rabbi because, quote, God wouldn't keep us from eating something this delicious.

B, it looks quite a lot like the Virgin Mary, so it is worshipped as the Immaculate Porkception. Or C, the owner of the company put a collar and leash on it and introduced it to people as his pet? I think I'm going to go with B. You're going to go with the immaculate porkception? Yeah. No, I'm afraid it was actually C, the owner of the company,

carried this thing around on a leash and a collar to introduce it as his pet. We're not quite sure why, but the ham is still there. Still, nobody ate it. And you can see it right now via the ham cam, courtesy of the Museum of the Isle of Wight, where the ham resides. My jaw has dropped. It in fact has.

Just so the listeners know, her jaw in fact dropped. Now this is fine, because you can still win with this last question. Ham is sometimes used for purposes other than, say, lunch. Such as which of these? A. A Chinese company paid its creditors with ham instead of money. B, the Ham Ball League of southern Portugal, a version of baseball in which the ball is struck with a whole bone in ham. Or C, the hamophone, a special instrument played in Slovakian orchestras made entirely out of ham.

Oh, my gosh. B. So you're suggesting that there's a league in Portugal where they play a version of baseball in which they swing a leg of ham? Oh my gosh. B. So you're suggesting that there's a league in Portugal where they play a version of baseball in which they swing a leg of ham. Okay. Yeah. In retrospect, I think B was an insane answer. I don't know why. I'm going to say A because I know how obsessed my family is. My Chinese family is with food and I feel like food is everything. You're exactly right. It was A. The company, which you can imagine processes ham, offered ham to its creditors instead of money because they had run out of money. Then, of course, they started running out of ham.

Bill, how did Philippa Soo do in our quiz? She got two out of three right. That's good enough on our show. Philippa Soo is an Emmy-nominated actor and singer who originated the role of Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton. Her newest project, The Stand-In, is available now from Audible. Phillip Asu, what a delight to talk to you. Thank you for everything. Thank you, guys.

Such a thrill. Bye. Bye-bye. That's it for our Where Did All the Time Go? Oh, That's Where It Went edition. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Phillip Godega writes our limericks.

Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our social media superstar is Emma Choi. BJ Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos, Lillian King, and Nancy Seychow. Our sunset at 6 p.m. is Peter Gwynn. Technical direction is from Lorna White. Our business and ops manager is 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 Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard this week, all of our panelists, all of our guests. Of course, the amazing Bill Curtis. Thanks to all of you for listening along. I am Peter Sagal. We will be back next week. This is NPR.