Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - We meet America's robo-teachers and take a nap in coach

Episode Date: March 28, 2026

This week, we're live in Savannah with actor and director D.W. Moffett and panelists Adam Burke, Shantira Jackson, and Joyelle Nicole JohnsonTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The NPR News Quiz, I'm Alzo Slade, the guy they bring in when Bill Curtis is stuck in the TSA line back home. And here's your host at the Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah, Georgia, Peter Sago. Thank you, Alzo. Back in beautiful Savannah, a place we love. And I'm happy to say we have been welcomed as locals, which is gratifying. We've only been here two days. and all of us are absolutely covered in Spanish moss.

Later on, we're going to be talking to actor D.W. Moffett, a veteran actor most recently seen in one battle after another, and more importantly, the head of the film and TV department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. But first, it's your turn to audition. The number to call in and play our games is 1-8-8-8-Wa-W-W-Wat. Let's welcome our first listener and contestant. Hi, everyone, wait, wait, wait, don't tell me.

Hi, Peter. This is Claudia calling from Temperamental. Chicago, Illinois. Oh, yeah. Okay. What do you do there in our home city? Well, I'm so glad you asked. I have a very sexy job

working in administration and compliance operations at a health care focused nonprofit. Whoa. Yeah, it's... A little bit of weight, wait, after dark there. Hang on a second. I need to catch my breath.

Welcome to the show, Claudia. Let me introduce you to our panel this week. First up, it's a writer for Clean Slate on Prime. It's Shantira Jackson. Hi, Shantia. Next, it's a comedian. You can see at the Laughing Tap in Milwaukee on April 10th and the 11th. It's Adam Burke. Hi, Claudia. Hi, Adam.

And you can hear her album, Yell Joy on Blonde Medicine, and her special Love Joy is on Peacock. It's Joyelle Nicole Johnson. Hey, Claudia, I like your voice, girl. Oh, my God, Jol. Thank you so much. Claudia, you're going to play Who's Alzo this time. Alzo Slade, filling in for Bill Curtis, is going to read you three quotations in this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you'll win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose for your voicemail. Are you ready to go?

I'm ready. All right, let's do it. Your first quote is First Lady Melania Trump, welcoming a guest at an event on Wednesday. You are my first American-made humanoid guest in the White House. The First Lady was speaking to something that she wants to take over educating our children someday. What is it? It is a robot. It is a robot.

Yes. You better applaud louder. They will be in charge soon. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, while standing beside a robot, Melania Trump described a future where robots teach our children. She has found her cause. Nancy Reagan said, say no to drugs. Michelle Obama said, eat healthy food. Melania Trump says death to the human teachers. The scene, by the way, if you haven't seen it, it's amazing, it's perfectly staged. They're all sitting there in the audience and the doors open, and Melania and the robot together walk in, making this big entrance. And the technology is genuinely impressive. Both of them looked so lifeline.

The problem is, if we pay the robots the way we pay teachers, they will revolt. That's true. This robot is amazing. I've done if you saw this robot. It's amazing. and they can program it to do just about anything except watch the Melania documentary. It rebels.

It's like one of those Star Trek's unlike. It's like one of those robots in the old Star Trek where they ask it to define love and just shorts out. If there's going to be robot teachers, that implies there's going to be robot substitute teachers. Yeah. Like instead of your regular, like, cool robot, one of those little delivery ones comes in

and just bump it against all the walls while you screw off. And what happened to those delivery robots in New York was that all the kids beat those robots off So actually there is believe it or not Actual data showing that young children sometimes feel more comfortable Being read to or reading to a robot than a human being It's less stressful for them so it'll be actually really kind of cute you know

A robot teacher sitting there with preschoolers Okay kids now we're going to read power down moon All right very good Here is your next quote. What are they going to broadcast Sunday at 8 instead? That was a fan on Reddit, responding with some panic, to news that the entire season of what hit ABC reality dating show was canceled just this week? The Bachelorette. The Bachelorette.

This is amazing after they take an entire season of the show from The Bachelorette meeting all 22 Bachelors in episode one through her picking the eventual winner. after they did all that, video surfaced of this new bachelorette throwing chairs at her boyfriend during a fight. So, ABC just canceled the whole season. It'll never see the light of day. ABC will lose

$80 million, and middle-aged women lost their best excuse to drink wine on Sunday nights. Well, as a middle-aged woman, I would like to say to you all that I made it to the age of 44, and I have never seen an episode of the Bachelor. or the Bachelorette.

So I feel triumphant. I feel this should be a reality show about that. Yes. The last survivor. The now canceled Bachelorette, her name is Taylor Frankie Paul, and she's a star on another reality show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

And her behavior was totally shocking to the Bachelorette producers, who I guess didn't watch the very first episode of the Mormon Wives show where, this is true, she was arrested. Taylor Frankie Paul sounds like she put her name in a reality TV show name generator. That's somebody's real name? Were they tipped off when she handed out the roses?

She kept them in the vase and then just broke them over people's names. Why do they have to cancel the whole show? If she was the problem, just do it without her. See what happens when 30 identical men all live together with nothing much to do. And somehow, four of them are named Brad. Wait, I think that that show exists. It's called The Senate. This is true.

Some of the bachelors from the show are very upset that their big break into reality TV has now been canceled. It'll be erased, never seen. They're considering a lawsuit against ABC. What are they suing for? Well, they want a single kiss from their true love. Oh, I feel bad. They won't be able to open their gym now. Is that what they always want to do?

They always are like gym influencers. They're always like, I didn't find love, but I did find abs. Well, now I feel like I've seen the season. Thank you. You know, you know what? It helps you build abs ducking chairs. All right, here is your last quote. It's so muddy and disappointing compared to autumn.

That was the New York Times reporting that what season, long considered the worst, believe it or not, is now getting a rebrand. So what season does it turn out people like the least? and you only have four guesses. I would think it's spring. It is spring. It was surprising to me. Yes, spring, you got it right.

But according to the New York Times, Americans just don't like spring. Well, if you think about it, it makes sense. There's wildly fluctuating weather. There's mud. There's allergies. And spring's only big holiday is the one where you can't have candy

if you don't believe in Jesus. Now, several influencers, of course, influencers are doing this, trying to change our minds about spring with the same kind of branding that other seasons get. For example, autumn has its own flavor, pumpkin spice, right? So spring needs one too. Oh, I'm heading down to Starbucks to get my pollen and sneeze latte. It seems that you're suggesting that there's some marketing company whose client is spring.

Yes. Well, this is what's funny. The Times went to a marketing consultant, and they said, let's say your client was Spring, what would you do? How would you market it? And he said, well, he would quote, spin Spring's brevity into a positive. So that's the new slogan. Spring, it's over soon. If Spring is your client, what do those boardroom meetings look like? Just like an Alec Baldwin bunny rabbit yelling at you because the numbers are down. Pretty much. You know what I think? I think it is, I think the Easter Bunny is to have beef with Santa Claus for quite some times.

And the Eastern Buddy's like, we got to do something about this. Alza, how did Claudia do in our quiz? Perfectly, three out of three. She is a champion. Congratulations, Claudia. Thank you. Thank you for calling. Right now, panel, that is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news.

Joyelle, United Airlines, they say they're going to revolutionize air travel with a new offering for their customers in economy, starting next year. Instead of separate seats, you and your traveling companions will be able to reserve your own what? Sweet? Not quite. That's for the people up in the first place. Oh, okay. Listen to me. Okay.

Bathroom. No. That would be nice. Peter, I fly first class. I don't know what's going on in the back of the airplane. Reserve your old water bottles. Do they give you all that back there? You wouldn't like it.

They just spray us with a hose. I've heard about it. Yeah, I know. Wait, oh, seatbelts. No. They do give the seatbelts, Joe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They give y'all seat belts back then?

They do provide the fitted sheets. That's true. It's a bed? Yes, they're going to let people reserve beds. This new offering is called a relax row. And the idea is you take your three seats, which you're used to, and that will convert into a small cot of the same size. You then get a specially fitted mattress and blankets to create a comfortable bed

to lie down on, specially padded, with the hair of every other passenger there. Whenever I've seen a kid misbehaving on a plane, I thought, you know what that kid needs is a bed to jump on. Yeah. I want to know if somebody's going to have their toes out. You can tell by the face. People bring their toes out on airplanes.

Yes, in the back where we are, they're doing that. They've done it in first class before. I had to say something. Did you really? Yes, I did. Is there a better class of toe up there? No. No toes or better toes.

Did you say, excuse me, this is first class? I did. That's not how we do things here. Just imagine what broke toes look like in the back. Coming up, you're going to want a second helping of our bluff the listener game. Phone 1-Tu-8, Wait-W-W-W-Tol-Tay-T-W-Tol-Tel-Me. From NPR. From NPR in WVEZ Chicago, this is Wait-W-W-Tel Me, the NPR News Quiz.

I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Joyelle Nicole Johnson, Shantira Jackson and Adam Burke. And here again is your host at the Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah, Georgia, Peter Sago. Right now, sign for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me. Bluff, the listener game, call 1-Tripple-A.

Wait-Ate-Wight to play our game in the air. Hi, you're on. Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't tell me. Hey, I'm Owen from Ames, Iowa. Hey, Owen from Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State. What do you do there? Well, I actually go to Iowa State. I'm doing engineering. Oh, that's great. That's cool.

What kind of engineering are you going to do? I'm doing mechanical right now. Okay. So are you by any chance going to be building robots? Oh, that's certainly the plan if I don't get it out of my classes. Yeah. Just remember, make sure when you're building the robots that they be best. I'll make sure that.

Well, welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. You're going to play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. Also, what is Owen's topic? Amuse my boose. Everybody loves the world. Can you say that? Apparently you can.

On the radio? Amazing. I haven't even met your bush. Fine dining, of course, is the wonderful culture where you go to restaurants and secretly look up words from the menu and your phone so the waiter doesn't think you're an idiot. Our panel is going to tell you about a hot new dining destination that foodies are flocking to.

Pick the one who's telling you the truth, you'll win the weight waiter of your choice in your voice mail. Are you ready to play? Oh, yeah. All right. First, let's hear from Joriel Nicole Johnson. Necessity is the mother of invention, said Katie Dickinson, the mother of the new viral eatery

in Lake Odessa, Michigan. Katie, the mom of triplets, was at her wits and feeding them when they came of age to masticate. Shocker, they only eat nuggets. But while chicken nuggets are delicious, they are nutritious. Then the idea popped in her head like the light bulb in her childhood Easy Bake Oven.

She started making everything in the shape of nuggets. Turns out her kids will eat anything if it's mashed up, breaded, fried, and in the shape of a dinosaur. After successfully catering her kids' eighth birthday party with a plethora of pocket-sized bites, the food truck, nothing but Nuggets was born. And the restaurant is a huge success with kids and adults alike. Yes, chicken dippers abound, but the menu also boasts favorites like Return of the Mac and Cheese. And for the adults, the lobster bis nuggets are called Biscay. business. I've always said, if there's a restaurant that made food my kids wanted to eat, I would smash through the walls to get there, said a patron waiting patiently in line with his

offspring. Nothing but nuggets, where all the food comes in the shape of nuggets. Your next food fable comes from Adam Burke. When fancy eatery Le Mésonne Deterre opened up in San Francisco's Embarcadero District last year, it was an instant hit with a local tech pros and crypto bros. Wealthy clientele flocked to eat pricey dishes such as brainstorm stew and start-up sliders, which boasted exotic ingredients that promised to boost both the intellectual and athletic prowess of the area's most voracious executives. But this week, Maison's proprietor and head chef Delaney Robars revealed that what her clientele

were eating were just sloppy joes and puread luncheables. It was all an elaborate project to to prove that rich people will pay for anything as long as it's expensive. While she thought her big reveal would end the restaurant's popularity, it backfired. Her most faithful customers refused to believe it. I think I know grass-fed Argentinian veal when I tasted, says Maison regular and venture capitalist Vance Headley. In fact, the more robars persists with the idea, the more popular her establishment seems to be. People are nuts for our expensive seafood dish, abalone moose, she says. Even when I tell them it's actually just a baloney sandwich mashed up with some cat food.

Just goes to show, these crypto dudes will swallow anything. A restaurant in San Francisco that serve fake gourmet food to the crypto bros, even after they are told that it's fake, your last restaurant recap comes from Shantira Jackson. The educated diners and foodies are all heading to central Massachusetts town, Amherst, for chef-made cuisine that is both superb and served by ladies wearing hair nets. That's because the bistro that Michelin somehow forgot is the UMass dining hall. Their food is so good that people in the surrounding area have started taking their dates there, and apparently girls actually like doing that. The days of the freshman 15 are gone, and the freshman 55 is closer than ever before.

The cafeteria has been blessed with food from a former chef from the Ritz Carlton and a former paratrooper. No matter who's in the kitchen, they like to go all out for these kids, especially on holidays, whether it's Duwale, the Lunar New Year, or the Super Bowl, which is, according to them, also a holiday. But the biggest celebration is on Halloween when they serve over 15,000 lobsters to sexy Frankensteins all over campus. So if you have a house full of picky eaters, you know where to send them for undergrad. UMass Amherst, a college that's only 90 miles away from Boston. All right. So if you're interested in a fine dining experience, you can go to one of these three places.

Was it from Joelle Nicole Johnson, nothing but nuggets, a food truck and now a restaurant that serves all kinds of food, all in the shape of dinosaur nuggies. from Adam Burke, Les Masons Deterre, a fake gourmet, high-tech restaurant for high-tech guys, or from Chantira Jackson, the finest dining in all of central Massachusetts, the dining hall at UMass Amherst. Which of these are the real story of a dining destination we found in the news? Ooh, I think I'm going to have to go with Adam's story. You're going to go with Adam's story.

The restaurant opens specifically for the tastes of tech bros who turned out to be more gullible than even we thought. That's your question. The thing an engineer would do, yeah. Yeah, you know, speaking as an engineer, I know, you probably have an insight into that. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to a reporter who actually brought this to our attention. The dining

halls at UMass at chocolate milk from local farmers' cabs. I even saw a hello kitty-shaped pizza. That was the Wall Street Journal's Jasmine Lee, who reported on and of course dined at the UMS Amherst Dining Hall, which hopefully will be getting its Michelin Star.

sometime soon. I'm so sorry to say, although I'm sure you're right about engineers. You were sadly incorrect in which was the real story. However, you earned a point for Adam. Thank you. For a story that I think we all wish we're true. Thank you so much for playing. Take care. Bye-bye. And now the game we call Not My Job. Savannah used to be known for its history and beauty and trees covered with Spanish moss. Now it is just as well known for the Savannah College of Art and Design, which, among other things, has helped make Georgia the Hollywood of the East with the Department of Film and TV there. DW Moffitt, a movie and TV actor known for Friday Night Lights,

and more recently, one battle after another, is the chair of that department. He joins us now. DWMoffett, welcome to Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you so much. Great to be here. Great to be here. So you've had a very long career. A very, very long.

Very long. A long distinguished career. I'm so old. And I was thinking about what of your many roles people might recognize you for. I was guessing Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights are the dads in the airports who stop me. Yeah. Switch to birth are the women in their early 20s who love Switch to Birth.

One battle after another. All the racists love you. People. My favorite. People run from me when they, you know. Well, okay, in Friday Night Lights, if I'm not mistaken, you played a dad of one of the high school football players. And I think I can say, this is not a spoiler,

a bad dad. I'm the worst dad in the world. The worst dad ever. And the plot was that you're trying to shape your child into the perfect football playing machine and it goes a ride. People take that show very seriously. They're very passionate. Are they still mad at you for ruining that kid's prospects?

I sometimes am delighted to appear on worst dads in television history lists. Really, yeah. You know, I tell you, but it's fun because, and I talk to my students about this all the time, you know, when you play a bad guy, you can't think I'm a bad guy. Right. Like, I was just playing a dad who was really invested in his son's future. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of bad dads, you also appear in the Oscar winner one battle after another as a member of this bizarre, secretive group of racists called the Christmas Adventurers Club.

Yes, I do. I have a number of questions about that. Let's start with this one. Yeah. What the hell? I don't know, man. Christmas Adventurers Club? Yeah.

When P.T. Anderson calls you up and says, I've got just the role for you. So when you get that call, you go yes. Of course. I never read the script. Not once. Not once. He's asking you to do it. Sign him up.

There's this insanely bizarre scene with, like, Babel speak. Like, we gave him a Yankee, double Yankee. clearance thing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They're shooting on the VistaVision camera, which is like shooting a scene next to a jackhammer. Right, enormous thing. Enormous thing. They never did any dialogue replacement. There was no looping.

So I said to my wife, I'm not in the movie. They cut that scene. I had never read the script, so I didn't realize that scene is right in the middle of the movie. Right. I said, I'm not in the scene. They cut the scene. And my wife knows the post-production supervisor, and she was like, oh, no, he's in the movie. You know, the Christmas adventure is that's why winter is my least favorite.

There you go. So you are now, of course, the chair of the Department of Film and TV here in Savannah at Skad. In addition to chairing the department, do you also teach acting, film, TV production? So I teach two things primarily because my faculty is so amazing. I don't want to take these classes away from them. And because I was an actor and still am an actor, I teach a character. I teach a class called directing the actor, which is teaching filmmakers how to communicate effectively with that strange animal, which is the actor. Actually, this is something that I was wondering about, which is, you have had students, even though I'm sure SCAD is very selective, who just aren't very good at it, and do you ever find yourself having to tell them that?

So here's the thing. That's a yes. Yeah. Is that how you start this sentence? But like, seriously, like, there are people that I know in this business that when I was 25 and I saw them, I was like, no way. No, can't be. But, like, because we teach producing, directing, editing, all these different things, you know, someone might say to me, you know, I really want to be a great cinematographer. And who knows, they might wind up being an incredible editor someday.

Right. And you know, and you can say, well, you know, film sets very busy. We also need catering. I have to wonder, though, you've been here in Savannah for how long? Ten years. Okay. Was it hard for a Chicago guy like yourself to adjust? Like, how long after getting here did you figure out that you say, bless your heart rather than go F yourself?

So my mother is a hillbilly. She's from, yeah, she's from Southeastern Kentucky. There you all. And so they don't say bless yourself, but they say something similar. So I kind of had an inkling. What do they say in Eastern Kentucky, you'll bless your heart? You better watch out. That's going to key.

I'm going to key. They get straight to the point. Yeah. That's not so much passive. aggressive. You should do that when you're critiquing a student's film. Well, D.W. Moffat, it is a pleasure to talk to you. We've invited you here to play a game. We're calling a bunch of battles all at once. So, you were in one battle after another, which is, when you think about it, a manageable way to handle your battles, right? But what if everybody attacked

at the same time? So we're going to ask you three questions about mass meleys. Get two right. You want a prize for one of our listeners. Also, who is D.W. Moffat playing? for. Hannah Taylor of Savannah, Georgia. Are ready to do this? I'm ready. Here you go. First question, at the annual Kerkpinar Festival in Western Turkey, fighters come from all over

that country to compete in a form of wrestling that has a particular twist. What is it? A, wrestlers' arms are tied behind their back and their legs are tied together. B, not only is poking in the eye aloud, it's the only thing allowed. Or C, all the wrestlers are covered

in olive oil to make them more slippery. Ooh. The audience of the people are shouting C. Olive oil with a little too much enthusiasm. They like heated rivalry. Well, that just lets his nose of venom. You know, there used to be a

wrestling place in Hollywood had a lot of hot oil wrestling. Anyway, just because Turkish food is so oil. Redalant of olive oil. I'm going to go with C. You're right. It is olive oil. In fact.

Olive oil wrestling in Turkey goes back more than 600 years. It's a hallowed tradition. There you are. All right, here's your next question. You did that well. In the village, high in the mountains of Peru, the people there celebrate an event called the Takanaki every Christmas day. What happens at the Takanakui? A, everybody tries to beat up everybody else to get them back for slights that happened during the preceding year.

B, people attempt to beat a llama in a summer. spitting fight, or C, it's a giant Christmas-themed martial arts match called gold, frankincense, and murder. I'm going to go with B. You're going to go with B, people attempt

to beat a llama. No, it was actually the first one, as the narrator of a documentary about it, says, it's like Yom Kippur, but with punching. But then if you offended someone at the beginning of the year, the anticipation Oh, yeah.

You've just been winding up for 364 days. All right. This is fine. If you get this last one right, you win. In Florence, Italy, they still play this ancient ball game called Calcio Storico, where players can do anything they like to the opposing player, resulting in all kinds of injuries. But the game was even crazier back when it began in the Middle Ages

because organizers often did what in the middle of a match? A, through a bucket of knives, into the playing area. B, alerted certain players that other certain players had slept with their wives or B, or rather, C, released live bowls into the arena.

Oh, we have a calcium historical fan here. Or that's just a woman who's being attacked by a B. I see your point. I'm going to go with the bowls. You're right. That's what they did. They don't do that anymore. But they still have this every year. So if you want to go see some Italians, beat the living hell out of each other.

And what's even crazy are, those bowls are mad about slights that happened. They're mad about slights that happen in Pampalona. I'm going to get him for that. Also, how did D.W. Moffat doing our quiz? Two out of three, he won that battle. D.W. Moffat is an actor with decades-long career in film, TV, and theater, and he is the chair of the film and television program here at the Savannah College of Art and Design. D.W. Moffin, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Oh, wait, wait, don't tell me. Give it up. We're very unbeat-Divac muffin. It just amended a push for the tush in our listener, Limer Challenge. Call 1-T-A-W-A-W-T-W-Aid to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, from NPR.

From NPR and WBECD Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Shantira Jackson, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, and Adam Burke. And here again is your host at the Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah, Georgia, Peter Sago. Thank you. It just a minute

it's one limerick after another in our listener of Limerick Challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-3-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1-88-9-24. Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news. Adam, this week,

the Times profiled an increasingly popular online support group for certain members of the population. Who is it? Online support for certain members? Yes. is it people who are addicted to support groups yes

no I was trying to figure out how that would work you know I'm addicted to introducing myself I will say that I myself I am a member of this particular group is it like something you don't like it's something for people who are struggling with something and they're encouraged just to embrace it be careful Adam

glad this one isn't mine Is it a support group for the follicle challenge? For the bald, yes. This Reddit group called Our Bald, it's entirely dedicated to pushing people to just accept their baldness. The community helps people live their truth, and the truth is, you're bald. I like that. You can tell those are bald cheers. And I say this from experience, the only thing worse than losing your hair is pretending you are not losing your hair.

Yes. It's like, no, no, guys, I got hair. I wear this fedora all the time because I'm an old-timey newspaper man, see? Yes. Do not be afraid to be bald, man. Bald is very sexy. Yes. I have a sexy.

Yes, come on, be bald. I love a little people. Hey. And I'm gay, so I really mean it. I wouldn't lie to you. I mean, I would. But I'm not. The subreddit says it's devoted to encouraging members to, quote,

embrace bald and strive to make the world a more bald friendly place. All right. Okay, that's fine. That could work. Or an idea. We could just make the world less friendly for people with hair. Hey, Fur Dome. Hey, look at that moss head.

Well, I have to say that from my perspective, as announcer, judge, I see the back of Peter's head. Yeah, yeah. And there is some hair back there. A little bit. Yeah. It is rude. when you check your appearance in the back of his head.

Adam, more and more people are giving up on something. They're realizing is a time-wasting, unprofitable job. What is it? Well, I know that Gen Z aren't having sex. Is it sex? As a job? As a job? Listen.

Hey, someone would say it's the oldest one. Can I get a clue? Yeah. Do two random guys still laugh at their own jokes if there's no one to hear them? Oh, oh, please, that this be... Is it podcast? Yes, people are walking away from podcasting.

Yes, applaud that. People are applauding who made you to see a live taping of what is actually a podcast. Okay. As more and more of the podcasting world is being dominated by just a few shows, many of the other podcasters are realizing that continuing simply isn't worth the time of their money.

This is heartbreaking. Without podcasts, where am I supposed to go hear three dudes talk about a movie for two hours longer than the runtime of the movie. I think that we should just take all the microphones from the men and let the girls keep their podcast. Yes. And talk about what? Well, have all the men murder each other and then have all the women do two crime podcasts about

that. Yeah, exactly. Which is actually a point. One of the problems is so many podcasts are true crime podcasts and we're running out of crimes. We need more murders. Anybody volunteer? If all the men murdered each other, women would not be wasting time on a podcast.

They'd be outside and running at night. Booty shorts. Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank, but first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call to leave a message at 1-3-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1-88-9-24. You can see us most weeks back

at the Studio Baker Theater in Chicago or catch us on the road. We'll be in Austin, Texas, on June 4th. And if you like our show, but wish I would stop asking questions all the time, Check out our comedy grab bag stand-up show at the Bell House in Brooklyn, April 24th. Josh Gondelman will be hosting. He'll be joined by our very own Peter Gross and other special guests.

Don't miss it. Hi, you're on. Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me. Hi, this is Kelly from Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington, North Carolina. That's a lovely place. What do you do there? I work for a commercial bank specializing in small business loans,

but my most important role is mom to a beautiful 10-month-old named Sam. Oh, wow, a 10-month-old. So you are new to this parenthood thing? I think I'm a-in-it-it-so-far if I do say so much. Oh, wow, I see. Yeah. Yeah, you think you're acing it because they can't talk back yet. Well, welcome to the show, Kelly.

Alzo Slate, filling in for Bill Curtis, is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly and just two of the limericks will be a winner. You ready to play? Yes, sir. Here is your first limerick.

on red carpets I cheekily strut because the slit on my dress is high cut it's just a small peak so it's all very chic you will catch a side glimpse of my butt yes very good

according to Vogue we should know the new look on runways and red carpets is quote showing off your flank unquote you can go for a tasteful peek-a-but look like Heidi clume did with sheer panels highlighting her side butt, go full crack like Chapel Rhone,

or for the ultimate fashion statement, do what Leonardo DiCaprio did at the Oscars, just fix the drain under the kitchen sink. In my day, you just ripped your pants. Yeah. It's about time, and it makes sense. I mean, what is a butt crack but your lower cleavage? You know what? I'm into it.

Really? You're excited about that? Because I want to see a bunch of favorites people's butts. If that's what you're going to give me, I'll take it. You will. You're ready for it. I'm ready for it. Is there a fancy word for like ask cleavage? Because like with regular cleavage, it's like... Decolate.

Yeah. And Balcon. Don't ask me why I know all these. You know a lot of different ways to say that. There should be like a French word, you know what I mean? Blivage. The clavage. Yeah.

Yeah. Le crack. All right. Here is your next limerick. When my toddler gets bored at home, we go. At the DIY place, we roam three roads. He opened. opens all drawers, touches tools, rugs, and more.

I am taking my kid to home. Depot. Depot, yes, Home Depot. You've heard of Home Depot. That, of course, is the megastore popular with boomer dads and millennial lesbians. Well, there you are. Fact check true. Well, this week, People Magazine proposed it's also a great place to bring your board toddler.

Hear the power tool aisle kid. Enjoy yourself. I know you love pressing buttons. I don't know. This is definitely something that I am into. Going just wandering on Home Depot? Spending money at Home Depot. Just remember, you can only bring your kids there for fun.

If you're not, if you're actually going there for something you need, because your child will just never get over the trauma of seeing you get that frustrated. It's like, and then daddy started shouting, does anybody work here? Do you really want your kid to be that comfortable at Home Depot? You know, because you ask him to do his chores, and then he quotes you way over the odds. It takes twice as long as he said he's going to do. Because you know what? We need to rip out the entire wall.

Yeah. I need a new tool for that. Oh, got it. All right. Here is your last limerick. We sell penthouses in IPO stocks. And we love dermatology brodocs. We don't go out for smokes, but for quick forehead pokes.

On our work breaks, we go get some. Botox. Yes, Botox. More and more coworkers are getting Botox together between meetings. Like a little outing. The meaning that they go to after the Botox appointment must be so interesting. I can't tell the boss, like, my proposal, his face is stuck. Sometimes it's a special, like, officer treat, a bonding exercise.

There's even a Botox clinic that doubles as a co-working space. The big question is, how do you propose this to your coworkers without it being an HR violation? Also, how did Kelly do in our quiz? Three out of three. Perfect score. Well done, Kelly. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks for calling and playing. Thanks. Bye, bye. It is time for our final game. Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions

as they can. Each correct answer is worth two points. Alzo, can you give us the scores? Absolutely. Joyelle and Shantir are knotted up at two with Adam in the lead with three. All right. So that means Adam is going last.

And to go first, I'll just pick, How about Joyelle? Here we go. Yes. Here we go, Joyell. You're up first. The clock will start. When I begin your first question,

fill in the blank. On Wednesday, a California jury issued a $6 million ruling against social media giant blank. Instagram. No, I'm going to give it to you. Meta. Meta, yeah, they ain't Instagram.

Okay, I had to think about it. Yes. On Tuesday, the blank raised its maximum enlistment age to 42 years old. Oh, the Army. The Army. On Thursday, the White House announced it was pausing strikes on blank until April 6th.

Iran. Right. On Monday, a crash caused blank airport to shut down operations. for almost 24 hours. LaGuardia, New York City, baby! Is that correct? It is correct.

I thought maybe you were a little too excited about it, but okay. This week, a truck driver in New York ran into a highway overpass and then immediately blanked. Pete on himself. No, he then ran into another one. On Thursday, qualification playoffs for the 2026 FIFA blank began. Football. Yeah, World Cup.

Very good. This week, police in New York reported that a man robbed six banks in five days. taking in a total of blank dollars. 2999. No, a little bit more, 605. The man robbed banks in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx over the course of five days, but only managed to leave total with $605. Even worse, that means he's only taking home like 400 after taxes.

You know things are bad when the bank doesn't have any money. Also, how did Jail doing our quiz? He did pretty well. So you got five right for ten more. points, which gives her 12 and the lead. That's the most I've ever gotten right, Peter. You're getting there. That's my hockey summer. You're doing great. Shantira, you're up next. Here we go, fill in the blank. On Wednesday, another plan to reopen the Department of Blank failed in Congress. Homeland Security? Right. On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee released video from the

closed-door depositions of two of Blanks's closest associates. F.C.? Right. This week, NASA unveiled a proposal to create a permanent base on the blank. The moon? Right. This week, CNN reported the top director at FEMA, said, that he wants blanked. Stole all the money. No, he says he once teleported to a waffle house. Hey! I'm going there later, baby.

Someday you're just in the mood. That's the first time this administration has done anything that I'm down with. According to experts, increased gas prices are leading to a surge in sales for blanks. Bikes. No electric vehicles on Wednesday. The first trailer for HBO's new adaptation of the... Blanky Potter series was released. Hello.

Harry Potter. This week, six foot seven Irishman. Six seven. Six seven. Six, seven. Irishmen, don't eat. This week, six foot seven Irishman, Nef Gwa, became a top football recruit for American colleges, despite the fact that blank.

He has never played that sport in his life. That's exactly right. He has never played football. Every college football program in the U.S. is trying to sign Nef Jua, a 20-year-old Irish giant. who has never played football. Turns out it actually makes sense. Giawa caught a recruiter's eye

while playing rugby, which, if I understand correctly, is a sport that answers the question, what if football, but with punching? What if football with little shorts and they touch each other's butts? Some people are different priorities. All right.

Also, how does Shantira do it our quiz? Shantir also got five right for ten more points, and she's now tied for the lead. Very good. All right. How many then does Adam Burke need to win? Adam needs five to win. All right, here we go, Adam.

This is for the game, Phil Blank on Wednesday. The season opener with the New York Yankees featured robot blanks. Oh, like pitchers. Like machines that fireball. No, they're not using pitching machines, they're using robot umpires. This week, OpenAI said they were shutting down SORA, their app that creates AI-generated.

blanks. Like girlfriends, boyfriends, partner? I was about to say you wish, but I wouldn't say that to you. Videos on Thursday, the IOC announced a new policy that effectively bans blank athletes from competing in women's events. Transgender. Right. This week, the FDA

cited the makers of a product called blank for not disclosing that it contained an erectile dysfunction drug. What? Name and product that secretly included an erectile dysfunction function drug was

Blank. Was it her chicken nuggets store? No, it was called Boner Bear Honey. On Tuesday, late night host Blank said that he is co-writing the next film in the Lord of the Rings franchise. Stephen Colbert.

Right. After a four-year break, K-pop superstars Blank released a new album. BTS. Right. This week, a sailor in the French Navy went on a run, posted his results to the app Strava, and accidentally blanked. started war with Spain.

No, he accidentally gave away the top secret location of the aircraft carrier he was on. Strava is an app where various amateur athletes can post a workout complete with GPS maps of where they did it, and then other athletes can see and like the post, which is how this French sailor accidentally exposed the location of his aircraft carrier.

Even worse, he tagged the post with Easy 10K, felt great, here are the nuclear launch code. Also, did Adam Burke do well enough to win? Nope. He did pretty bad, actually. He only got three right, which gives the championship to Shantira and Jol. There you are. In just a minute, we're going to ask our panelists to predict after The Bachelorette,

what will be the next series to get canceled at the last minute and why? But first, let me tell you all. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. is a production of NPR and WB EZ Chicago in association with urgent hair car productions. Doug Berman, benevolent overlord. Philip Godica Reds our Limerick's. B.J. Leaderman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles,

Norrumboss, and Lillian King. Special thanks to Blythe Robertson and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynn is our spring breaker. Emma Choi is our vibe curator. Technical direction is from Lorna Wighter. CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse, a senior producer, Ian Schellogg, and the executive producer of Wait Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, is Mr. Mike Danforth.

Now, panel, what's the next TV series to get cancelled at the last minute. Shantira Jackson. Euphoria, because the way that the world is right now, we don't want to watch Zendaya be sad. Adam Burke. The next season of the kid show, Bluey, is canceled

when the FCC declared that due to equal time rules, there needs to be a show about an angry pit bull called Ready. And Joyal Nicole Johnson. It's a TV show that's been on way too long, and therefore it's run its course, so we cancel in the United States

of America. And if any of that happens, we'll ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Alzo Slate. Thanks to all shit, Shantira, Jackson, Adam Burke, and Joel Johnson. Thanks to the Staff and Koo here at the Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah. Special thanks to Emily Hacksaw and everyone at GPB. Thanks to our fabulous audience. They came out to see us in Savannah.

Thanks to all of you for listening wherever you might be. I'm Peter Sagan. We'll see you next week. This is NPR.