What Does Mina Kimes Know About Literature & US History

Summary

Funny You Ask with Ike Barinholtz

Episode: What Does Mina Kimes Know About Literature & US History (July 1, 2026)
Guest: Mina Kimes (ESPN writer, NFL Network journalist, Celebrity Jeopardy champion)
Host: Ike Barinholtz

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Episode Overview

This episode of Funny You Ask is a lively and fast-paced comedy-trivia faceoff with Mina Kimes. Mina, fresh off a Celebrity Jeopardy win, spars with host Ike Barinholtz across US History, literature, and the wide world of facts. They swap friendly trash talk, geek out about their mutual game show experiences, and dive into a trivia battle peppered with jokes, personal stories, and pop culture riffs. Along the way, the show detours into the joys and humiliations of game show prep, VIP amusement park experiences, hash browns, LEGO pain, and what dinner party guests or dead presidents might make the best NFL quarterback.

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Key Topics and Segments

1. Celebrity Jeopardy Rivalry & Game Show War Stories

(02:05-09:54)

• Mina and Ike trade jabs over Mina's Jeopardy win—Mina recounts prepping specifically to beat Ike:

  “In my head, I had built you up as Ivan Drago, and I was like, wow, he’s the worst. He’s a villain. He’s the big bad.” — Mina (04:13)

• Extensive discussion about the realities of game show competition, buzzer strategy, and the pressure of each round.

• Mina jokes about studying US history because it’s the topic she felt least comfortable with, whereas her passions are literature and geography.

2. Football and the NFL: Prognostications, Fandom, and Relocation

(07:23-09:18)

• Debating the best teams in NFC North; Ike’s Bears fandom; Mina’s analysis of team prospects and injuries.
• Discussion about NFL team relocation and fan identity:

  “As long as we win, I don’t give a shit. They could play in Antarctica for all I care.” — Ike (08:43)

3. The Main Trivia Rounds

Scattered throughout, with major chunks at (10:16–16:41, 31:40–42:45, 47:02-56:03, 61:56-84:31).

US History Segment

(10:16–16:41)

• Ike quizzes Mina about the Constitution’s ratification (first/last state, Bill of Rights authorship, the Virginia Declaration).

• Notable comedic clue:

  “Take the name of a president and the name of Nick’s power forward from the 90s, you’re there now.” — Ike, hinting at George Mason (13:41)

• Both reflect on the bizarro Founding Father miniseries and the comic/tragic figures of American history.

Dinner Party and Alternative Histories

(23:05–31:26)

• Who would make the best historical NFL quarterback? Pros/cons of various presidents.
• Which US historical moment would you attend?
• Dream dinner party guests (with and without MLK), debate over who’d be the best "hang" and why.

Geography Segment

(42:45–55:06)

• Soviet breakup, greatest landmasses, Barents Sea borders—challenges to Mina’s geography prowess.

• Mina shares her “origin story” as a geography nerd:

  “We moved around a lot...my dad would always quiz me on capitals, and then I did geography Bees growing up.” (46:57)

• Amusing detour into the differences between being “a Disney adult” versus a “LEGO adult."

Literature Segment

(62:00–69:31)

• Shakespeare's most “British” comedies (Merry Wives of Windsor), characters with most lines, and recurring characters.

• Quickfire on best-selling British novelists.

• Deep dive into favorite authors/eras (Graham Greene, Edith Wharton, James Joyce, Don DeLillo, Didion, Zadie Smith).

• Discussion of reading books vs. audiobooks as "mental bootcamp.”

4. Lightning/Speed Rounds

(84:50–91:46)

• Mina excels in quick-fire trivia: Karenina's lover, US history facts, rivers of China, etc.
• Ike’s speed round covers everything from sports on the moon, candy origins, common passwords, to the origin of "Starbucks" and the one letter missing from all US state names.
• Hilarity over difficult and strange questions:

  “What toy was originally created as a wallpaper cleaner?”
  Answer: Play-Doh.

• Geography, literature, sports, and pop culture collide.

5. Pop Culture, Amusement Parks, and Parenting as Running Jokes

(35:52–42:44, 58:44–61:54)

• “Stepping on a LEGO is worse than being stabbed in the face…” — Mina (36:58)

• Nostalgia for the “Disney VIP guide” experience and the guilt/superiority of cutting lines.

• Riffs on parenthood, traveling with kids, and the trauma of toddlers on planes.

6. Notable Quotes / Memorable Moments

• Mina and Ike’s comedic “rivalry” and mutual respect; how Jeopardy infiltrates their lives.

• Imagining dinner parties with Malcolm X, JFK (on the other side of the table), John Brown (“Psychopath, but very entertaining!”), and Benjamin Franklin (“famously horny”).

• Philosophically musing on American history:

  “There’s a famous quote—it’s the only country that was deliberately founded on good ideas… there is something very funny about this collection of heroes, but also, like, hilarious scam artists and villains.” — Ike (19:58)

• Complete laughter breakdown at the “O’Doenze Olympics” clue for Muhammad Ali’s gold medal in Rome (83:59, 84:06).

• Griping about reading post-phone era:

  “You ever read a page and you think you’re reading it and at the end, you’re like, what? I didn’t actually read any of the letters…” — Mina (66:05)

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Highlighted Timestamps

• 04:13 – Mina’s “Ivan Drago” analogy for prepping to face Ike on Jeopardy.
• 09:43 – 09:58 – Ike's "I don't give a shit, as long as we win" Bears relocation bit.
• 12:00 – 13:12 – Clue-filled marathon on the Bill of Rights authorship.
• 16:41 – Geography Bee host dreams.
• 24:43 – 25:19 – Imagining the smell of the Declaration signing.
• 36:58 – Mina’s “stepping on a LEGO” quip.
• 46:57 – Mina’s geography/BrainQuest origin story.
• 62:03 – Obscure Shakespeare in England.
• 69:31 – Desert island books and lit era favorites.
• 84:06 – Ali’s Olympic city—the O’Doenze laugh.

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Notable Speed Round Questions & Answers

• (85:25) Who does Anna Karenina fall in love with?
  A: The Count Vronsky.
• (85:44) What country is the northernmost point of South America?
  A: Colombia.
• (87:00) In 1947, British India was partitioned into...?
  A: Pakistan.
• (87:48) Only sport ever played on the moon?
  A: Golf.
• (89:17) Only letter never appearing in a US state name?
  A: Q.

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

• Tone: Warm banter, rapid-fire wit, nerdy enthusiasm for trivia, humility-fueled humor, and a self-aware embrace of their own "dorkiness"—especially regarding Jeopardy prep and the arcane facts that stick with them for decades.
• For Listeners:
  • Engaging balance of knowledge, pop culture, and comedy—perfect for trivia nerds, Jeopardy fans, and the knowledge-curious.
  • Genuine chemistry between Mina and Ike elevates both the trivia itself and the meta-commentary on learning, competing, and failing with grace.
  • The laughs are as important as the learning; the episode never takes itself too seriously.

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Closing & Prize

• (92:33–94:44) Wrapping up, Ike presents Mina with a humorous historical-themed mug, solidifying her status as the day’s trivia champ and teasing a future Jeopardy “rematch.”

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For Trivia Buffs & Fans

• This episode is rich in fun facts, lateral thinking, and the joy of getting stumped. Both host and guest know their stuff—but more importantly, know how to make being stumped on national history, literature, and LEGO hurt so good.

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“My passion is geography… My dream is to host the Geography Bee… I want to bring it back.” — Mina Kimes (15:44)

Transcript

[Rhett McLaughlin]

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[Mina Kimes]

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[Rhett McLaughlin]

I worked for Disney for years. I worked for Hulu and they would constantly give us like, hey, the guide.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, the guide.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

When we're cutting the line, I think I subconsciously kind of like limp a little bit. Like, so they're just like, oh, maybe he has a broken leg or something. It's either 60 or 64. If he was 18 in 1960 and he died in like 2016, I'm gonna say 1960 Olympics.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, is what city? I just let you do all that math because I thought it would help you get to the city.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Who doesn't enjoy a classic rivalry between two elite caliber athletes? Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova, Joey Chestnut and Takaru Kobayashi. Well, the woman sitting to my left may very well be the Tom Brady to my Peyton Manning. Or vice versa. I'm not even sure this analogy works, but my guest is a writer and journalist for ESPN and the NFL Network, who most recently dethroned yours truly as the celebrity Jeopardy. Champion. She also claims to know a little bit about US History.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh no.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Geography and literature. Mina Kimes welcome to Funny you ask.

[Mina Kimes]

We meet again.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

So we meet again. Karate kid part two. So when he sees Mr. Miyagi and he's like, so, Coward. We meet again.

[Mina Kimes]

I have a confession.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Talk to me. You cheated. I knew it.

[Mina Kimes]

No, no, I didn't cheat. Okay, so you have. You're not. You're the Brady. First of all, you have a reputation in the celebrity game show world that's probably unparalleled as the one to be. Well, you know, to be the man, you gotta take down the man. And you were the man. And so much so that you probably didn't watch. But in my first episode this run this season, Ken's like, and who's gonna face Ike Barinholtz? He was building you up.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Definitely way too much.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Not good.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. To the point where when I won the semifinals in advance and then I had. Oops, two months until the finals.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, Right, right, right.

[Mina Kimes]

Which I do also want to note. Your finals were same day. You were playing at a disadvantage, which you didn't bring it up. I did.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. Even if I was in town and had the same amount, you blew my back walls out.

[Mina Kimes]

You. It seems tired.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It does. It. It literally, like, if I had gotten 17 hours of sleep the night before, you would have beaten me that night.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, well, here's the confession part. So for two months, I assumed it would be you at the end. They don't tell you. I didn't know my competitors were. But the whole time, I'm thinking it's gonna be. I parallel. And we had some. I have mutual friends with you. I'd always heard, he's so nice. He's so cool. Everybody loves him. In my head, I had built you up as Ivan Drago, and I was like, wow, he's the worst. He's a villain. He's the big bad.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He's using all of his fancy Soviet technology to train. You're out there doing trivia while you're,

[Mina Kimes]

like, squatting logs, literally. And I mentioned this during the show, I practiced a lot, and I practiced my buzzer, and the whole time, I was like, gotta beat Ike. Gotta beat Ike. I swear to God, the whole time. I actually watched your previous finale, and I saw how quickly you were buzzing. Cause you were dynamite on the buzz.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The buzzer is like half the battle.

[Mina Kimes]

It's half the battle.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

If you understand the buzzer timing for Jeopardy. For years, I would watch. I would always think it's like the first person to press it once. And you learn that's not really what it is. You have to be exactly. Timing it as Ken is finishing his question, or the light is going off, and then it's that rapid fire. Nintendo thing. And so once I got into that, I really learned how to play the game. Except for that day. You were really good that day and you were playing for an amazing charity, Cars for Kids. Tell us a little bit about carsforkids.com and the jingle that you wrote. That is, I think you legally cannot play in California.

[Mina Kimes]

I actually. Right. I actually, to this day I hope it's not a trivia question. Cause I actually don't know what Cars for Kids does.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Well, we just found out last week. Maybe we'll cut this. But for years if you lived in California, you've heard the 1-807-cars for kids and you think like, oh, you're about to sell your car, give it to charity, you'll get a tax write off.

[Mina Kimes]

It doesn't go to a kid.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Mina, they just found out. This is bad. Cuz this is like my people, but like it's like a hardcore right wing orthodox Jewish organization that funnels money to Israel and sends what, sends like non children on trips to Israel in your car. They sell your car and then they take the money and just they're like, you're gonna go to Tel Aviv anyways. You really did though, you played for Sheila, one of the great, maybe the greatest charity organization. Incredible. Doing amazing work with homelessness. So I am very grateful for that. But we also have another connection because we both also won a million dollars on Celebrity who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

[Mina Kimes]

Well, you competed. I was just the phone a friend.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You were the phone a friend. Right. You were the phone a friend. But you were still part of it and you helped him out a lot.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, well, I didn't actually know my answer.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What was it? Do you remember?

[Mina Kimes]

It was like, who was the first president in the White House to have electricity? And if you listen to my voice, I do not sound like I know it. I'm like, maybe Harrison. And then he gave it to him saying. So he just goes for it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, God bless him, gambler. God bless him. Well, we together have at least $2 million worth of dollars that have gone to charity and we get none of it. You picked amazing subjects. I have great questions for you. Before we get into that, can I ask you one football question?

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. You just wondered. I didn't do football as part of my.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, I thought it was very cool. I assumed that, that you were gonna do that. Who do you think will emerge as the best team in the nfc? Specifically the NFC North?

[Mina Kimes]

Are you a Bears fan?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, but that's unrelated. Who do you think is gonna Come out.

[Mina Kimes]

I probably the Bears. Oh, honestly, I wasn't expecting that. I got to think it through more. But the Packers. I just heard Micah Parsons isn't going to come back until like October.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's. That's bad.

[Mina Kimes]

Who knows? With the Vikings and Kyler Murray, the Lions have been like, kind of regressing a lot of injuries, attrition on the offensive line. You took their guy. He is a freak.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

We're looking good. The only things against us is that Caleb was on the COVID of Madden and we are possibly gonna be located in Indiana, which I'm actually like. I gotta be honest. I have friends that are like, their heads are in the oven. And I'm like, I don't give a shit. A. First of all, the last time I went to a. I watch every Bears game. The last time I went to a Bears game in person was a Bears Vikings game in like 2007. It was awesome. It was literally zero degrees out. It was so much fun. But like, I don't. It's fine. It's like the Giants play in the. Not New York, right?

[Mina Kimes]

No, it's. It's really hard to get to. Yeah, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

But it's like you're fine with it.

[Mina Kimes]

It doesn't bother you?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It does not bother me. Like, it's bothering some people. Like, I'm just like, whatever. Maybe it'll make people in Indiana. I don't know. I don't know. I'm fine with it. As long as we win. I don't give a shit. They could play in Antarctica for all I care.

[Mina Kimes]

But you don't go to games, so

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't go to games. If I lived in Chicago and I was.

[Mina Kimes]

If I bother you, you went to games.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Um, then going to Indiana as opposed to a short taxi to the stadium, that would be a bummer. But as long as we win, as long as we beat the Packers. God, it was so great when we beat the packers last year. Two games in a row. That was like the greatest, one of

[Mina Kimes]

the most insane finishes. Ooh.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It got me really, really fired up. Okay, here is how this game is going to work. Mina Kimes. We could talk football all day. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions based on one of your subject. So we'll talk for a little bit and then you'll ask me a question from this stack of cards that I have not looked at. And then we'll talk for a little bit. We'll repeat that twice. And we have the speed round. Speed round is where it gets Nutty. And I'm gonna tell you right now, you will be the best person that we've had on the show.

[Mina Kimes]

I don't like this pressure, so I've upped it 10%.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

10%. Some of the questions I've been asking people, I'm always like, are you a human being? You know what I mean? They were so, so, so easy I

[Mina Kimes]

to chase Sweet one on the way here, and she was very smart.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

She's a little smarty pants. Yeah, she's a little smarty pants. Okay, here we go.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God. Okay, I'm nervous. I feel this might be like a little revenge scenario for you.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I just ask you, like, impossible questions,

[Mina Kimes]

like, weirdly difficult, like, what was Benjamin

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Franklin's favorite cat's name now? Okay, here we go. The subject is American history.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Mina. What some refer to as the backbone of our country's laws. The U.S. constitution was formally ratified by all 13 states on May 29, 1790. Which state was the first to ratify the Constitution? And I have a clue.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, thank you.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It is the home state of a recent president.

[Mina Kimes]

A recent president?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

A recent president. Yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna take a shot in the dark here.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Go for it.

[Mina Kimes]

Is it Delaware?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It is Delaware.

[Mina Kimes]

Let's go.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's Delaware. You're on the board. Let's go. But you got a bonus question right now.

[Mina Kimes]

All right, all right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What was the last state to ratify? Oh, the last state.

[Mina Kimes]

Can you give me another hint?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I can give you another hint.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It has two words in its name.

[Mina Kimes]

Two words. That's. I'm thinking of, like three or four states. We got the north, we got the south. We got the new. We got the.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'll give you one more hint. It's not what I thought it was.

[Mina Kimes]

Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. When I was thinking of this, I was like.

[Mina Kimes]

You were surprised?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And I was like, ooh.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I thought it was gonna be a two letter, a two word state, and it was a other two word state.

[Mina Kimes]

Is it South Carolina?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It is Rhode Island.

[Mina Kimes]

Here we go.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Double bonus.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Double bonus. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791. Who wrote the draft of the Bill of Rights? I have a hint.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Very short.

[Mina Kimes]

The name is very short.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The man was very short.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, the man was very short. Okay. It's not Jefferson, and it's not anyone

[Rhett McLaughlin]

who has had a miniseries based on that.

[Mina Kimes]

Paul Giamatti.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's not the man that Paul Giamatti played.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Paul Giamatti.

[Mina Kimes]

Somebody who didn't get a miniseries.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Did not get his own miniseries. But unmistakably a Founding Father. Little guy.

[Mina Kimes]

Little guy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Kind of a bitch.

[Mina Kimes]

Really? Really? In what way?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Just from what I've read about him, he was just kind of like. You know what I mean?

[Mina Kimes]

Like.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like he was like Jefferson. Like Adams.

[Mina Kimes]

Like you're making some implications here.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, he was. I think that's just how he talked. Like he was. He was straight. This is not live streaming, by the way. We can make any kind of editorial cuts we want. He was. I'll give you a last hint. He was the president.

[Mina Kimes]

Was it Quincy? No, not Quincy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Maybe before him.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, Madison.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

James Madison. I'm giving you half a point because you have two clues. Triple bonus. We've never done this before.

[Mina Kimes]

That was not good. How did I not know that? Madison.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

We've never done this before.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Madison based the Bill of Rights mostly off of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was authored by whom? And I have a clue. Not a president.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, Not a president.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Not a president.

[Mina Kimes]

Virginia Declaration of Rights.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I have one more clue.

[Mina Kimes]

What's your final clue?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

College.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, in. Probably in Virginia, right? No. No. Yes. No.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Take the name of a president and the name of Nick's power Forward from the 90s. You're there

[Mina Kimes]

now. I'm like, no.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I love when my clues confuse people more.

[Mina Kimes]

This is like on Jeopardy. When there's a clue that has too many words and you're like. And then it's the dumb thing. And then you look like an absolute moron because you were trying to read the whole freaking clue on stage.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, I've been there.

[Mina Kimes]

I don't know.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

George Mason.

[Mina Kimes]

George Mason.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

George Mason.

[Mina Kimes]

George Mason.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I didn't know. I didn't know who he was.

[Mina Kimes]

Who is George Mason?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

George Mason was a guy who wrote the Virginia Bill of Rights. He was like, definitely one of. He's got to have been a. Like a son of Liberty, but maybe more of like a. Maybe more of like a nerdy son of Liberty. Like, I don't think he was one of the ones that was like, let's tar and feather that Brit. You know? That's wild, by the way. Tar and feathering.

[Mina Kimes]

Tar and feathering.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like, I think when we're little kids, it was kind of like, eh. It's like a jackass prank. But like, it like fucked you up for like, years.

[Mina Kimes]

How? Because it was like embarrassment or. You still have feather. You just find feathers.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You just find feathers. Like three years later you're like, what is on my ass?

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, it's perfect.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Just think about. Think about right now. Imagine you walk out of the studio and someone dumps hot tar on you.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, it's hot.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, it's hot.

[Mina Kimes]

I didn't know it was hot.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, yeah. Otherwise, it's settled then. And it's like, so a. It's burning you. Even in today's bathing technology, to get that off is very difficult. Think about in 1771, like, what are you gonna do? Jump in the river and just, like, wash the tar? It just. It's. It's. It was not fun. Um, what is it about American history that interests you? Were you always, like, like, like, taken with it?

[Mina Kimes]

Uh, no. I. Okay, I'm sorry. I'll stop talking about Jeopardy. I swear to God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, no, this is good.

[Mina Kimes]

It was the one thing I studied, like, very hard for Jeopardy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They usually three categories that took kiss upon American History.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, there's a lot of American history in Jeopardy. And I felt like going into it, I didn't need to study literature and geography, which are more of my passions.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, yes.

[Mina Kimes]

So I actually read several books on US History.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I love that you're like, my passion is geography.

[Mina Kimes]

It actually is. My dream is to host the Geography Bee. It's like my one because people always ask, like, what do you want to do? Do you want to be on, like, Monday Night Football? Do you want to, like, be a gym of a team? And I'm like, I want to host the US Geography. I want to bring it back because they don't air it anymore. Alex Trebek used to host it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

This is like, if you're watching this, who owns it? Scripps, Is it.

[Mina Kimes]

Scripps is a spelling beef type thing.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They don't do the geography one too?

[Mina Kimes]

No, it was.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Is it Rand McNally? The Rand Corporation?

[Mina Kimes]

It's kind of like one of those things where it gets passed around and, like, some private equity company.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm like, I think Dana White has

[Mina Kimes]

it now also, who owns geography?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Why do you own the Dana White has the Geography Bee. And if you get it wrong, a man from Dagestan and slaps you as hard as he can.

[Mina Kimes]

It seems appropriate that the U.S. capitol now hosts a UFC fight and no longer the Geography Bee. Is there a better encapsulation than where we are?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Hey, not to get political, but I saw something yesterday that broke my brain. I see a video of Trump being like, he's mad about the fact that the Reflecting Pool. No one's talking about it. And he literally had someone draw a picture where he's like look, if you were to lay the reflecting pool, if it were to stand up, it would be taller than some of our tallest buildings. And it's like, well yeah, if you could stand it up. But it's not. It's on the ground.

[Mina Kimes]

If you could stand it up, it would be worth it. The money addition would be worth it. I can't find it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Even my 8 year old wouldn't dare to think of like if that Blake was on the ground, it would be high. That's like something that like two months after they say their first words they're like what if that was there? And you explain to them space and hey folks, here to talk to you about Rula r u l a.com I don't have to tell you guys, life can be very challenging sometimes and I think a lot of people it would behoove them if they would talk to a licensed professional or a therapist. But sometimes that process can be very, very difficult. I mean it can be expensive. Will it actually work? How do you find a therapist who's right for you? And most importantly, how do you navigate this massive system? Well, the good news is Rula, they make it very, very, very easy for you. They help you access mental health care nationwide. Sessions can cost an average of $15 a session. They accept over I think 120 insurance plans nationwide. They are here to help you. They make it easy and affordable. So if you are ready to stop talking yourself out of finding care and making Progress, head to rula.com that's R U L A dot com and take step this episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new.

[Mina Kimes]

It can help you with practically anything

[Rhett McLaughlin]

on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses Setup required compatibility and availability various 18

[Mina Kimes]

I get so many headaches every month. It could be chronic migraine. Fifteen or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Botox Onobotulinum toxin a prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. It's not for Those who have 14 or fewer headache days a month. Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems or muscle weakness can be signs of a life threatening condition. Patients with These conditions before injection are at highest risk. Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including als, Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects.

[Mina Kimes]

Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit botoxchronicmigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, my God.

[Mina Kimes]

Normal brain. Normal brain.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I am fascinated with American history. Not to get cheesy, but there's a famous quote where it's like, it's the only country that was deliberately founded on good ideas. Right. It was like, people were like, we're not gonna be a hereditary monarchy, blah, blah, blah. Maybe we've lost our way a little bit. But there is something very funny about this collection of, like, heroes, but also, like, hilarious scam artists and villains. It's like. Did you watch Deadwood?

[Mina Kimes]

Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I think Deadwood is like a microcosm, really, of America a little, where it's like, you have Seth Bullock, but you also have, like, Frances Walcott.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You know what I mean? You have these incredibly nefarious characters. Everyone is trying to get a little bit of money and there's. Yeah. Like, some of the worst people you've ever seen. But then you have, like, sp. Seth and his brother who are, like, you know what? They're good guys.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. I enjoy. You mentioned the miniseries on the various Founding Fathers. I think I've seen most of them.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, me too.

[Mina Kimes]

And I always feel like when I watch them, I learned, like, wow. With zany characters. Like, who knew McKinley? Who knew?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like, you're talking about Death by Fire. So good.

[Mina Kimes]

In my brain, it's Nick Offerman who played him, but it's not.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Nick Offerman played Chester Archer. Oh, yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

It was Michael Shannon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Michael Shannon played Garfield, but Nick played Arthur and was amazing.

[Mina Kimes]

A different one. Yeah. There's all these Apple miniseries on president that only, like, 20 people watch.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I know.

[Mina Kimes]

And they're all really good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm so happy.

[Mina Kimes]

Did you watch the Lincoln one? The. The John Quincy? The.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, no, no, no, no, no.

[Mina Kimes]

It's weirdly good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I know. I got. I gotta watch that one. Any. Any presidential history thing. Cause we have not. I think presidents have strangely been underserved as, like, characters. As characters. Like, obviously have a couple Lincolns, but, like, I can think of one portrayal of George Washington, and that's David Morse in the John Adams miniseries. And he was unbelievable. That's exactly how George Washington looked. I guarantee it.

[Mina Kimes]

Washington doesn't get a lot of play.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He doesn't. Here's a good question.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What American historic figure would be the best NFL quarterback?

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, okay. I'm going to presidents first. Naturally. Not the greatest collection of athletes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. I mean, Gerald Ford did play.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. You want height?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You want height?

[Mina Kimes]

You want height? You want a prototypical pocket passer.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes.

[Mina Kimes]

I mean, not. Obama's too slight.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He's like. He's. He's pretty, he's tall, but really thin. Like, you need to have, like, a big ass to be a good quarterback. It doesn't happen. Like, Peyton Manning to me is like, big dumper, you know, Big dumper. I think that's the key to, like, longevity. Yeah, a little bit.

[Mina Kimes]

Jefferson is cerebral. I don't know physically who he was. Tall. He was pretty tall.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I think he was one of our tall on the spectrum. He was towards the tall.

[Mina Kimes]

But I gotta say, I think Lincoln is probably. He's our tall boy of the presidents. The one who I could see hanging back there. Traditional eye formation.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I was thinking, like, Grant is an amazing administrator.

[Mina Kimes]

Great character, too.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Great character. Like, really, like, intangibles off the charts. But he's little. He's like five, eight. He's like two inches shorter than Doug Flutie. So it's like, I don't know how he's gonna, like, really make it really short.

[Mina Kimes]

Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What about. Okay, take it out of the presidential realm. What about Douglas MacArthur? Tall.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Literal general.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

His, like, great grand nephew is my friend and he played college football.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm gonna say MacArthur said enough.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm gonna say MacArthur. You could be present at one historical event in US history.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, maybe I have a dream.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's a really good one. Wow. Anything I say now is gonna say bad in comparison.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm a good person.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Welcome back to Virtua Signaling starring Mina Kimes. Oh, God. The signing of the Declaration of Independence would be amazing. Although my friend Matt Crispin pointed out the smell in that room.

[Mina Kimes]

My God, was it in the summer?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, it was in July 4th, right around there. And you were talking about a bunch of older men who don't. The teeth brushing, the lack of deodorant and soap, the not leaving the room and showering for days at a time. The smell of ass. Old ass, powdered wigs.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It smells like a diaper. But if an old man is wearing a diaper, not like a baby diaper, like, old man.

[Mina Kimes]

In your imagination or in my imagination.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And it's a book cyber.

[Mina Kimes]

And it's a book that they've described, like, the actual style.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Well, I just know it had so vivid. I think, before, like, 1958, everyone just stunk.

[Mina Kimes]

Jefferson have a red powdered wig, or was his hair just red?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't think he wore a powdered wig. That is so funny, imagining him, like, talking to his assistant. And he's like, so I need a wig, but I want to keep it close to my natural. So you need to find me a mask who could make this wig. And then all the other guys are wearing white wigs, and they're like, we can do that. I can wear a black wig.

[Mina Kimes]

I worked with a guy once who had gray hair, like, white. Perfect, you know, and came in one day with a toupee that was okay. He won't listen to this. That was just jet black.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Is it. This is a Tim Robinson character.

[Mina Kimes]

This really happened. And this is before, like, slack. This is when I worked in an office in my early 20s in New York. And so the office had no way to communicate with each other about it. So we were just all sitting in a meeting, trying not to make eye contact with each other, and this guy just sat down. Jet black toupee.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's so strong confidence that I can.

[Mina Kimes]

What a power move.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

There's a Tim Robinson sketch where it's like, if you want to. You don't want your co workers to think you've been lying to them and wearing a toupee all this time. We have a hair system that will gradually thin out for you. So it's like every day you put on a different wig.

[Mina Kimes]

A little realistic. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, so I'm not doing that. I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna say historical event. I'm doing the moon landing. I'm not in the module. I'm at a party. Where are I? In San Francisco. I'm dropping acid. I watch that. I go see Jimi Hendrix and experience free love.

[Mina Kimes]

So you don't actually.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't want. I don't want.

[Mina Kimes]

Why don't you just go to, like, Woodstock or something during the summer? Like, why would you.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I wanna see the moon landing.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, so you're really picking, like, a time. You want to be in America and

[Rhett McLaughlin]

just watching tv, not even doing anything. What historical event would you want to watch on tv?

[Mina Kimes]

I mean, the parties would Be great. Did people have parties probably to watch it, right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, they had swingers parties, probably. All right, put your keychain in. Houston is calling right now. You can have a. Speaking of parties. Okay, Perfect segue. You can have a dinner party where you're inviting five.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Americans.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Martin Luther King can't come.

[Mina Kimes]

Damn it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Jesus.

[Mina Kimes]

Damn it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He's busy. He's doing more important things than having your stupid dinner party.

[Mina Kimes]

He was, like, a good hang, though, purportedly.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, no. Party's very like. But I almost feel like it's too frivolous to be like, come have dinner with us. Like, he has other things he should do.

[Mina Kimes]

So I should be choosing marginal historical figures to not take them away from their more important obligations is what you're saying.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Really? Just him? Anyone else is on the table?

[Mina Kimes]

Malcolm X, Martin. No.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Malcolm X. Malcolm X.

[Mina Kimes]

Get over here.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, you can invite anyone. You can invite both of them.

[Mina Kimes]

Both of them is a good place to be.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Pretty good. Pretty awesome. Like that dinner party you're owning, like. Yeah, that's very cool.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes. Okay, great question. Jfk.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Fun.

[Mina Kimes]

Good hang.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Good hang on. Might get a little handsy.

[Mina Kimes]

Wanna hear the stories.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wanna hear the stories. But also keep a safe distance. He's on the other side of the table.

[Mina Kimes]

If I didn't, I'd have an amazing story to tell my kids.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. Yeah. Really good. Really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Regret sticking my tongue out of it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Is your dad gone? Hey, check this out.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, that's one.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's good.

[Mina Kimes]

That's a good one. Let me go with Rosa Parks.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Rosa Parks. I mean, you kill me now, you're just like, sorry, YouTube is gonna declare this a woke episode. And then we're out.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. Like, John Brown would actually be a really good one.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Psychopath, but very entertaining.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, yeah. And also just, like, I feel like the stories would be incredible.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Big John Brown's kind of making a comeb. His zoomers are really.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They're in the. John Brown.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, Zoomers are really gnome.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They made that miniseries with him, which I don't know of, but it was still watchable.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. I do want to pick someone from the Revolutionary War era, but I would go with of that. The Founding Father. I guess I would do Franklin, actually.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Most fun. Founding Father. Not even close. And, like, very horny also.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, very horny. Famously. Famously horny also. Just like, different eras, different countries, different. Interacted with so many people across history. Okay, I need a lady. I mean, I said that out loud. That was my brain Chapel Road.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You're just having all the craziest people

[Mina Kimes]

come through Chapel Road. Vince Lombardi.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, very good. I would go with George.

[Mina Kimes]

Alice, did I get to five?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You're at five. You're at five. That's beautiful.

[Mina Kimes]

You didn't forget Chaparron.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Chaperone's.

[Mina Kimes]

That wasn't a joke. She's in there.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

She's definitely in there. I would love to have dinner with her. I'm getting a Roosevelt. But I think fdr, because the kids

[Mina Kimes]

away from the dinner.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Teddy feels like he'd be too crazy. Like, he put me in a headlock.

[Mina Kimes]

Not a rough writer.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I love him. But for a dinner party, it's a little bit like. He's almost like a Chris Farley character. He's breaking shit.

[Mina Kimes]

Teddy's also kind of made a comeback, I feel like, in the public imagination.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah. Well, he was, I think, definitely our coolest president.

[Mina Kimes]

Cool. He was like, kind of like. Like, if he was around today, like, the Chapo Boys would be like, all in on tape. The dirtbag left would be like, this dude, this bro, you know? Like, he was, like, very progressive in some ways.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He wanted to take down the banks. He wanted to help the little guy. But he also didn't have a problem, you know, killing the Philippines.

[Mina Kimes]

Saying, like, bad words, you know?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He said bad words. He swore. He was like Beto o' Rourke a little bit. Remember him? Okay. Fd okay, here's a good one. J. Edgar Hoover.

[Mina Kimes]

No.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Just because.

[Mina Kimes]

No. What?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, you're a piece of shit.

[Mina Kimes]

Why would he tell you, though?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Because I'm gonna drug him and maybe he doesn't make it home, if you know what I'm saying? Abe Lincoln. Just. Cause he spun a really good yarn. That's a good one, I think. Jane Goodall, was she American? Is she American? Can we get a fact check on Jane Goodall?

[Mina Kimes]

Can we get a list of women so that we can throw in?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, we need. Yeah. If it was Jane Goodall, I would just ask her ape questions the entire time and just be like, tell me your best top five ape stories. You know what I mean?

[Mina Kimes]

She's British.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

She's British.

[Mina Kimes]

Hey, you couldn't even.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What about the one who died that Sigourney Weaver played? Diane Fossey, one of the monkey ladies. And then like, John Candy's Canadian, Rodney Danger.

[Mina Kimes]

John Candy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, here we go. I'm asking you a second question. Okay.

[Mina Kimes]

All right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Here we go.

[Mina Kimes]

I didn't do so.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Second question.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

In 1876, the US encroached on native land and began the Great Sioux War. What is the name of its most infamous battle in which Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho resoundingly defeated the US Forces? There's two names for it. I'll accept either one.

[Mina Kimes]

Was that Wounded Knee? No, no, no, no. I take it back, take it back, take it back.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

One of the names refers to the US general who died that day.

[Mina Kimes]

This was 1876.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

1870. 1976. The Battle of. Blank. Or Blanks? Blanks. Blank.

[Mina Kimes]

Someone's last stand. Custer. Custer.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Custer's last stand. One point.

[Mina Kimes]

Blank.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Blank.

[Mina Kimes]

Blank. You did it. You guided me to that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You got a bonus question.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, sorry.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

For one point each.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Name the leaders of the Indian forces. You don't have to name them all, but you get a point for everyone.

[Mina Kimes]

You name Geronimo.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, you get three more Sitting Boys. Yes, that is one. Sitting Bull is one. I'll give you a hint on the other one.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, give me the hint on the

[Rhett McLaughlin]

strip club named after it that I've never been to.

[Mina Kimes]

Spearmint Rhino.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's not Spearmint Rhino, but my God, could that be the name of a Native chief? The answer is I keep going. Crazy Horse.

[Mina Kimes]

That's a strip club.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Two Moons.

[Mina Kimes]

Wait, what?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Chief Gall and Lame White man, which is actually my nickname. Lame White man with my friend. But you got two points on that one right there. We got two points on the board. There was and maybe still is a hot dog restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, called Mustard's Last Stand.

[Mina Kimes]

That's so good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I love a restaurant pun name. If it's a historical pun.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, baby.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, yeah. If they do historical puns on, like, a cocktail menu. Cause I don't like saying those out loud.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't like saying those out loud.

[Mina Kimes]

You really. You don't mind? You don't feel like.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, yeah. Or fucking like Rummer of Love.

[Mina Kimes]

I'll have the Rummer of Love, please.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What about a food delivery service?

[Mina Kimes]

Shameful.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like a Postmates competitor called I Am Not a Cook.

[Mina Kimes]

That's right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And it's like you take a teeth. There you go. Did you know Sam's Club isn't a store? It's actually a club with cool finds and, like, a whole community.

[Mina Kimes]

It's a club. Of course, Jason. It's in the name. Sam's Club. Oh, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Come join us.

[Mina Kimes]

Sam's Club tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla smooth caramel, maybe? Or a white Chocolate mocha. Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks, Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Mina, it is now my time to answer a question that you're gonna ask me from one of these randomly LEGO selected.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, wow. Lego is one of the most successful toy companies in history, generating billions in annual revenue. But the name itself comes from a Danish phrase. Founder Ole Kirk Christiansen. I don't know if his name is Ol or someone just added that because he's old, but it says ol Kirk Christiansen chose in the 1930s. The question what does the name LEGO mean?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Leg up my Eggo. It means, what does it mean?

[Mina Kimes]

LEGO doesn't mean that Lego.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

We gotta leave.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, it doesn't mean that lego. Get outta here. Do you want a hint?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes.

[Mina Kimes]

This isn't that good of a hint. It's a two word Danish phrase that doesn't really matter.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, great. Two word. Oh, it's a two word Danish phrase.

[Mina Kimes]

Cool.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Cause I know more two word Danish phrases than I know one word Danish phrases. It means click them.

[Mina Kimes]

Do you have a lot of Legos in your life?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Listen, I'm gonna be honest right now. I was not. First of all, the answer is I don't know.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. Do you want.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You know, what's the answer?

[Mina Kimes]

Play well. That's hard. That's really hard.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Play well.

[Mina Kimes]

Did not. I would not have guessed that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm also. I'm gonna be honest right now. I'm not a LEGO guy. I never was really a LEGO guy growing up.

[Mina Kimes]

Why are you whispering?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Because I don't know.

[Mina Kimes]

Is big LEGO gonna get you?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Big lego's gonna. Big block is coming after me. Big block. I never just took to them. My kids, one of my kids loved them. Have you been to Legoland?

[Mina Kimes]

So my son is 2 and 10 months. It's in my future, but he's a little young for it. I think it's. Carl's bad, right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's bad. All right.

[Mina Kimes]

We have a lot of Legos in my house.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah. My kids have just moved past them. And the thing is this. They are undeniably the top tier of toys your kids should be playing with. It teaches them how to be tactile and build and follow instructions like it's, it's. And they're amazing when they're built. It's incredible.

[Mina Kimes]

Are you backtracking on it's my.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's me. I'm the problem. It's me. I did not like Legoland.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, you didn't like LEGO Land?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't like Any of it.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, but you don't like. You don't like Legos.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't like Legos.

[Mina Kimes]

You don't like making them, you don't like building them.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

My tolerance for Legos is like three and a half minutes. The minute something doesn't fit, I'm like, bye.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes, Bye.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Time to watch tv.

[Mina Kimes]

Now, I have a really normie parent take on Legos, which is that stepping on one is worse than being stabbed in the face. And that happens all the time in my house now, because the aforementioned toddler son, literally, it's. The shape of it is.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's all sharp angles.

[Mina Kimes]

Would you rather walk 50ft over Legos or be tarred and feathered?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

50ft?

[Mina Kimes]

This is arbitrary, just mixture of sizes, some duplos thrown in.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

As annoyed. And as much as I'd be swearing I would take the Legos, just because, again, the tar and feather, like, that's tough. I would show up to, like, work, and people would be like, what the fuck? What happened to you? Like, years later, you're pulling feathers out, like, out of your taint. Is there another question?

[Mina Kimes]

There is.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, here we go.

[Mina Kimes]

Before making. Bonus question. Before making its famous plastic bricks, what material did LEGO originally use to make its toys?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Another LEGO question. What did they use?

[Mina Kimes]

This is a little easier.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

As opposed to plastic?

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. I mean, like, what?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Fucking wood?

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, it's wood.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay.

[Mina Kimes]

The hint was. The hint was it comes from trees.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What if you gave me the hint and I was like, metal? Yeah. Listen, I'm glad that we got two. You could just take that card and just throw it behind. Yeah, there you go. We don't give a shit here. Yeah, I'm not a LEGO guy with my kids toys. I had one daughter who had. The good thing about Legos is it lets them do something for like an hour. Like, they focus on it, and it's really great. But the third kid had zero interest, really, and was just like, I'm just gonna play with dolls and do with the dolls and involve you with the show. So the legos kind of bounced. I would much rather go to Disney or Universal Studios than Legoland.

[Mina Kimes]

Do you know any adult LEGO people? Because, you know, that's pervert.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like, there's a direct correlation between being over 40 and being like, time to do my Lego. And also, like, I'm a furry. It's the same thing in a way. One's, like, less gross, but it's the same mechanism. I don't know any LEGO adults. That phrase alone is wild. Are you friends with Any Disney adults. I have Disney adults in my room.

[Mina Kimes]

I do know some Disney adults. By the way, cast member. Disneyland's way better than Legoland and Universe Studios.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Disneyland is unbelievable. It's so great. I love it so much. The whatever, the Star wars shit, the fucking thing.

[Mina Kimes]

Rise of the Guardians of Ga' Hool or whatever. Incredible.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Star Wars Rise of Resistance is the great, greatest single amusement park experience I've ever been on. Ever in my life.

[Mina Kimes]

It's amazing.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And I like that little blue milk.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes. Take it into the bar or whatever they have. They have like the Cantina.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, the Cantina. It's amazing.

[Mina Kimes]

You gotta like make a reservation to get in there. I'm like, barely.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Open it up. Open it up to the General Pub.

[Mina Kimes]

I went to Disneyland cause we were there after the super bowl for the mvp. We were broadcasting from there. And it was my kid's first trip.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wow.

[Mina Kimes]

Two and a half at the time. A little younger and had. He had no idea he was getting like the Little Prince treatment where they like, you know, let you do every. Like all the kids are waiting in line. Oh, yeah, my son's meeting Mickey. We're like, Goofy's taking a smoke break, you know. And my toddler's just like, this is just how it is. And I'm watching that thinking like, oh, no. Cause what happens if I get fired and I don't get to do this at Disney?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I worked for Disney for years. I worked for Hulu and they would constantly give us the guide.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, the guide.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And now my kids are asking and I'm like, I think Disney's closed. They have to shut down. When you have the guide.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, the guide.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's like going. It's like if you're a kid and you've only flown on a private jet and then you have to take like a bus.

[Mina Kimes]

These VIP tour. This is super relatable content. I know these VIP guys.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

We get this for free as a perk for our job. The Guide Raid, in case you don't know, the guide is when you go to Disney, if you work for Disney, if you're an executive producer, you're talent, whatever, once a year they will let you, And I think four people go to Disneyland for $10,000. They give you a guy who walks you around and walks you to the front of the line and you get special treatment and you have someone who explains their cost. $10,000.

[Mina Kimes]

Normally a person who treats you better than anyone has ever treated you in

[Rhett McLaughlin]

your life, without a doubt.

[Mina Kimes]

First of all, cutting the lines is Both. I feel bad. I know. I was like, you guys should all start the resistance now. And the war should be like, rise up. Cause this is so fucked up. However, you also. It's the most superior I've ever felt as a human being.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

When we're cutting the line, I think I subconsciously kind of, like, limp a little bit. So they're just like, oh, maybe it was a broken leg or something. But, like. Cause I feel like shit. I am like, you guys should look into the Chinese Communist Party and kind of see what they're all about, because this is what's happening right now in my family.

[Mina Kimes]

This is bullshit. You'll be watching your kid, who's getting on the teacups or whatever, and the guide's gone. You're like, wow. And then, boom, they reappear, and they've got, like, Mickey Mouse water bottles. That's not available.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Here's the Mickey nuggets. Like, they have nuggets. The fuck?

[Mina Kimes]

They take better photos of your kids than you've ever taken in your life. It's insane.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's w. It is really great. We love Disney. We love you. Okay.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. Lost my train.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, here we go. I am gonna now ask you some questions.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, God. Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

About a little thing called geography.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, thank God. Which is U.S. history. Yeah. U.S. history.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You call geography?

[Mina Kimes]

You could tell my heart wasn't in it. This is where I come to life.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Here we go. Here we go. Now, this one.

[Mina Kimes]

This is.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

This is. This is. This is a tough one.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. It's all right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The effects of perestroika helped lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1991, the USSR broke apart into 15 sovereign states.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, my God.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The largest by population is the Russian Federation, which has about 146 million people, which former Soviet republic is the second most populous today. And it's not. Not what you think.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's not Ukraine. It's not the Ukraine.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's not Ukraine. And I have one more hint, but think about it, and then I will give you another hint.

[Mina Kimes]

So I'm gonna throw out the ones that are just popping somebody. This is not my answer. I'm thinking aloud.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Think out loud. This is like Millionaire you can think of.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Belarus is pretty big. It's definitely not the three on top. Kazakhstan is huge. Huge. Trying to read your face right now.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Haven't said it yet.

[Mina Kimes]

Give me your hint.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Starts with the same letter as the one I said it wasn't.

[Mina Kimes]

Uzbekistan.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Uzbekistan is the answer is the answer. Bonus question.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Russia and what other country border the Barents Sea?

[Mina Kimes]

Barents Sea.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Barents Sea. That's B, A, R, E, N, C. These are hard. These are hard. These are hard.

[Mina Kimes]

These are hard. You're not giving these to Kate Hudson or. Kate Hudson ain't getting real celebrities. Okay. All right. All right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

If you hadn't whip my ass so bad, you would be getting a walk in the park.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And I have. I can create a hint for you.

[Mina Kimes]

You can create a hint?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Create a hint for you.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I want you to create on the spot, Scandinavian country.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Cause Barents Sea's on the top.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Barents Sea's on the top. And the smallest of the countries that border Russia on the northern side.

[Mina Kimes]

The smallest of the countries that. You don't look sure about that head.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm not sure about it, but I'm gonna say it's true.

[Mina Kimes]

All right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm gonna say it's true. I'm going with my gut.

[Mina Kimes]

All right. Okay. It's the smallest of the countries that border Russia.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And it's. I'll give you one more hint. It's almost how an Australian person would say something in disbelief.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. What now? I'm just saying countries in an Australian accent in my head.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Think about that.

[Mina Kimes]

Exactly.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Think about the countries up there and say them with an Australian accent.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. Okay. Finland. I can't do an Australian.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Not that.

[Mina Kimes]

Estonia, mate. Estonia. No.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Estonia, mate.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh. What's at the top? It's not Norway. Norway.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's Norway. Norway.

[Mina Kimes]

Your hand actually helped. Norway. Mei.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Norway.

[Mina Kimes]

No way.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No way am I gonna go to the dance with you. Double bonus. You're way on the board.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Russia is by far the largest country in the world by landmass. What country comes in second?

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, we got China. We got Australia. We got Canada. Those are the big ones. I think it is Canada.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's Canada.

[Mina Kimes]

Canada. Good old Canada.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, Canada.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I love Canada. I'm a big Canadian guy. I mean, I'm not an American guy, but I love Canada.

[Mina Kimes]

Not big enough to know Manitoba, though, during Jeopardy. That was tough.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's tough.

[Mina Kimes]

Throwing that back. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Crashing out. This is how I crash out. I play small. I do love Canada. We go there every year. I love it. If I ever had to live there one day for any reason, I think I would fit in very well and contribute to the culture and the economy. Just throwing that out there. Why is geography your passion?

[Mina Kimes]

So my dad was in the military.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay. Very cool. My dad wasn't awesome.

[Mina Kimes]

I just want to stand up and salute me that is very cool.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You steal your dad's valor.

[Mina Kimes]

Very cool. Literal stolen valor. We moved around a lot, and so I lived in a zillion different places growing up. Military bases around the country.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Around the country or abroad?

[Mina Kimes]

Not abroad, although my mom is from Korea originally. North Korea. South Korea. Then. Wow.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wow.

[Mina Kimes]

Escaped at a young age. So we always loved geography as a family. My dad would always quiz me on capitals, and then I did geography Bees growing up, as I mentioned. Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

As you are gonna host one day. Making that happen. We're already in the works.

[Mina Kimes]

And we used to always do those. I don't know if you had those. Brain Quest little.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Nope.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, so we would do those when we would drive around, and my brother and I would just quiz each other on, like, geographic questions, and we would play where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? A lot on our Mac Performa.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, here's my observation, because I suck at geography.

[Mina Kimes]

Really.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I have a real geographical blind spot, okay? And I blame my teachers. I blame my teachers. Like, they just. I swear to God, I blame my teachers.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No memory of at any point in my life sitting in a class and looking at a map and a teacher being like, this is where Europe is. Completely. Either I have memory. Hold it, or it did not happen. And I did not have Carmen Sandiego. That game came out a little bit once. I was a little bit older, even though we're the same age. And I'm really, really bad at it. I remember when I first took a job in Amsterdam when I was, like, 20, and the theater was like, we're gonna teach you guys a little Dutch. So we had this Dutch teacher who would come and teach us Dutch for an hour a week. And one day he was like, so where is Amsterdam? Where is the Netherlands in terms of Europe? And I made this joke, and he literally pointed to me and handed me a marker and goes, draw a map of Europe and show me where. And I had a panic attack. I was like, I basically drew the United States.

[Mina Kimes]

Drawing a map of Europe on the spot is crazy, by the way.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

But. But I basically drew a US Map, and I put, like, England on one side and France. I'm a fucking idiot. I now know a little bit more. But I just. I didn't travel.

[Mina Kimes]

They barely teach it in schools. Actually, I just made that up.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They used to teach it. Yeah, I just missed it. And I. Unlike you, we didn't travel a whole lot. We did a couple trips, but it was really mostly driving to Ohio. I can. If you name a town In Indiana. I can tell you if it has a Bob evans. Go ahead, Muncie 2. Wait, have you ever been to Bob Evans, by the way?

[Mina Kimes]

I have not been to Bob Evans.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You know what, Bob Evans is right. It's like a black.

[Mina Kimes]

You've seen the signs. It's like a yellow and black sign.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's like a sausage based breakfast chain.

[Mina Kimes]

They sell like you can buy in a grocery store, like Bob Evans branded patties.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And when I was on MADtv, I wrote a sketch called the Pig Stays in the Grinder where I play Bob Evans. But I played him as Robert Evans, the producer for the Kid Stays at the Pigs.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, great. Yeah, makes sense.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

People said, you can't do this, Bob. You can't have a family restaurant. It's all breakfast bad with made wrong.

[Mina Kimes]

Is it better than Waffle House?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. And I will tell you why Waffle House is. No, no, sorry. Waffle House is better than waffles.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. I was gonna say Waffle House is

[Rhett McLaughlin]

better, if I'm not mistaken. And we might need a fact check on this. Waffle House has hash browns. And Bob Evans, I think does breakfast potatoes. I'm not sure about that. But if it is true, disqualify Waffle House people.

[Mina Kimes]

You were talking about like barbecue people online. That's how Waffle House people are.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They're just. How dare you insult waffle?

[Mina Kimes]

That was the best.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, that's actually not what smothered means. I like them, for the record, smothered, covered with chunks, spicy with the pepper. I love a hash brown. It's one of my favorite foods in the world. A hash brown, that's my favorite thing at McDonald's. It's beautiful. Conversely, I loathe breakfast potatoes. Loathe, Loathe.

[Mina Kimes]

What if they're super crispy?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, but they're always crisp.

[Mina Kimes]

They gotta be crisp.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

They're never though because they always just keep them on the flat top. So they're just steaming. Cause they're in like a big mound. So you might get some crunchy bits here and there, but it's really like mushy potates.

[Mina Kimes]

You just remind me of something I've tried to make happen, which is Starbucks should sell hash Browns like at McDonald's. How you could get them in the little paper things and just kind of eat them on the go.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, well, for years they probably like, we don't have a deep fryer, but now you can use an air fryer, which is what they basically have. So it's like, what are you doing, Starbucks? Do you not want us to leaving

[Mina Kimes]

money on the table, Leaving hash brown

[Rhett McLaughlin]

money on the table. Where have you you not gone that you're hoping to go one day? Where are some places that you have not never been to? But like, what's. What's Mina's list?

[Mina Kimes]

Yes, I've actually never been to Eastern Europe.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay.

[Mina Kimes]

So all the countries we were kind of Estonia, Lithuania, but I've also never been to like Hungary or Czech Republic or whatnot. So, yeah, all of Eastern Europe is. Is a place that I've never been to. I've never been to Africa. Africa, period. Period. I'd really like to go to Egypt.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Very cool.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Although I heard Cairo has become, like, overrun by like, insane, like, scam artists.

[Mina Kimes]

Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah. Like, I don't know how I. This came into my tick tock algorithm, but it was like, avoid these scams in Cairo.

[Mina Kimes]

The new Nigerian prince.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, it's more like. It's more like, come, I'm gonna give you a camel ride for the thousand shekels, whatever the money is. What's the European shekels? What's the European money in? Egyptian money.

[Mina Kimes]

Egyptian money? Maybe a rial. Maybe I just made that up. That feels right. That's Saudi Arabia. Shekel.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Shekel's.

[Mina Kimes]

That's an act of war.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's Israeli money, I believe. Yes, that's an act of war. The Egyptian pound. The Egyptian pound. Well, guys, come on. Zero points for creativity on that one. Okay. I'm dying to go to Japan. I have not been there. In Asia, I'm dying. But I'm also like, a real piece of shit when it comes to travel. Because there is a part of me that I'm always like, want to go to Italy? Go to Italy.

[Mina Kimes]

You just want to go?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, I want pasta and have negronis. That's all I want to do. How are you with maps? If you look at a map, can you be like, that is a country that. I know.

[Mina Kimes]

I've thought about this. I made it. I mentioned we had a question on Jeopardy. About the Canadian province.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Bring it up.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. No, but it's actually, it's okay. Go ahead to your question. Which is. So when I was studying for Jeopardy. I would just. It was during the football season. I would just fly to games and like, think of something to do. Right, right, right. Which is the thing I do anyway. I don't know if you're like this, but all just during the week, late at night, smoke a joint and then just look at Wikipedia. That's it. Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's it.

[Mina Kimes]

This is how you do trivia.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

This is. Yeah, this is how you learn. It's really reading Wikipedia, I'm like, I'm

[Mina Kimes]

gonna go down this rabbit hole and read about every Russian.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wikipedia's humanity is done in like 100 years.

[Mina Kimes]

What happened in the Hundred Years War? Let's find out at 11pm there's actually 113 years. Anyways. But what I would do on these trips. Cause I was like trying to think, whatever I was studying, whatever, in addition to reading US History is. Sometimes I would just pull up a map and look at it and just be like, you know what? Maybe I'll need. Maybe they'll show a map. I swear to God, I looked at that fucking map of Canada the day before. It was like my Rosie Perez in White man, he throws up that damn map. And I. I gasped that because I was like, I literally looked at a map of the Canadian. Because I know the Canadian provinces, but I don't know where they are. And I put it up. It was like. Like I ascended in that moment. Like my soul left my body, became like the Buddha. And you were close. You had. I can't remember which one you picked, but it wasn't that far off. But I was like, I know this.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It was far off enough. Here we go. Here's your second question.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What is the northernmost capital city in the world?

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Northernmost capital city.

[Mina Kimes]

So the Scandinavian capitals are all pretty low. And the countries. Oh, oh, oh.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't know if this country's in Scandinavia. It feels like it could go either way.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

So I don't think it is.

[Mina Kimes]

So you're. I would say with that hint, you're implying Reykjavik.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's Reykjavik. Okay, here's your bonus question. You're not going to get this one. Iceland's massive neighbor to the west is Greenland. It's the capital of Greenland.

[Mina Kimes]

It is new.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, my God. Okay, now I'm actually pissed.

[Mina Kimes]

I've actually been to Greenland.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You've been to Greenland?

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. So, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wow.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What are they going to change the name of it to when we take it? Bradenville. President Trump's Large Hand. Woundville.

[Mina Kimes]

Where did Bradenville come from?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Braden just feels like American. Braylon Town. Braylon Town. Gunville.

[Mina Kimes]

I was.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's what we're gonna call Nuke.

[Mina Kimes]

American name. I was surprised because like every American in my age cohort, everything I knew about Greenland came from the movie Mighty Ducks, too.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. Very important.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Iceland's green and Greenland's. And Greenland is actually pretty green.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's very Green.

[Mina Kimes]

It's beautiful.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Stunning. I know. I can see why we're.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He wants. The reason he wants it is because someone showed him what they call the Mercator projection, which is when you remove. It's like, different view. And you look at it, you're like, it's the biggest thing I've ever seen. We have to have it. And it's fucking crazy.

[Mina Kimes]

It's crazy how a lot of the stuff he says not to get political, you can trace back to a slight fundamental misunderstanding of a sentence or a.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Someone pointed out one time, this is yours. Ago, he kept talking about life insurance. And he was like, we're gonna get life insurance. And it's the kind of thing where it's you paying $5 a month for life insurance. And people were like, where is he getting this number? And someone realized that late night on Fox News, there's an ad for Gerber life and baby life insurance.

[Mina Kimes]

Wait, What?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's like $5 a month.

[Mina Kimes]

Gerber sells life insurance. That's crazy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

On Fox News late at night.

[Mina Kimes]

Like Gerber home equity loans.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's also when he's like, gold is very important. William Devane from Dynasty, he says, gold is going up. Very important. You have a child, a little child?

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Do you travel with him yet?

[Mina Kimes]

He's big.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He's big.

[Mina Kimes]

Large.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Large boy.

[Mina Kimes]

We are flying to Nashville, which is where my parents and my brother live in July, and I am dreading it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, it's gonna suck.

[Mina Kimes]

It is. Four hours.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, I've been there. It's gonna suck.

[Mina Kimes]

Cause he's not iPad age. Yep.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Was he two and a half.

[Mina Kimes]

Two and a half? Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's the worst, absolute worst time to fly. You cannot. Cause once he's four.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, you just throw that iPad.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Bye now, Louie, he just wants to talk to you and look at other people and maybe pee and poo.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And if he's anything like my kids, he's gonna fucking throw up. Because there has still not been a trip that we have gone on where one of my daughters has not vomited somewhere along the journey.

[Mina Kimes]

Really? Yes. How did you say you like it at Waffle House? House.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What's that?

[Mina Kimes]

The Waffle House thing you said? Smothered and smothered, covered in chunky. When you said that, I was thinking about throw out. I've been thinking about it ever since.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, they're coming after you now?

[Mina Kimes]

I have two months. Two months to get him addicted to iPad.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it. Killers of the flowers Moon like A nice movie that can kind of take most of life. Okay, Mina, it is my turn to try to answer another question. If you could ask me one from the stack. Okay, stack me up. Okay, stack it up.

[Mina Kimes]

One of the most misquoted movie moments of all time comes from the Empire Strikes Back. Millions of people remember Darth Vader saying, luke, I am your father, even though that's not actually the line. What does Darth Vader actually say? I didn't know this.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I mean, it. It's. It might not be Luke, I am your father, but I think it's. No, I am your father.

[Mina Kimes]

Father. Luke. Nailed it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Is that right?

[Mina Kimes]

It's right.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Fucking.

[Mina Kimes]

Hey. You didn't even need the hint. You didn't need the hint.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Wow. Wow.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Thank God. I've seen that movie 200 times.

[Mina Kimes]

Did you have any doubt? Were you faking it?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Well, yeah, because there's different versions of Star wars now. No, I was not being coquettish. There's like new releases of Star wars and now there's like the original version. You know what I mean? There's all these different tweaks that have come out over the years. So maybe George Lucas went back and redid it and made one where it's like, what if he said, I'm your papa? You know what I mean? Luke, I am your daddy. Luke, I am your zaddy.

[Mina Kimes]

Zaddy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What if he said zaddy instead?

[Mina Kimes]

Have you seen in the Odysseus trailer, I think maybe Robert Pattinson says, where's your daddy? I might be. I might be.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He might have been stoned.

[Mina Kimes]

I remember watching it, losing it in the Odyssey trailer. The Odyssey? Not the Odyssey. Yes. There's something anachronistic that Robert Pattinson said that makes me lose it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Time to spill the tea, sis. My favorite thing that's happening with that movie now is someone said that Elon Musk is freaking out that Lupita Nyong' o is playing Helen of Troy. And he's like, helen of Troy was not black. And it's like, Helen of Troy was Zeus's daughter. What the fuck are you talking about? She was not real. She was like, not.

[Mina Kimes]

This is like a big thing on Twitter. He's done like a million tweets complaining about it. And all the incel accounts with like, statue avvies.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Have been like, this should have been like Brad Pitt.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It should have been Brad Pitt as a woman. She literally was like. I think like, her father was the one they want. Mother was like a cow. Like, it's like, what the Fuck are we talking about? We've lost the plot. But for real, Sydney Sweeney would have fucking crushed it.

[Mina Kimes]

Do you think there's any cows who see the trailer and they're like, representation? Please.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The movie is gonna Crush with paddles 17 to 35. Do I have a bonus question?

[Mina Kimes]

You do. Okay. What is the name of the phenomena where large groups of people share the same false memory?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, I know this. This is the Mandela.

[Mina Kimes]

Yes, It's a Mandela effect.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, yeah. I watched Rehearsal season one. Toss it. Okay, here we go. Here we go now.

[Mina Kimes]

All right. I feel good about this category.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Much better.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, well, I hope you're feeling good about this category, because it's about for a hard one. No, no, no. That's being a roll. I have to.

[Mina Kimes]

Nope.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's too easy. We are talking literature.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, boy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, literature. Here we go.

[Mina Kimes]

New category.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

All right. The vast majority of William Shakespeare comedies are set in countries other than England. Name one of the two comedies that are set in the Bard's home country.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. One of the two comedies that's set in England. A lot of them are Italy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

A lot.

[Mina Kimes]

So many Italians.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Almost all of them are Italy.

[Mina Kimes]

Is.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And I will say they are not. Two of his biggest hits.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

But one does contain a word that is unmistakably British.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. The Tamingo. No. Midsome. No. Okay. Yeah. So many of these are Italy. A lot of these are Italy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah. It has a name so British. It might be the name of the British royal family.

[Mina Kimes]

Jeez Louise. I'm trying to think of now the name of the British family instead of thinking of Shakespearean plays.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'll give you one more hint.

[Mina Kimes]

I didn't watch the crown.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

One of the words in that same title is something you say to someone around the holidays.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, the Merry Wives of Windsor.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The Merry Wives of Windsor. I'm giving you a point for that right there. You. The other one, if you can guess, it is the name of, like, an ancient British Anglo Saxon king.

[Mina Kimes]

Coriolanus.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's what I. It's Chimbolline.

[Mina Kimes]

That is obscure Shakespeare.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Bonus question.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, thanks for the hint.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

In terms of lines spoken, Hamlet has the most of any Shakespeare character.

[Mina Kimes]

Classic.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Which character has the second most lines in a Shakespeare play?

[Mina Kimes]

In any Shakespearean play.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Point is, he is Othello.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, Othello. No, no. Othello's not big.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You were very close with your first one.

[Mina Kimes]

With Othello.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I was close.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, it's the character, not the name of the. Oh, it's Iago.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Ah, Iago.

[Mina Kimes]

I was like, the play. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Anyways, the other guess was gonna be like, Gilbert Gottfried once played a character named after him. You could have used.

[Mina Kimes]

That was Gilbert Gottfried.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That was Gilbert Gottfried. He was Iago. Double bonus.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Several characters appear in more than one Shakespeare play. Which character appears in the most?

[Mina Kimes]

Zoo.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And he's definitely the character. If I ever did Shakespeare that I belong to.

[Mina Kimes]

Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

He's like, oh, he's basically Norm from

[Mina Kimes]

Cheers in a history place. There was a comic character in. He was not.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I wouldn't to call him comic. I would say he was everyone's favorite guy. I think it ended kind of tragically for him.

[Mina Kimes]

The comic character in the history plays. This is escaping my mind. I need a hint.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

His name starts with one of the seasons.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, Falstaff.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Falstaff. There we go. Triple bonus. We've never done triple bonuses. This is the first episode. Because you're trivia ahead. Because they are plays, Shakespeare's works are often excluded from best selling book list. Which British author wrote the best selling novel of all time? Historical fiction. Tale of Two Cities.

[Mina Kimes]

Who wrote the Tale of Two Cities? Sweet. Guys, meet Dickens. Okay, good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I didn't know if you were gonna know that one. I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.

[Mina Kimes]

Saw J.K. rowling. That's historical fiction, right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

She's a friend of mine. Okay, so you are a reader. Fun fact about me. I have never read a book. I'm actually joking. But I have to read a book right now because I'm gonn go do a movie that is based on a book.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And so I'm like, I'm gonna buy the book. I'm gonna read the book. Because about five years ago I got into audiobooks and I just became an audiobook boy.

[Mina Kimes]

It's the same thing. Just as good as reading.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Well, there is a difference. Because now when I read a book, I should say, try to read a book. I realize I am fucking stupid.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And I see her and I'm like, letters. She went to the store and saw her friend and it's like, yeah, your

[Mina Kimes]

brain is not doing it anymore.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's like you were a power lifter and then you took 10 years off. And you're like, first day of bed, deadlifting 6:05. And then you just end up in the hospital. It's really.

[Mina Kimes]

You ever read a page too? And you're like, you think you're reading it and you're at the end and you're like, what? I didn't actually read any of the letters on this.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I didn't process none of that. I was thinking about french fries. I'm very stupid. But you do. You have. We have to. To do it like you. If you're listening to this, please buy a book, like an actual book, and read it. Like, it. You literally can feel like your brain growing as you. It's like. It is like Barry's Boot Camp for your brain.

[Mina Kimes]

Just being off my phone, like, it's one of the few things in my life where I'm just like, wow, I just spent 20 minutes not on my phone.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, I read a book, I worked out my brain, as opposed to watching, like, a video of, like, a sub mental cretin. Like, there's a guy I follow, he's a British guy, and all he does is eat roasted potatoes in one bite. This guy Bevo, he literally got famous for taking a big chunk of potato. He's like, ruh, I'm gonna eat this potato. And he takes it and he goes. He swallows it whole. And that's his whole thing. And he has since become a influencer who has dipped into rap, mma, porn, fucking gambling.

[Mina Kimes]

He does.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And he does these videos now where he's like, I want my old life. Like, I wish I never did this. But then, like, the next day he's like, I'm at the club, I got my fucking dollars with my bitches.

[Mina Kimes]

And it's like he is siren sound.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Instead of reading, like, an amazing book, I'll watch this fucking guy's life.

[Mina Kimes]

I love that you know so much about his journey too.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I do. I feel very connected to Bevo. What are your desert island books?

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, okay, great question.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I mean, books about a desert island. Treasure Island.

[Mina Kimes]

Treasure Island.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Novel of Castaway. No, you gotta bring. You gotta bring. Let's say you can bring one book on an island. Just one. What are you bringing? One book.

[Mina Kimes]

What do you do? Did you just narrow it?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I did.

[Mina Kimes]

I got rid of some how to survive on a desert Island.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's what I was getting at. I would say, horrible idea to bring one book that means a lot to you because that will make you crazy.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm bringing, like, the Satanic verses because I want to just edify myself. No, I'm bringing a survival guide.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm bringing the. A fucking Delaware State tax code manual so I could use the paper for shit.

[Mina Kimes]

I like that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And the binder for shit. And I can make the binder a little, like, roof for my head. Don't get rained on my hat. A Little hat, you know what I mean? That's my hat, so I don't get sunburned. People, like sailors find me after two years. I'm like, oh, I've just been eating. How to incorporate an llc.

[Mina Kimes]

Cool hat, bro.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Cool, cool hat.

[Mina Kimes]

Where they land. Okay, wait. The actual three books I love is not about survival. I do love the satanic verse. Why? That jumped into my head.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I've actually never read it, but Salman loves my wife.

[Mina Kimes]

Midnight's Children's really good too.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm a big Salman guy. He's a cool guy. He hit on my wife many years ago when we were not married. It was fine, really.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay, I love Edith Morton, so I'll go. Age of Innocence.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, very good. Very good.

[Mina Kimes]

All of her books I'm very into. Maybe Delilah. No. Contemporary fiction. Sard.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah.

[Mina Kimes]

Maybe Don DeLillo. Maybe Joan Didion. A lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. Okay. No, I'm gonna go with. I love Graham Greene. The End of the Affair. He's one of my favorite books of all time. Huge Graham Greene fan.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Also, both great movies. Just saying.

[Mina Kimes]

I don't watch movies. I only read books, you fool. Okay. And then maybe something more contemporary that I loved. I loved White Teeth by Xav Infernal All.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Dan Brown.

[Mina Kimes]

Dan Brown. Angels and Demons.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Angels and Demons.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. I'll go with White Teeth. I love Sadie Smith.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yep.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, I'll go there.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm such a loser that I'm like, I would love to say the Odyssey, which I really loved. Or I would love to say Ulysses, which I also really loved. But I would probably get like the three thickest chapters of an encyclopedia just Cause I would. I'm like, I want to read about a bunch of shit. You know what I mean? That's what I'm going. I'm going for. For like a M and S encyclopedia.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That like those letters just. Cause I feel like they have the most stuff. You know what I mean? Right?

[Mina Kimes]

Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like, by the time you find me, I'm gonna be expert on aardvarks. I wish I had an aardvark here. They're a natural source of protein. What is your favorite era of lit? Like, if you could have been a writer in an era where you.

[Mina Kimes]

Well, I love early 20th century. I mentioned, like war. I love Henry James.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Mina Kimes]

So I like.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I would say that lost generation, 20s, 30s, hard drinking.

[Mina Kimes]

Gertrude Stein.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Gertrude Stein. Hanging out with Picasso and reading, editing Hemingway's book. Actually, I think Hemingway, she didn't like Hemingway.

[Mina Kimes]

Right. Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't Know, Hemingway maybe. Kind of a dick maybe. I don't know why I said that. Quietly, like, she's here.

[Mina Kimes]

The heming, bro. Hello.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What the fuck did you just say about me, you pizzle?

[Mina Kimes]

I'm not a huge Hemingway person.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You're not? Yeah, I kind of like him. I kind of like his. Just the stories are kind of cool and, like, he's just, like, machismo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really do love James Joyce.

[Mina Kimes]

I like James Joyce is great.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The best teacher I ever had in my life. Greg Band, Rest in Peace. He taught a whole class on James Joyce. And I read Portrait of the Artist as a young man, and doublers fucking loved it. And then we would read Ulysses, and I was just not focused enough to really appreciate it. But I did go back and read it and remembered what he said. And it is amazing. It is like the original title for Ulysses could have been Sex and farts. It was just like nothing James Joyce loved more than, like, having sex. And then the minute you're done farting, like, to him, he's like, that's tis life.

[Mina Kimes]

I don't remember this at all from Ulysses. Did I skim the page with.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I think you mean graphic description. Chapter four is farts, and chapter seven is six. Okay, here's a good question. What's the best adaptation of a book into a movie? Oh, boom.

[Mina Kimes]

God. Well, like I said, I don't really watch movies. I know I do.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You just sit at home reading Martin Luther King speeches. We get it. You're a good person.

[Mina Kimes]

Is there a Rosa Parks book that was made into a movie?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Shockingly, no. How is that movie not the movie just like. Come on, deadweiler, let's go.

[Mina Kimes]

Actually, great casting. Right on the spot, too. Okay, sorry. Movie into. Oh, God. What's yours? Let me think. Book that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I mean, there's Tequila Mockingbird.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Classic Gregory Peck, Shawshank. Shawshank was a book.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Stephen King book.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, yeah, right. So many of his books have been made into amazing books.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, Dune, baby. Oh, are you a Dune boy?

[Mina Kimes]

I love villain. I'm a Villeneuve head. Did I say his name right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, he is.

[Mina Kimes]

He's my favorite director. Everything. If you asked that question about movies and I had to pick one movie, it would be Arrival. And I would just watch it over and over and over.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Dune is Dune. Might end up being the best movie series of all time.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. Dune. I thought Dune 2 was great. A lot of people didn't like it. A lot of people didn't like it. I thought it was amazing. I Thought, what's his name? Elvis was so good in it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Elvis was amazing in that. Maybe the best Elvis has ever been. Elvis. We're talking about. What's his name? Austin.

[Mina Kimes]

Austin Butler. That's it. Did you watch that movie, by the way?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, I saw it. We were talking about Austin Butler, the Day Chase. And I. You know, like, when you're on a red carpet and, like, letterbox gets you, and they're like, what are your four favorites? And people, like, bend over backwards to be like, it's actually a Czech movie from 1980.

[Mina Kimes]

400 Blows.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And he's one of them. He's like, my favorite movie. We're doing a bit where he's like, I love the silent pictures. Cause he's trying to be like.

[Mina Kimes]

He still does the voice, right?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Still does the voice. I love silent pictures. My favorite movie's probably train leaving Station 1874.

[Mina Kimes]

But then. Do you feel like some celebrities. Celebrities try too hard to be populist, like, I've noticed. Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Really?

[Mina Kimes]

People will go, super. Yeah, super.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Like, they're like Billy Madison.

[Mina Kimes]

No, no, they'll be like Minions or something. I just feel like.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Which celebrity dropped Minions on their letterbox?

[Mina Kimes]

They have a.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

My favorite. Let's see. Streets of Fire, the Big Parade, Minions two, and the Bison. Bicycle Thief.

[Mina Kimes]

What did you say for mine? Bicycle Thief is really good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Bicycle is amazing. I said definitely Midnight Run.

[Mina Kimes]

I haunt you.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It definitely said Midnight Run.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I kind of remember because it was kind of. I said Goodfellas, which is my favorite movie of all time. I'm pretty populous. Goodfellas, Midnight Run. I think I said, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

[Mina Kimes]

Ooh, okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And then I said, because I had just watched it, but there's a movie called the Hunter that I'm in, which is amazing, but there's another one called the Hunt that Thomas Wittenberg directed with Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Bo Larson, which is fucking incredible.

[Mina Kimes]

Is it old?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, it's like 2012, 13. But I should have said they made another movie, that director and actor together. And the other actor called Another Round.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, the Mads. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Which is. Yeah, I rewatched that last summer before I went to Denmark, and It is top 10 greatest movies ever made, hands down.

[Mina Kimes]

That's one where, if you ask me, could I live in a movie, I'd

[Rhett McLaughlin]

like to live in that movie, but then get out. Because the movie's about four men who are all going through various midlife crises, and one of them is an academic, and he is like, what if I Read an article that you're supposed to have a drink in you at all times because it removes stress and you live longer. So they're all like, let's try it. And they all become horrible alcoholics and ruin great hangouts.

[Mina Kimes]

Good choices.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. Very good choices. I'm obsessed with Mary Shelley. I'm just throwing that out there.

[Mina Kimes]

Very cool. Very cool. Life. Great.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Where's that fucking biopic?

[Mina Kimes]

Wrote that shit when she was like, 19.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Ready for some casting? Sarsa Ronan is Mary Shelley.

[Mina Kimes]

Who plays Lord Byron?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Tom Holland. And who plays Frankenstein? Percy Shelley. Who plays Frankenstein? Jacob Elordi. Who plays Shelley. Who's the boy from Harris? Dickinson.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, that's a good one.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I should be interested.

[Mina Kimes]

Casting on the spot is really good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Your second question about literature.

[Mina Kimes]

Televia. Daniel Didwell.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What's that?

[Mina Kimes]

Rosa Parks. Sorry.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I mean, it just. It's perfect.

[Mina Kimes]

It's actually really good.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

One of the great writers of the 20th century, George Orwell, was a master of social commentary. In the use of allegory in Animal Farm, multiple characters are pigs.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

For one point each. Name as many as you can.

[Mina Kimes]

I barely remember this book. Winston. That's 1984.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's 1984.

[Mina Kimes]

Can you give me some hints?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. One is the name the. Of. Of a famous commander. A famous French commander.

[Mina Kimes]

Napoleon.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, Napoleon. One is two names and one. The first name is an adjective for someone who's elderly.

[Mina Kimes]

Smelly guy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Smelly. Smelly. Jesus.

[Mina Kimes]

Old. Fart. Crusty.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The first word is. The first word is old. Old.

[Mina Kimes]

Old Pig face.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Old pig face. This is ground control Two.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, sorry. Give names for hypothetical pigs. I'm so sorry. Old. Old. I forget.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Old. Major.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, okay. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Snowball.

[Mina Kimes]

Snowball.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Then this. Squealer. I don't even remember Squealer. And Minimus, I think was like, the poet. I was very big into this book, so I.

[Mina Kimes]

You were big into Animal Farm?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I did.

[Mina Kimes]

I did.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's so weird. I know. I know. I just. I don't know. It just. It. Like. I reread it, like, 15 years ago, and it had a meaning for me. I don't know. I know.

[Mina Kimes]

It's a. I feel like Animal Farm is, like, top 10 on the power ranking of books you read in high school that you never read or think about again.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It got me again for some reason. Maybe I'm simple for the zoo. This is a tough one.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Georgia Warwick. Well, actually a nom de plume.

[Mina Kimes]

I did not know that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, so you're not gonna know.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm out.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Eric Arthur. Blair.

[Mina Kimes]

Really?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Eric Arthur Blair. What on earth?

[Mina Kimes]

George Orwell. That's actually a good author name.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's a pretty good author name. I love George Orwell and I love how misunderstood he is now. I love when you see guys that are like, if George Orwell came back and saw what Joe Biden was doing. And I was like, if George Orwell came back, he would literally make murder you. He was antifa. He was literally antifa. He left England to go fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Could you imagine if someone did you imagine if John Grisham now is like, well, I'm gonna publish my new book, the Lawyer's Secret, and then I'm gonna go to the Ukraine and kill Russians. That's wild.

[Mina Kimes]

I didn't know that about him. But you're right, he is high on the list of authors that. That dopey guy, Marcus Aurelius, where they're just like, Marcus Aurelius. That's my ident, you know?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And Orwell, Marcus Aurelius was the first one to say, for every pound of weight you have, take one pound of protein.

[Mina Kimes]

I feel like Aaron Rodgers was like, if George Orwell was alive today, I

[Rhett McLaughlin]

feel like he literally said Jordan Peterson's like, marcus Aurelius only ate beef. He only ate beef. Okay. You sign a book deal.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What is the name of your Hudson News book? The book that. When you're at Hudson News and you're getting. Getting cashews in a water.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You see Mina Kimes. What do you got?

[Mina Kimes]

The title of my book.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What's the title of your book? Wow.

[Mina Kimes]

Mina Kimes. And it's like an autobiography or.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It can't be like a novel. It's like your face.

[Mina Kimes]

Mina Kimes, 2026 Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars winner.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's good. It's really good.

[Mina Kimes]

Does that work?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I wouldn't say it's like, catchy, but it's good. My music. Here's mine. Could someone bring me some toilet paper and other stories from dad Land?

[Mina Kimes]

Hey, people would buy that. Father's Day, you put it right in the front.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yours could also be like, first and 10. Like a football pun. Like, you know what I mean?

[Mina Kimes]

It's 100% what it would be.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, it would definitely be like. Like first and in 10 minutes, I'm going to be late for my next. And you're holding a baby for something.

[Mina Kimes]

Dual threat in. Dual threat.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Dual threat. And it's you with, like, blackout under your eyes.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

And like. Like a do rag holding your Baby. So you're like cuz, like you're like a tackle.

[Mina Kimes]

Mina Kimes holding a male baby. Man coverage. Boom. Yes, because I'm covering a man.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You're covering my son. Man coverage parentheses. My son.

[Mina Kimes]

My son. My son.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Mina, I think it is time. Oh, no. You're gonna ask me one more question. Yes, yes. My third question. Here we go. My time.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

My time to shine.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, man.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Even though I haven't been doing that

[Mina Kimes]

well, I have been doing awful.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, not really. We got a lot of writing.

[Mina Kimes]

Orwell. That stuff. Orwell, not my guy.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Orwell. It's another thing an Australian would say. Orwell. Orwell, you go sleep in the bed you make.

[Mina Kimes]

No way.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Or why?

[Mina Kimes]

Why? Long before he became a global icon, Muhammad Ali won an Olympic gold medal as an 18 year old amateur boxer representing the United States. In what city did Muhammad Ali win his Olympic gold gold medal? This is tricky.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's in what city? Okay, do they say the year of the Olympics?

[Mina Kimes]

No, they do not.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

How old was he?

[Mina Kimes]

18. So you can kind of work backwards if you remember.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, so 18. This is pro. Okay, I'm gonna work backwards. 84. 80. 76.

[Mina Kimes]

If you want a hint. I can give you a hint.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

68. 64. It's either 60 or 64. And I'm gonna say if he was 18 in 1960 and he died in like 2016, he's 18. I'm gonna say 1960 Olympics.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, is what city here? I just let you do all that math. Cause I thought it would help you get to the city. I mean, it should hypoth really dial me. Yeah, well, it could hypothetically help you figure out the city if you. Do you want a hint? Do you want a hint? Okay. This city is also the name of a certain NFC north wide receiver who's going to have a huge year. First name. It's Rome.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, it is Rome.

[Mina Kimes]

I was paying.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, yeah, the Rome. 1960 Olympics. Yeah, I know, I was getting there.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, Dunn. Oh, yes. The O' Doonze Olympics of 1960.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Holy shit. The hardest I've left on this show, I think. What is, what is their bonus?

[Mina Kimes]

Okay. Muhammad Ali lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony of which Olympic games? It's not written here, but to be clear, you must name both the city and the year.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, fuck. I want to say Seoul.

[Mina Kimes]

It's not soul.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's not soul. It's Atlanta.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah, it's Atlanta.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Atlanta 96.

[Mina Kimes]

Atlanta 96.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

My good friend Richard Jewell was there. Rest in peace. Okay. All right. Okay, I'll take it.

[Mina Kimes]

I'm going to give myself points.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm going to give myself one point for that because I guess the second one wrong. And the first one, I needed a ridiculous clue to help, so. So I'm going to give myself one point total for that half and half.

[Mina Kimes]

Boom.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It is now time Mina for or the speed round. Speed round. Speed round. Here's how the speed round is gonna work. So I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions. Your job is to answer as many as you can in 90 seconds. If you don't know the answer right away, say pass.

[Mina Kimes]

Okay.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

If you get it right, I will say yes and throw the card. If you get it wrong, I will say no and put the card here so I can tell you the right answer at the end position here. 90 seconds on the board. If you don't know, say pass. You have a lot of questions.

[Mina Kimes]

All right, let's go.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Who does Anna Karenina fall in love with?

[Mina Kimes]

The count.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. August Spies was hanged after being found guilty of inciting this incident in Chicago in 1886.

[Mina Kimes]

Pass.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

This president was the architect of the League of Nations.

[Mina Kimes]

Wilson.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. What country is the northernmost point of South America?

[Mina Kimes]

Venezuela.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. What independent nation exists within the boundaries of South Africa?

[Mina Kimes]

I forgot. As I know it. Pretoria. No. Ah, shit. Keep going. Swaziland.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No.

[Mina Kimes]

And Lesotho.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. What was F. Scott Fitzgerald's final novel?

[Mina Kimes]

The Beautiful and the Damned.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. She wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dor Neale Hurston. Yes. These are the two main rivers in China.

[Mina Kimes]

The Yangtze and the Yellow.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. She was our second first lady.

[Mina Kimes]

Abigail Adams.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. This American author wrote about the American frontier in such books as O Pioneers.

[Mina Kimes]

Willa. Catherine.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. He was the Chief justice who authored the Dred Scott decision.

[Mina Kimes]

Warren.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. In 1971, the Southeast Asian country declared independence from Pakistan.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh. Burma.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. This American writer won the National Book Award for fiction in 2001. For the Corrections.

[Mina Kimes]

Jonathan Branson. Yes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

This 1862 Civil War battle is the deadliest day in American history.

[Mina Kimes]

Antietam.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes. What South American country is honed to to both the source and the mouth of the Amazon River?

[Mina Kimes]

Brazil.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No. What Supreme Court chief justice presided over the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton?

[Mina Kimes]

Uh, Forget. Pass.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

In 1947, British India was partitioned into India and this newly created nation.

[Mina Kimes]

Pakistan.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes.

[Mina Kimes]

Does that count?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, that does count. As long as I've started reading the question. You got a lot right there, sis. A lot more than you got wrong. Reinquest was the Chief justice who impeached Clinton. Peru is the country to both the source and the mouth. 1971. Bangladesh, Bangladesh, Pakistani independence. Roger Taney was the scumbag who did the Dred Scott decision. F. Scott's final novel, Tender is the Night.

[Mina Kimes]

Ah, Tender is the Night.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Columbia. Northernmost point, right next to Venezuela.

[Mina Kimes]

Right next to Venezuela.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

August speech incited the Haymarket riot.

[Mina Kimes]

Haymarket riot.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay, okay, here we go. Here we go. Right now you're beating me by quite a lot.

[Mina Kimes]

All right, you ready?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes.

[Mina Kimes]

What is the only sport ever played on the moon?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Golf.

[Mina Kimes]

What? Correct. What candy was originally marketed as a chocolate energy bar?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Snickers.

[Mina Kimes]

Correct.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Okay.

[Mina Kimes]

What is the most common password in the world?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

1, 2, 3, 4. Who?

[Mina Kimes]

Nope. Shh. What? Who was the first WNBA player to dunk in a playoff game?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Cheryl Swoopes.

[Mina Kimes]

Nope. Who? What ancient wonder of the world was located in Alexandria, Egypt.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The pyramids of Giza.

[Mina Kimes]

Nope. This Eminem song. The Eminem song business references his partnership with what rapper who later co founded Beats Electronics. Yep. Oops, sorry. What was the first Olympic prize awarded to winners before gold medals were used?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Pass. Who?

[Mina Kimes]

Which NFL team has its logo on only one side of its helmet? Oh, my God, that's tricky.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, God.

[Mina Kimes]

Not a lot of people know this.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

49ers.

[Mina Kimes]

Who? Burger King. Russia briefly launched a cryptocurrency named after what signature burger?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The Whopper.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. What fruit floats in water because it's 25% air? Huh?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Air didn't do this. Grape.

[Mina Kimes]

Nope. What was Starbucks named after? You know this?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What? A dog.

[Mina Kimes]

What is a group of otters called? These are Hard Bros. What fast food chain invented the Drive Thru

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Sonic?

[Mina Kimes]

Nope. What toy was originally created as a wallpaper cleaner? Really hard.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I don't know.

[Mina Kimes]

What is the only letter that doesn't appear in any US state? Name?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm going to answer this one. What? Only letter that is not in a US state name.

[Mina Kimes]

Name.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That is Z.

[Mina Kimes]

It's not Z.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

What state has Z in it? Arizona.

[Mina Kimes]

Arizona.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Fuck me.

[Mina Kimes]

Aston answered.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Hold on, let me just think that one out for a second. The only letter X. Texas.

[Mina Kimes]

New Mexico. Texas.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Bunch of them. Hold on.

[Mina Kimes]

Scrabble it away.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, it's cute.

[Mina Kimes]

It's cute. Yeah. So sorry. It's cute.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

North Dakota. Is that anything? Hey, hey.

[Mina Kimes]

Census jokes.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

So the good news is, first of all, read me. But I got wrong.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. It's a lot.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, I know, I know. We'll have to do a compress.

[Mina Kimes]

We'll do like, to my credit, I did go fast.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yeah, you did. You did reread fast.

[Mina Kimes]

So, Q, you know, I didn't know this. The toy originally created as wallpaper cleaner was Play doh.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That's fucking stupid.

[Mina Kimes]

Yeah. The fast food chain event at the drive thru was Wendy's. Sure. This I did know because I have a two and a half year old son. What is a group of otters called a raft in a book of his? Otherwise I would.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Man, I Wish I was 2.

[Mina Kimes]

You ought to know obscure animal facts that you won't remember for the rest of your life. What was Starbucks named after? I knew the book. I didn't know the first mate in Moby Dick. It's from Moby Dick.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Starbuck.

[Mina Kimes]

Yep.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yep.

[Mina Kimes]

This was surprising to me. What fruit? Sorry, I'll stop editorializing.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No, no, no, no, no. Keep going. It's good.

[Mina Kimes]

What fruit floats in water? Because it's an apple. Apparently it is bobbing for apples, I guess.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Oh, oh, okay.

[Mina Kimes]

But I didn't notice that 2020, everyone's

[Rhett McLaughlin]

still bobbing for apples. I just saw the kids on TikTok. It was a bobbing for apple challenge. Go ahead, sir.

[Mina Kimes]

The NFL team with the logo on only one side. It's the Steelers. You would never notice or think about it. Yeah, it's weird.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I would never notice. These are.

[Mina Kimes]

These are toughies. These are toughies. This is also weird. The first Olympic prize awarded before gold medals. Used. Used was silver medals. Sure. Cool. The ancient wonder of the world located in Alexandria is the lighthouse of Alexandria.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

The lighthouse. That one.

[Mina Kimes]

I actually should have known.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

That was a bummer.

[Mina Kimes]

The first WNBA player to dunk in

[Rhett McLaughlin]

a playoff game was Candace Parker.

[Mina Kimes]

Brittney Griner. So it was not. Yeah, it took a long time.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Brittney Griner took a long time.

[Mina Kimes]

Fairly recent. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then the most common password in the world. I almost feel like you should have got this one. It is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm gonna give myself half a point. Yeah, I feel it's like, what do

[Mina Kimes]

you want to do?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Perpetually name numbers? The question should have said, how many? Well, now the good news is there's two different ways for people to watch you whipping my ass.

[Mina Kimes]

Yours were harder than mine, I think.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Listen, sometimes they are harder. Like Bryan Cranston was on. And after he did my speed round, he goes, your questions were a lot easier. And so sometimes you never know. Bitter. He's a nasty guy. Very nasty guy. But sometimes the questions are. Are harder. Sometimes they're easier. I think though, that you whipped me. I'm just completely destroyed. I'm fucking Livid. But you will have a prize.

[Mina Kimes]

A prize.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

No one leaves this show without a prize. Thank you, Laura. So we got you a bag of cash. Now listen. We got you something that.

[Mina Kimes]

Ooh, something I'll use. Listen, it's just.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

It's just spilling the tea. Since we talked about how we like little historical puns and stuff.

[Mina Kimes]

I love it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm a mug guy. Like, when someone gives me a mug, I get very excited.

[Mina Kimes]

This is great.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You actually can use it. And if you don't want to drink coffee, you have too many mugs. You could keep your toothbrushes in it or pencils or pens, but it's funny. And every time you have a cup of coffee in the morning, every Saturday, just think to yourself, kicked his ass again. Again. I cannot wait to face off with you on the next Jeopardy. Celebrity champion. Cause remember after Rocky won.

[Mina Kimes]

I know Rocky too. I was thinking about that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Yes, it was a much worse movie and less successful, but it still happened.

[Mina Kimes]

Are you gonna train and think of me like I was thinking of you? Are you gonna make a poster with my face on it?

[Rhett McLaughlin]

I'm gonna do it. And like in Rocky iii, we will have a robot moving around the house that will harass my brother in law. Paulie was his brother in law.

[Mina Kimes]

Oh, yeah, right. Yeah.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Rocky iii. Stallone was like, yeah, we put a robot in it. Everyone's got robots now. Robot. You know, put it in.

[Mina Kimes]

Don't remember that.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

You don't remember the robot in Rocky iii, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not even joking. I think a few years ago I saw an interview where he's like, we're actually gonna re release Rocky iii. We're gonna remove the rock.

[Mina Kimes]

You could literally make up any fact about the Rocky sequels and I would believe you because I don't. I remember the first one and that's it.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Rocky is an A movie. Rocky II is a B minus. Rocky III is a B plus. Rocky IV is a B, and then the rest are bad. And then creeds are good. Everyone give it up for Mina Kimes.

[Mina Kimes]

Wow.

[Rhett McLaughlin]

Hey, we would love to hear from you. Do you think you have a question that could stump me that you want us to read on this show? Go ahead, send me your toughest questions to funny you askorthandstudios.com we'll read it here on the show. I will not look at the answers. So send me some questions. Thank you. Uncovered windows can make your home feel up to 20 degrees hotter. Stay cool and save up to 50% off custom window treatments during the 4th of July mega Sale at Blinds Daily. From outdoor shades to room darkening blinds, finding the perfect fit is easy. Get free samples, expert design help and professional measure and install services or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Shop up to 50% off site wide plus huge savings on door busters right now during the 4th of July mega [e-mail] hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of a unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment

[Mina Kimes]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes me slow when network is busy. See terms.