The NPR Politics Podcast - A Thanksgiving Treat: The NPR Politics Podcast Quiz

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

In this edition of the podcast, originally only available to NPR Politics Podcast+ supporters, Tamara Keith and Ron Elving quiz one lucky listener on the month that was in political news. This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and editor/correspondent Ron Elving.This episode was produced and edited by Viet Le. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey, it's Sue. Happy Thanksgiving. We wanted to give you a little treat this holiday, a little break from the news, if you will. So today, here's an episode that was originally only available to our NPR Politics Podcast Plus supporters. It's a monthly politics quiz show, and it's a lot of fun. Stay tuned for more after this break. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Ron Elving, Editor-Correspondent. And for this bonus episode, it's another edition of the Politics Podcast Trivia Game. And as always, our contestant is a plus listener. So let's bring him on. Welcome.

Hi, this is James from San Antonio, Texas. Hello, James. Hey, thanks for your support, James. We hear you call yourself a recovering Hill staffer. Yes, I worked on the Hill for about a year and a half. And it's just something I heard from former Hill staffers, whether they've been off the Hill for six months or 10 years, and it rings very true. I'm a recovering Hillstaffer too, James. I'm with you in spirit. But so what does that mean? Does it mean that you can't slow down? Absolutely. And my current job is a lot slower. And my supervisor has told me, you're doing a good job, but you need to slow it down.

Pull it back. That's amazing. So this is wild. We have also been told that related to your time in D.C., we have actually on the Politics Podcast run two of your timestamps. Yes, it was around this time. Two years ago, I sent in one telling y'all how I applied to like 200 Hill offices. Oh, my God. I was sitting in a U-Haul with my dog next to me about to drive the three-day trek to D.C. And I just thought, I got to update them about this.

And I did. Excellent. So do you think your timestamp helped, you know, was your boss an NPR Politics Podcast listener? I like to think so. Let's go with it. We like to think so. Okay. Now, this is how our trivia game works.

I'll ask you five questions. They are all from the past month or so of political news. And just in case, Ron is here as our helper, and he can give a hint if you need it. Always happy to help. James, you ready for this? I'm ready. Question one. The third Republican presidential primary debate took place in Miami earlier this month. Lots of sharp exchanges in that one. Which candidate spoke the most? Oh, my goodness. I feel like I know the answer. Is it Vivek Ramaswamy? You know, the interesting thing is here, he didn't necessarily help himself that much by having more time than any other candidate. So it's not the candidate who annoyed you the most, in fact. Different question.

Oh, let me think. Nikki Haley. I'm afraid we're going to have to give that a no. Oh, okay. Ron, what is the correct answer? The reason I was hinting around about this person not having done himself all that much good is because it was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Now, that's according to a calculation made by the New York Times. So, of course, we're not going to question it. He beat Nikki Haley, though your guess was not bad because he only beat her by a little over a minute.

And third, third was businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Of course, just days later, Senator Scott did drop out of the race. And it's understandable that it seems like when Vivek Ramaswamy is talking, it just seems to take longer. Yeah, I have to say, I was really surprised when I saw that Senator Scott had the most speaking time because in a lot of ways, I felt like he shrunk from that debate, though apparently not in length. All right, on to question two. This one is about panda diplomacy, one of my favorite topics. The National Zoo's three giant pandas headed back to China this month. The bears have been a symbol of the cross-cultural

collaboration between the U.S. and China. What year did the zoo receive its first pandas? Oh, my word. Okay. Do we give them some choices here? I think we give them some choices. Yeah, this is multiple choice. I just wanted to see if he knew the answer. Okay, the choices are 1925, 1962, 1972, and 1985. I want to say it's 72. Yay! Very good. The answer is 1972. During President Nixon's historic state visit to China,

First Lady Patricia Nixon mentioned how much she liked giant pandas. And just a couple of months later, China sent two to the American people. All right, question three. Ohio voters recently approved a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to abortion and other reproductive rights. It got a lot of national attention, but there was another statewide initiative on the ballot that voters passed that day as well. What was it? Recreational use of marijuana. Excellent. Excellent. You got that one right as well, James. The new law will allow adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home. It makes Ohio the 24th state, almost up to half the states now,

that allow adult cannabis use for non-medical purposes. All righty. So question four, Democrat Gabe Amo was just elected to Congress in a special election. He will be the first black representative from this state. What is that state? Connecticut. Oh, so close. Oh, oh, that's right. It was Rhode Island.

That is correct, James. The answer is Rhode Island. And Congressman Amo is the son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants. He worked most recently as an advisor to President Biden. And I don't know if it's a requirement as the congressman from the great state of Rhode Island to promote calamari, but I hope. That was like the best part of the very strange virtual Democratic Party convention in 2020, where they did the roll call of states. And there was a guy in Rhode Island with like a giant plate of calamari. And we've got calamari. All right, question five. And it's the last question. A US band popular in

the 80s and 90s was scheduled to perform late last month at a White House state dinner. This one was for Australia's prime minister. First Lady Jill Biden called off those plans, saying, quote, We are now in a time when so many are facing sorrow and pain, referring to the Israel-Hamas war. What band was supposed to perform? Oh, oh, I know what's oh, can I get a hint? Well, I was going to say, one hint would be that the reason she thought perhaps this particular band might be not the best had to do with the name of the band, not the music. Oh, it was the B-52s.

That's it. The answer is the B-52s, probably known best for their 1989 hit, Love Shack. Members of the band, however, attended the dinner as guests, and instead, the presidential military bands provided instrumental music, as they often do at these dinners. I never put together that it was maybe something related to the name of their band. I love those times when it just doesn't click in my brain. But James got it, and that's what really matters. That is. So let us get the tally of how James did. James, you did great. You got four out of five correct. Congratulations, James. Thank you. And of course, we're going to say that you won just by being here and that your prize will be that you get to record your very own timestamp, another one,

for an episode of the show. You know, I think you're going to take home the record for most timestamps there, James. At least you're going to be out front in the competition. Before we wrap up, we have asked you a lot of questions, but do you have any questions for us? I guess kind of two, being that y'all work in DC, Ron used to work on the Hill. I did. I worked on the Hill, but it was, can I say several years ago? Can I say it's when people were listening to the B-52s? You know, we track steps these days.

There was one time we were in session and I was walking a lot. I walked seven miles in one day. Oh my God. My goodness. Do y'all like have a record, like a personal record of how long distance walks in one day? I don't have a record. I do like to look at my watch with pride at times

to see how many steps I've walked. So like, just to give you an example of what happened on Wednesday of this week, I was in the pool covering the president, we thought we were heading to the vans, all of a sudden we weren't. And instead, we were running at full speed towards these fireworks to get back to where the president was because he was about to give a speech. I don't know how many steps it was, but I know that my heart rate was properly elevated. Absolutely. One of the things you learn first coming to Washington, particularly to work on the Hill, is you have to forget about wearing hard shoes. You have to forget about anything that might look fashionable and get the best running shoes you can get and

just put them on with your suit or whatever pantsuit or whatever else you're wearing because there'll be a lot of other people on the metro looking just as ridiculous in their footwear and i guess the second question is have y'all ever again this is from personal experience have y'all ever found yourself in an area you probably think you're not supposed to be because in the State of the Union earlier this year, my boss had interviews in the old house chamber. And I was trying to get up there once the president was wrapping up. And I kind of got turned around. And I ended up in the hallway where the First Lady, the Attorney General, all everyone was going to their motorcades, and I'm just up against a wall trying not to seem suspicious while they're just walking by with their security detail. I mean, that kind of thing happens in Washington all the time, doesn't it, Rod? It pretty much does.

I do remember getting slammed against a nice marble wall a couple of times by not just Secret Service, but security details for witnesses and all kinds of people who came to the Hill. And if they got off an elevator, or if you got off an elevator and walked into the middle of their little scrum, they dispatched with you, shall we say, rudely. I also think that as a journalist, there's so much of the time where you're like, I know that I'm supposed to be here, but oh my gosh, I'm here. Am I supposed to be in the room where it happens? Okay. Am I supposed to be here? I got a wave from the first lady. She waved and smiled at me. So something good came out of it.

Well, James, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast and especially for supporting the show. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. It was so much fun. We hope you enjoyed that quiz. And if you want to hear more of them or have the chance to play yourself, become a supporter today. Go to plus.npr.org slash politics to sign up for bonus episodes and ad-free listening.

Have a great Thanksgiving. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.