Planet Money - Bonus: Janet Yellen on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Our friends at NPR's news quiz Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! recently had a very Planet Money guest on their show: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They asked her about smoking pot, her extremely high scores in Candy Crush, and when to expect the Harriet Tubman $20 bill.Today, we're sharing an excerpt of that episode with you, along with some exclusive questions just for Planet Money listeners.You can listen to the full show and subscribe to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! wherever you find your podcasts.Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There's a lot of stuff to watch out there. Pop Culture Happy Hour, a four-day-a-week, 20-minute-a-day podcast, helps you pick out what's worthy of your next big binge. Whether it's a new show, a buzzy book, or a movie that we can't stop talking about, Pop Culture Happy Hour is here with a recommendation you'll want to snuggle up with, guaranteed. Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour every day, only from NPR. This is Planet Money from NPR. Hey, everyone. Sarah Gonzalez here with a teaser for another NPR show because it has a very Planet Money type of guest and we thought you might enjoy it. Our regular Planet Money episode will

still show up as usual on Wednesday, but NPR's news quiz, wait, wait, don't tell me, got Secretary of the Treasury and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to take their Not My Job quiz. They've shared that segment with us, along with a few exclusive outtakes just for Planet Money listeners. I'm not going to spoil it, but it does involve her shocking skill at Candy Crush, possibly taking psychedelic mushrooms and Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Here's host Peter Sagal and panelists on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. And now the game we Treasury Secretary of the United States. That means she signs all of your dollar bills, and fun fact, she gets to read all your Venmo receipts. Secretary Yellen, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you.

Thank you, Peter. Thank you very much. So, it's a great honor to have you here. I know you were in Chicago to speak to the Economic Club, but we have some questions that I don't think those business leaders might have had for you, such as, what is it exactly that you do? Because honestly, I don't know. We just assume that, like, you write the checks, like when we buy a missile. I honestly don't know. We just assume that you write the checks when we buy a missile. I honestly don't know. That is one of our responsibilities.

Really? And we've borrowed now $34 trillion, and it's our job at Treasury to finance those cumulative deficits and to make sure that our debt is safe and liquid and attractive to Americans and all around the world. All right. More questions about your job. Inflation. Was that you? Not me. Not you. No. Not my fault. No, no, not you. That's the Fed's job. That used to be you. Now, we wanted to get a little bit back into your background. We were told that one of your secrets to your success is that you always over-prepare,

including a story we heard about how you prepared to smoke dope for the first time in college. Can you please inform us how you prepared for that particular challenge? Well, you know, I had never smoked marijuana before. It was the summer before I was going to college and my roommate said she hid some marijuana and we should have a party and smoke marijuana. This, of course, was this renowned party school, Yale. Well, you know, I worried about that because I had never smoked anything in my life. You know, as you said, I like to be prepared. I always try to prepare when I can. And I thought, how can I prepare for this experience? Well, why don't I buy a pack of cigarettes and try to smoke them and see if I can inhale? Because I was told you can't really enjoy marijuana unless you inhale.

So I bought a pack of cigarettes. I started smoking them. Horrible. It was a horrible experience. I couldn't inhale. I was coughing. I thought, well, I'm not prepared. I have to work harder at this. So I bought some more cigarettes. And all week, preparing for this party, I smoked cigarettes. Well, then I went to the party, smoked a couple of marijuana cigarettes. I never did that again, but you know what happened to me was within a couple of months I was up to three packs a day as a smoker. Really? Wow.

It took me a decade to quit. Is that why President Obama invited you to join his Council of Economic Advisers? He had someone to sneak out back of the back of the Oval Office and, you know. Well, I quit. He can quit. So we are also reliably informed that among your enthusiasms, in addition to macroeconomic policy, is mobile games. There is some truth in that. There's some truth in that. Okay, specifically, in case everybody wants to know, Candy Crush. I know.

Yes. Well, Candy Crush is a new game I've taken up only a year or so ago. Right. It started when I had a Blackberry, if anybody still remembers what they are. Yes. And they had a game called Brick Breaker,

and I'd never really used my phone to play games, but I started becoming addicted to Brick Breaker on my Blackberry. And actually, somebody was writing a book about me, and they heard that I was interested in games, and had played a game, and they said, did you play Candy Crush? And I go, Candy Crush? Are you kidding? I wouldn't play a game like Candy Crush. I played Brick Breaker, and I won. Well, maybe you were like, a woman of my distinction played Candy Crush?

Oh, no. Brick Breaker is the only game that we've talked about. Something as silly as Candy Crush. Please, please. Don't you know who I am? Exactly. And then I thought, well, you know, maybe I should just look and see what the thing is.

Sure, what's the harm? Have a puff. You're not going to get addicted. I'm not going to get addicted. You know, I'll just play a couple of levels. Sure. See what it's like, these candies, you know, that you're breaking up with bombs and things like that.

Yeah, this morning I hit level 6,180. I'm assuming that's good. Somebody said you're actually internationally ranked, which I find hilarious. Is that true? That is not true. That's not true. Okay. You're not getting recruited by a professional candy crush.

Do you have a secret for candy crush? You have marijuana cigarettes. Yeah. If he gets stuck, it always helps. I know. Yeah. That was Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me with Janet Yellen. After the break, the outtakes, where Secretary Yellen gets put on the spot about why Harriet Tubman is not on the $20 bill yet.

On the next All Songs Considered from NPR Music, we play and guide you through the best songs to slow the blood and calm your nerves, including the one track scientists say can reduce anxiety by up to 65%. Look for All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts. This message comes from Wondery. Milli Vanilli set the world on fire, but when their fans learned about the infamous lip-syncing, their downfall was swift. Blame It on the Fame dives into one of pop music's greatest controversies. Follow on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. In a stressful election year, we know that a good show, movie, or book can feel like a sacred thing. At Pop Culture Happy Hour, we believe pop culture

can be good for you. So we're here four days a week to bring you a book, movie, or show recommendation to put you in high spirits. For a dose of old-fashioned pop culture therapy, listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast only from NPR. We're back with more from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me's interview with Janet Yellen. We've got a few questions they asked her that didn't make it into the final version of their show, but we are going to share them here exclusively for Planet Money listeners. In this segment, it is host Peter Segal, and you'll also hear from panelist Dulce Sloan.

There was another thing that happened. We actually mentioned it on this show where you were in China at a state dinner or an official dinner of some kind, and the story was that they served you a dish that involves psychedelic mushrooms. Yes. Right. Did that in fact happen and if it did, well, how was your trip?

We had a great trip, of course. You had a great trip, of course. My foods were great. Fabulous. So, we went out to dinner after arriving at a restaurant that serves Yunnanese food. And the person from our embassy who recommended this restaurant, there were about a dozen of us, and he ordered all of the dishes for our table. Right. And there were some delicious mushrooms.

We went home, had our meetings. Next thing I knew, in Chinese social media, it appeared that I had been to this restaurant. First they said that we had ordered poisonous mushrooms. And they said, but they're poisonous only if they're not cooked properly. And of course they were cooked properly. But then later it turned out it wasn't that they were poisonous, it's that they're psychedelic, unless they're cooked properly, which they were. Before I knew it, this was You were naked lying on the roof of your building.

We had great meetings with the Chinese. I don't think that was part of it, but the mushrooms were good. We didn't notice any... I'm just imagining after that dinner saying, have you ever thought about the fact that money is just really paper? Dulce Sloan would like to ask you a question. Uh-oh. Hi, money lady. Howdy. I to ask you a question. Uh-oh. Hi, money lady.

Howdy. I have just one simple question. I have here a $20 bill. How come Harriet Tubman's face isn't on it? I'm working on it. I'm going to have that happen. All right. Promise.

You've been waiting. I did it! I fixed it! Me! It's gonna happen. Thanks to you. Thanks to you, Dulce. In the next term, we'll all be calling 20s tubbies. Janet Yellen is the Secretary of the Treasury of the

United States of America and among the top 2% of players globally on Candy Crush. Secretary Yellen, we are so honored to have you with us. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Secretary, Janet Yellen, everybody. Give it up for her. That was Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on NPR's weekly news quiz show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Go listen to the full segment, including Janet Yellen taking the Not My Job quiz on last week's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. We've put a link to listen and subscribe to that in our show notes. And stay tuned this week for more regularly scheduled Planet Money coming Wednesday.

I'm Sarah Gonzalez. This is NPR. Thanks for listening. Throw on those boots, grab your cowboy hat and settle up that horse. Beyonce's new album, Cowboy Carter, is here. Beyonce says this is the best music she's ever made, but is she knocking down the doors of a country establishment or looking for validation? We're talking all about it. Listen to the Pop Quoture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. While TikTok gets a lot of heat for addiction, security issues, and misinformation, there's one place that thinks it could be a force for good. Harvard. On the next

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