Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - We tackle the SOTU and Olympian Lilly King talks trash

Episode Date: February 28, 2026

This week, we're live in Bloomington, Indiana with Olympic champion Lilly King and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Josh Gondelman, and Faith SalieTo 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

Get in loser. We're taking a trip under the sea to a junkyard. I've done cobra helicopters. We've seen old washer machines. Does a second trip boat count. This junk helped create one of the world's largest artificial reefs and a new home for many marine animals. But how did our trash become another fish's treasure? Find out on Shortwave. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR and WBEC Chicago, this is wait, wait, don't tell me. our news quiz.

I'm the man with the voice so smooth you could go curling on that. Bill Curtis, and here's your host at the Indiana University Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana. Peter. It is great to be here at

Indiana University, IU, which, thanks to their incredible football team, just, they just learned a little known secret. When you win the National College Football Championship, the coach gets a new record-setting high salary, and the rest of you get us.

So later on, speaking of athletics, we're going to be talking to a proud who's your alum and multiple Olympic medalist swimmer Lily King. But first, it's your turn to compete. Give us a call to 1-3-8-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1 888-9248-924. Let's welcome our first listener-contestant. Hi, you're on Wait-Wait-Wait-Don't tell me.

Hi, I'm Bradley Patrick. I'm from Chicago, Illinois. Hey, how are things back in Chicago? Still very cold. I'm kind of glad to hear that because we're not there. What do you do in our hometown? So for my day job, I'm an enterprise consultant, but for my second gig, I run a local cat rescue.

here. Really? Yes. When you say here, do you mean your house? No, no, no. I mean at our adoption center. Okay, all right, all right. Well, that's very good work. I'm glad you do it. Welcome to the show, Bradley. Let me introduce you

to our panel. First, a stand-up comedian performing at the Commonwealth Comedy Club outside Cincinnati on April 10th and 11th, and at the DC improv on the 12th. It's Josh Gondelman. Hello. Thank you for rescuing all those cats. Thank you. Next, she's a contributor to CBS Sunday morning.

It's Faith Sailing. Hi, Bradley. Hello. And a comedian who'll be at the Laugh Factory in Las Vegas's Horseshoe Casino March 19th through the 15th, and at Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, March 20th and 21st.

It's Alonzo Bowden. Hello, Bradley. Hello, Alonzo. Welcome to the show, Bradley, you're going to play Who's Bill this time? That, of course, is the game where Bill Curtis reads you three quotations from the week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, two out of three, you'll win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose for your voicemail. Are you ready to go? Let's do it. Let's do it. Your first quote is from the President of the United

States. We are the hottest country. That was just some of the good news the president shared during what big speech this week. Oh, that would be the state of the year. It would be, Yes, the State of the Union. Tuesday's speech was the longest state of the union in history, in part because he kept bringing out these special guests. For example, Trump invited the U.S. men's hockey team into the House chamber, which was nice. A lot of them hadn't been there since January 6th.

That's true. When he said we are the – I will agree. When he said we are the hottest country in the world, he was just referring to the fact that we've stopped doing anything to protect the climate. So we are getting there. I honestly didn't watch. There is no reason for me to watch an old man rambling for like two hours just making it up as he goes. On the other hand, I mean, think about it.

In the world we live in now, there's so few things worth watching live, right? Other than sports, of course, because everything else, everything that happens has been pre-planned. Not with him. He could have done anything, right? That's true. And he doesn't even, when he talks, he's not even connected to reality, right? He's just describing a fantasy that's going on in his head. He might as well have given a state of Narnia address. One of the things he did is he handed out prizes, medals to his various guys.

He gave out the Congressional Medal of Honor. He gave out a legions of merit awards, medals of freedom, Purple Heart Awards, and he gave RFK Jr. the Purple Face Award. I think this is the first time that the fact checkers said, well, it'll be easier to just try to find something true. Yeah, just list that. We'll count all the lie. We'll just, we'll put two, there were two things that were true. We'll go with those.

All right, Bradley, here is your next quote. The tribe has spoken. That's the catchphrase from a reality show that amazingly celebrated its 50th season this week. What show? That would be Survivor. Yes, Survivor. It is amazing that they have reached 50 seasons of Survivor. I thought they all starve to death on that island long ago.

But it's not surprising the show has been so successful. Where else can you get to watch a 35-year-old orthodontist poop in the ocean? Do we know that math? How many years has it been on? I think it started in like 2002 around there. It's been on for a long time, Faith. Can someone, do y'all watch it? I still have a big problem believing,

it's tough to survive when the camera crew is eating somewhere. Yeah. I was wondering about that myself. The sound guy's having lunch. Yeah. Okay, I didn't catch anything today. Mind if I stop by for a BLT off the truck.

On the very first episode, broadcast this last week, and this is true, a contestant tore his ACL and had to drop out. It's like, yeah, this show really is 50. I wonder who comes up with, like, They're running out of places and things to do with them, you know, different islands and different challenges and this and that. And I've heard stories and I just wish they would do it and just do like hood survivor.

Yes. Just some rich white people drop them in the hood with nothing. And let's just see what happens. I think that's a great idea. I think they should switch the survivor contestants and the Love Island contestants when you're. year. What would happen? What would happen?

I think that people that thought they were going to spend a period of time eating bugs would have a wonderful time making out. And then the hottest 24-year-olds on Earth will die within hours. All right. Your last quote is some reactions to the debut of a redesign of a popular line of dolls. Wow. They are kind of skinny. They're definitely missing the historic.

So what dolls got a controversial makeover for their 40th anniversary this year? I... I'm not, sir. Yeah, not a big consumer of dolls, I take it. No, I'm not. Well, I'll give you a hint. These things go great if you want to have, like, marriages with your American boy dolls. Oh, American Girl Dolls.

American Girl Dolls, yes. For generations of children, the super wholesome American Girl Dolls, dolls each with represent a character from a real period in America's history answered the question, what if a book were a doll? But the new modern-era dolls, American girl dolls, are smaller, skinnier, and to quote the New York Times, too yassified. But if you hate the new look, don't worry. Cabbage Patch kids are just as chubbed out as ever.

They're 40 now? They're 40. The dolls are 40. Survivors 50. Did they create a new doll named Perry? Perry Menopause. Perry Menopause, yeah. The girls are just, they're into wall Pilates.

They have those glassy doll eyes because they're scrolling. Yeah. No, actually, it's funny because the new dolls, the idea is like these are these characters from periods in history if they live today. This is how they dress and look, which I guess is nice. It would be maybe better if they show the line of dolls, like what the characters.

were like at 40, right? Oh, look, Caroline has 12 children, and Kirsten died three years ago of the Spanish flu. Isn't it? There's tough times. But what I understand by making them smaller and thinner, isn't there a whole movement to make, like, women look like real women,

as opposed to that impression of... That was before GLP-1 inhibitors. These are O-Zempic and girl dolls. Standards have changed, right? So, for example, and the new dolls, all the skirts are shorter. Kirsten now has cool hip boots, and Rebecca now has Mar-a-Lago face.

Bill, how did Bradley do in our quiz? The cats will be proud, Bradley. You got them all right. Congratulations. Perfect. Take care, Bradley, we'll see you back home. Thank you. Bye-bye. Have a great one. Right now, panel, that is time for you

to answer some questions about this week's news. Alonzo, wearable technology is everywhere. it can track pretty much every health metric imaginable. Well, there's a new wearable gadget that can measure how many times you do what. Wow. We're not going to narrow that down at all. I'm just going to say how many times you can do,

now you've got to give me something. I will. It can detect them even when they're silent but deadly. Oh, my gosh. How many times you pass gas? Exactly. Technically. Is there anyone?

That was very classy way to answer that, Well, we're at a university. I would have just said you farting, kid. Exactly. Let her rip. What my question is, is there anyone who doesn't know? Are people just letting it go and not realize it like, oh, wait, that was mine. Wait a minute. I got to add that one to the list.

Oh, shoot, it's almost midnight. I get to get my farts into it. What number are you shooting for? Well, here's the thing. Apparently, it will answer a lot of questions about digestive health, and most importantly, answer the question about who dealt it. And it is being called, of course, the Fitbit for Farts

because the Fart Watch, smart watch didn't do well in the focus group. You're in the elevator. You ruin the elevator. Right. And then you're like, sorry, I'm trying to keep my numbers up. Coming up,

move over Rick Steves. Our panelists are the travel gurus in this week's bluff the listener game. Call 1-3-8 Wait-Wa-W-W-W-T-W-T-Leg to Play. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait-Wa-W-W-W-Tel Me, from NPR. And just a reminder that we exist on two different planes of reality. We're flesh and blood humans in a theater in Chicago, but we're also digital entities who can automatically be transmitted to your phone as a weekly podcast. Don't forget to tap Follow so you get every new episode automatically. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is

wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, we are playing this week with Faith, Saley, Josh, Gundleman, and Alonzo Bowden. And here again is your host at the IU. What a jury of in Bloomington, Indiana, Peter Segal. Thank you, everybody. Right now, it is time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, bluff the listener game, call 1-8-8-Wait-Wait-Wait to play our game on the air.

How you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, this is Tim Josephs. I'm calling from Greensboro, North Carolina. Oh, Greensboro, North Carolina. What do you do there? I spend time with my twin nine-year-old boys, a lot of parks, a lot of, you know, a lot of kid-related activities, mostly. I bet. By the way, you have nine-year-old boys.

We have news about a new medical device. They're just going to love. Well, Tim, it's really nice to have you in the show. You're going to play our game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Tim's topic? A new travel hack. Everybody loves travel hacks. You can't sleep in hotels.

Just bring your own pillow. Are you flying Spirit Airlines? Don't fly Spirit Airlines. This week, we heard about a new travel hack to make being on the road a little easier. A panelist are going to tell you about it. Pick the one who's telling the truth, and you'll win the wait-waiter of your choice on your voicemail. You ready to go? I'm ready.

All right. First, let's hear from Alonzo Bowden. Marcus Anderson loves to travel, but hates. to pay for it. So he's mastered the crying hack. Marcus, a freelance videographer, does over 200 nights a year at hotels and said he got tired of being nickel and dined with room charges. One recent work trip, he filmed an acting class as they learned to cry on cue. Marcus decided to try it. Turns out he has a gift. Now, whenever he interacts with hotel staff on business trips, he is actively sobbing. I've had charges removed. I've been given up.

Once I got a free room when my card was declined, I just told him I maxed out my card on my travel for the kids game and the kids lost. He almost got caught once. Just as he was getting his sports tears ready, the desk manager at a Boise Holiday Inn asked how his kid's piano career was going when Marcus remembered he'd used the piano story there before. How'd he get through it all? By crying, of course.

A frequent traveler who's discovered. that simply by crying at the right time in front of the right people gets them all kinds of perks. Your next travel tip comes from Faith Saly. Ever find yourself on the road without enough clean underwear? Well, fitness influencer Tara Woodcock has a hack for that, so don't get your knickers in a twist. Actually, do wad up your panties, she says, and shove them into the hotel room coffee maker.

You close it, you press it. brew and it puts scorching hot water through it. Woodcox explains on TikTok, you got yourself a cleaner pair of underwear to wear. You always thought hotel room coffee tasted generally like crap. Now, you can really detect the flavor of thong. She then suggests drying them with the blow dryer so you're not walking around with fresh brewed drip. Woodcock's followers can hardly wait for more hacks, like perhaps how to... to use the coffee creamer as a leave-in conditioner. And if you're really lazy, the ice bucket as a chamber pot.

Run out of underwear in the road, just clean your old pair in the coffee pot. What else are you going to use it for? Your last road remedy comes from Josh Gondelman. Pet stores across the United States have reported shortages of Siamese fighting fish after a viral TikTok blew the lid off a decades-old long-haul trucker practice. truck drivers don't want you to know this, but when they have to stay up all night, they keep a little fish tank in their cab

and let the fish bite their fingers to keep them awake. Said doctor points the rewards God, an adult man who calls himself that, slash travel influencer. And he was right about the truckers wanting to keep their secret, because now all the fish are being snapped up by college students trying to pull all-nighters during finals. Young adults are calling the trend finger-baiting,

either despite or because of how gross it sounds. I can't find any dang fish anymore, lamented Clem Swenson, a career long hauler. I've had to resort to bite my own hand or slathering my fingers in barbecue sauce and enticing a stray dog to do it. On a brighter note, the paucity of Betafish has caused Swenson

to bond more closely with the one he already has. He even gave his aquatic companion a radio call sign of his very own, Vince Gills. All right. So this week, we learned about a travel hack being offered by someone who assures us

it works. Is it from Alonzo Bowden or frequent traveler who says, if you can learn to cry on cue, there's no end to the upgrades you can get. From Faith Saly, if you run out of underwear, just use your hotel coffee pot to clean it. Or from Josh

Gondleman, the secret that truckers have known for years. You want to stay awake? Put your hand in a bowl with a beta fish. Which of these is the real travel hack we learned about this week? Sadly, I think I have to go with the grossest one, with the coffee. So your choice is

Faith's story. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to an expert in this particular field. You would be better surf washing underwear in the sink with shampoo if you were in a hotel than you are just putting it in the correct. That was Patrick Richardson, aka the laundry guy.

I, a preeminent laundry influencer, talking about what you can do that's better than putting your underwear in the coffee maker. Congratulations, you were right. It was, in fact, Faith's story. You've won a point for her. Thanks, too. She always appreciates, and you've won our game.

Thank you so much for playing. Thank you. Take care. It's time for coffee. It's time for coffee. And now the game where we ask people who have won everything to try one more game, we call it not my job. After dominating national collegiate competition as a swimmer here at Indiana, Lily King went on to win multiple medals at three different Olympics, including two golds, and setting one Olympic record in the press stroke along the way.

She probably would have won gold at last week's Olympics too if they'd only have won gold at last week's Olympics too if they'd only let you swim down the bobsled track. We are delighted she is with us now. Lily King, welcome to wait, wait, don't tell me. It's great to have you here. Now, I know now that you still live near here, here in Bloomington, right? Where you, of course, you went to college after going up not far from here. And I was going to ask if you're still recognized some of years after graduation when you're walking on campus, but based on the reaction you got, I'm guessing yes? Yeah, I mean, every once in a while. I kind of live a little away from campus now. I'm just a lot. I kind of live a little away from campus now.

So I think everybody in my neighborhood kind of recognizes me, which is weird when you're trying to take the garbage out with your robe on. But yeah, every once in a while, you get a hay here or there, and that's how my life is. Now, it also, you also train, you still train here at the pool. I have to say, I retired in August. Retired from competitive swimming.

Yeah, all done. But yes, I did train there all through my career, and yeah, about 10 years in that pool. Wow. Did you enjoy after you graduated coming back here and getting in the pool with all these younger swimmers and just continuing to kick their ass? Yes, always.

Always. Yes. Because you really, you're not that old, but you don't have to be old to really enjoy beating younger people. Oh, for sure. It's a thing. No, it doesn't get old ever.

When you were growing up, you came from an athletic family, your father's a track coach, right? How did you know, A, that swimming was your sport, and B, that you were particularly good at it? Well, I was really bad at everything else, so that was a good giveaway. at the beginning.

Wait, maybe I'm an Olympic swimmer then. Hey, you never know. Yeah. Yeah, but I... Have you tried Olympic swimming, Josh? You never know. It's the last one I've been waiting to attempt. Gymnastics career didn't really take off.

It did not pan out. You know, I was about this size at 14, so it didn't work for me either. So it's okay. I love this story. I understand that your husband, who was a fellow member of the IU swim team, proposed to you after you had just won a meat or an event? Yes. So I got proposed to at Olympic trials.

And the security of Olympic trials is like really tight. Like, you know, trying to get up on the pool deck. There's guys with like army guys with machine guns, like ready to. It's wild. Yeah, guys, this is a swim meet. It's not that, it's not that deep. You're all wearing bathing suits. Where do they expect you to be hiding a weapon?

Exactly. So I walked down the stairs and I'm gasping for, you know, I just finished a race. I'm exhausted. and I saw he was on deck, and he was not supposed to be on deck. And I was like, how did you get down here? Like, they're going to take you out. Like, what are you doing? He had murdered 11 security guards.

Well, I'm pretty sure he used to be in the CIA, but we don't have to talk about that. Okay. So, yeah, so then he proposed right then and there. Really? Did he do the classic thing get down in one knee? Oh, yeah. Like, he had a swim cap on when he proposed to you. So this is funny.

So I didn't because one of my best friends who I trained with here, Annie Laser. She's Olympic bronze medalist from Tokyo Games. And she was a coach. So she told me, she's like, hey, just take your cap off after your race. And I was like, we're very honest with each other, sometimes to the point where it's not so nice. I was like, if you just tell me I look awful in my cap. Like, just tell the truth. And she's like, no, just you got to trust me to just take your cap off.

So funny. So I got a good friend. It is. So I get out after my race, I take my cap off and I'm looking in the stands for. and I couldn't see her. And I was like, what the hell? I took it off for nothing. I know I'm like rolling my eyes looking for.

Did you then hear her voice yelling? You also might want to put on some makeup? Yeah, no, it was too late. Why did you tell me to do my nails for the Olympic trials? Exactly. And there your husband was and he got down on one knee and he proposed right there in the deck. There you go. Right?

Yeah. And do you think he would have proposed if you had lost? So I was very confident that that wasn't going to happen for myself. He seems, or the losing. Right. Sorry. But he was like, well, if you got third, I thought it'd make you happy. I was like, that was a very kind thought.

But I would have said yes, obviously. I don't think I would have been super happy at the moment when it happened. So you're saying, and I've met enough really high elite athletes knowing that they all expect to win. You all expect to win every time, which is part of the secret. And so I imagine that if you hadn't won that day and made the Olympic team, you would have said yes to his proposal, but it might have been more like a okay, fine. Maybe, maybe. It was, you know, separation of church and state there. If you expect to win, which is part of what makes you champion, do you get nervous?

I know you're retired. Did you get nervous? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Especially like Olympic trials when you go in and the whole point of the meet is you got to be top two. So there's usually, you know, 100 to 150 people in your event and only to make the Olympic team. So pretty much, especially if you're expecting to make it, going into that final, you just got to think, don't mess up. Do competitors talk? Do you talk to me, like you said, it's 150 people, and I'm guessing the top group you expect to win.

Do you guys, like, talk smack to each other before you jump in a pool? I do. They didn't like it that much. No, wait a minute. Okay. What is, hold up. We had read that one of your secrets is you like, you psych out your opponent. You play some mind games.

Looking pretty dry today. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, fine, trash talk. I get it. It's some of the greatest athletes to do it. But how do you trash talk someone when you're both underwater? Yeah. You know, in one Olympic final, I did make eye contact with another girl off of a turn. So that was, I think, as close as we get in the water, that was pretty crazy. You should be an American girl doll.

Thank you. So in the swimming world, sorry, Peter. But in the swimming world, you're, like, out of control. Like, you're talking smack on the block. Are they happy you retired today? Yeah, they should be. I was off the rails there for a couple years. She was the Dennis Rodman of International.

I take that as a great compliment. You should. Well, Lily King, we are delighted to talk to you, but we've asked you here to play a game we're calling. Lily King meet these Lil Kings. That's right. We're going to ask you three questions about Shirk Kings. All right, all right.

Two or three questions, right, about men of, less than average height and win our prize, one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose for their voicemail, Bill, who is Lily King playing for? Olivia Chavino and Leo Burton of Bloomington, Indiana. I'm guessing you're a fan. Are you ready to do this? I'm ready. Okay. Here we go. Here's your first question. For centuries psychologists have talked about the Napoleonic complex or the idea that short men can be more aggressive or ambitious than tolerant. But a 2007 English scientific study disproved it. How did they do that? Was it A, by hitting short men with sticks, and seeing if they got angrier than tall men, B, by asking short men how much they might enjoy conquering Europe,

or C, simply by asking a bunch of short men if they were compensating for something, and they all said, no! I'm going to go C. You're going to go see? Your choice is C. They just asked them, and they all yelled No. No, it was actually A. No. What they did, and this is true, is they would wrap men of various heights on the knuckles with sticks.

And they noted that shorter men would react with less anger than taller men. Interesting. Yeah. All right, two more chances. You get these right, you win. Here we go. It might surprise you who is a short king, or was, as in which of these examples. A. Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, who who will.

meant to say that's one step for a small man. B. Joseph Stalin, who was so short, Harry Truman used to call him Lil Squirt. Or C. Dwayne the Rock Johnson, who originally wrestled under the nickname The Pebble. All right. It's not the pebble. I know that. I'm hearing B. B sounds good. Yes, it's B.

You guys got to like give me some YMCA. It all sounds the same here. I'm just asking, though, did you rely on the audience at your swimming? It's like, what should, what should I do? Oh, fast? Fast?

Okay, everyone wants to go out. A little bit. Yeah. Yeah, he's filmed a little squirt, you know. All right, last question. If you get this one right, you win. Alan Ladd, a star from the Golden Age of Hollywood, was only five foot six.

And to make up for that, the producers of his movies would do what? A, dig holes for his taller co-stars to stand in. B, put one foot high lifts into all his shoes, or C, make sure that every other actor in the entire movie was 5 foot two or shorter. They're all saying A. They're all saying A.

I feel like I'm really using my phone a friend. You are. Okay, I'll go A. It was A, yes. A hole? The lifted shoes wakes way more. So if he was talking to say a taller woman, they would dig a hole and the woman would stand in the hole and appear shorter.

And you're maybe saying, well, wait a minute, great. Okay, a hole. What if the actor had to move during the shot? Easy answer, they'd dig a ditch. Bill, how did Lily King do in our quiz? Six-time Olympic medalist wins the big one. Two out of three on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. With a lot of help.

It's a lot of help. All right. Lily King is a six-time Olympic medalist and a legend of who's your athletics. Lily King. Thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me. Thank you. Lily King, everybody.

In just a minute, we finally take pickleball down in our listener to Limerick Challenge game. Call 1-3-8 Wait-W-W-W-W-T-W-Tolme to join us in the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait-W-W-Telme, from NPR. From NPR. From NPR and WIPR-N-POR, this is Wait-Wa-Telme, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, we are playing this week with Josh Gundleman, Faith Saley, and Alonzo Bowden. And here again is your host at the IU Auditorium in Blobington, Indiana, Peters, everybody. To celebrate the 50th season of Survivor, we're going to play the 50,000th season of the listener Limerick Challenge.

If you'd like to come help celebrate, give us a call at 1-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-2. That's 1-8-8-24. But right now, panel, it's time to introduce a new game that we call... Cleaning out the cabinet. While President Trump got the attention this week, his cabinet has been busy making news, too. In fact, there's so much of it that we have to go through it all, rapid-fire. true false style. You ready to go? Oh, boy. Okay, we'll start with Josh. Josh, true or false? On a recent flight on Homeland Security

Secretary Christy Noem's luxury jet, her closest aide, Corey Lewandowski, demanded the pilot turn around and go back because Noam had forgotten her phone. False. It was like a blanket. Yes, she had forgotten her favorite blanket. Alonzo, true or false. When the pilot wouldn't turn around, Lewandowski fired him in the middle of the flight. True. Right. Faith, true or false. The pilot then pointed out that if he was fired, there'd be nobody to fly the plane, so Lewandowski had to unfire him. True. Right. Josh. Sure or false. More recent reports say it wasn't a blanket at all. It was Nome's, quote, mystery bag with something in it so embarrassing they had to come up with the blanket story instead.

I'm just going to vote with my heart and say, I hope it's true. It is true. Wow. Alonzo, true or false, labor secretary Lori Chavez de Ramer is under investigation for taking luxury vacations at government expense, drinking during work hours, taking her staff to strip clubs, and having an affair with a member of her security team. Absolutely true. It is true. Faith, true or false, because of this, her husband, Sean DeRamer, has started spending every day at the labor department just to keep an eye on her. False.

Right, it is false. He has been permanently banned from the department for sexually harassing female employment. boys there. And that is our cabinet clean out. We'll do it again as soon as the cabinet gets filled up again. All right, panel, some more questions for you about the rest of the week's news.

Faith, there's a new exciting bedtime trend taking what with you to bed? Oh, isn't it kind of everything? Yes, it's everything. That's the answer. It's called bedtime stacking. And it works like this. You don't want to get out of bed, so you bring all your lotions, your lip masks, your journals, your books, your drinks and snacks, and stack them

all around you in the bed. And you can stay there. Now, you don't have to bring your mice, they'll show up by themselves within a few hours. That sounds like not stacking just your first apartment in New York City. It also kind of sounds like depression. A little bit. Because like, you just don't want to get out of bed. Exactly. But all this stuff, I'm just old school. When I'm in bed, I just want a book, good lighting, my fingers, and a tub of hummus. You know? I wanted to know that. I don't know who does these studies.

This is like, this is a thing that somebody put themselves on. So, you know, when I go to bed, I like to spend, I like to do bedtime stack. I like to put everything in my bed. So I never have to get a bed. I've access to all my things. And it went viral and now it's a trend and people are doing it. You know, it occurs to me, some people just shouldn't have influence. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. How somebody do it and tell you about it? Yeah, we should be able to like take that away from. Right. Yes. We should get, there should be people that are outfluensers. Yes. See that trend taking off and they go, stop it.

Stop it. Yeah, that's called your mom. Mom just walks in the room. What the hell are you doing? It just smacks you. Put that stuff away. Get your fingers out of the hummus, Peter. 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, they'll leave a message at 1-3-8-8-Wa-Wate. That's 1-88-9-24. You can see us most weeks back at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago, our home, or you can catch us on the road. We'll be in Savannah, Georgia, on March 26th, and in San Diego on April 30th. For tickets and information to all of our live events, just go to NPR Presents.org. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't tell me. Hi, Peter. This is Katie from Burnsville, Minnesota. Oh, Burnsville. I actually know what? Out there near the Twin Cities, what do you do there? I am the administrative manager and graduate program coordinator for the Department of Pharmaceuticals at the University of Minnesota. And you have a business car to the size of a 9-11 sheet of paper, right?

About, yeah. I love the golden gophers. They're a fine place. Well, welcome to the show, Katie. 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 two of the limericks will be a winner. Ready to play? I'm ready. Here's your first Limerick. At cross-country, my teeth I am gritting. And the sweaters I make are well-fitting.

After stitches and pearls, through the slopes I will hurl, my powers to ski come from... Knitting? Right! After winning a silver medal at the recent Winter Olympics, cross-country skier, Ben Ogden credited his success to his hobby of knitting, saying it helps him relax.

Isn't it sweet? He needed something to take his mind off the stress of skiing, but he still wanted to be holding little pole. I see like a season two of heated rivalry with this as a subplot. There's something very, why are you looking at me like that? Is it because you're a straight? No. There's something very sexy about a hot athlete knitting.

But that's the thing. Like a heat of rivalry about this guy is like, oh, I like to knit. And the other guy's like, oh, I like to knit too. And they sit there and they knit for six episodes. No, it's the knitting guy versus the crocheting guy. Oh, yeah. That's a rivalry. The obviously the crocheting guy.

Needles clacking. And it's also just the expansiveness of their personality. That's the sound of romance. Clacking. All right. Here is your next limerick. At this age, heavy stones, we're not hurling. but on ice we will set them a twirling.

In the house we score points with our old creaking joints. After pickleball, we'll take up... Curling? Curling, yes. According to Bloomberg news, curling clubs are trying to leverage the excitement of the Olympics to make their sport the new pickleball. Just like pickleball, it's easy to learn and fun to play.

And, of course, there's nothing seniors-like. better than walking on ice. They call it the devil shuffleboard. Imagine shuffleboard, but you can break your hip at any time. All right, here is your last limerick. We've all heard this warning before G. There aren't enough bees. We need more G.

So I'm bringing my queens to some real swinging scenes. For my bees, I'm thirsty. Yep. You know, you're really pushing this Minnesota nice right now. Orgy. Yes, orgy. Orgy. Ors, they call it in Minnesota a potlock.

We know what you're doing. Yeah, that's right. Okay. A bee orgy in Belgium. I'm jealous. I can't even score an invite to a C orgy. So the BORG is exactly what it sounds like. Thousands of beekeepers bringing an endangered species of bee to Belgium

just so their bees can get freaky with each other and that will save the species from extinction. It's all fun and game for the queen bees, right? That's what it's about. Once they've mated, they go home and establish their own colonies. But when a male bee mates, his penis falls off and he dies, as it should be. Am I right, ladies?

Bill, how did Katie do on our quiz? Three in a row. Katie's great. You won. Well done, Katie. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you for playing.

Take care. You too. Now I'm afraid 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-blank questions as they can. Each correct answer is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

Josh has three, Alonzo has four, and Faith has five. Oh, my goodness. Well, that means we know who's going first, and that would be Josh. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, Hillary Clinton testified in a congressional investigation into the blank files. Epstein? Right.

On Monday, a bomb cyclone left several states on the East Coast dealing with over two feet of blank. Snow? Right. This week, a White House announced it was withholding $250 million. in blank funds from Minnesota. It's health care. Yeah, Medicaid, yeah. On Tuesday, the U.S. lifted a shelter-in-place order for Americans in blank.

Mexico? Right. This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochel said a grandfather would be allowed to keep his personalized license plate that reads blank. Horny grandpa? No. His plate, which he now can use, is P-B-4-We-Go. That's pretty good. On Monday, researchers said they developed a single vaccine that could protect against cold, flu, and blank.

COVID? Yes. Wow. On Thursday, the 2026 NFL blank began in Indianapolis. Combine? Right. This week, a man in Ohio running from the police was caught after he hit in a curbside trash can until blank. He sneezed and they found him?

No, until the garbage truck came along and tried to put him in the truck. All right. The whole thing was caught on video. You can see it. The guy jumps into it. a little while later, truck pulls up, attaches it to the thing, the machine picks it up, and the next thing you know, the guy jumps out of it. Garbage man is freaked out.

The guy, he starts running away because the cops, it turns out, were like right there. He was caught, and in addition to the charges, they were arresting him for he was fined $10 for being in the recycling bin, and he clearly should have been in the hiding from the police bin. Bill, I think Josh did pretty well, right? Very well. Six right, 12 more points. Fifteen is the total.

Very good. Thank you, Bell. Very good, Josh. All right, Alonzo, you were in second place, so it is your turn now. Here we go. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, nuclear talks between the U.S. and Blank began in Geneva. Iran?

Right. On Tuesday, Representative Al Green was escorted out of the blank for protesting. State Union. Right. In response to last year's multi-million dollar heist, the director of the blank announced she was resigning. DeLUV? Right. This week, a man in California was charged with a misdemeanor after he filmed himself blanking.

Ooh. Scooping up. the hummus. No. He filmed himself giving a wild hawk a sip of his buzzballs alcoholic beverage. I did hear about that, yeah. According to a new study, Forever Chemicals may be causing men to blank faster. I don't know, die faster? Oh, give it to you age faster so they die sooner. On Monday, budget airline blank reached a deal that will keep it from going out of business. Spirit? Right. This week, the infamously unflattering picture of the former Prince Andrew in the back of a police car after his arrest was briefly on

display in blank. Everywhere? No, yeah. No, but it was framed and displayed briefly at the Louvre. This is the second time in two months that someone managed to sneak a framed photo into the Louvre and hang it in the museum's wall until it was found in the room. But this time, there is some artistic merit to it. If you haven't seen it, this photo of Andrew really answers the question, what if

Edvard Munk's The Scream was a painting of an old pedophile? Bill, how did Alonzo do in our quiz? Very close game. Five right, ten more points. Fourteen, just one behind Josh. All right. How many then does Faith need to win? Five to tie, six to win.

Here we go, Faith. This is for the game. On Wednesday, confirmation hearings began for Casey Means. Donald Trump's nominee for a blank. Surgeon General. Right. Following a Supreme Court ruling, FedEx sued the Trump administration, demanding a blank rebate.

Tariff. Right. This week the Supreme Court ruled that the Postal Service could not be sued for intentionally withholding people's blank. Mail.

Right. On Thursday, police in New York said they'd arrested a man who they claimed was involved in a massive blank fight. Snowball. Right. This week a man in Italy

got in trouble with authorities after he trained his dog to blank. To do mountaineering. No, to take his trash bags and bring them out and illegally dump them by the side of the road. Good dog.

On Monday, NASA once again delayed their mission to the blank. To the moon. Right. On Wednesday, Wu-Tang Clan, Lauren Hill, and Joy Division were named as possible nominees to the blank. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Right. This week, police in the UK were able to apprehend a suspect who jumped the fence into a farm as he was running away, but was stopped there by blank. Pigs. No, a herd of llamas. Cops say the man was trying to evade police by trespassing onto a farm but got caught because he was immediately confronted by eight llamas,

who formed a circle around him and would not let him leave. I don't know about you, but I'm going to be very disappointed if this does not result in a new cop show called Lama Force. Bill, did Faith do well enough to win? She got six right for 12 more points with a total of 17. Faith is this week's winner. In just a minute, we're going to ask our panelists to predict, now that they've done American Girl Dolls,

what will be the next famous toy to get an update? But first, let me tell you that. Wait Wait Don't Zombie is a production of NPR and WB EZ Chicago, in association with urgent haircut productions, Doug Berman, benevolent overlord. Philip Godica writes our lemuricks, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. B.J. Leaderman composed, our theme.

Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Drumboss, and Lillian King. Yes, we've got one, too. Special thanks to Blythe Robertson and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwyn is our Lama Wrangler. Emma Choy is our rive curator, technical direction is from Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller.

Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilog, and the executive producer, if wait, wait, don't tell me, is Mike Danforth. Now panel, what toy is getting the next big update? Alonzo Bowden. Hot wheeled cars will come with Apple CarPlay. Faith Saly. G.I. Joe is going to become GI Bro,

and he comes with a rucksack full of protein powder and a podcast studio. And Josh Gondelman. Microplastic machines. The toy car is small enough to go straight into your... bloodstream. Well, if you're funny of that happens, panel, we're going to ask you about it on Wait, Wait, don't tell me. Thank you so much, Bill Curtis.

Thanks also to Alonzo Bowden, Faitsaley, and Josh Cundleman. Thanks to the staff and crew at IU IOTTorium. Special thanks to Amy O'Shaughnessy and Alex Chambers at WFIU. Thanks for our fabulous audience who came out to see us here in Bloomington. And to all of you, wherever you may be. for listening. I'm Peter Seigle. We'll see you next week. Is NPR.