Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Everyone & Peter Sagal

Episode Date: June 8, 2022

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! host Peter Sagal pops by to share his favorites from the podcast so far. Turns out Peter loves Mountain Dew, Emma's Grandma's Kimchi, and unsolved ham mysteries.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey listeners, quick note before we begin. NPR is doing its annual survey to better understand how listeners like you spend time with podcasts. So please help us out by completing a short anonymous survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. That's all one word. We would really appreciate your help to support NPR podcasts. That's npr.org slash podcast survey. Thanks. ppr.org slash podcast survey. Thanks. on Wednesdays. And I wanted to pop by and share some of my favorite moments so far from the show. Now, personally, I'm an interview person. I like the interviews. You know, we're just chatting, they're chatting, Emma's talking to somebody, and all of a sudden, like, bam, really interesting people just show up. Like this clip, where Emma talks to sommelier T.J. Douglas about a weird new taste in town. Can we start by having you introduce yourself?

My name is TJ Douglas, and I'm the CEO and co-founder of The Urban Grape in Boston, Massachusetts. So you're a sommelier, right? Which is a wine expert. It's a wine steward, someone who pours people like you wine. We'll call ourselves that. Yeah. So you're a wine steward, and we're hoping that you can use your expert taste buds to try this new hard Mountain Dew and explain how it tastes to our listeners. I'm a little nervous. I have really nice glassware and I don't know if I need it or not. So we're here to taste the original Mountain Dew flavor of hard Mountain Dew. So let's do the Dew.

First I'm gonna smell it. Oh my God, this smells like green popsicle. It's pretty enticing though. It's very tropical. It has like this kiwi and almost like candied lime smell to it. And you know what? I'm actually gonna pour it in the glass. The color is actually kind of crazy. That color is unreal.

How do you make that? I'm not sure what color plutonium is, but it looks like radioactive juice. Oh my God. But it's yeah, that popsicle smell. So what I'm doing for all you listeners, I actually put it in a wine glass and I'm swirling it. And what I'm doing, I'm increasing surface area. So I actually get to smell more of the liquid in there. So I'm going to, I'm swirling it. And what I'm doing, I'm increasing surface area. So I actually get to smell more of the liquid in there. So I'm going to, I'm going to drink this like, I guess, wine. Let's try it. Let's see. Wow. So it's very dry and dry actually means not sweet. Interesting. What would you pair with this in food wise? I don't know. If you want to get fancy do like a

prosciutto and melon salad right because this has like a lot of like at least mine has a lot of like melon zones to it yeah right um what i would also eat with this would be like beef jerky in a golf cart in the summertime looking for my ball in the woods. Yeah. Okay. TJ, my last big question. Okay. Is hard Mountain Dew good? Oh God. Um, you know, here's the thing. If something tastes good to you, it's, it's, it's a good product, right? Who am I to say this is good or you should like this, right? Is this something that I'm going to drink? Probably not. But you never know. You know, I'm just going to say that stuff tastes terrific when you mix it with about 14 gallons of anything else.

Anyway, I also loved Emma's conversation with famous mystery novelist Gillian Flynn, you know, gone girl, about a story in the news that week. Someone in New Zealand found a leg of jamón de perico on a sidewalk in their neighborhood. Did you like that pronunciation? It's quite legit. And they had no idea where it came from. I think it's the mystery of our lifetimes, right? Yes, and it's dark. I mean, it involves clearly some sort of pig out there is missing his or her leg, which is very disturbing. his or her leg, which is very disturbing. Now, the mystery remains unsolved, but luckily, Gilliam was inspired to give us that amazing twist ending that we expect from her. Can you describe for us what the opening scene of this pig mystery is?

Oh, boy. It'd be like Farmer Alice was wandering the streets of Hobsonville Point on her way to pick up New Zealand-ish things like beautiful grass and hobbits. Farmer Alice was wandering the streets of Hobsonville Point on her way to pick up New Zealand-ish things like beautiful grass and hobbits. When from nowhere, when from nowhere, she spied, she spied a full-length trotter. A full-length trotter that was not fully re-encased in, as I understand, carefully embroidered guitar-shaped packaging. And she stopped to pick it up.

Around the corner, she saw a quick flash of snout. Around the corner, she saw a quick flash of snout. Around the corner she saw a quick flash of snout and a devilish and a devilish before it disappeared into the shadows again. Before it disappeared into the shadows again. What could this be? She was happy she brought her pitchfork. Oh. Bom bom bom. she was happy she brought her pitchfork. Oh.

Bum bum. What's a great catchy two word name for this for the story? Pulled pork. Coming soon. Pulled pork. Or we just do Gone Girl

again and everything is the same but the main character is a pig, right? Yes, I like that. I think fundamentally changes your story, but it's an interesting role for Ben Affleck. He can do anything. I am a big fan of Pixar, and that's not only because I have had young children. Frankly, they were just an excuse. Anyway, I was excited to hear Emma talk with director Domi Shi about her latest project.

I was also glad to be the one listening to this and not actually the one talking about, well, the experiences of being a teenage girl. You'll see what I mean. I think for a lot of us, we almost like lobotomized that part of our memories because it was so awkward. Just to start off, will you introduce yourself to us? Hi, I'm Domi Shi, and I am the director of Turning Red. Yes, you are. I loved Turning Red. And you're the first sole female director of a Pixar film. What's it like to be you, Domi?

Oh, I don't know. It feels pretty awesome right now. I mean, we have something in common. You started as an intern at Pixar. And I just started actually at NPR as an intern too. But you went from intern to director for 10 years. Yeah. Like, what happened there? Like, how'd you do that? A lot of it was luck and timing, but also just the support of very awesome people at the studio, like Pete Docter. My first job at Pixar was a storyboard artist on his film Inside Out. Right. at the time I was like one of a handful of women in the story department. I kind of in some way use that as a, as a superpower on this show where there weren't a lot of women, but they needed a perspective and a,

and a point of view from somebody who had been a 13 year old girl. Yeah. That was the one thing that I knew I was an expert at. Like coming into the industry completely green and not knowing anything, I was like, I at least know about the anxieties of growing up and being a girl overwhelmed with her emotions. Yeah, I mean, that's a great segue into Turning Red.

Can you, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, can you describe it for us? Boom, magical puberty hits, and she uncontrollably poofs into a giant furry red panda anytime she gets overwhelmed with emotion. Happy, sad, angry, embarrassed, lusty. And the story is kind of just about how she deals with this inner beast and whether or not she wants to go down the path that her mom and her family chose which was to get rid of it or to keep it and embrace that inner wild side inside of her well okay we've been talking about this news story this week where two teenage girls like 60 years ago wrote a message in a bottle asking for boyfriends and someone just found it did you hear about that no that's adorable I know I love that I know and it reminded us of turning red what do you think this this bottle story tells us about being a teenager

oh it just makes me like remember what it's like to be a teen how you're just bursting with earnest emotion I kind of miss that because these days like I mean as an adult it's like to be a teen and how you're just bursting with earnest emotion. I kind of miss that because these days, like, I mean, as an adult, it's hard to like, like care about a lot of things because you like become cynical. But then as a teen, you just, you just like, like, unafraid, you just kind of throw your emotions and your heart and pour your heart into things and just risk being heartbroken. I love that feeling. Yeah. I mean, when you were 13, was there anything you did that was similar to that?

Like, was there anything you threw your whole body into loving? Harry Potter, for sure. I was so obsessed. To the point where I would draw fan art. I drew a lot of fan art. And I entered this fan club contest where it's like, drew a lot of fan art. And I entered this like fan club contest where it's like,

draw Draco and Hermione's children and come up with biographies about them. And I was rendering Draco and Hermione's children for hours in my family's computer. Not going outside. My mom's like, what are you doing? That's such a funny origin story that like if you trace Turning red all the way back it goes

to deviant art fan fiction yeah it's definitely that that's so awesome can we ask you to think through something with us yeah okay so do you think this message in a bottle story has what it takes to be a feature pixar film oh yeah i think so I think it's a great setup they maybe like get a response back years later and they have to like like but they're both like grown up and cynical adults but they have to go back to being like teen girls and going on this adventure to find their like true love yeah ends up being like a merperson or something like that. Or I don't know, like maybe they don't find the dude

or the person, but you know, they find each other and they realize like, oh my gosh, like all this time, like you were my soulmate. I had to go on this journey to find the person that's right next to me this whole time. Now, you may not know this, but I know my way around the kitchen. And the reason you may not know this is you've never met me, because if you meet me, I will mention it in the first three minutes. Anyway, I was glad to get a few cooking tips from some incredible chefs on Everyone and

Their Mom, like this from Samin Nosrat. Here she is giving advice to our friend Tom Baudet's friend, Chad. I think this will all make sense if you listen to the whole episode, but it might not. Chad doesn't have like a good chicken recipe and he wants one he can make either in a smoker or on one of his five grills. So is there like one chicken recipe he should definitely know? A super simple way to cook chicken on, I think, on a grill that I personally love is to spatchcock the chicken. It's essentially butterflying a chicken so that it lays flat and cook it under a brick. So I think also always salting the meat in advance for any meat

is a great idea. If you have enough room in your fridge, you could put it on a sheet pan and leave it uncovered, skin side up in your fridge. And then because refrigerator air has a, refrigerator has like a compressor spinning dry air inside, that's going to dry off that skin and the chicken skin will be a lot crispier once you go to grill it. Yeah, that's great. Well, we also asked, okay, we asked him what occasion the chicken was for and he specifically asked for a chicken for the family. Is this like, would you regard this as a good family recipe? This is definitely a family chicken. I love it. Okay, so if this is a family chicken, is there a chicken recipe that's better for like clubbing with the girls? Ooh, clubbing with the girls chicken?

Yeah. What kind of chicken do the girls want to eat? Maybe just beer can chicken. Get it a little boozy. Oh, a beer can chicken's not a bad idea. Yeah? I mean, I think that's a great idea. Yeah.

Okay, we're going to tell Chad that and he's going to do it. Turns out Chad tried it and he loved it. Chad wasn't the only one who needed some cooking counsel. Emma's own grandmother got some much needed help in this next segment. You guys, before you get mad at me for making fun of my grandma's kimchi, my mom will back me up. Listen. How long has she been trying to make the perfect kimchi? Oh gosh. I think since we came to the United States, 1978. So what, like 40 years? I think so. And each time I think she tries something different and each time she has a batch ready, she's like, this is it. I finally did it.

And I always kind of taste like there's something missing. What do her friends think about the kimchi? You know, they reckon it's not her strong dish. Yeah, maybe they eat it. But it's not her strong kiss. We wanted to call someone who could help my grandma finally make the perfect kimchi. And it just so happened to be my mom's favorite chef. I'm Emma's mom's favorite chef, Roy Choi. Couldn't be more true. And you're also a lot

of people's favorite chef. You have shows on Netflix and PBS, and you're one of time's most influential people. Wait, I'm just going to come out and say it, okay? We called you up because my grandma has been trying ever since she got to the States for 40 years. She's been trying and trying, trying, but she's not great at making kimchi. And we want to help her while still being gentle, okay? So first, I heard you got into the food world by like helping your mom make and sell her kimchi. Is that true? Yeah, we would sell them like mixtapes out of the trunk. Oh, you were the van ajumma?

We were the van ajumma. I was the van ajumma. It was a huge trunk though. It was a old Thunderbird. So we would be able to fit a lot of kimchi in the back of the trunk. Yeah. Our kimchi lady was Lee Ajumma and she had a 2008 Honda Odyssey, and she was very aggressive.

You gotta be because the kimchi, it's gotta move. They're almost like ticking time bombs. You have to kind of unload the grenades before they blow up. So true. My grandmother loves her kimchi, and like it kind of. Is there anything that you make that you like a lot, but maybe doesn't have as good as a reception as you think it will? I've developed a tactic over the years where if anyone has any criticism for me, I ask them to write it down and they send it to me in like almost like a love letter in high school when

someone passes the letter. Yeah. Because then I can I can take a moment and not personalize it. And I can just read the criticism on the paper. We should do that for my grandma. Yes. Okay. I have my grandma's recipe for kimchi with me.

And I was hoping that we could troubleshoot it together. Is that okay? Absolutely. Yeah. I've had I've had the similar experience where my loved ones were not that great at cooking. So I would love to help. Great, okay. She starts by salting the Napa cabbage.

She adds six cups of water with four tablespoons of salt. And then she lets it sit for four or five hours. And then she makes the sauce. Sweet rice powder, which she says she prepares and cools. I have no idea what that means. Okay, maybe I mistranslated. And then she adds gochugaru. And then she adds small shrimp, seichu.

And then she adds garlic, anchovy, lots of pa, spring onion. And then in a blender, she puts onion, apples, and pear. And she doesn't have measurements for any of this. She just follows her heart with a dream in her eye. Is that a bad thing? Well, it might be bad for her, obviously. For many, it's the right way to go to follow your heart. But your grandma might be the exception.

It's true. Well, so far, the two things that stand out to me that don't seem right are the sweet rice powder. I don't know why you would need that. And then the other is the anchovy. I don't know why you would need the anchovy if you already have the salted baby shrimp. Yeah. Another thing is that she doesn't add sugar. She says she adds sweet and low. That's a problem. Why? Sweet and low tastes like s***. So it seems that, you know, the salting is fine. Most of the recipe is fine.

But then the sweet and low is the biggest red flag. And then the anchovies. And then the sweet rice powder. Okay. Okay. I'm going to write those down and bring them back to her in a very kind way. That's the whole recipe? Yeah. And she, like, leaves that to sit for a while. I feel like to write those down and bring them back to her in a very kind way. That's the whole recipe? That's, yeah. And she like leaves that to sit for a while.

I feel like there's stuff missing in there. Well, she listens to like a lot of Pansori and watches K-dramas while and then she talks about my relatives while she does it. So maybe just too much bitterness in general. Uh, no, these are all part of the recipe. Okay. Roy, thank you so much. I'm going to tell my grandma all of this great stuff, and next time, maybe it'll be better. Uh, maybe. My mom and I

couldn't wait to tell my grandma that we took her kimchi recipe and floated it by one of the best chefs in the world. Okay, so, mom, can you tell her that he was shocked that she was eating sweet and well and she didn't do that? I was surprised.

My grandma was really surprised to hear about the sweet and low. But honestly, it doesn't sound like she's changing her recipe anytime soon. At the end of it, I told him all the ingredients. He's like, something feels like it's missing. But he's like, I don't know what it is. He's dumb. That's what I've been saying. I know.

I've also been saying something is missing, and it turns out it was this podcast. But now it's here, and everything is perfect. That's it for me. Everyone and their mom will be back with a new episode next week and every Wednesday, as usual, in your Wait, Wait feed. One more time before our favorite part of the podcast, NPR is doing its annual survey to better understand how listeners like you spend time with podcasts. Please help us out by completing a short anonymous survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. We would really appreciate your help to support NPR short anonymous survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. We would really appreciate your help to support NPR podcasts. That's npr.org slash podcast survey.

Thanks. Okay, now the credits. This is something I've always wanted to do. Stand back, Emma. It's my turn. This show was brought to you by Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. This episode was produced by Hayley Fager, Zola Ray, Emma Choi, and Nancy Seychow, with help from Lillian King, Sofia Hernandez-Simeonides, and none at all from me.

Seriously, they never even asked me my opinion. Special thanks to Bill Curtis for lending us his glorious pipes. Bill, we promise to give them back. Cleaned. Our supervising producer is Jennifer Mills, and our not-so-benevolent overlord is Mike Danforth. Once again, Lorna White, thank you for making everyone sound so good. This is NPR.