Front Burner - Front Burner’s 2019 news quiz

Episode Date: December 26, 2019

This December, Front Burner hosted a live show at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. In this second part, host Jayme Poisson was joined by CBC personalities Peter Armstrong, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Piya Chattopadhyay and Tom Power for a freewheeling news quiz.

This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Jamie Fueso. So, 2019 is almost over. I don't know about you, but it feels like it really flew by. We had a federal election here in Canada. Brexit is still a mess in the United Kingdom. And from the Mueller report to impeachment, it was a very eventful year in the United States. 2019 also brought us some fun. Lil Nas X and the end of Game of Thrones. And we thought, what better way to talk about all these things than in a news quiz?

We did that earlier in December as part of a live show here at the CBC in Toronto. It was for Sounds of the Season, a fundraiser for the city's food banks. Today on FrontBurner, we bring you an edited version of that live news quiz. We had a few friends of the pod join us. Q host Tom Power, Elamin Abdel-Mamoud from CBC podcast Party Lines, out in the open host Pia Chattopadhyay, as well as Peter Armstrong, the CBC's senior business correspondent. We started off by passing around some props for our friends to buzz in with. Have a listen.

We have some props so that you guys can buzz in, and we're going to bring them out now. Who do you think is going to win, Tom? Because we've already done this before you arrived, but who do you think is going to win? Pick your favorite friend right now on this stage. You know I love you, Elamin, but I think it's between you two guys. It's not. I'm not a guy.

Elamin's like, what? Yeah. Okay, so Tom has a... This is a little bit of cultural stereotypes. This is the kind of music that Peter listens to. This is our incredible producer, Elaine Chao, who produced this segment. Elaine Chao, producer of this segment.

Amazing. You've got Tom on the end with a toy accordion. Very nice. You can actually play it. Oh, my God, you're actually playing. That's sweet. Peter Armstrong has a It's like a clown thing.

Yeah, a clown thing. Pia? What is this called? I have no idea. Anyone know what this is? It's like a This is the crazy person's thing. It goes around. I don't know how you And Elamin, you got two.

There. Afterwards, we're going to... And Elamin, you got two. There. Afterwards, we're going to be playing a concert in the atrium. We're going to jam? Yeah, we'll do a little bit of the front burner theme. Okay, thanks. You're going to put lyrics to it. Jamie, Jamie. She's asking hard questions.

That's my front burner theme lyrics. Okay, we're going to ease into it. Here is a clue. Kawhi Leonard. Do your thing. You've got to do the thing. Wait, is it a lightning round? Wait, I need to know the rules.

Okay, so that was Kawhi Leonard. I'm going to ask the question, and then I'll go to you guys, and whoever buzzes in first. Okay, so who can tell me what former Raptor star Kawhi Leonard, that was him laughing, said in response to this question?

What would you like people to know about you? Elamin. He's a fun guy. Yeah. And you don't even know where you're at. I'm a fun guy. Okay. Thank you.

Question two. Justin Trudeau's government was hit by a scandal for pressuring former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to give SNC-Lavalin a what? Peter. A deferred prosecution agreement. Correct. DPA, which is something I think we all thought we wouldn't have to say 72,000 times this year. Yes. Tom, we're killing it over here, you and me.

Yeah. It's only been two questions. Get ready for this one that our executive producer Nick McKay-Blocos is making me say out loud. Speaking of SNC-Lavalin, which of the following was not an actual headline following the resignation of Prime Minister's right-hand man, Gerald Butts? A, I can't believe I'm saying this, Gerald Butts backs into federal politics. B, the hole that Jerry Butts left behind. C, Trudeau spanks BFF Butts for SNC role. D, Butts in the hot seat. Tom. B? No, it is C, Trudeau spanks BFF Butts for SNC. What newspapers are these? Yeah, nobody, everyone ran everything else.

Okay, three of Donald, Peter's going to get this one for sure. Three of Donald Trump's associates were sent to prison this year. Can you name all three? And if you get one wrong, someone else can steal the whole bunch. Oh. Ma. Yep. Go ahead.

Michael Cohen. Yep. Roger Stone. Yep. Roger Stone. Yep. And... Tom, you want to seal it? Paul Manafort? Yes.

Yes! All right, Tom Power, one point to you. I got the hard ones, though. No, Paul Manafort, we remember because he was wearing that outfit. You know, his outfits were always... Anyway, okay. Just doing my part here, people. It's good, it's good.

I think you're going to get this one, Pia. True or false, Joker was the highest grossing movie of 2019. Ellen means saying, shaking his head no, so I'm going to go true. But you're not, you've got to do the thing. I'm going, oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah. True. False.

False. Should I just leave and give the Daily Food my hundred bucks now? It was actually one of the moments that gave me the greatest amount of joy, which was Avengers Endgame. Alright. Avengers Endgame. Love the applause for Avengers Endgame.

How am I the only superhero nerd up here? Time is melding, so I couldn't remember if that was this year or last year. Yeah, yeah. I't remember that was this year or last year yeah yeah yeah i remember that it was this year wonderful time um okay we definitely talked about this on an episode of front burner document show that ontario premier doug ford i love the story so much wanted to spend fifty thousand dollars tricking out what peter a van yes and an rv and Peter. A van. Yes. And an RV. And bonus question. Can you name one of the amenities?

A bed. It definitely had a bed in it. I loved everything about this story. I feel like that's very intimate knowledge for you to be like, no, no, it definitely had a bed. I don't know if there was a bed. It was green. It had white sheets on it. Can we go to control room?

Or is it just not in your list? I mean, you know what? To be fair, I think you get that. But also, it was a mini fridge. My favorite thing about it was that it had a 32-inch television with a Blu-ray player. Like, I don't even know. This is Peter's dream vehicle.

This is why he cared so much. By the way, this is how I knew that Peter had a good chance of winning it. Because he's the first person on stage so far to say, can we ask the control room and see if they know? Karaoke Clue. We're going to play a clip and buzz in to sing what comes next, please. Clip. Yeah, I'm going to take my horse to the old town road. I'm going to ride till I can't no more.

You just need to name what it is? Wait for it. I'm going to take my horse to the Old Town Road. I'm gonna ride till I can't no more. I got the horses in the back. OK, that was, of course, Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. And so who knows the next three lines of this song? L.A.V.?

Something is attached? I got the horses in the back. This song is attached i got the horses in the back blue song is attached riding on a horse there's one line that we're trying okay you're all horrible you're all horrible at this it is horse tack is attached hat is matte black got the boots that's black to match the whole thing yeah the whole thing. Okay.

Now, I thought you just meant the next line. Life is a highway, and I'm going to ride it all night long. Yeah. That's true. That's the part that no one ever hears, but it's there, you know? Yeah. Okay. The Christmas edition.

Who should get that point? Should anybody get that point? Is that? No. Nobody should get that point. Room on my side. I said. Can we get a tally from the control booth? No, no, there is us against them

It's the audience against us We've got musical instruments Let's sing it It's Peter by like seven Let's do it I got my old town Okay, woo Yeah

Alright, Peter I'm hearing from the control booth That Peter is in the lead with two right now Elamin and Tom both have one Pia, you're gonna get this You're coming up Love to see it You're coming up

Absolutely love to see it You're gonna get this one right now Back in April, Julian Assange was arrested. The government of Ecuador had been protecting him for seven years at their London embassy, and they finally kicked him out. According to government officials, Ecuadorian government officials, it was because, A, Ecuador wanted better relations with the U.S. B. Assange was, quote, a spoiled brat. C. Assange was a terrible house guest who insulted staff, kept riding his scooter inside the embassy's narrow halls,

and I'm sorry to have to say this, but he reportedly spread feces on the walls of where he was staying. D. All of the above. So I'm going to go with E, all of the above. Done. Okay. Face. I cannot believe you're actually playing that.

He's an accomplished bluegrass player. Facebook wants to make its own currency. What would it be called? A, Libra. B, Taurus. C, Aries. Peter. Libra.

Libra. Come on. Done. Try living with them, Aries. Peter. Libra. Libra. Come on. Done. Try living with them, you guys. This is my life. I can't believe you're asking Peter these economics questions. It's like asking Elamin sweater questions. Elamin is an expert in sweaters.

Look it. That's good. I like that one. Thank you. Or like mauve pants questions. This is good. There's one coming up. You guys are. I like that one. Thank you. Or like mauve pants questions. This is good. There's one coming up for... You guys are going to get this one. What did North

Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump exchange ahead of the 2019 U.S. and North Korea summit in Hanoi? A. An intimate phone call. B. Letters. C. Twitter DMs. Letters. Yeah, letters. I think they shared all of them, didn't they?

Kim Jong-un may not have tweeted that. I believe it was like love letters, the way that Donald Trump... Yeah, even the letters... Trump said, quote, they fell in love. Yeah. That happened in 2019. I had forgotten about that.

Okay, we've got another sound clue for the next question. Let's hit it. Oh, yeah! Okay, so this was, I don't know, easily one of the best television shows of the year. Succession, HBO Succession, and what real-life

media baron do many believe that HBO Succession is based on? Tom. Rupert Murdoch. That was close, though. You guys are both. Didn't know your name rhymed with Tom. I had no idea. Rupert Murdoch. That was close though. You guys are both. Didn't know your name rhymed with Tom. I had no idea.

Rupert Murdoch. There you go. I think we're still going to get it. I think Tom's probably Let's give it to me and Pia. How about that? We're not going to win anyway.

Give it to both of us. Let's give it to both. Also, I thought the question was going to be which character do you hate the most? Because if you haven't

watched Succession every episode that's the question you ask at the end. Which is like, which one of these terrible behaving humans do I hate the most? And which one are you most like? That's the other one then. The guy who plays Logan Roy said when he first read the script, he was told it was at least part based on Conrad Black. Oh, interesting.

I hadn't heard that. Our own media baron. The guy, he wasn't from Scotland. He was from Quebec. I love that the room just went, oh. I hadn't heard that. Our own media baron. The guy, he wasn't from Scotland. He was from Quebec. Okay. I love that the room just went, oh. Yeah. So I would have got that question wrong.

Name your publication. Where did you read that? I'll send you the YouTube video. Okay, here's a bonus question. Which of the children, the Roy children, do you almost identify with? I mean. I'm definitely a Shiv. Yeah.

Cool. I feel the same way. Siobhan I mean. I'm definitely a Shiv. Yeah. Cool. I feel the same way. Siobhan? Yeah. She's terrible. Yes. Yeah. They're all terrible.

They're all pretty bad. Oh, gosh. I think I'm probably, I don't know, Kendall? Yeah. That's worse. You're Kendall. I love Kendall. Kendall's like a killer for those people who haven't seen him.

Well, he wasn't anyways. But by the time this, they're all going to rush home today and binge watch this. And then be like, oh, is that P.H. Adam? Oh, interesting. I'm none of them. I'm better than all of them. I adore the character played by the guy from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the brother who runs for president. What's his name?

Connor? He's Cameron. Tom is Cameron's name for sure. Tom? I want to point out that the reason everyone might have gone, oh, and Peter said Conrad Black, is it was a little awkward when he was taking tickets on the way in. And yeah, I'm Cousin Greg.

I'm Cousin Greg of the CBC. I'm a guy who shows up and goes like, as you can tell, huh? For pretty much 90% of my day, including this show. You've got to break some regs to make a tomlet. You do. You do. In the Dragon's Den,

a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Okay, earlier this year, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked by an interviewer, what he did to relax. What was his answer? Peter.

He makes little model trains and buses instead of cardboard. How do you remember that? I'm just going to say, Peter's always on his phone and I now know what he's doing. I read books on my phone. Looking up useless facts about world leaders.

I mean, this story was really fascinating to me too because there was like this theory that developed that one of the reasons why Boris Johnson said this was because he wanted to make the Google search like lower for that horrible Brexit bus that he supported that like drove around the UK and had all of these like completely wrong facts about the EU on it.

So like a lot of people speculated that he talked about these model buses so that it would be the first thing that came up in the Google search. Anyways, no proof of that. Very entertaining. Okay, speaking of the UK, what to do with the border of Northern Ireland was one of the big issues that delayed Brexit in the UK. What did that come to be known as? Yep.

The Irish backstop. Yep. The Irish backstop. Yep, the Irish backstop. Boo. That's an old tune I learned called the Irish backstop. That's right. Yeah, that's right. You can't say the lyrics because they're too racy. Diplomats posted to what country sued the Canadian government?

Yep. Cuba. Cuba. A series. And a bonus point to you, Pia. What was the name of this mysterious illness? The name of what?

This mysterious illness. Like, what was it called? Oh. It starts with an H. It's called the Irish Backstop. A Havana Syndrome. Havana. Yep, you got it.

Syndrome. Havana Syndrome. Perfect. All right. Oh, don't. You're not a kiddie. Don't yet. Don't yet.

Don't catch it up to Peter now. That was just two points you just got. Closing this round, my favorite TV show of all time. Let's hit it. Yeah.

Very bittersweet year for me. This is Fraser, right? No, I honestly, am I supposed to know what this is? I love when they get to the part about the tossed out and scrambled eggs here. That's the best part of this theme song. Okay, so then you're not going to get this. I don't think.

What out-of-place item made it into an episode during the final controversial season of Game of Thrones? Elimee. It's that lady's coffee cup. Coffee cup. A woman in the back is holding a Starbucks cup. Yeah. Yeah.

And that is what made it in to Game of Thrones. Okay. Can we get a tally from the control room before we move on to lighting round? Peter's leading. Five. Ugh. Pia, four. Hate to see it.

Tom, three. I'll mean two. What? Oh, guys. This is anybody's game at this point. Let's get some music for this. You're playing that anyway. Okay, ready? Okay.

Jagmeet Singh faced a tough election race to earn a seat in the House of Commons in what BC riding? Sorry. Oh, I have to ring the thing. You gotta ring the thing. Burnaby South. Sorry, not sorry.

It's Burnaby South. No, I was gonna say Burnaby South. Okay, I'm gonna give that to Elamir. Thank you. I'm sorry. She should get one deducted. Deduct my point. For the first time in 200 years,

the royal leader of what country abdicated the throne? This is hard. Yep. Yep. I don't know. Read me the question one more time. It's a working round. For the first time in 200 years,

the leader of what country abdicated the throne? Perfect. I knew that. Escalating protests in Hong Kong were sparked by a bill that would have allowed China more power to do what? Extradite prisoners. Yep. Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman was sentenced to life

plus 30 years in a New York court. What is his nickname? El Chapo. El Chapo. That was very close. I'm going to give it to Tom and Pia. A long submarine dispute between Canada and the Philippines resulted in the return of a number of shipping containers of what?

Garbage. Garbage. What just flew off the table? It's sparking joy. Someone's going to get hurt. Someone's going to get hurt. Someone's going to get hurt. What English name does Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou also like to go by? I know this is hard.

I had to look this up. It starts with an M. Oh, I'm bringing it. It starts with an S. It starts with an S. Samantha? Very close. She just signed off on letters.

Miranda? No, it starts with an S. Sabrina. No, I don't remember. Sabrina. It may be Sabrina. No, I don't remember. Sabrina. It may be Sabrina. No one's got it. Margaret Atwood released a sequel to her classic book, The Handmaid's Tale.

What was it called? Testament. The Testament. The Testament. What U.S. fashion company went belly up in 2019? All of them? Forever 17? Forever 21.

Forever 21. Forever 21. Yes, Forever 21. Peter, you did not get that I get a half point for that He wouldn't have got it right Who was Forever 17? What is

The new national ball Me Elamin Me Oh Oomska Oomska Oomska Okay there we go Is that how we say it?

I thought we said USMCA But whatever It's fine Okay and We're done So That's it I think you won.

I didn't win. I think you might have. What do we have? Final tally is Elaine is just Pia 7. Tom 5. Peter 6. Alamine 3. Pia! No, but I stole some points.

You totally won. This is why I'm so bad at winning. I knew you were going to win. I'm still standing by that trivia is only one kind of smarts. Even though you won? Don't be a good winner. But it's the good kind of smarts, right? Since you won, it's one of the best kind of smarts. Don't be gracious about it. Just gloat.

That's what I would have done. It's what the people are waiting for. It's what they want. It's what the people are waiting for. It's what they want. That news quiz was a lot of fun. We did it in front of our live studio audience in Toronto earlier in December. A big thank you to all our guests on the live show, Tom Power, Elamin Abdel-Bamud, Pia Chattopadhyay, and Peter Armstrong. That's all for today.

Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner and see you tomorrow.