Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Behind the scenes with Peter Sagal and Emma Choi

Episode Date: October 12, 2022

Peter and Emma sit down with Executive Producer Mike Danforth to answer some questions that you have about the making of Wait Wait.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey, it's Peter. We have something a little bit special for you this week. In this midweek podcast, we're going to be taking you behind the scenes of our show. Emma Choi, host of Everyone and Their Mom, and I are answering listener questions. Now, this episode was actually made available first to our Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Plus subscribers. Those subscribers get fun bonus episodes like this one every other Monday or so, where we do a bit more chatting with our panelists and producers and air extended cuts of our celebrity interviews. So if you want to join in on all of that glorious good times, go to plus.npr.org slash wait, wait, that's plus.npr.org slash wait, wait, and you can sign up there. But for today,

here's Emma and I answering your questions. And to make sure we don't answer too honestly, our executive producer, Mike Danforth, has joined the podcast. He seems to be, let me just see here. Yes, that is a, Mike, is that a taser? It is a taser, Peter, and it works through Zoom. I can tase you through your computer. That's the money that we're making from this subscriber content we've used to design these Zoom tasers. But that's not what we're here to talk about. We're here to do is answer questions from our listeners that we've solicited via our social media channels. These are questions for people who listen to both shows. Many of you probably know who Peter is, but if you don't know Emma, Emma is the host of our new podcast called Everyone and Their Mom,

where you can hear Emma talk with different celebrities, interesting people, and wait, wait, panelists. So this is great. I'm so excited that we have you both together. It's like Batman versus Superman, but instead of Batman, it's me, and instead of Superman, it's you, Peter. I very much appreciate that I get to be Superman. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, super nerds. Let's jump into this then with question one. How did each of you get your start on the show? Number one, how did each of you get your start on the show? Peter, tell the quickest version of this story, because we've talked about this before.

Purest dumb luck. I had a friend who knew somebody at NPR. This was way back in the late 90s, who was putting together this new show. And this friend said, Oh, you might be interested. I said, Yes, I would be interested. So we put my name forward. And I was auditioned to become a panelist on this show. And then a couple months after it was broadcast, they decided that maybe I would make a good host. And they wanted to give that a try. And I thought that would be fun. And 25 years later, here we are. That's the short version. Emma, you've also told this story. You've probably got it down to a minute. Let's hear your version.

Yeah. Peter laid an egg and nine months later I hatched and we all cried. I would like to say I wish because then I could take more credit for you. And I'd like to do that. It's similar. I was your guys' intern last year and then I bullied you guys into giving me my own show. That's exactly what happened. Pretty much. She is, I mean, people don't know this about Emma because she seems very nice. She is a terror. I'm so mean.

It just becomes easier to just give in to whatever she wants. It was one of those situations where Emma had a Zoom meeting and then she showed me pictures of my family as they were casual in their daily lives. And I was like, how did you get those photos? Yeah. A picture of me and Lars in today's newspaper, you know, in a switchblade. And let me just add for the listeners who don't know, one of Emma's secret strengths or strengths

as an intern on Wait, Wait when she was here was that she would create these PowerPoint presentations every Wednesday about that week's celebrity guest or not my job guest. And they really were phenomenal. They changed the way we did any of our work around celebrity guests. It was great. Emma, how did that happen?

How did you come to have such confidence with those PowerPoints? Well, I didn't know it was something that you guys weren't already doing. Because I think over the pandemic, like PowerPoint parties became a big thing where you just made like a weird PowerPoint for anything. Let me say on behalf of everyone who's, say, older than 35, what? PowerPoint parties?

It's like something that like, you know, spread through TikTok or something. But basically, like everyone gets a topic and you have to make a PowerPoint about that topic. So I made a PowerPoint about all the boys I've loved before and how they told me they were gay. Or who would survive longest on our staff in the Hunger Games. And I think Tilly won. I think Lillian won. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Peter, you went out quick.

I do remember that. I remember that. Oh, yeah. I remember that and having no objection. I remember. Who killed it? Who killed Peter? I think I, Mercy killed you because I felt so bad for you because you were suffering. Again, I think this is all believable. You were running and you ran

to the force field. I, Mercy killed Bill because we teamed up. But then out of revenge, I think Mike killed me or something. It's a 600 page PowerPoint, but we don't have to talk about it now. I mean, if we're really offering subscribers extra benefits for their money. I think Mike killed me or something. It's a 600-page PowerPoint, but we don't have to talk about it now. I mean, if we're really offering subscribers extra benefits for their money, I think posting that PowerPoint might be something to consider.

I'm just putting it out there. There's a teaser. We'll put that out there. See if anyone responds. All right. Here's the next question. This is a good one. Has anything embarrassing ever happened during a Zoom show? During a Zoom show, has anything embarrassing ever happened during a Zoom show? During a Zoom show, has anything embarrassing ever happened?

They're asking us if anybody, including us, has ever pulled a tube. No, they're not. That's what they're doing, Emma. No, they're not. That's not embarrassing. That's shameful. Peter, I'm going to answer this first because this recently happened. Okay.

And producer Jennifer Mills was very cool about it. But we were taping with Ashley Gray. And I had just had like a weird chia smoothie. And then like halfway through the taping, I was like, oh my god, I'm gonna throw up. So I finished the taping. And then I ran to the bathroom. I threw up, I came back. And then my roommate was having the loudest sex I've ever heard. Wow, it's true. You can hear it on the tape. So poor Haley had to cut it out. And I was like, guys, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

Okay, wait a minute. So these two things happened in parallel. Yes. One did not cause the other. No, no, no. That's not good. That's horrible. That's what you get for taping in a dorm room, right? Let me ask, though, Peter, have there been anything?

Because you and I are both, we're always in the Wait, Wait shows. We're not in Emma's shows. Has there been anything weird in our Zoom I are both, we're always in the Wait, Wait shows. We're not in Emma's shows. Has there been anything weird in our Zoom shows? Well, let's see. Famously, there was the time that Mo Rocca started stripping. Although we were so far from embarrassed by it, we actually broadcast that because it was hilarious. Mo Rocca was just hot in his apartment. So without telling anybody, he just started taking off his clothes, or at least as far as we know, his shirt.

That's all we know about for sure. That was kind of interesting. And I had my own because we ordered in once some Mexican food, and I had a burrito of suspicious provenance, which caused some difficulties. But I'm proud to say that I've never had to deal with my roommate having very loud sex because my roommate is, in fact, my wife. And that would be complex. Yeah, that's got layers to it. Yeah. And let's not go there.

All right, let's move on to question number three, which is, what's the one thing you want to do after you finish recording a show? What's the one thing you want to do after you finish recording a show? Recording any given show. Okay. Emma, you first i used to have a lot of energy after we tape so i take a lap around the apartment or something you know chug some water and then crash on my bed you do a lap around your apartment yeah like a collie you know i just run do you feel like you have to get up and move around that's like your body's telling you like

you've got extra energy to burn is that weird peter do you do you run around after you tape is telling you like you've got extra energy to burn is that weird peter do you do you run around after you tape no it's like i know but basically what i do after my tape is a hendrix martini straight up with a twist all right let's well this this actually leads to the next question here let's try this one the wait wait universe seems to be really into weird food what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten and let's let's say what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten? And let's say, what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten for work? This is kind of a gimme for us at Wait, Wait,

because old school fans will remember that for many years, we had this segment we did online called Sandwich Monday, where we intentionally sought out the absolute weirdest things we could find to eat and made jokes about them. And probably, I mean, there were a lot of weird foods, but probably the epitome, the apotheosis of Sandwich Monday

was the faux turkey made entirely of hot dogs. What? Which is out there. Did you make that? It was really weird. How is that better than turkey? Well, it wasn't. But it was this thing.

We used to get these PR emails. You probably get them now, too, because people want you to cover their thing. And I got one from some hot dog company. It might have been Hebrew National. I don't remember. Vienna Beef, perhaps, saying, hey, everybody, for Thanksgiving this year, we suggest making your turkey out of hot dogs. had a recipe or more to the point assembly instructions that you would make this with sort of using bread for the superstructure, if you will. And then the hot dogs is arranged and with toothpicks in a specific shape to represent a turkey. And I immediately wrote back and said, yes, we would like to do this. Please send me the necessary ingredients. So sure enough, we got packages of hot dogs and breads with assembly instructions, and we made it, and we ate it. And it was gross, yes, but gross in a really interesting way. Do you remember what else was in it?

I think it was just that. Just hot dogs and bread. Just hot dogs and bread, but it looked like a turkey. And people can find an amazing photograph we made of that, eating that, in which we recapitulated the image of the Norman Rockwell freedom from want, the famous Thanksgiving dinner image. We did that. And I'm more proud of that than I think of anything else I've ever done, including my children. Yeah. Emma, you guys, you drank Mountain Dew.

You had a hard Mountain Dew. Oh, yeah. Oh, I forgot about that. Oh, my God. Yeah. For our hard Mountain Dew episode, Mountain Dew sent me this case, this wooden case with four hard Mountain Dews displayed jewels. And I sent two to a sommelier, and I kept two to myself. And I just had COVID, so I hope that I lose my sense of taste and wouldn't have to taste it.

But it tasted so bad. It tastes like, you remember the mini golf course and there's like the river underneath the bridge and it's bright blue? It tasted like that. Wow. That is a very specific reference. I know exactly what you mean. And I'd never had Mountain Dew before I had hard Mountain Dews. You'd never had Mountain Dew? No, my mom said- Not at any time?

No. Wait a minute, your mom forbade you from drinking Mountain Dew, which is a sensible thing for any mom to say. I think that makes sense. You didn't sneak to a friend's house and say, hey man, let's go out and sneak behind the school and drink Mountain Dews, just as a form of rebellion? I was not the kind of child who rebelled.

I work for NPR now. None of us ever rebelled as children. Alright, here's another question. Here we go, see what you guys think of this. Will there ever be a Peter-Bill crossover on everyone and their mom? Well, Bill's been on the show. And Peter, we would love to have you on the show. You have my number.

It's going to happen, right? So, yes. It's going to happen. We should do that. Bill has been on everything. Bill's my best friend. That's true. No, he's my best friend.

He and Bill always drive out whenever we meet. He's my best friend. He's not your best friend. He's my best friend. Okay. Trying to get in on that action, too. Okay, he's my best friend. Me and Bill always drive out whenever we meet. He's my best friend. He's not your best friend. He's my best friend. Okay. Trying to get in on that action, too. Okay, fine. Fine.

He loves both of us equally. Can't you leave a little something for me? We have shared custody of Bill. I get him on weekends. All right, let's try this one. What guest was completely different than expected? And that would apply to both shows. You've both interviewed different people. What guest was completely different than expected? And that would apply to both shows. You've both interviewed different people.

What cast was completely different than expected? Yeah, I'm thinking too. I'm trying to think. I always go to the ones who were funnier than you expected. Like, Nico Case

was really funny. Madeline Albright, famously, was very funny. I say famously because I always mention her in this context. She came on and was really funny.

When was she on? That's a long time ago. Madeline Albright was actually one of the first actual celebrities we've ever had, meaning she was probably on Emma before you were born. Peter, I was born in 2000. The show started

in 2001. No, the show started in 1998, my friend. It did? It did. It was. Sorry. I booked her. I know that. It's that long ago that I was Really? Good for you So you were a baby 2001-ish

You were a tiny little baby I can think of celebrities who were Less fun than we thought And I wouldn't want to name anyone There were certain people who lived up exactly To their reputation in a way that was incredibly satisfying Mandy Patinkin? Mandy Patinkin, yes, of course Everybody expects him to be Mandy Patinkin? Like, for example, Mandy Patinkin, yes.

Of course, everybody expects him to be Mandy Patinkin-like, and he was. I was actually thinking of, like, Eartha Kitt, who we interviewed, obviously, before she died, in Connecticut many years ago. And she was very Eartha Kitt-like. She purred. Yeah. I mean, it's just, there's something extremely satisfying about, like, oh, yes, that's exactly who you are.

Thank you for being exactly who I always thought you would be. That's very satisfying. Emma, you've talked to people all across different disciplines. Has there been anyone that you've talked to that you're like, wait, I want to spend more time with this person? Yeah, that's something I love about our show, is that we get to talk to regular people for a long time. There's this one guy that we're, I forget his name now,

but he was the guy from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And I was expecting him to be so boring because, like, bureaucrats are usually boring. But he was so funny. And, like, he was, like, riffing with me and, like, doing, like, full-on improv. And by the end, I'm like, damn, like, him and me, two-man improv troupe, let's do it. He was great. What were you guys talking about? We were talking, like, I think I was interviewing for a job with him.

And I was interviewing for, interviewing for a bear conflict manager. He was so funny. Oh my god. He was great. You've got to have a sense of humor if you're working with bears. That's actually the secret to resolving conflict with bears is improv exercises. Exactly. So it wasn't an accident that that guy was so good. Who said improv was useless?

My mom, please. I'm going to bite you. Yes, and Alright. Here's the next question. What was your favorite moment My mom, please. Yeah, exactly. I'm going to bite you. Yes, and. All right. Here's the next question. What was your favorite moment that you knew would be cut from the show? Favorite moment you knew would be cut. I don't even know if I can say it here. Well, this is why people are paying the big bucks for the extra content.

Let's see. Because Nagin came on our show and I love Nagin, but I don't know how it happened, but we just ended up talking about how you should definitely take ketamine and everyone should take ketamine. And then Mills was like, we can't use that.

And I was like, oh, well. Does Nagin actually take ketamine? That's funny. I think she took ketamine during her, when she was giving birth. We saw this, Peter. Yeah, we saw it. So Peter and I both saw Nagin do stand up a couple months ago. And that's what she talks about. took ketamine during her when she was giving birth we saw this peter yeah we saw she we so

peter and i both saw nikki do stand up yeah a couple months ago and that's what she talks about yeah like the birth was so drawn out yeah right painful yeah that the doctor that's what they did uh-huh that was a very funny story funny story peter how about you uh well in our case and and again mike's been there for the whole thing, so we can disagree. But in our case, the thing that I knew we couldn't broadcast at the time is rather famous because eventually we were able to broadcast it to kind of funny results. So here's the story as quickly as I can make it. We were doing a show in San Francisco many, many years ago.

And there were two interesting things about that show. A, it was one of the things we used to do when we were talking about historical news rather than that week's news. And also the show was being interpreted, uh, in American sign language for, uh, some deaf audience members. And the story we told,

it doesn't matter why, but it involved the phrase, uh, we were quoting Ronald Reagan. Uh, I feel like I crapped a pineapple. And that phrase got discussed. And then somebody, I think it was Adam Felber, noticed that every time we said the phrase crapped a pineapple,

the sign language interpreters had to interpret in sign language that phrase. And so thus, everybody tried to come up with even more awkward phrases for them to try to interpret, such as crap a struggling weasel. Can you, Peter? And this went on for some time. Can you tell us, because I wasn't at that show, and Emma still wasn't born. Do you remember what the hand motion was like? Oh, God.

Yeah, it's funny, because this is what happened with that. So we had this on tape. We couldn't broadcast it, because it was mildly obscene. But we decided for reasons that because it's sort of legend had spread that we would broadcast it as a special fundraising segment. And apparently, as I remember, NPR got a letter or a note from the FCC. The FCC! And the upshot was that the FCC fines broadcasters per incident, per use of dirty words. And because the word crap had been used so many times in the course of this segment, for reasons I have explained, crap at this, crap at that. How about crapping one of those? That the cumulative fine would have been something like $50 million.

So we had to not ever broadcast that again. That's a lot of money for, yeah. Yeah. It's also not that bad of a word, no? Crap? Like that's like $1,000 of crap. Emma, I think Emma's right. And I think that at the time, Peter, yes,

we weren't allowed, like stations complained or something. So we couldn't release it. We had to pull it back, pull it off the web or wherever it was. But now I think it's actually the kind of thing that you could like play on PBS, you know, on like Sesame Street. PBS Kids even. Yes, exactly.

That's where it is. I think society has fallen that far. Okay, here we go. This is where it is. I think society has fallen that far. Okay, here we go. This is the last question. Sweet. Go ahead. With the creation of everyone and their mom, Wait, Wait has its own cinematic universe. What superheroes are the two of you?

Oh my God. Should we do it for each other, Peter? Gosh. Yes. Yes, we should. And I am going to go first. You Should we do it for each other, Peter? Gosh, yes. Yes, we should. And I am going to go first. You, Emma Choi, are merely not just a mild-mannered podcast host and soon-to-be college senior. Yes, good job.

But, thank you, but the PowerPointer, capable of using PowerPoint presentations to defeat any evil plot, usually by explaining what it might be to those people who are empowered to stop it. Villains fear your PowerPoint. Galactus himself would cease his planet destroying ways in the face of one of your amusing PowerPoints explaining to him why he shouldn't. I love that. Very good.

Now your problem, Emma, is you have to completely rejigger the insulting thing you were going to say. Well, I was going to say Ant-Man. I didn't know we were completely— Ant-Man. I didn't know we were making up new ones, Peter. I think that's perfect. Is this a reference to my size? No.

Peter, it's for the listeners to interpret. Because you are the second short woman in a week to start making fun of how tall I am. Okay. First of all, I'm not short, Peter. I'm the national average. I'm 5'4". Okay. And second of all, I chose Ant-Man because you have the remarkable, you never asked for

the power. That's true. But it was thrust upon you with a suit that an old man gave you, right, which I'm assuming is Doug Berman. I don't know. But you can make yourself big or small

depending on the context. But you chose to be small, Peter. I like that. No, you have redeemed yourself in my eyes. That's good. Although I think to make it seem

comic book-like, I think the gift of this power had to be bestowed upon me by Carl Castle. I think that's true. All right. That is all the time that we have for this session of questions from our listeners.

Thanks, guys. And thanks to all the listeners who shared a question with us. And if we didn't have time to answer yours or we just simply chose not to, better luck next time. We will make this a regular habit for subscribers. Just one more reason for you to keep subscribing. Yeah, and the best way to send us questions or ask us for really bad relationship advice or share pictures of your dog or whatever you put on a leash

is to find us on social media. Links where you can do that are in the notes of this episode. But in the meantime, I'm Emma Choi. And I'm Peter Sagal. And I'm Mike Danforth, and I'm going to steal the last line that was written for Peter and say, thanks all for listening. We'll be back soon. All right, so again, that was a preview of what our Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Plus subscribers get to hear every other week. If you want to join, go to plus.npr.org slash waitwait.