WWDTM: Paul Giamatti, Laufey, and more!

Summary

Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!

Episode: Paul Giamatti, Laufey, and More!

Date: November 29, 2025
Host: Peter Sagal
Announcer: Bill Curtis
Panelists & Guests: Paul Giamatti, Laufey, James Gunn, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Dulce Sloan, Hari Kondabolu, Tom Papa

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Overview

This special Thanksgiving edition of NPR's news quiz show takes a look back at some of the year’s most memorable moments, featuring celebrity guests and hilarious segments. Host Peter Sagal and his panel share gratitude—and lots of laughs—with highlights from interviews and games involving actor Paul Giamatti, musical phenom Laufey, director James Gunn, and Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad. The episode blends insightful conversations with signature Wait Wait games, all in the show’s sharp, playful tone.

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Highlights by Guest & Segment

Paul Giamatti: Illusions, Comedy, and Leftovers

Main Segment: 01:24–12:14

• On Assumptions and Roles

  • Peter Sagal: “Based on all the roles you've played, what kind of assumptions do people make about you as a real person?” (01:38)
  • Paul Giamatti: “Oh, lots. I mean, the wine thing. Everybody assumes I know all about wine. I don’t know crap about wine. I know literally nothing about wine.” (01:54)
  • He jokes he’s usually cast as "an angry middle management type" whose first line is “What the hell are you doing?” (02:54)

• Early Career & Unique Roles

  • Peter Sagal notes Giamatti’s TV debut as “man in sleeping bag" on NYPD Blue; Giamatti details his single line: “Not me, man.” (03:30)
  • On having been called "Mr. Potato Face" by the Guardian, Giamatti laughs off the moniker and jokes about “sticking it to the English” in the Downton Abbey movie. (04:03)

• Fun Movie Anecdotes

  • On his role in Big Fat Liar, Giamatti describes being dyed blue: “It stayed on my feet for about six months… so my feet were blue for about six months. Just a little bit of trivia.” (05:52)

• Fan Culture

  • Giamatti discusses the “Wax Paul Now” campaign to get him a Madame Tussauds statue: “If I can’t get one, who the hell can get one? ... That would have been retirement time.” (07:07)

• Game: “Holdovers Fun” (Tupperware Trivia)

  • Peter Sagal quizzes Giamatti on Tupperware history and facts:
    • Memorable Q&A:
      • Peter Sagal: “Tupperware container was used to store which: Queen Elizabeth’s earrings, Einstein’s brain, or leftover plutonium?”
      • Paul Giamatti: “Einstein’s brain. You’re right.” (09:51)
    • Giamatti learns Tupperware’s inventor dreamed up, among other things, the jet ski: “He’s like Leonardo da Vinci. He really was in many ways.” (11:07)
  • Bill Curtis: “Two out of three. That’s a win, Paul.” (11:15)

Notable Quotes:

• “I know literally nothing about wine. Nothing.” – Paul Giamatti (01:54)
• “Not me, man.” – Paul Giamatti (03:30)
• “My feet were blue for about six months.” – Paul Giamatti (05:52)

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Bluff the Listener: Dental Mishaps

Segment: 14:33–20:34

• Features panelists Dulce Sloan, Hari Kondabolu, Tom Papa with humorous fake and real stories of dental faux pas.
• Correct answer: A smart toothbrush app outs a man’s Friday morning affair when his dental hygiene patterns change (Tom Papa’s story, 18:30).

Notable Moment:

• Peter Sagal: “When a digital toothbrush says someone brushed their teeth at 10:48am when they were supposed to be at work at 9, they're probably naked.” (19:30)

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Laufey: Musical Rebellion & Twin Hijinks

Main Segment: 22:16–31:27

• Defining Her Sound

  • Peter Sagal: “How do you define your sound?”
  • Laufey: “I’m Laufey. That’s all you need to know.” (22:16)

• Musical Upbringing

  • Laufey credits her Chinese mother and classical training, but calls her new album “my first act of rebellion.”
  • She laughs about being told as a child she sounded like “a divorced French 40-year-old woman.” (23:54)

• On Being 'Odd' & Twin Life

  • Laufey embraces her uniqueness: “I was odd and I am odd. I think it worked out for the better.” (24:14)
  • She reveals her identical twin Junia is her creative director, with anecdotes about mix-ups and secret swaps, though insists: “Well, I sing... She has a degree in international relations.” (27:06)

• Barbra Streisand Collaboration

  • Laufey recalls her disbelief: “I thought my manager was pranking me.” (25:02)

• Game: Daylight Savings Time Trivia

  • Laufey, playing for a listener, faces questions on the history (and annoyance) of daylight savings:
    • Learns Ben Franklin was joking when he first proposed it (28:47).
    • On why Iceland doesn't have DST: “It’s just so annoying.” (30:41)
  • Bill Curtis: “She’s a winner!” (30:56)

Notable Quotes:

• “I’m Laufey. That’s all you need to know.” – Laufey (22:16)
• “I was odd and I am odd. I think it worked out for the better.” – Laufey (24:14)

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James Gunn: Superheroes, Dogs & T-shirt Guns

Main Segment: 34:08–41:31

• Early Creativity & Family

  • Gunn describes making gory comics and movies as a kid: “There was a theme going on and the folks didn’t take you to therapy.” (34:36)

• On Superman

  • Gunn sees value in Superman’s emotional realism and lack of brooding, celebrating the return of the red trunks:
    • Peter Sagal: “The underwear is back on the outside.” (36:01)
    • James Gunn: “Yeah...I love all of that crazy stuff that was in the comic books...” (36:34)

• Beloved Dog Inspires Crypto

  • Gunn says his dog Ozu inspired Crypto the Superdog, but: “Ozu doesn’t know anything. He barely knows where he was two seconds ago...Every time Crypto’s on screen, he attacks the screen.” (37:05)

• T-shirt Gun Trivia Game

  • Gunn excels, correctly guessing the bizarre history and incidents involving t-shirt guns:
    • “One inventor went to clown college” (not true), “Used to shoot potatoes at planes,” and the famous mascot self-shooting incident. (38:56–40:22)

Notable Quotes:

• “Ozu doesn’t know anything. He barely knows where he was two seconds ago...Every time Crypto’s on screen, he attacks the screen.” – James Gunn (37:05)

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Ibtihaj Muhammad: Competition, Fencing & Perfectionism

Main Segment: 43:15–51:05

• Origins of Competitiveness

  • As the middle of five children, she attributes her drive to “small competitions” at home and notes her brother’s role in bringing out her competitive edge. (43:22)

• Finding Fencing

  • Discovered fencing because “…from the road, you could see fencers in the school cafeteria. And my mom was like, I don’t know what it is, but they’re covered, so I want you to do it.” (44:08)

• Style & Perfection

  • Prefers to see herself as a “quiet assassin” but admits to animated celebrations after scoring points. (45:00)
  • Shares that competitiveness and perfectionism bleed into other areas, like lawn mowing.
  • On her Barbie: “I have so many of them...If I have a bunch of kids...then we need like 100 Barbies.” (46:23)

• Game: “Take a Stab at This”

  • Answers trivia about “taking a stab” at things for the first time:
    • Learns of a Turkish woman who accidentally rode the airport conveyor belt, a hockey player’s revenge-fuelled fight, and an odd Q-tip affection among the newly high. (47:26–50:31)

Notable Quotes:

• “From the road, you could see fencers in the school cafeteria. And my mom was like, I don’t know what it is, but they’re covered, so I want you to do it.” – Ibtihaj Muhammad (44:08)
• “Everything has to be perfect. And I really struggle when things aren’t exactly the way that they’re supposed to be.” – Ibtihaj Muhammad (45:34)

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Additional Fun and Memorable Moments

• Audience delight at stories of accidental blue feet, toothbrush espionage, and Laufey’s “twin sister swap” mystery.
• Running theme of “things we’re thankful for,” punctuated with quick-witted asides and playful banter.
• Peter Sagal’s ongoing gags about awkward Thanksgiving moments and subtle jabs at odd historical trivia.
• Testimonials from listeners during games, highlighting the show’s blend of genuine engagement and absurdist fun.

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Paul Giamatti Interview: 01:24–12:14
• Bluff the Listener: Dentistry Gone Wrong: 14:33–20:34
• Laufey Interview: 22:16–31:27
• James Gunn Interview: 34:08–41:31
• Ibtihaj Muhammad Interview: 43:15–51:05

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In Summary

This Thanksgiving edition of “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” delivers the show’s trademark quick humor, sharp celebrity interviews, and oddball trivia by reliving its most popular recent moments. From Paul Giamatti's confessions and Laufey’s quirky artistry to James Gunn’s superhero dog and Ibtihaj Muhammad's fierce competitiveness, the episode is packed with quotable jokes and heartwarming stories. It’s a perfect sampler platter for both longtime fans and new listeners, celebrating what makes public radio—and this show—such a joy.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This message comes from Jackson. Seek clarity in retirement [e-mail] Jackson is short for Jackson Financial, Inc. Jackson National Life Insurance Company, Lansing, Michigan, and Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York, Purchase, New York.

[Bill Curtis]

From npr and wbc chicago, this is. Wait, wait, don't tell me. The npr news quiz. Turkey too dry? Just pour this rich voice all over it. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois. I'm Peter Sagal.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. So you got everything ready for Thanksgiving. You bought all the groceries for the big meal. You prepared the guest room for the one relative you like, and you prepared a lie about. About not having a guest room for the relatives you don't like. But if you are like a lot of other people this year, you forgot one thing. Something to be thankful for. No worries. We've got you.

[Bill Curtis]

Think of us as a doordash driver with a big hot bag of gratitude.

[Peter Sagal]

This hour, we'll be sharing some of the great things that happened on our show this past year, and you'll see why we are thankful for every one of them.

[Bill Curtis]

Last summer, actor Paul Giamatti joined us at Tanglewood in Western Massachusetts. He's the kind of actor who feels like someone you know. So, Peter, ask him, what do people think they know about him?

[Peter Sagal]

Usually when I talk to actors with extremely long and varied careers like you, I ask what role you're most often known for. But in your case, I wanted to ask something slightly different, which is based on all the roles you've played, what kind of assumptions do people make about you as a real person?

[Paul Giamatti]

Oh, lots. I mean, the wine thing. Everybody assumes I know all about wine. I don't know crap about wine. I know literally nothing about wine. Nothing.

[Peter Sagal]

You're telling me it was all an illusion?

[Paul Giamatti]

It was all an illusion. It was all pretend.

[Peter Sagal]

That's terrible.

[Paul Giamatti]

I love horses. I love horses. I've gotten to ride horses and stuff. Love horses.

[Peter Sagal]

There you go. Okay, is there like a paradigmatic Paul Giamatti role? Like, who do they. There's a role that they say, we gotta get Paul Giamatti to this.

[Announcer]

He's perfect.

[Paul Giamatti]

Geez. I don't know. I mean, it used to be I would get a script and I'd open it and I'd be reading it, and I would come to a character where they say kind of a disheveled man sort of shuffles into the room or something. An angry voice is heard off camera yelling in the bathroom or something.

[Peter Sagal]

I Was like, this is my part.

[Paul Giamatti]

Okay.

[Peter Sagal]

Get out the highlighter right there.

[Paul Giamatti]

Here we go.

[Announcer]

Yep.

[Paul Giamatti]

And so it's. Yeah, it was generally, you know, there's an angry middle management hype who steps.

[Peter Sagal]

In just as soon as you see the line, what the hell are you doing? That's actually highlighting. That's you.

[Paul Giamatti]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Peter Sagal]

Wow. You started out in theater. You started it at Yale, and like a lot of actors, you worked your way up. One of your first TV roles, I was told, was man in Sleeping Bag. NYPD Blue.

[Announcer]

Correct.

[Paul Giamatti]

That's right.

[Peter Sagal]

Right.

[Paul Giamatti]

Well, it was. It was. Yeah. It was one of the first kind of roles I had on television or anything. I'd been doing some legit theater.

[Bill Curtis]

Well, of course.

[Paul Giamatti]

And then I took a day off to go play man and Sleeping bag.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

What did they have you do as man in Sleeping bag?

[Paul Giamatti]

Not witness the crime, is what I did.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yeah. They came to question us about who witnessed the crime, and I said, not me, man. And that was it, really. I was in the sleeping bag, and they were. Dennis Franz was going, who's. Who saw anything that happened? I said, not me, man.

[Peter Sagal]

And were you down on the ground looking up?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yep, I was down. Exactly. I was looking up at Dennis Franz. I went, not me, man.

[Peter Sagal]

It's amazing, so many years later, you can still remember your lines. I was doing some research. I found this profile of you from the Guardian.

[Paul Giamatti]

You really were doing some research.

[Peter Sagal]

I was. I read this profile of you. It was in the Guardian newspaper in 2007. It was titled Paul Giamatti, Mr. Potato Face. Have you had your vengeance upon them on the Guardian? Yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

No, not yet. I mean, I. I'm in the Downton Abbey movie that's coming out, so I.

[Peter Sagal]

Feel like, whoa, there you go.

[Paul Giamatti]

I feel like. I feel like. Yeah. I feel like, in a sense, in that movie, I stick it to the English a little bit.

[Peter Sagal]

Really? Are you the guy who shows up and tells the Earl of Grantham he's doing it wrong?

[Paul Giamatti]

Let's say it's close to that. Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Really sort of.

[Paul Giamatti]

You know, you'll have to see the movie.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Was that.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Was that.

[Peter Sagal]

I'm assuming. I mean, we actually have met some of the actors. It seems like that's a lot of fun to do there.

[Paul Giamatti]

Oh, really fun.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

The people are terrific. It was really great.

[Peter Sagal]

They dress you up.

[Paul Giamatti]

They dress you up. And I play the kind of doofy American who comes in and sort of, you know, is all like, what is this tea business with you people? I don't get this. What are you talking about? Sausage rolls? And, you know, I'm more like.

[Peter Sagal]

Since I brought it up, I have to mention the movie Big Fat Liar in which you were, in fact died completely blue.

[Paul Giamatti]

Correct.

[Peter Sagal]

Can you explain, for those who didn't see that movie, why were you dyed completely blue?

[Paul Giamatti]

I stole a kid, an idea from a kid for a screenplay. I play a big movie producer and I steal the kid's idea and the kid gets revenge on me in various ways, but one way is dumping a bunch of blue dye in my swimming pool.

[Announcer]

Right.

[Paul Giamatti]

And so now I go for a swim and I get dyed blue. Right? Yeah, Listen, man, you know, I made decent money. It was a big, you know, listen, you know, I mean, what was I going to do? Say no?

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, I know. And did you lie there and did you lie there as they were spray painting you blue for two hours saying, yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

Oh, two hours saying, I am a.

[Peter Sagal]

Graduate of Yale School of Drama?

[Paul Giamatti]

Absolutely. Absolutely. I tell you, interesting little thing about that. They spray with tattoo ink like that. It was blue tattoo ink. And every night the guy had to. Or somebody had to rub it off of me. It stayed up. It stayed. It stayed on my feet for about six months. We couldn't get it off my feet, so my feet were blue for about six months. Just a little bit of trivia.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, you are, yeah. And did your friends and family just sort of understand this?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yes, they did, yes. Yeah. Very understanding people.

[Peter Sagal]

It wasn't like you went home and you were. Your wife is like, paul, do you have gangrene?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yes, I do.

[Peter Sagal]

You have, and I am among them in a larger sense. You have a very devoted fan base and in fact, they have created the Wax Paul now movement. Are you aware of this?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yes, I'm aware of it. Yeah. I think it's a thing of the past. I think that train has left the station. I don't think I'm getting the wax statue at Madame Toussaint.

[Peter Sagal]

So the idea was that people, they actually created a movement to get you, Paul Giamatti, star of stage, and scream your own wax figurine at Madame Tussaudsau's.

[Paul Giamatti]

Yes, they tried to and it didn't work. Right, yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Did you.

[Paul Giamatti]

I don't know how you qualify. That's my question. What's the qualification for getting a wax statue? I don't know.

[Peter Sagal]

Right.

[Paul Giamatti]

If I can't get one, who the hell can get one? I mean, that's true. For Christ's sake. I mean. I mean, my God, right Now, that would have been. That would have been. That would have been retirement time. That would have been like, I'm done. That's good. I don't need any more honors than that.

[Peter Sagal]

Well, Paul Giamatti.

[Announcer]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

Well, Paul Giamatti, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling Holdovers Fun.

[Bill Curtis]

Leftovers. Yum.

[Peter Sagal]

So you just started a movie called the Holdovers, which was great, but it made us think of Leftover. A lot of people liked it.

[Paul Giamatti]

Nice.

[Bill Curtis]

Good.

[Paul Giamatti]

Great.

[Peter Sagal]

And that movie made us think of Leftovers, which of course made us think of Tupperware. Answer two or three questions about the iconic food containers and you will win our prize for one of our contestants, the voice of anyone they choose for their voicemail. Bill, who is Paul Giamatti playing for?

[Bill Curtis]

Barbara Jacklich from Salisbury, Connecticut.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, here's your first question. Ready to go?

[Paul Giamatti]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Here's your first question.

[Paul Giamatti]

Okay.

[Peter Sagal]

Everybody loves Tupperware, including your fellow celebrities like legendary singer Patti LaBelle. We know this because she recently told an interviewer what? A, that Elton John stole her Tupperware and never gave it back, B, that her concert rider includes a, 8 quart sized Tupperware containers so she can take home leftovers, or C, that she keeps the cremains of her three late husbands in them so they can quote, stay fresh.

[Paul Giamatti]

Cremaine sounds like something you could eat.

[Peter Sagal]

It does. From your Tupperware. From your dressing room soft serve.

[Paul Giamatti]

I guess I'm going with that one. I guess I'll go with that. Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

No, it was Elton John. Oh.

[Paul Giamatti]

Wow.

[Announcer]

Yes.

[Peter Sagal]

You mentioned that she has a big heart. She did back in the 60s when she was pretty big. But Elton John was just a starving young piano player. He came to her house, not only did she feed him, she gave him leftovers to take home in Tupperware. And she says 50 years later, never got a pass.

[Paul Giamatti]

That's amazing. That's awesome.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, you have two more chances. Here's your next question. Tupperware isn't just for leftover food. A Tupperware container was used at one point for storing which of these A, Queen Elizabeth's collection of favorite earrings, B, Albert Einstein's brain or C, 2 pounds of plutonium left over from making the first atomic bomb.

[Paul Giamatti]

That seems absurd to me. The plutonium one that would just melt the plastic. Even Tupperware couldn't do that. Einstein's brain was stolen by a couple of guys, right?

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

And they drove around with it in the trunk of their car. I think I'm going to actually guess.

[Peter Sagal]

It'S that one Einstein's brain. You're right.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Yo.

[Peter Sagal]

So what happened was Einstein's brain was removed from his body after he died by the doctor who did the autopsy. There was no law against it then. But when he did drive across the country in an attempt to return it to Einstein's descendants, he did put it in a Tupperware.

[Paul Giamatti]

Amazing.

[Peter Sagal]

So this last question, Earl Tupper, the guy who invented Tupperware.

[Paul Giamatti]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Paul Giamatti]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

He was a prolific inventor. He also came up with which of these ideas? A, a fish powered boat, B, a combination belt buckle and photo frame. What? No, that's not interesting or that's not interesting? The jet ski.

[Paul Giamatti]

Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Peter Sagal]

This is hard.

[Paul Giamatti]

I want to go with fish powered boat because I think that's kind of cool.

[Peter Sagal]

Your choice is fish powered boat. He actually came up the idea for all of them. Wow. Great question.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

He left a notebook behind with all these ideas, including all the ones I mentioned. And yes, one of them was a motorcycle for the water that looks just like a jet ski. He never patented it, but he did come up with it. Wow. There you are.

[Paul Giamatti]

He's like Leonardo da Vinci.

[Peter Sagal]

He really was in many ways.

[Paul Giamatti]

Wow.

[Peter Sagal]

Bill, how did Paul Giamatti do in our grade?

[Bill Curtis]

Two out of three. That's a win. Paul.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Yes.

[Bill Curtis]

You're the champ.

[Peter Sagal]

They're celebrating in Salisbury.

[Paul Giamatti]

They are.

[Peter Sagal]

They're going nuts in Salisbury. Setting things on fire.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Absolutely.

[Peter Sagal]

Pushing cards over. Paul Giamatti is an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner. You can soon see in Downton Abbey the grand finale coming to theaters on September 12th or the episode eulogy of Black Mirror available right now. Paul Giamatti, thank you so much for joining us here. Thank you, Paul Giamatti. When we come back, three hilarious stories about dentistry and how the 25 year old musician Levi makes herself sound like a middle aged woman singing torch songs for a lover lost at sea. That's when we return with more Wait, wait, don't tell me from npr.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

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[Announcer]

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[Peter Sagal]

Learn [e-mail] this message comes from Superhuman, the AI productivity suite that gives you superpowers everywhere you work, with Grammarly, mail and coda coming together. You get proactive help across your workflow so you can outsmart the chaos experience. AI that proactively helps you go from to do to done faster. Unleash your superhuman potential today. Learn [e-mail] podcast. That's superhuman.com podcast.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify. No idea where to sell? Shopify puts you in control of every sales channel. It is the commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Whether you're a garage entrepreneur or IPO ready, Shopify is the only tool you need to start, run and grow your business without the struggle. Once you've reached your audience, Shopify has the Internet's best converting checkout to help you turn them from browsers to buyers. Go to Shopify.com NPR to take your business to the next level today.

[Bill Curtis]

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, wait, don't tell Me the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

[Peter Sagal]

Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. This week we are piling up things to be grateful for on your Thanksgiving table.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Mmm.

[Bill Curtis]

Could you move that plate? I don't want to get any cranberry sauce on our recycled.

[Peter Sagal]

For example, here's a bluff the Listener game from May with panelists Dulce Sloan, Hari Kondabolu and Tom Papa.

[Bill Curtis]

Hello, this is Simon from Asheville, North Carolina.

[Peter Sagal]

Asheville, North Carolina, is one of my very favorite places in this green earth. Do you enjoy just like the beautiful outdoor life in Asheville?

[Paul Giamatti]

I do.

[Bill Curtis]

It is a beautiful place. We have the mountains. We have the mountain biking. Despite everything that happened last year, it's still my favorite place.

[Peter Sagal]

Well, me, too.

[Announcer]

And.

[Peter Sagal]

Well, thank you so much for calling, Simon. You're going to play our game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what's Simon's topic?

[Bill Curtis]

Tooth and Consequences.

[Peter Sagal]

We all know the basics of dental care. Don't forget to floss. Don't eat too many sweets. Don't take fluoride advice from RFK Jr. Sustained. But this week we learned about another unexpected oral hygiene. Oopsie. Our panelists are each going to tell you about it. Pick the one that's telling the truth and you can win the wait waiter of your choice in your voicemail. Are you ready to play?

[Announcer]

I'm ready.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, first up, let's hear from Dulce Sloan.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

We all have fond memories of the wise, cracking, opera singing drag icon known as Bugs Bunny. But a botched procedure at a dentist office in Colchester, Vermont, had the whole town asking, what's up, Doc? Vida Evans went to local dentist Dr. Kurt Yosh in the spring of 2022 to get a set of veneers. Her and hundreds of other people in town got a shiny new set of ears because Dr. Yosh was new to town and running a special well. After six months, Fida noticed an odd taste in her mouth and her two front teeth were starting to become larger and longer. While out shopping one day, she noticed other people with the same affliction. Her wife also noticed and very gently said to her, y' all need to call that dentist. This place is starting to look like a rabbit's dentist. Vita immediately called the dentist's office. The assistant apologized profusely and explained that Vita was one of many with this Bugs Bunny syndrome. It was caused by a defective adhesive and they would fix the problem free of charge as long as Vita promised not to lead a bad Yelp review.

[Peter Sagal]

Everybody in one particular town ended up looking like Bugs Bunny because the adhesive on their veneers all fell failed at the same time. Your next story of a dental error comes from Hari Kondabolu. When Chicago dentist Jonathan Freeman renovated his practice, he went all in, drilling a big screen TV into the ceiling so his patients could watch shows. However, after spending a fortune on his giant TV, Dr. Freeman bought a discounted package deal from a company called Humpty. Their Direct to Dentist package offers specialized TV shows licensed only for dentists with things you've never seen, like Truck Swap, the Great Serbian Baking show, and of course, the last season of the Office. At first, his patients were resigned to watching Humpty programming, but they started drifting to one show, the Secret Lives of Central Nova Scotian Wives. Dr. Freeman's patients are so hooked on the show, they will do whatever it takes to get to the dentist. Patients are even opting out of anesthesia and raw dogging their wisdom teeth surgeries to not miss out on episodes. They are considering moving the show from Humpty to a more popular streamer like Streevee or Smudge Direct. Are those real? Who can tell? A dentist's exclusive TV program brings people to ruin their teeth just so they can watch it from the chair. Your last story of a mouth mistake comes from Tom Poppa. Electric toothbrushes can do a lot of things.

[Announcer]

Time your brushing, enhance deep cleanings, and now catch your lover having a secret dirty affair while you're at work. Paul Jones, a private investigator of ARF.

[Peter Sagal]

Investigators, worked with a client who became.

[Announcer]

Suspicious of her husband after noticing the.

[Peter Sagal]

Unusual times he'd brush his teeth.

[Announcer]

She knew he wasn't great at dental hygiene. Sometimes he would forget he brushed his.

[Peter Sagal]

Teeth, walk back into the kitchen and eat a stack of Oreo cookies like.

[Announcer]

A hungry diabetic raccoon.

[Peter Sagal]

But the Smart electric Toothbrush app connected to his electric toothbrush showed he was.

[Announcer]

Consistently brushing his teeth late in the.

[Peter Sagal]

Morning on Fridays when he should have been at work. The private investigator exposed that the husband had started an affair with a work colleague, and they'd meet every Friday when the wife and kids were out of the house. Four out of five dentists agree.

[Announcer]

That.

[Peter Sagal]

When a digital toothbrush says someone brushed their teeth at 10:48am when they were supposed to be at work at 9, they're probably naked. All right? Somewhere, someone was a little too devoted to dental hygiene. Was it from Dulce Sloan, everybody who went to a particular dentist all of a sudden one day looking like Bugs Bunny? From Hari Kondabolu, people who saw a particular dentist ruining their teeth just so they could watch his TV programming on the ceiling? Or from Tom Pompa, a man whose cheatin ways were betrayed by his own smart toothbrush? Which of these is the story of a dental mishap that we found in the news?

[Bill Curtis]

I'm going to have to go with Tom Pappa. I think the toothbrush was perhaps harder than the tear.

[Peter Sagal]

You're going with Tom. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to an expert on the real story.

[Bill Curtis]

As a professional, he's always home at 10am on a Friday.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes, it is alarming, but we would.

[Bill Curtis]

Definitely want to look into a little bit more.

[Peter Sagal]

That was Jordan Alexander Scheer of RA Private Investigation Investigators and Security Incorporated confirming that, yes, that would be suspicious behavior. Congratulations, Simon. You got it right. Tom was telling the truth about the cheater. You've won our prize, the voice of your choice in your voicemail. Well done and congratulations. Thank you. Thanks for playing with us today. Take care. Hey, it's Peter. Now, if you are anything like our typical fan, you must be an inspiration, enthusiastic evangelist for our show. You tell everybody about it. You grab strangers on the street. You lean into cars with open windows and say, hey, have you ever heard about as they drive away. There's a much simpler and less dangerous way to spread the news about our show. If you're a fan, just go to the podcast site that you get this from and rate us and review us. People really dig that. So if you like. Wait, wait. Remember to rate us and review us, but, you know, positively. The musician Levy writes and performs songs that are all over TikTok, but they feel like you could have heard of them in a 1950s cabaret. So naturally, when she joined us, we asked her how she defines her sound. Thank you so much. I have been listening to your music all week, getting ready for this. I am entranced and amazed and quite. And don't know how to describe it. And apparently this is a thing people keep saying, you're a jazz musician or you're a pop musician or you're a classical pop jazz musician. What do you say?

[Levy]

I'm Leve.

[Bill Curtis]

There you go.

[Peter Sagal]

That's all you need to know. She's Leve. That's it. That's all you grew up, I understand, as a musician from a very young age. Your mother plays violin with the Icelandic symphony. So she had you. She had you, like, playing violin, cello, piano from an early age, right?

[Levy]

Oh, yeah, I had the whole, whole package.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Levy]

She's from China, so it was kind of, you know, inevitable upbringing, but I learned cello and piano growing up and definitely had to practice every day.

[Peter Sagal]

Did you ever rebel at all? Did you ever, like, I don't want to practice and go up, want to go outside?

[Levy]

I think this new album might be my first act of rebellion.

[Peter Sagal]

Really? How so? How so?

[Levy]

I feel like I just. I don't know. There are a couple of swear words in there. I'm. I.

[Peter Sagal]

She literally just covered her mouth because she said swear words. Is there a song called I Don't.

[Bill Curtis]

Want to Practice Anymore?

[Levy]

I feel like for the first time, I refused to really, truly refuse to be boxed in with this. With this album. So I just let my heart.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I broke the rules.

[Peter Sagal]

You broke the rules, Absolutely. You're reaching out now. You were not trained, although your voice is astonishing and reminds me of, like, the great singers of all time. But you were not trained as a singer. In fact, I read that you said you did a singing competition as a kid and the judge said you sounded like a divorced friend, 40 year old.

[Levy]

She did? Yeah. I mean, bless her. Like, that was definitely meant to be a compliment, but I wasn't.

[Peter Sagal]

I mean, they were like, oh, you're so worldly. You've been around.

[Levy]

I think she was trying to Say that I had, like, I had. I've always had a very deep voice. I was quite young. I've grown into it now, I think.

[Peter Sagal]

Right.

[Levy]

I was odd and I am odd. I think it worked out for the better.

[Peter Sagal]

Right. Okay. Yeah. Do you. Actually that's kind of interesting. Do you think yourself as an odd person?

[Levy]

Less and less. Or rather I just own it now. But yeah, I was like, back then especially, I was a 13 year old girl who was only interested in seeing songs from the great American Songbook in Iceland.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah. Because your music is so redolent of like classic American song. I was. I was delighted to listen to a duet you did with Barbra Streisand. Our audience is like, whoa.

[Bill Curtis]

Really?

[Levy]

I am also like, whoa. Really? It's dark.

[Peter Sagal]

So I'm assuming just given your background and your training and your interest, you knew who Barbra Streisand was.

[Levy]

I thought my manager was pranking me.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Levy]

It just seemed so far sought. I thought I was like, huh, this is a funny joke. Like, you got me.

[Peter Sagal]

But it was true. And how did you find. How did you find the great Barbara?

[Levy]

I. I mean, I. I feel like I've never not known Barbara.

[Peter Sagal]

I have to ask you about your creative director, who is your identical twin sister, which is delightful. Have you must have been tempted to try the thing that everybody assumes identical twins do all the time, which is swap in for each other. Like, maybe you're tired, maybe you've done the concert, maybe you don't want to go meet the fans as you're obligated to do. Can you send out her and she'll do it?

[Levy]

Well, they all know who she is and they all want to meet her too.

[Peter Sagal]

It doesn't help. Doesn't help.

[Levy]

Then it's like, even when I go out on my own, it's like, where's Junia?

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

So.

[Levy]

Yeah, that hasn't. We did show up one time.

[Peter Sagal]

What happened? What was the occasion?

[Levy]

It's a secret.

[Peter Sagal]

Oh, come now, that's so. Wait a minute. It's a secret. You can't tell me. Does that mean, like, there's somebody who thought they had a date with you, but it was really union? Or there's a music video in which we think we're watching you, but it's really union? No, that's not it. No to those two.

[Bill Curtis]

But it's something else really good.

[Peter Sagal]

I don't think I can be. Are we talking to union right now?

[Levy]

I don't have her doing press yet.

[Peter Sagal]

No, that might become necessary when you know Then you get to the next level, and there's so many people I know.

[Levy]

We could do a US And Europe.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Tour at the same time.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, exactly. Is there a way. If we were in a situation where we didn't know if we were talking to you or your twin sister, you. Is there a way to tell you apart? Like, there's something about her that's very different than you?

[Levy]

Well, I sing.

[Announcer]

Well.

[Levy]

I guess you could force me to sing.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Levy]

She has a degree in international relations, so you could probably ask her about some foreign policy and she'd be able to answer and I would kind of stare at you blankly.

[Peter Sagal]

I think you would just start singing. Well, Leve, we are still so delighted to talk to you, and we have asked you here today to play a game, and we're calling it why is.

[Bill Curtis]

It still so Light Out?

[Peter Sagal]

Your new record coming out soon is called A Matter of Time. So we thought we'd ask you about a controversial matter of time, Daylight savings time. Answer two to three questions correctly, you will win our prize for one of our listeners.

[Levy]

My daylight savings knowledge is we don't really do that.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay. All right.

[Levy]

Out in Iceland during summer because the sun just doesn't set.

[Paul Giamatti]

It just.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, Bill, who is Levy playing for?

[Bill Curtis]

Brandon Green of Seattle, Washington.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, you ready to go? Here's your first question. The idea of daylight savings time was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin. He told the French that they could save money on candles in the evening if they just got up earlier in the morning. But the idea didn't catch on in France for a few reasons. Including what? A, it was defeated by the French candle lobby. B, the French wanted it to get dark early for easier sneaking to their mistresses homes. Or C, Ben Franklin was just kidding. How quick can you. You're going to go with B. You're going to go with B. That they wanted to sneak over to see their mistresses.

[Announcer]

Yes.

[Levy]

I don't.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

I don't.

[Levy]

Yes.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay. I'm afraid it was C. Ben Franklin was just kidding. It was a joke. Who would ever do a silly thing like that? Get up earlier than you had to. Come on now. All right, you still have two chances. This is not a problem. Here's your next question. Daylight savings time was introduced in America during World War I, but it wasn't very popular, as is evidenced by what happening after the war. A, Timex introduced their daylight savings proof clock, which couldn't be turned back or forward. B, the state of Connecticut made it a crime to turn your clocks back. Or C, a bill introduced in Congress that would have imposed a national bedtime of 8pm.

[Levy]

I'm going to go into.

[Peter Sagal]

And this time you're right. Yay. It was the state of Connecticut made it illegal. If you were caught in Connecticut with a clock showing anything but Eastern standard Time, you could spend 10 days in jail. All right. You have one last question and I'm optimistic because it's about your home. Iceland does not have daylight savings time, as I'm sure you know. And the reason is in that 1994, two astronomers from the University of Iceland convinced the government to abolish it. What was their primary argument? A, the ancient Vikings who founded the nation believed sleeping late was an affront to Odin. B, it was bad for Icelandic horses who got agitated when all of their meals suddenly came an hour earlier. Or C, it is just so annoying.

[Announcer]

B.

[Levy]

And C, yes, we take our horses very seriously.

[Announcer]

I'm aware.

[Levy]

So I could see inconveniencing their food schedules. I could see that being an issue. But also it being just so annoying is also very Icelandic.

[Announcer]

So.

[Levy]

I've said, I want to say. I'm gonna say C. You're right again.

[Peter Sagal]

Leve.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

That's.

[Peter Sagal]

Bill. How did Leve do in our quiz?

[Bill Curtis]

Well, she's a winner, of course. She's from a long way from here. Congratulations.

[Peter Sagal]

There you go. Congratulations. Lei, I gotta say, I've enjoyed listening to your music all week. It was even more fun to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Levae is a Grammy Award winner who's about to start touring behind her new album A Matter of of time that drops August 22nd. Levy, thank you so much for being on Wait, Wait, don't tell Me. What a pleasure. Good luck with the tour.

[Levy]

Bye bye.

[Paul Giamatti]

Bye.

[Peter Sagal]

When we come back, the man who made Superman fly again and the nicest person ever to earn an Olympic medal for stabbing people. That's when we return with more of Wait Wait, don't tell me from NPR.

[Announcer]

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[Peter Sagal]

This message comes from the Natural Resources Defense Council. What's one way people are working to protect the planet for future generations. One answer. Joining the 3 million supporters of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Their mission is to safeguard the earth and its people, plants and animals by combining science, law and public engagement to protect the natural systems that all life depends on. For a limited time, contributions are being matched 5 to 1 [e-mail] wait.

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[Bill Curtis]

From npr, NWBEC Chicago, this is Wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Singh.

[Peter Sagal]

Thanks, Bill. So we are here to help. If you are still trying to make conversation with your visiting in laws, let's say somebody has gone off on politics and the room falls into an awkward silence.

[Bill Curtis]

You can say, hey, everybody, Remember when writer director James Gunn was on Wait, wait, wasn't that great?

[Peter Sagal]

And it was here's proof from back in July when I asked him about his early influences.

[Bill Curtis]

That is, that is everything. I grew up with comic books, you know, punk rock music and zombie movies. Yeah, all the things I love.

[Peter Sagal]

When did you start making your own things, your own comics and films?

[Bill Curtis]

I started writing and drawing my own comics probably when I was 9 years old and then started making movies with my brothers at about 11 or 12 years old.

[Peter Sagal]

And what were some of those first movies, do you remember? Do you have them?

[Bill Curtis]

I do. I have some of them. There's one with Playmobil figures that I stop motion animated, but it was very bloody. So they're just, you know, cutting each other up and getting bloody. Then I had another one in which it was a zombie movie in which one of my brothers became a zombie and ate the other one that was also very bloody. And then I had another one where one brother killed another brother that was that was very there's a theme going on and the folks didn't take you to therapy.

[Peter Sagal]

Did your brothers ever complain like, James, we know you're the creative genius in the family, but could we do something other than kill Each other or were they ending?

[Bill Curtis]

My one brother has a ketchup phobia. I won't say who, but this is true. He cannot be around ketchup because I made him lie on the cold floor in cold ketchup for too long. And if he's around ketchup, he freaks out.

[Peter Sagal]

Really? Well, I want to talk about Superman, and I love it all. And I have this theory why it's so good. And that's because you take the emotions of all these characters really seriously. But you're not afraid of admitting that, like, superheroes can be really silly. So, for example, your new movie, Superman, starts immediately. Superman falls in the sky, hits the ground, and we see right away that the underwear is back on the outside.

[Bill Curtis]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Okay. I was so excited.

[Bill Curtis]

I love the bottoms.

[Peter Sagal]

I love his bottom, his trunks.

[Bill Curtis]

It leaves something to the imagination.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, Superman's wholesome. I don't want to see his junk.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

And so. And so. And then the next thing that happens is he falls to the ground and he is rescued by Krypto the Superdog, who is this fabulous mutt who is wearing a red Superman cape. And you're like, okay, one thing I know about this Superman movie, there will be no brooding.

[Bill Curtis]

I mean, listen, I love all of that crazy stuff that was in the comic books that I grew up with. Flying dogs and giant monsters and robots and sorcery. And that's just part of the fun of it all for me.

[Peter Sagal]

I want to ask about the dog. Everybody loves the dog. The dog is a CGI creation that's based on your own dog, your rescue dog, Ozu.

[Bill Curtis]

Right, Ozu. That's right.

[Peter Sagal]

And so does Ozu know that he is now an international movie star?

[Bill Curtis]

Ozu doesn't know anything. He barely knows where he was two seconds ago. Even for a dog, he's not very smart. But he's.

[Peter Sagal]

Are you asking?

[Bill Curtis]

If so, he also. He attacks himself every time he sees himself.

[Announcer]

No.

[Peter Sagal]

Really?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

He hates crypto.

[Bill Curtis]

He hates crypto. Every time crypto's on screen, he attacks the screen.

[Peter Sagal]

Oh, wow.

[Bill Curtis]

He's a maniac. But I will say, the one thing that's really been cool is last week, interest in adopting dogs went up over 500%.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes, I saw that. I wouldn't get too carried away with this idea that people are adopting dogs. Wait till they find out that their dogs won't wear a cape. We're having too much fun. But we have work to do. James Gunn, it is such a joy to talk to you, and we have asked you Here to play a game.

[Bill Curtis]

James Gunn, meet the T shirt gun.

[Peter Sagal]

Superman. Classically faster than a speeding bullet, but can you be faster than a speeding T shirt shot from a gun? Answer two to three questions about T shirt guns correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is James Gunn playing for?

[Bill Curtis]

Ava Lewis of San Diego, California.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, you ready for this?

[Bill Curtis]

Oh, yeah.

[Peter Sagal]

Oh, yeah, he's ready. Here's your first question. The technology behind T shirt guns as we know them was developed during World War II as a way to fire grenades. But it wasn't until what happened that the inventors realized that this pneumatic gun had other applications. A, one of the scientists was trying to pack efficiently for a trip and stuffed his socks in the barrel of the gun. B, the inventors forgot to bring grenades when it was time to demonstrate the weapon and they had to improvise with beer bottles and potatoes. Or C, one inventor went to clown college and later retooled all his wartime ideas for use in his act.

[Bill Curtis]

Oh, good gosh. Okay, so I don't think it's three. So it's either A or B, right? I'm gonna. I'm gonna go B. You're go B.

[Peter Sagal]

And you're right. You're right, James. They realized they didn't have any grenades. We had to demonstrate it for the hires up. And they found out it was just the perfect size to launch bottles and potatoes very fast and very far. In fact, it was so successful, they even used to shoot potatoes at actual planes in wartime. Boy, how humiliating would it be to be brought down by a potato?

[Announcer]

It's true.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, let's leave the Irish army out of this. Here's your next question. That's very good. The modern day T shirt gun was developed by a college mascot, and it's been spread around the world. But not all mascots were equally good at using it. Like, for example, Chip, the mascot of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Who once did what? A launched a T shirt that went into the marching band's tuba and got stuck so tightly that eventually they had to cut the tuba with a hacksaw to get it out. B rolled up the shirts so badly that they only flew three feet before opening up and fluttering to the ground. Or C accidentally held the T shirt gun backwards and launched a shirt directly into his own crotch.

[Bill Curtis]

It is Boulder. I'm gonna go with C. You're right again.

[Peter Sagal]

And yes, you can watch it on YouTube. And when you do, you'll discover not only are T shirt guns powerful. But those mascot costumes not as padded as you might think, judging by his reaction. All right, let's see if we can make this perfect. Your last question. Not everyone should use a T shirt gun. In fact, an Oklahoma woman was arrested for using a T shirt gun. Why? A, she was trying to rob a T shirt store, B, she was using it to shoot cell phones and drugs over the walls of a prison to a friend inside or C, she had it tucked inside her coat and did not have a concealed T shirt gun carry permit.

[Bill Curtis]

Okay, this is I don't want to let Ava down, so I'm hoping that it's B.

[Peter Sagal]

It is in fact, B. Wow.

[Bill Curtis]

This is the proudest moment of my life.

[Peter Sagal]

She stood outside the prison. Should have shot the supplies into the prison. Bill, how did James Gunn do in our quiz?

[Bill Curtis]

He is a Superman. Getting all three right. Good going, Jaden.

[Peter Sagal]

James Gunn is the director, writer and the co head of DC Studios. James Gunn, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon.

[Paul Giamatti]

Bye bye.

[Bill Curtis]

Bye bye.

[Peter Sagal]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, destination focused dining and cultural enrichment on board and onshore. And every Viking voyage is all inclusive with no children and no casinos.

[Announcer]

Discover [e-mail] this message comes from NPR sponsor Capella University. Sometimes it takes a different approach to pursue your goals. Capella is an online university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. That means you can earn your degree from wherever you are and be confident your education is relevant, recognized and respected. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more about earning a relevant [e-mail].

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This message comes from Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Peter Sagal]

If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can see us most weeks right here at the Studebaker Theatre in downtown Chicago. Or catch us on the road. We'll be in Phoenix, Arizona on December 4th. Tickets and info are at nprpresents.org finally, in June, we spoke to an American athletic pioneer. Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal and she even helped Nike develop the world's.

[Bill Curtis]

First hijab for athletes when she joined us in June. Peter, ask her how she became so competitive.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Well, you know, I'm the middle of five kids, and I think naturally, when you grow up in a large family, things are just naturally competitive. Like, we would, you know, race each other in the pool. You know, you want to get the. The last slice of pizza. Just small things like that, where I feel like you're just in, like, small competition. And I do feel like having an older brother who used to bully me a little bit definitely brought out this fierce competitor from an early age.

[Peter Sagal]

Right? Yeah. And I just out of curiosity, has your brother ever won an Olympic medal in anything?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Just checking for him to hear that.

[Peter Sagal]

You were good at a lot of sports, but you gravitated to fencing. And how did that happen to be.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Happened to be driving past a high school in my hometown and from Maplewood, New Jersey, in the car with my mom. And from the road, you could see fencers in the school cafeteria. And my mom was like, I don't know what it is, but they're covered, so I want you to do it.

[Peter Sagal]

Wait a minute. She had no idea what they were doing. They were just wearing head to toe outfits with a mask. And you're like, that's for you.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

He thought they were wearing helmets. So that's how little we knew about fencing at the time. But, you know, I was a kid who would eventually wear hijab, and I really struggled trying to find my space in different sports when I was just always out of uniform, in a sense.

[Bill Curtis]

Yeah.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

And when I started fencing, it just felt like home from the very beginning.

[Announcer]

Right.

[Peter Sagal]

And you, you picked up sabre. Of the three weapons, it is by far the coolest. Am I correct?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Oh, the best, for sure.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I don't even know what the other weapons are.

[Peter Sagal]

Yeah, exactly. Who cares about that? Are you one of those fencers who I've seen many times, who, after every successful point, just goes nuts, just like shouts and screams and victory? Or are you more of a quiet assassin type?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

In my mind, I'm quiet assassin, but then I watch video and I'm like, oh, my God.

[Peter Sagal]

Does that ever. Does that kind of competitiveness ever cross into the. The rest of your life?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

You know, it's. I feel like I have like a. I don't know if it's like, ocd, but I have this. Everything has to be perfect. And I really struggle when things aren't exactly the way that they're supposed to be. Whether I'm, you know, fencing or, I don't know, mowing the lawn, whatever it is, I really need it to be perfect.

[Peter Sagal]

I understand. I just imagine you just mowing the lawn. And after every row, I've gotten really into this, really into the, like, lawn mowing.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I will say that my parents have the best lawn on the block.

[Paul Giamatti]

I imagine.

[Peter Sagal]

You'Ve earned many medals and other honors, but one of the most impressive to me is that you were one of the women immortalized as a Barbie. I'm imagining.

[Announcer]

Do you.

[Peter Sagal]

I have to assume you have a Barbie of yourself somewhere, right?

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Oh, man, I have so many of them. Like, I was a 10. What if I, I was like, if I have a bunch of kids and my sisters have a bunch of kids, then we need like 100 Barbies.

[Peter Sagal]

Yes. And the people from Mattel were like, I'm sorry, excuse me. Well, Ibtihaj Muhammad, it is a particular pleasure to talk to you, and we have asked you here to play a.

[Bill Curtis]

Game we're calling take a stab at this.

[Peter Sagal]

You used to stab people professionally, so we thought we'd ask you about other people taking a stab at something that is trying something for the first time. Answer two or three questions correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, Bill, who is Ibtihaj Muhammad Kim?

[Bill Curtis]

Shawn Pratt of Madison, Wisconsin.

[Peter Sagal]

All right, ready to go.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I got this, Shawn.

[Peter Sagal]

Here you go. Here's your first question. In 2019, a woman in Turkey took a stab at flying for the very first time. It didn't go great though, because shortly after she got to the airport, she did what? A, sat down in the luggage conveyor belt thinking it would take her to the plane. B, got onto the plane and sat down in the first empty seat she saw. The the co pilots or C drank an entire bottle of vodka in the security line when she was told she couldn't bring it on board.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Well, first of all, she's crazy that we know.

[Peter Sagal]

Assume she got on the conveyor belt. She got on the conveyor belt. Take her to the belt. She sat in the coplad seat, or she drank an entire fifth or whatever of vodka because she couldn't bring it on the plane.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I'm so stressed out for her. I'm gonna go with C. You're gonna.

[Peter Sagal]

Go with C. That was a little strange, but okay. I'm afraid you all were wrong. You should feel terrible about yourself. It was actually. I'm speaking to them. It was a. This is what happened. Think about it. She goes. She's never been there before. She goes to the airport, she checks her bags, they take the bag. They turn around, they put it on that conveyor belt. That takes it behind the scenes to the plane. She goes, great, thank you. She climbs over, gets on it herself. Wee, wee. All right, you still have two more chances. Here we go. All right, here's your next question. At 18 years old, Brendan Shanahan decided to try professional hockey. And one of the first things he did was get in a fist fight against fellow hockey player Rick Vave. Why was it A, he'd heard of the first thing you're supposed to do in a hockey game is find the biggest guy on the rink and punch him in the nose? B, because Rick Vave had just broken up with his older sister? Or C, because four years earlier, he had asked Vave for an autograph and Vave had refused. C. It was C. He had asked me for autograph. Dave says, get away from me, kid. And the next thing you know, it's five years later, they're on a rink somewhere, and he gets punched in the face.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

All right, that C sounded so aggressive, I feel like I had to say C. I know.

[Peter Sagal]

I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't chosen that. So you were wise. All right, one more question. If you get this right, you win.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

Oh, my gosh.

[Peter Sagal]

People should not be alone for the first time when they try getting high. Like one woman who started texting all her friends about what? A, how Crate and Barrel should be called Barrel and Crate. B, how really good it feels to put a wet Q tip up your nose. C, about how sorry she was for thinking mean things about all of them, which she proceeded to list.

[Sponsor/Advertisement Voice]

Oh.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

I see. I hear B. Does the picture. Does panel have anything to say? Yes.

[Levy]

B. I just heard it in my. I just heard it in my ear.

[Ibtihaj Muhammad]

All right, let's go with B, and we'll send Sean home with some.

[Peter Sagal]

You're right. It's B. Bill, how did Ibtihaj do on our quiz?

[Bill Curtis]

She is a perfectionist. So she got two out of three, which is a win.

[Peter Sagal]

Congratulations. One more for your trophy quiz. What a thrill to talk to you. Ibtihaj Muhammad is a retired US Olympic fencer, the founder of Luella by Ibtihaj, and the author of three bestselling children's books. More info about all the things that she does can be [e-mail] Ibtihaj Mohammed, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Thank you.

[Bill Curtis]

Bye bye.

[Peter Sagal]

That's it for our. Here's what you're thankful for edition. Wait, Wait, don't tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions. Doug Berman, benevolent Overlord Philip Gaedecke writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shana Donald. BJ Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Durmboss and Lillian King. Special thanks as always to Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynn is the whipped cream and our sweet potato pie. Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Technical directions from Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chillock. And the executive producer of Wait, Wait, don't tell me is Mr. Michael Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on the show this week, all of our panelists, all our guests, of course, Bill Curtis, and thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Sagal. We'll be back next week. This is npr.

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