A tick-filled odyssey

Summary

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! — "A Tick-Filled Odyssey"

Date: July 25, 2026
Host: Peter Sagal
Panelists: Hari Kondabolu, Faith Salie, Josh Gondelman
Guest: Tyler James Williams

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Episode Overview

This lively episode of NPR's satirical news quiz brings listeners a mix of sharp wit, absurd news stories, and laugh-out-loud moments. Peter Sagal and the panel take on summer’s biggest movie, the tick explosion, and such viral curiosities as drone mosquito hunters and sorbet garnished with ants. Comedian and actor Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary, Everybody Hates Chris) joins as celebrity guest, sharing his journey as a lifelong performer and tackling three quiz questions about the “Hollywood Chrises.”

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Key Segments & Discussion Highlights

1. Panel & Contestant Introductions

[00:05-02:07]

• Peter Sagal returns after a week away, jokes about his mysterious "adventure" involving a bag of lettuce.
• Welcomes contestant David from Lakewood, CO (by way of Acton, MA), a financial product manager and avid outdoorsman:
  • Peter Sagal: “Every time someone says to me ‘by day, I do this’ I’m always hoping for, ‘by night, I fight crime.’ Hasn’t happened yet.”
• Panel: Hari Kondabolu, Josh Gondelman, Faith Salie.

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2. “Who’s Alzo This Time?” — News In Review Game

[02:07-12:33]

Summer’s Big Movie: The Odyssey

[02:26-05:31]

• Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” is hailed as better than the original poem.
• OBSESSION over which format to see it in (standard, IMAX, IMAX 70mm…):
  • Peter Sagal: “Whatever format you choose, you will enjoy having the movie ruined by the people that brought a three year old to a 9 pm showtime.” [04:38]
• Faith Salie shares that her son spotted Zendaya and Matt Damon at the movie’s premiere—then reveals:
  • Faith Salie: “I made out with Matt Damon twice in college and that was exciting for me.” [03:52]
    • Panel erupts in disbelief and puns:
      • Peter Sagal: “How did your son like those apples?” [04:17]

Tickpocalypse Now

[05:31-07:54]

• Exploding tick populations across America—a CDC epidemiologist admits:
  • Alzo Slade (quoting): "There's a clear winner in the war between humans and them and it's not us." [05:44]
• Lone Star tick highlighted as a relentless, “pursuing” arthropod
  • Ticks can now "push through your socks" and “get your home address from an Equifax leak.”
• Ticks linked to Alpha Gal syndrome—a red meat allergy.
  • Josh Gondelman: “Alpha Gal sounds like what a well-meaning grandmother would use as a euphemism for lesbian.” [07:54]

Office Shorts (Too Hot for Pants)

[08:12-09:39]

• With rising temps, US & Japanese offices are letting men wear shorts—but it’s controversial:
  • In Japan, opponents dub it “leg hair harassment.”
  • Peter Sagal: “If you see leg hair harassment, you intervene with a helpful word—and a razor.” [09:21]

New York Times' One-Ingredient Recipe

[10:11-11:50]

• NYT’s “banana ice cream” recipe: just freeze a banana, blend it—done.
  • Peter Sagal: “Half the comments are like: ‘0 stars. Inedible. Also, I didn’t have bananas, so I used canola oil instead.’” [10:53]

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3. Bluff the Listener — “Hot Book”

[14:04-20:43]
Contestant: Lisa from Brooklyn, lawyer for kids.
Literary Fakes and Innovations:

• Faith Salie: “Bookworm Buddy”—an app where an underemployed English professor feeds you literary quotes in your ear for social situations.
• Hari Kondabolu (TRUE): Book aging service “handles” your books (breaks spine, underlines passages, stains with coffee/wine) so they look read for €5.
  • Expert (Jeff Dolvin): “Technical handlers would bend back its pages, dog ear them, spill a little wine…” [20:19]
• Josh Gondelman: “Bromantasy”—a new genre of men having platonic relationships with mythic creatures (e.g., “New York Minotaur,” “Neighborhood Squatch”).

Lisa picks the correct story: the “book handler” service is real.

• Banter about Jeff Dolvin, “the Matt Damon of Princeton.”
• Faith Salie: “I went out on a date with him.” [20:30]

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4. Not My Job — Tyler James Williams

[21:39-31:15]

• From child star on Sesame Street to “Everybody Hates Chris” and now “Abbott Elementary.”
  • Tyler: “I was a very serious child… I see you preparing yourself, Carol [Big Bird’s puppeteer].” [21:54]
  • Starts acting at 4, fame at 13, never experienced “normal” high school—“My theme was global fame.” [23:36]
  • Fun Fact: Nearly lost “Everybody Hates Chris” because he was “too good looking.”
    • Tyler: “Which one of these ugly fools got my job?” [25:56]
  • Marvel at the odd trajectory of radio:
    • Faith: “We’re all on this show doing radio because we are too good looking.” [26:10]
• Abbott Elementary Teachers:
  • Tyler: “If there’s a teacher within 100 yards of me, I’m gonna know. They’re either going to tell me or I’ll see it in their eyes… it’s one of the greatest joys of my career.” [26:48]
• Quiz: The Hollywood Chrises (Pratt, Evans, Hemsworth)
  • Gets 2/3 right.
  • Prize for listener Diana of Sacramento.

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5. Listener Limerick Challenge

[39:05-42:46]
Contestant: Ashley from Alexandria, VA

• Q1: Babies cooling off by hugging a ______ — melon
• Q2: Microdrones that hunt ______ — mosquitoes (drones)
• Q3: Chef garnishing dessert with ______ — ants

Ashley wins with 2 out of 3.

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6. Lightning Fill in the Blank

[44:23-49:48]
Panelists race to answer rapid-fire news questions for points.

• Top news items covered:
  • Trump’s nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia
  • Lettuce-linked cyclospora outbreak
  • Chatbots hacking each other
  • France bans social media for kids
  • Spain wins the Women’s World Cup
  • $57,000 custom pillow (pillow, not mattress)
  • Dung-cam: BBC hides cameras in fake animal poop
• Josh Gondelman wins the game.

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7. End-of-Show Predictors — Next Ancient Blockbuster

[50:47-51:17]

• Hari Kondabolu: “Oedipus Rex with RuPaul playing Oedipus—and the mother.”
• Faith Salie: “Pixar’s Kama Sutra.”
• Josh Gondelman: “Seth Rogen and Eric Andre get Rosetta Stoned.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Faith Salie (revealing her college flings):
  “I made out with Matt Damon twice in college and that was exciting for me.”
  [03:52]

• Peter Sagal (suggesting tickpocalypse):
  “A tick that comes at you is terrifying. And this is also bad, it just got your home address from an Equifax data leak.”
  [06:49]

• Josh Gondelman (on measuring film):
  “I should be a better cinephile because I hear '70 millimeters' and I'm like, that's not that big.”
  [04:51]

• Tyler James Williams (on being ‘too good looking’ for TV):
  “I just imagine the anxiety of you not getting the gig because you’re too good looking. Which one of these ugly fools got my job?”
  [25:56]

• Josh Gondelman (drones vs mosquitoes):
  “We can't be bringing the military-industrial complex when we had fly swatters already.”
  [41:40]

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Memorable Segments & Laugh-Out-Loud Lines

• Banana ice cream: “I broke my parents’ blender and now they're mad at me.” [10:54]
• Tick warnings at the theater: “Look under your seats… you get a tick, and you get a tick!” [06:41]
• Fake dung cam: “I’m just imagining David Attenborough saying, ‘Well, it’s very dark in here. Very, very dark.’” [36:27]
• Weddings with prop bets: “It's the only way I could get my dad to come.” [34:23]
• Winning strategy for a $57,000 pillow: “For $57,000, they better run over my head with a Toyota.” [35:48]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:26] Summer’s big movie: Odyssey obsessions
• [05:35] Tickpocalypse & Alpha Gal
• [08:12] Office shorts and “leg hair harassment”
• [10:11] Absurd NYT “banana ice cream” recipe
• [14:52] Bluff the Listener — Book handling hoax
• [21:39] Not My Job: Guest Tyler James Williams
• [39:05] Limerick Challenge, summer trends
• [44:23] Lightning Fill in the Blank
• [50:47] Panel predictions: Ancient blockbusters

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Tone & Style

The show’s signature irreverence and quick-fire banter is on full display, lampooning the absurdities of summer news, viral trends, and modern life. The panel is in especially playful form, with running jokes, spontaneous wordplay, and self-deprecating asides that keep the atmosphere fast-paced and fun.

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For New Listeners

If you missed the episode, you’ll learn about everything from exploding tick populations and the economics of book fakery to outlandish wedding bets and banana-blender disasters. Most of all, you’ll get the comedy comfort of a classic Wait Wait episode anchored by sharp panelists, a delightful guest, and lively audience energy.

Transcript

[Alzo Slade]

From NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is. Wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News quiz. The air quality may be bad, but the Alzo quality is off the charts. I'm Alzo Slade and here's your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. Great to see you. We have a fine show for you today. Later on, Tyler James Williams of Abbott elementary will be joining us. But first, I gotta say I'm so glad to be back with you after a week off. I don't want to say too much about where I was. Let me just say it started with a bag of lettuce and it ended with adventure. You never know what'll happen if you call us and play our games. The number is 1, triple 8.

[Josh Gondelman]

Wait, wait.

[Peter Sagal]

That's 1-888-924-8924. Now let's welcome our first listener contestant. Hi. You're on. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Hi, this is David from Lakewood, Colorado,

[Josh Gondelman]

by way of Acton, Massachusetts.

[Peter Sagal]

By way of Acton. I know Acton more than I know Lakewood. What do you do out there?

[Josh Gondelman]

By day, product manager in a financial space. But otherwise in the typical Colorado, hiking, skiing, biking, all the outdoor things.

[Peter Sagal]

You know, every time someone says to me by day, I do this I'm always hoping for, by night, I fight crime. Hasn't happened yet.

[Josh Gondelman]

I forgot my secrets.

[Peter Sagal]

Hasn't happened yet. Maybe someday. Well, David, it's great to have you. Let me introduce you to our panel. First up, he's the co host of the podcast Health Stuff that you can find where you get your podcast. It's Hari Kondabolu.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Hey, David.

[Peter Sagal]

Next, it's the comedian who hosts the podcast the Nightly and will be on tour all fall starting September 19th at the Comedy Studio in Harvard Square. It's Josh Gondelman.

[Faith Salie]

Hello.

[Josh Gondelman]

So nice to be here with you by day or by night.

[Peter Sagal]

And she's the co host of the new podcast series, you could make this Beautiful. From wbur, it's Faith Salee.

[Faith Salie]

Hey, David.

[Peter Sagal]

So, David, welcome to the show. Of course you're gonna play who's Alzo this time? Alzo Slade standing right next to me is gonna read you three quotations from this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you will win our prize. Any voice from our show that you might choose for your voicemail. Are you ready to play? Let's do it. All right. Your first quote is about the big movie of this summer.

[Alzo Slade]

It's the rare case where the movie is better than the poem.

[Peter Sagal]

That was Ash. That was Ashley Parker in the Atlantic talking about what big summer blockbuster has to be the Odyssey. It is the Odyssey.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the ancient poem is a huge hit. It makes us real excited about next summer's tentpole movie, Quentin Tarantino's the Man from Nantucket. So most people love the movie, but a lot of the talk about it is what format you should see it in. There's so much to choose from. There's Dolby Vision, there's 36 millimeter, 70 millimeter, IMAX, and IMAX 70 millimeter, which is the true connoisseur's choice, we are told. But that is only available at 25 theaters in the whole country, so. And this is true, people, hundreds of them, are driving for hours to see this movie or even flying across the country and then tragically taking a full 20 years to journey home.

[Faith Salie]

So you mentioned the format in which you're supposed to see it.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes.

[Faith Salie]

The actual premiere was across the street from my apartment.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Faith Salie]

And my son was walking back from Target and he calls me on his Apple watch and he says, mom. Oh my gosh, Zendaya. And I'm seeing Matt Damon right across the street. This is so exciting for me. And what I wanted to tell him, but I didn't, was I made out with Matt Damon twice in college and that was exciting for me.

[Hari Kondabolu]

What?

[Alzo Slade]

Wait, is this true?

[Faith Salie]

This is true.

[Peter Sagal]

That was a long walk, but you got there.

[Alzo Slade]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Speaking the Odyssey. Speaking of Odyssey, how did your son.

[Faith Salie]

It was worth it.

[Peter Sagal]

I know, I know.

[Josh Gondelman]

How did your son like those apples?

[Hari Kondabolu]

Wait, how did this. When a Man Loves a Boy.

[Faith Salie]

It was a special hug. I was.

[Peter Sagal]

We'll save that for a podcast extra. Wait, wait After Dark. Anyway, but I want everybody to know, if people don't know what format to see it in, it's really confusing. This is not a thing we are used to thinking about. Just be assured, whatever format you choose, you will enjoy having the movie ruined by the people that brought a three year old to a 9pm Showtime.

[Josh Gondelman]

I. I don't know. I should be a better cinephile because I hear 70 millimeters and I'm like, that's 7 centimeters. That's not that big. They're saying that's the biggest, but that's not very big.

[Peter Sagal]

That's like an iPhone. That doesn't seem like a big deal. 7cm across. I'll just watch it that way. Like, I usually Do.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Is it weird to go to that movie alone because I don't have anyone to go with.

[Tyler James Williams]

Aw.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Well, I can't bring my 5 year old and he's my main company at this point.

[Peter Sagal]

Right, I understand, Hari.

[Faith Salie]

I'll go with you and I won't mention anything else.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Made out with that guy?

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, made out with me.

[Josh Gondelman]

Didn't have a beard back then.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, your next quote is about a summer pest that is just taking over the countryside.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Hurtful.

[Peter Sagal]

Oh, Josh, when I'm talking about you, I'll let you know.

[Alzo Slade]

There's a clear winner in the war between humans and them and it's not us.

[Peter Sagal]

That was an epidemiologist talking about the blood sucking and disease carrying bug. We should be checking each other for this summer. What is it? Probably ticks. Yes, ticks. Applaud the ticks. They give you some encouragement. It's a hard life. Tick populations are exploding in just about every state this summer. Emergency room visits for tick bites all time high. This is all according to the cdc, which of course is now headed by a tick. The New Yorker did a celebrity profile to one variety of tick, the Lone Star tick. This one doesn't wait for you to walk by in the grass. It will, quote, pursue you and it can crawl up your leg in seconds. Even if you are currently sitting in the audience at the Studebaker Theater.

[Josh Gondelman]

Look under your seats.

[Faith Salie]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

We've got one for all of you. You get a tick and you get a tick.

[Alzo Slade]

I see people looking at.

[Josh Gondelman]

That's true.

[Peter Sagal]

A tick that comes at you is terrifying. And this is also bad. It just got your home address from an Equifax data leak.

[Faith Salie]

And the thing that's so awful and insidious about ticks is that you don't. They don't let you know they're there.

[Alzo Slade]

Right?

[Faith Salie]

They don't. It's not painful when they bite you. It doesn't itch. It makes you long for mosquitoes.

[Peter Sagal]

As opposed to. Yeah, as opposed to the other kinds of biting insects who are like Jerry Lewis.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Like, hello, Are there. There are no ticks in New City.

[Alzo Slade]

Right.

[Peter Sagal]

They're toughest ticks are in New York City. I'm crawling here. I'm crawling here.

[Faith Salie]

They ride around on the rats.

[Peter Sagal]

Exactly. Yeah. This is something else surprising about the Lone Star ticks. Quote, they can even push through your socks. Oh, God. And you just bought REI's new fishnet hiking socks.

[Faith Salie]

And those Lone Star ticks, they're open carry.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Have you heard about this? That ticks carry a Disease called Alpha Gal. That is what it is called. And what it is is it gives you a fatal allergy to red meat.

[Josh Gondelman]

Alpha Gal sounds kind of like what a well meaning grandmother would use as a euphemism for lesbian.

[Peter Sagal]

Really? We were thinking it was like more like a direct to streaming knockoff of Supergirl.

[Josh Gondelman]

That's right.

[Peter Sagal]

Here, David, is your last quote.

[Alzo Slade]

Your colleagues don't necessarily want to see your hairy legs.

[Peter Sagal]

That was style editor Samuel Heine talking about the growing trend of men wearing what to the office. I hope it isn't shorts. It is shorts, David. It is. NBC News reports that thanks to the rising temperatures everywhere, US offices are loosening their dress codes to allow men to wear shorts. Now, the first draft of the rule was you don't have to wear pants to come into work. But after the first day, they had to clarify, you do have to wear something. Now, this is also happening in Japan where it's a big deal. Because in Japan, if you've ever been there, there's a lot of formality in the office, especially in government offices. And there's a regulation banning shorts in government offices. But it was just suspended for the first time and men are coming into work wearing shorts. And employees, though other employees are not happy about it, they call it, this is true leg hair harassment. And I got this from my training. If you see leg hair harassment, you intervene with a helpful word and a razor.

[Josh Gondelman]

I don't know that that's better of just like. We just need everybody in here with extremely smooth legs.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes.

[Josh Gondelman]

And I will touch to see if there's stubble.

[Peter Sagal]

Alzo, how did David do in our quiz?

[Alzo Slade]

David did great. He got three out of three. Congratulations.

[Peter Sagal]

Well done, David. All right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Josh, one of the most popular and commented on recipes on the New York Times cooking app this week was one ingredient. Banana ice cream. What is that ingredient? If you even ask me for a hint, you lose a thousand points.

[Josh Gondelman]

I'm gonna say, and this, it's gonna feel so bad if this isn't the right answer. Is it banana?

[Faith Salie]

Yes.

[Alzo Slade]

I thought you were gonna say ice cream.

[Peter Sagal]

The Times cooking app featured a recipe for banana ice cream that is literally freeze a banana, put it in a blender. Done. The recipe has almost five. And of course, if you know the New York Times cooking app, half the comments are like 0 stars inedible. Also, I didn't have bananas, so I used canola oil instead.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Oh.

[Peter Sagal]

Actually, the top comment on this recipe this is real. I broke my parents blender and now they're mad at me.

[Josh Gondelman]

That's this isn't a recipe like that would be like, oh, there's a recipe for the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Basically, I'm still trying to get my head around the concept.

[Josh Gondelman]

So Hari, it's one ingredient.

[Peter Sagal]

No, no, no, wait. Give Hari a break. Some of us don't cook. So Hari, let me.

[Hari Kondabolu]

So it's a banana.

[Peter Sagal]

It's banana.

[Hari Kondabolu]

You put it in a blender.

[Peter Sagal]

No, first you freeze it.

[Faith Salie]

Freeze it.

[Peter Sagal]

First you have to freeze it. I've already gotten it wrong.

[Josh Gondelman]

Keep up.

[Peter Sagal]

Coming up, our panelists nerd out with their books out and are bluff the listener game. Call 188 wait wait to play. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait. Don't tell me from npr. Hey, it's Peter Sagal. A quick message before we get back to our show. We are almost at the end of July, which was a big month for NPR a year ago when Congress voted to eliminate all federal funding for all public media. That funding, more than a billion dollars, is gone. But Wait Wait is still here. We're poking fun at the news and hopefully bringing some levity to your weekly, which I understand often needs it. Financial support from you, the public makes our work and the work of the NPR network possible. If you are already an NPR supporter, thank you so much. If not, you can join the community of people who power public [e-mail] Support comes from our 2026 lead sponsor of Wait, Wait, don't tell me. Odoo. If your business runs on five different apps, 12 browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch, it's probably time for Odoo. Odoo is an all in one business management software platform. Instead of wasting time switching between systems, your business works together in real time. Odoo gives you one flexible platform built to grow with you. Try for free [e-mail] waitwait that's o d o o.com waitwait this message comes from BetterHelp.

[Faith Salie]

People talk about mental health more openly now, but asking for help can still feel hard. BetterHelp's 2026 State of Stigma report surveyed 2,000Americans and found that 85% believe getting support is wise, yet 74% say society discourages people from doing so. Don't let stigma stand in the way of support. Start therapy with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com NPR.

[Josh Gondelman]

This message comes from WISE, the Smart Way to manage your money around the world. With WISE, you can send, spend and receive money in over 40 currencies at the mid market. Learn more at wise.com Ts and Cs apply.

[Alzo Slade]

From NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, don't tell me, the NPR News quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Josh Gondelman, Faith Salee and Hari Kondabolu. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagle.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you, Alzo. Thanks, everybody. Thank you all so much. We're having fun. Now it's time for the wait, wait, don't tell me. Bluff the listener game. Call 1-888-wait-WAIT to play our game on the air. Hi, you're on wait, wait, don't tell Me. Hi, this is Lisa from Brooklyn. Hey, Brooklyn, how are you? Brooklyn?

[Hari Kondabolu]

I'm good.

[Peter Sagal]

I'm glad. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to have you. What do you do there in Brooklyn? I am a lawyer for kids at the Lethal Aid Society.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Yay.

[Peter Sagal]

It's the right crowd. It's the right crowd. Yeah, it's the right crowd for that. Well, good. Lisa, welcome to the show. You're gonna play our game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. What is Lisa's topic?

[Alzo Slade]

Alzo It's a hot book.

[Peter Sagal]

Summer reading is sexy again. The big hit movie is based on a classic and reading glasses, they're all over the place. They're great because you can take them off slowly when you're trying to seduce someone. Well, this week we heard about an exciting advancement in the world of books. Our panelists are gonna tell you about it. Pick the real one and get the wait waiter of your choice on your voicemail. Are you ready to play?

[Alzo Slade]

Sure.

[Peter Sagal]

First, let's hear from Faith Saley.

[Faith Salie]

Feeling insecure? Want to drop impressive literary references on sales calls? And when you meet your in laws, the Bookworm Buddy is for you. Bookworm Buddy is an app connected to an earpiece you shove inside your ear hole that pairs you in real time with adjunct English professors who really need the work. They listen in on your conversations and offer you witty bon modes you can slip into dialogue to make people think you're brutal, brilliant, or at least that you actually read the novels you were assigned in 11th grade. If you're a guy on a first date, your Bookworm buddy might tell you to casually drop this Jane Austen banger. I'm almost done paying off my grad school loans, and it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife. You better believe your date will respond with check, please. Introducing yourself at a job interview, your Cyrano d' adjunct might advise you to say, I'm a team player and you can call me Ishmael

[Peter Sagal]

the Bookworm Buddy, an app that connects you to an underemployed academic to give you literary references on the fly. Your next story of teaching some old books new tricks comes from Hari Kondabolu.

[Hari Kondabolu]

As we all know, nowadays, books are mainly used as doorstops or to serve as backgrounds for zoom calls. However, they also serve a number of important making other people think you are smart because you read. Luckily, the fine folks at Cabinet magazine have created a service that allows you to continue being a charlatan by wearing out your books and making them look red. For just €5, you can get an essential handling package, including a professional spine break for your book, two Scholastic dog ears, four underlined passages, and one contextually appropriate piece of marginalia. It'll totally look like you know how to read. The premier package added mauling the edges of the book with a drill and sandpaper, as well as quote one stain using cheap wine, coffee, et cetera. This service, along with reading summaries of books online, will make you look like the educated person your degree claims you

[Alzo Slade]

are,

[Peter Sagal]

a service that will take your unread books and make them look well loved. Your last lit bit comes from Josh Gondelman.

[Josh Gondelman]

With the massive sales of Romantasy novels the past few years, publishers saw only one problem. Unless we start counting Jack Reacher movies as books, men don't read. And that's how bromantasy was born. It's a combination of fantasy and bromance, a term popularized in the aughts after men decided friendship was for girls. Now tales of men platonically befriending mythical creatures are climbing the bestseller list. Like a fairy tale prince scrambling up Rapunzel's ponytail, an ad exec learns to relish the little things in life while riding piggyback style through Manhattan on his best buddy with the head of a bull. In the smash hit novel New York Minotaur, A charismatic yeti brings a neighborhood together with his exciting block parties in Neighborhood Squatch. And Paul Giamatti is already set to star as the titular clay monster come to life who reunites a group of childhood acquaintances from the Lone Star State at his weekly poker night. In the film adaptation of no limit. Texas Golem.

[Peter Sagal]

So we've got three stories from the literary world for you. Which of these is a new development in the written word? Is it from Faith Salie, a service in which underemployed academics will feed your you literary references for use in daily conversation to make you seem smart. From Harikandavolu, a service that will take your brand new never read books and make them look as if you read them by aging them. Or from Josh Gondoman, the breakout new genre bromantasy in which men have perfectly platonic but friendly relationships with fantasy creatures. Which of these is the real story we found in the literary world this week?

[Faith Salie]

If it's a job to wear out

[Peter Sagal]

books for people, I want that job. So I'm going to go with Hari or you're going to choose Hari's story about the service that wears out your books. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to an expert. The technical handlers would bend back its pages, dog ear them, spill a little wine on the pages. That was Jeff Dolvin. He is a professor of English at Princeton and he was an official book handling agent, making books look well loved for a fee. You got it right, Lisa. Congratulations.

[Faith Salie]

I went out on a date with him.

[Josh Gondelman]

He's kind of the Matt Damon of Princeton.

[Faith Salie]

Oh my God. What are the odds?

[Josh Gondelman]

I don't know.

[Peter Sagal]

Wait a minute. Hang on a second, Faith, that's a good question. What are the odds?

[Faith Salie]

This is nuts.

[Peter Sagal]

Back to you, Lisa. Congratulations, Lisa. You got it right. Hari was telling the real story. You have won our prize. It's winners all around. Bye bye bye. And now the game we call not my job. All the actors on the hit sitcom Abbott elementary have to work with child actors, of course, but nobody is better at that than then star Tyler James Williams, because he was one. He made his acting debut at the age of four. He became a star at 13 playing the title character in Everybody Hates Chris. He has just received his fourth Emmy nomination for his role as a grownup in Abbott elementary. And he joins us now. Tyler James Williams, welcome to Wait Wait for Otama.

[Tyler James Williams]

Thank you.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you for joining us. If I'm not mistaken, you made your dad debut as a performer on Sesame street at the age of four, is that right?

[Tyler James Williams]

Yes, that is absolutely correct.

[Peter Sagal]

And do you even remember that? And if you do, what do you remember?

[Tyler James Williams]

Of course, everybody remembers their first day of work. I remember seeing behind the Curtain for the first time, seeing Elmo and Big Bird and the actual people who were playing them and like really Getting dropped in. I was a very serious child. You have to understand this for context. Okay, so, like, I was like, ah, my peers, we're all about to do our thing. I see you preparing yourself, Carol.

[Peter Sagal]

So all these other kids saw a big bird is a giant wonderful bird. And you're like, that's my colleague.

[Tyler James Williams]

Yes, we both have our SAG cards.

[Peter Sagal]

Were you. You started at four, you became a star. Chris Rock picked you to play basically himself as a teenager, a young teen in his show Everybody Hates Chris. So you've been a working actor all through childhood. I'm sure that was very normal childhood. Right. Just like everybody else's.

[Tyler James Williams]

Exactly like everybody else's. Nothing unique about it.

[Peter Sagal]

Nothing unique about it. Did you. I mean, I asked this. I'm leaping ahead a little bit because you're playing a teacher in a school. Did you ever actually go to a school on a regular basis or were you working too much?

[Tyler James Williams]

So I went to school from pre kindergarten to second, sixth grade in like an actual brick and mortar school. Yeah. And then I started working so much that it became a thing where I needed now studio teachers. And once Everybody Hates Chris started, that was it. So I never stepped foot in an actual high school. Didn't go to prom, didn't do any of those things. Don't feel like I missed it. I went to the Emmys and the Bulls. Just with older people.

[Alzo Slade]

Flex.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah. So like, so peers are like, oh, it's gonna be great. Our theme this year is into the future. And you're like, yeah, my theme is global fame. Okay, let me talk briefly about Everybody Hates Chris. This, of course, was the show that Chris Rock created about his own childhood growing up in Brooklyn. Am I right? Like, at first he didn't want to cast you. Cause he thought you were too good looking.

[Tyler James Williams]

Yeah, that's what I heard. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. Apparently that was like a real note that was coming down. When it came down to like the last. I think it was me and maybe two other people. That was a real concern there. But I guess it came down from the top that it was like, yeah, but this is tv, so.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, everybody look better in tv.

[Josh Gondelman]

What a great reason to not get a job if that's how it happens.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, that's the thing that you usually hear from the people who didn't get it. Yeah. They thought I was too good looking otherwise.

[Tyler James Williams]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

But do you remember. Do you remember where you. Because that was a huge role, obviously. Life changing. Do you remember. Remember where you were when you got the News.

[Tyler James Williams]

I was on the plane flying back home because I thought I didn't get it because I was too good looking. So they didn't tell me. Usually with these things, right. If you go back, if they like. I was from New York, so they flew me to LA to do a screen test and they tell you if you fly back home, that's it. So I'm on the plane with my mom and this is also like, not too far out from like. So they have like really strict rules. And my mom gets a phone call from a manager and they're like trying to get her to turn the phone off and she's like, I kind of need to just. Really? If you could just give me five minutes, that would be great. And they, my manager called them to say, get off the plane. They want you to stay. Now again, this is a post 911 world. So we tried to get off the plane and that went very badly.

[Josh Gondelman]

What does this family know about the plane?

[Tyler James Williams]

So I started up flying back to New York and then they brought me back.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Really?

[Peter Sagal]

So, like, you're like, no, you have to turn the plane around. My son here was just cast as Chris Rock.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

In a new sitcom about Chris Rock's childhood. And they're like, yes, ma'.

[Josh Gondelman]

Am.

[Peter Sagal]

Sit down in that seat or we will have you arrested.

[Tyler James Williams]

We've heard crazier stories. Is a marshal on the plane?

[Alzo Slade]

I just imagine, I just imagine the anxiety of you not getting the gig because you're too good looking. And you're on the plane like thinking, which one of these ugly fools got my job?

[Faith Salie]

And I just, I want to say for the record, we're all on this show doing radio because we are too good looking.

[Peter Sagal]

Exactly.

[Josh Gondelman]

That's right.

[Tyler James Williams]

100% agree.

[Alzo Slade]

I can see you.

[Peter Sagal]

It's great. Thank you.

[Tyler James Williams]

It would be too much. It would simply be too much.

[Peter Sagal]

So let's move on to Abbott elementary, the hit show you just were nominated for the fourth time. And it's a show that looks upon its characters who are elementary school teachers for the most part, as heroes. I imagine the show must be very popular with actual elementary school teachers. And do people come up to you on the street and thank you for that?

[Tyler James Williams]

If there's a teacher within 100 yards of me, I'm gonna know. I'm gonna know. I'm gonna know. They're either going to tell me or

[Peter Sagal]

I'll see it in their eyes.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Right.

[Tyler James Williams]

There's a weird now like two teacher thing that we have, but I love it. It's. It's it's, it's one of the greatest joys of my career.

[Peter Sagal]

Well, Tyler James Williams, it's a joy to talk to you. We've asked you here to play a game.

[Alzo Slade]

We're calling Everybody loves these Chrises.

[Peter Sagal]

So you starred and everybody hates Chris about Chris Rock. Okay, but what about the Chris's that everybody loves? The Hollywood Chris's, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Chris Pratt. We're going to ask you three questions about those A list actors all named Chris. Get two right, you'll win a prize for one of our listeners. Alzo, who is Tyler playing for?

[Alzo Slade]

Diana Carlson of Sacramento, California.

[Hari Kondabolu]

All right.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, Diana, you ready to do this?

[Tyler James Williams]

Let's do it. Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay, here we go. In 2007, Chris Pratt, who'd go on to star in Guardians of the Galaxy, lost out the lead role in the film the Lookout. He was shocked that someone else got the part. Why? A, because the characters name was Chris Pratt, B, it was written and directed by his own mother, Or C, he put up all the money for the production as a vehicle for himself.

[Tyler James Williams]

God, I want it to be C so bad. That'd be my favorite Hollywood story. I'm gonna go with A.

[Peter Sagal]

You're gonna go with A. You're right. So in the movie the Lookout, Chris Pratt lost of Chris Pratt to Joseph Gordon Levitt. All right, here's your next question. Chris Evans went on huge success, Captain America, Knives out. Great guy. But in 1999, he played what may be, according to some, his greatest role. What was it? A, the ball peen hammer in Tool Story, B, Odysseus, the only human character in the Muppet Odyssey, Or C, the character Tyler in the board game Mystery Date.

[Josh Gondelman]

Huh.

[Tyler James Williams]

I'm not really up on my deep Chris Evans war. Sure, I would have prepared more had I known. I'm gonna go with C. You're gonna

[Peter Sagal]

go with C. The character Tyler in the board game Mystery Date. You're right again. For those who don't know Mystery Date, it's a classic game, goes to back 60 years and you try to end up dating somebody great and not the quote nerd. And in the mid-90s edition, Chris was the model for date Tyler, who surfs. There you go. All right, get this right. You get it.

[Faith Salie]

Perfect.

[Peter Sagal]

Here we go. Last one. Chris Hemsworth almost lost out on his breakout role of Thor in the Marvel movies because Marvel executives worried that fans would turn on him because of something from his past. What was it? A, a viral video in which he hits his thumb with a hammer and cries B, he was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars Australia and really, really sucked. Or C, he had written an essay for the New York Review of Books talking about how stupid comic books are.

[Tyler James Williams]

Yeah, that would scare the out of. Yeah, let's let it ride.

[Peter Sagal]

You're gonna go for C. Yes. Chris Hemsworth, Australian hunk, wrote an essay for the New York Review of Books on the no, it was he was on Dancing with the Stars. He had been before being found by Marvel, a celebrity on TV in Australia. He was on Dancing with the Stars and apparently was so terrible, says the Marvel executive, that all the women in his office were watching the video and laughing and they were figuring that nobody would take him seriously at Thor. But he got the part anyway. Also, how did Tyler do in our quiz?

[Alzo Slade]

2 out of 3 is a passing grade to me. Congratulations.

[Peter Sagal]

Well done. Tyler James Williams is up for an Emmy again for his role in Abbott Elementary. May you have as much luck there as you did here. You can stream all five seasons of Abbott elementary right now. It is fabulous and heartwarming and very, very fun, funny. Tyler, thank you so much for joining us on our show.

[Tyler James Williams]

Thank you guys.

[Peter Sagal]

In just a minute, Alzo tells you about the world's grossest dessert in our Listener Limerick challenge. Call 1- Triple-8-WAIT wait to join us in the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait Wait. Don't tell me from npr. This message comes from Whole Foods Market. Save on seasonal favorites at Whole Foods Market. Start at the vibrant produce store department stocked with organic fruits and veggies. Then head to prepared foods for easy grab and go lunches and dinners. There's so many ways to save. Those yellow sale signs are just about everywhere. Plus prime members can find extra in store deals every Tuesday and Friday. And the low priced365 by Whole Foods Market brand never sacrifices on quality. Save today and every day at Whole Foods Market.

[Faith Salie]

This message comes from NPR sponsor the NPR Wine Club, a place to find boutique wines from around the world and bottles inspired by popular NPR shows as well as to explore the producers, regions and exciting stories that bring each selection to life. Whether you buy a few bottles or join the club, all purchases support NPR programming and help fund quality reporting. You can learn [e-mail] podcast. Must be 21 or older to purchase.

[Alzo Slade]

From npr and wbez chicago, this is wait, wait, don't tell me the npr news quiz. I'm alzo slade. We're playing this week with josh gondelman, hari kondabolu and faith salee. And here again is your host at the studebaker theater in chicago, illinois, peter sago.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Thank you.

[Peter Sagal]

Alzo. In just a minute. Why didn't we check each other for limber ticks to prevent rhymes disease.

[Hari Kondabolu]

We lost him.

[Peter Sagal]

I'm sorry. You knew what you were in for when you bought a ticket. No whining now. Anyway, that's our listener at Limerick Challenge coming up. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-88-WAIT WAIT. That's 1-888-924-89-24, right now, panel, time for more questions for you from the week's news. Faith, this week we learned about a new trend in weddings. Couples are letting guests get more involved in the big day. By doing what?

[Faith Salie]

Oh, is this betting? Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

Betting on the weddings.

[Faith Salie]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

The New York Times again reports. The New York Times reports that many couples are making prop bets part of their weddings. Guests can bet on things like the length of the first kiss, who will cry while making a toast, what the first dance will be. But they are not allowed to make the obvious bet. How long will this marriage last? That's right. This totally true changes like the role of the best man. He's gonna be leaning in during the first kiss. Like, we're at 2.8 seconds. Just hold on.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, I wouldn't. I think if that had been around when I got married, I wouldn't have even needed a registry. I would have just taken a cut off the insider trading. I'd have been like, what song do you think is gonna be the first dance? For a price. It could be.

[Peter Sagal]

The couples who do this say it's a great way to keep the guests involved throughout. And also, it's the only way I could get my dad to come.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Come. God, there's every. Can you gamble on everything now? Isn't that what ki is? Is Kali a thing? That's a thing, right?

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Like you can basically bet on anything.

[Peter Sagal]

Hey, he brought up ki. I went five bucks.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Also,

[Josh Gondelman]

I owe you five because I thought he was going to say polymarkets.

[Peter Sagal]

Faith, we know sleep is very important. Of course. So if you want absolutely the best night's sleep for just $57,000, you can get the world's greatest. What?

[Faith Salie]

Mattress?

[Peter Sagal]

No, not a mattress. Come on.

[Faith Salie]

Oh, that sounds like it's bigger. More.

[Peter Sagal]

No, it's actually smaller than a mattress. Smaller than a mattress.

[Faith Salie]

A pillow.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes, pillow. For just $57,000, the Tailor Made Pillow Pillow Company offers a custom made pillow with quote, cooling Tercel cover and quote High tech tailoring and a quote, 24 karat real gold cover, which makes perfect sense to me. Whenever I see a gold bar, I say, wow, that looks so soft.

[Faith Salie]

What is Tercel?

[Peter Sagal]

Tercel? I have no idea. But it is expensive.

[Faith Salie]

Yes, it is.

[Alzo Slade]

That was my first.

[Faith Salie]

Makes me sleepy.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, for $57,000, they better run over my head with a Toyota.

[Peter Sagal]

But remember, the rule of thumb is you don't spend more than a third of your annual income.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, that'd be tough for me to be like, you know, I can't do this destination wedding. My net worth is tied up in pillow.

[Peter Sagal]

Hari. The BBC is renowned for their nature documentaries. They recently came up with an amazing way to get a camera really close to a wild animal without scaring it away. They just hide the remote controlled camera. Where?

[Hari Kondabolu]

Inside them?

[Peter Sagal]

The animal inside the animal. All right, I have a number of questions. Good answer. Survey says I'm just imagining the footage on the documentary and David Attenborough saying, well, it's very dark in here. Very, very dark. No, that's not it.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Can I get a hand?

[Peter Sagal]

You can. It looks great. They have the look down. I don't know if they've gotten the smell down.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Poop.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes, poop.

[Alzo Slade]

What?

[Hari Kondabolu]

No way. What?

[Peter Sagal]

The camera inside an artificial pile of dung. Oh, God.

[Hari Kondabolu]

A poor PA has to do that.

[Josh Gondelman]

That would work so well for house keys.

[Peter Sagal]

It's true, too.

[Faith Salie]

Yeah, you're right. If it's artificial.

[Peter Sagal]

That's right. It's called, of course, the dung cam. It's basically a giant fake.

[Alzo Slade]

Fake poop.

[Peter Sagal]

Like you find in a joke shop. Right. Except it's got an HD camera inside and it can move. It's motorized.

[Josh Gondelman]

The only thing is. Wearier than a tick chasing after you.

[Peter Sagal]

Exactly.

[Faith Salie]

It's like a scat attack.

[Josh Gondelman]

Well, that's the thing.

[Peter Sagal]

I mean, it says something weird about the animals level of intelligence. The animals are like, what's that? Oh, just a giant pile of dung rolling straight towards me. No biggie.

[Josh Gondelman]

These beetles are getting strong.

[Faith Salie]

It's a bowel movement.

[Peter Sagal]

Coming up. It's lightning. Fill in the blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-88-WAIT wait, that's 1-888-924-89-24. You can see us most weeks right here at the Studebaker Theatre in downtown Chicago. You can also catch us on the road. We'll be in Hoover Heights, Ohio, just outside of Dayton, on September 3rd. If you want a little extra, you know, side piece, entertainment wise. Our comedy grab bag stand up show is back. It's Wednesday, September 9th at the Den Theater here in Chicago hosted by none other than Alzo Slade with comedy from our panelists, special guests and even, well, me. For tickets and information to all our live events, go to nprpresents.org hi everyone. Wait, wait, don't tell me.

[Faith Salie]

Hi, this is Ashley calling in from Alexandria, Virginia.

[Peter Sagal]

Alexandria, Virginia in the greater Washington area. What do you do there?

[Faith Salie]

I'm an. I'm an educator and I lead teacher professional development.

[Peter Sagal]

Really? I gotta ask, you're an educator? A teacher. Do you watch Abbott Elementary? Oh, absolutely.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Love it.

[Peter Sagal]

Is it a realistic depiction of what life is like as a teacher?

[Faith Salie]

Say so.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Well, Ashley, welcome to the show. Alzo Slade is going to read you three news related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly and two of the limericks, you will be a winner. Ready to go? Absolutely. Here is your first limerick.

[Alzo Slade]

Big gourds with cold juices are swelling so its heat relief markets are selling though a sweet juicy slice would really taste nice. I cool down by just hugging a melon or watermelon.

[Peter Sagal]

A melon, yes, absolutely. This week's hot online trend showing up in your feeds. Pictures of overheating babies in China cooling down by hugging giant melons. Winter melons. They're a kind of gourd native to Southeast Asia that is apparently great for absorbing body heat. And by happy coincidence they tend to grow to be one baby long.

[Josh Gondelman]

This has like a real like. I don't know what the global economy is doing, but this is like a depression era.

[Peter Sagal]

Oh, I remember when I was a boy, we had no money, we didn't have any of this air conditioning. We had to hug melons and we liked it.

[Josh Gondelman]

You leave a melon at the bottom of the river till summer begins. You dig it up, you hug it.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, here is your next limerick.

[Alzo Slade]

While we still hear some high whiny tones. We're creating mosquito free zones the small bugs discover. We track, chase and hover. We hunt them with really small.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Ooh, phones.

[Peter Sagal]

Like telephone. No, no, they hover. We heard that word.

[Alzo Slade]

We track, chase and hover. Yeah, we hunt them with really small.

[Peter Sagal]

Really small. How about if I just give it to you. It's drones.

[Alzo Slade]

Oh,

[Hari Kondabolu]

got it.

[Peter Sagal]

A French starter startup is now taking pre orders for the Microdrone. They're tiny autonomous flying machines which use sonar to detect mosquitoes. Chase them down and then kill them by chopping them up with their propellers. And even if it doesn't work, it's going to be way more exciting to watch than a citronella candle. Now it's not ready for market. They're putting out like a proof of concept video. It has one of their drones successfully killing a a moth in midair. And really, what's a moth but a bigger, slower mosquito that was just minding its own business and never heard it?

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. If you really want to get into butterfly murder, it sounds like the technology is there. I don't hate mosquitoes that much that this technology should exist.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Really?

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Alzo Slade]

You don't hate mosquitoes?

[Josh Gondelman]

I do hate mosquitoes More than hippopotamuses?

[Faith Salie]

Yes. They kill more people than any other animal.

[Josh Gondelman]

I'll tell you what, it's not a fair fight if we involve drones. We can't be bringing the military industrial complex when we had fly swatters already.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, here is your last limerick.

[Alzo Slade]

This picnic guest rarely enchants a dessert they could hardly enhance. This chef adds a bunch for a tiny black crunch. Now he's jailed because we shouldn't eat ants.

[Peter Sagal]

Ants. That's right. A Michelin starred restaurant in South Korea is facing heavy fines after garnishing a sorbet with black ants intentionally. This is how you remember Michelin is a tire company. If you want to try ant sorbet without having to travel to South Korea, just drop your ice cream con on the sidewalk and wait.

[Josh Gondelman]

Then that's just a honey pot because you bring in those drones. Those ants are cooked.

[Peter Sagal]

Alzo. How did Ashley do in our quiz?

[Alzo Slade]

She did good. She got two out of three. That's a win for me.

[Peter Sagal]

Congratulations, Ashley. Well done. Thank you so much for playing.

[Faith Salie]

Thanks for having me.

[Josh Gondelman]

Take care.

[Peter Sagal]

I like bugs that live in the mud like ants are black and red. I like beetles really big and bees are bars around my head. The bigger they are, the better I like them. This message comes from Whole Foods Market. Save on seasonal favorites at Whole Foods Market. Start at the vibrant produce department stocked with organic fruits and veggies. Then head to prepared foods for easy grab and go lunches and dinners. There's so many ways to save those yellow sale signs are just about everywhere. Plus prime members can find extra in store deals every Tuesday and Friday. And the low priced $3.65 by Whole Foods Market brand never sacrifices on quality. Save today and every day at Whole Foods Market.

[Faith Salie]

This message comes from the NPR Wine Club which has generated over $1.75 million to support NPR whether buying a few bottles or joining the club. Learn [e-mail] podcast must be 21 or older to purchase. This message comes from Lisa. Beautifully crafted mattresses from Leesa are tailored for how you sleep and designed with specific preferences in mind. Go to leesa.com for 30% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.

[Peter Sagal]

Now onto our final game. Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many Fill in the blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Alzo, can you please give us the scores?

[Alzo Slade]

Of course. Hari has three. Faith and Josh are tied up with two.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Okay, how is that possible?

[Peter Sagal]

So that means Faith and Josh are tied for second. I'm going to arbitrarily choose Josh to go first. Here we go. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Donald Trump signed a nuclear power deal with Blank.

[Josh Gondelman]

Saudi Arabia.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. Despite an initial test that was a false positive, the FDA says the cyclospora outbreak is still tied to Blank. From Taylor Farms Lettuce.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Right.

[Peter Sagal]

This week, two experimental chatbot models owned by Blank hacked into another company without any human prompting.

[Josh Gondelman]

OpenAI.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. On Sunday, manosphere influencer Blank and his brother were arrested in Miami.

[Josh Gondelman]

Andrew Tate.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Right.

[Peter Sagal]

This week, a man who was caught on video getting tossed in eight feet in the air by a bison at Yellowstone said that getting thrown didn't hurt, but Blank did.

[Josh Gondelman]

Landing.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes.

[Josh Gondelman]

Good bit.

[Peter Sagal]

For the second time this year, the average price of blank rose above $4 a gallon. Right. On Tuesday, astronomers in the UK discovered that blank once had underground rivers of magma.

[Josh Gondelman]

Venus.

[Peter Sagal]

No, Mars. This week, a court in Alabama said that a woman who was out on bail for attempting to poison her husband may have violated. Violated the terms of her release when she Blanked.

[Josh Gondelman]

Uh, poisoned him again.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes. Or tried to.

[Tyler James Williams]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

In 2025, Sarah Baker was arrested for attempting to poison her husband, but made bail under two conditions. One, that she not make contact with her husband, and two, that she definitely not try to poison him again.

[Josh Gondelman]

Whoops. If. If you have to say it.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, Alzo, I think Josh did really well.

[Alzo Slade]

Yeah, I think he studied. This week he got seven. Right. For 14 more points. Total of 16. And the lead.

[Tyler James Williams]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay, that means that Faith is up next. Here we go. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, France became the latest country to ban blank for kids under 15.

[Faith Salie]

Social media.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. On Monday, Donald Trump announced plan to impose a 50% blank on Nimports from Canada.

[Faith Salie]

Tariff.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. This week, Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall in the US Prompting blank warnings across the East Coast.

[Faith Salie]

Flood.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. After confirming four new cases, health officials in Delaware declared a blank outbreak.

[Faith Salie]

Measles.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. This week, a man in Denver was arrested for breaking a window on a train and blanking.

[Faith Salie]

Mooning people?

[Peter Sagal]

No. Well, I'm gonna give it to you. He surfed naked on top of the train. According to a newspaper, 156 is the maximum. Human Blank.

[Josh Gondelman]

Oh.

[Faith Salie]

IQ?

[Peter Sagal]

No. Age. Despite the success of Toy Story 5, Blank announced it was laying off dozens of animators.

[Faith Salie]

Pixar.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. Doctors were surprised. This week, a woman brought in with heart attack symptoms was diagnosed with blank labor.

[Faith Salie]

She was in labor?

[Peter Sagal]

No, she was diagnosed with being too happy. After examining the woman, doctors say she has a rare condition called Happy Heart Syndrome, where your body gets flooded with the natural chemicals associated with extreme emotion. The cause was her daughter's wedding three days earlier. It's a sweet story, but I'm terrified. What's going to happen to her when she finally discovers the true meaning of Christmas? Alza, how did Faith do on our quiz?

[Alzo Slade]

Ooh, she fell just a little short of Josh. She got six right for 12 more points. Total of 14. Josh is still in the lead.

[Peter Sagal]

And how many then, does Hari need to win?

[Alzo Slade]

Well, I'm the judge. Hari, how much money you got? I tell you, Hari needs seven to win.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, here we go, Hari. This is for the game. On Sunday, Spain defeated Argentina to win the 2026 Blank World Cup. Right. On Tuesday, Pete Hegseth testified that the war with blank had cost the U.S. $37 billion.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Iran.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. On Thursday, the EU announced a 1 billion dollar fine against search giant blank Google. Right. This week, Andy Burnham was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of blank the uk. Right. Just a few summers after orca whales were spotted wearing salmon as hats, scientists have now observed whales playing a new game. Blank.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Salmon. Volleyball.

[Peter Sagal]

No. Ramming into fish so hard that they extend. Explode. Don't knock it till you tried it. On Monday, the American Heart association recommended limiting blank consumption to five cups a day.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Coffee.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. And an incredibly rare feat. A woman in Australia gave birth to identical blanks.

[Hari Kondabolu]

Twins.

[Peter Sagal]

No. Come on. That's not rare. Quadruplets. This week, a family from Utah on vacation in California were shocked when they noticed the picture on the wall of their Airbnb was a picture of. Of blank them. Exactly right. According to one of the family members, quote, we're looking at this picture and my dad is like that looks like me. They didn't believe him until they spotted more members of their family in the water on this beach picture around him. Apparently the artwork came from a San Diego photographer who, quote, takes aerial beach photos and enlarges them as artwork for vacation rentals, unquote. And that's fine. But the weird thing was it was a picture from next summer. Alzo, how did Hari do? Did he do well enough to win?

[Alzo Slade]

Oh, man, so close, Hari. So close. You got six right for 12 more points, total of 15. Josh wins with 16.

[Peter Sagal]

Coming up, our Panama's predictor after the odyssey of what'll be the next ancient text to be turned into a blockbuster movie? But first, let me tell you all that Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Terracotta Productions. Doug Berman, benevolent Overlord Philip Gaeda writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our ops manager is Jasira Fardak. Thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theater. BJ Ledemann composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Normbos and Lillian King. Special thanks this week to Blythe Roberson, Janie Hoffman and Dom Banyas. Our Trojan Horse is full of Peter Gwynn's. Emma Choi is our vibe curator, technical directionist from Lorna Whiter, CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Shillock. And the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is Mike Danforth. Now, panel, what will be the next ancient text made into a movie?

[Hari Kondabolu]

Hari Kondabolu, Oedipus Rex with RuPaul playing Oedipus and the mother,

[Peter Sagal]

Faith, Sam coming

[Faith Salie]

soon, Pixar's Kama Sutra and Josh Gongelman.

[Josh Gondelman]

Next summer, Seth Rogen and Eric Andre. Get Rosetta stoned and if any of

[Alzo Slade]

that happens, panel, we'll ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you, Alzo Slade. Thanks also to Faith, Sally, Josh Gongaman and Hari Kondavolu. Thanks to our fabulous audience at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago. Thanks to all of you for listening, wherever you are. I'm Peter Sagal. We'll see you next week from Sonoma, California. This is npr.

[Faith Salie]

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