Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: 25th Year Spectacular Part IV!

Episode Date: July 8, 2023

This week, we're diving back into the archives for Part IV of our 25th Year Spectacular! We've got interviews with George Takei, Martha Stewart, and Mariska Hargitay, plus some time with Barbie director Greta Gerwig!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 the voice Thomas Jefferson heard in his head when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Bill Curtis. And here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. You're so kind. So, this year marks our 25th anniversary on the air, and if you find that hard to believe, try this out.

The year is already half over, and we've barely scratched the surface of our greatest hits. We need more time, or in retrospect, we should have been less good. Too late now. Instead, we will try to gain in as many jewels as we can, like this interview from last winter, live at Carnegie Hall, with Mariska Hargitay, who's been playing Captain Benson on Law & Order SVU for almost as long as we've been doing this show.

Captain Benson is a serious, no-nonsense officer of the law. But the woman who plays her? Not so much. Thank you so much. All right. I am very excited to be here. So I do want to go back and go over your history, because it is extraordinary. I want to say, I did not know this until recently, that you were the child of Hollywood royalty.

That your mother was Jane Mansfield, your father, Mickey Hargitay, bodybuilder and actor, which is amazing. And I was wondering, with that kind of legacy, were you always headed toward performance? No, not at all. Actually quite the opposite. You know, growing up in the shadow of Jane Mansfield, it's a lot for a kid and especially the story and losing my mother at such a young age. So I sort of went the other way, and my wonderful father and stepmother raised me in a very sort of normal way, very sort of regular schools and not a lot of showbiz, not a lot of showbiz people, very involved in school and student government.

And it wasn't until I went to high school that I tried out for a play and then went, this is fun. This is fun. Yeah. Did you think it was, you Did you think your background was normal, like everybody's father was like a bodybuilder who played Hercules? It's just a thing?

Yeah, I mean, isn't it? Yeah. Then you were like a working actress and you were doing all the things that working actors do at the beginning. You were doing bits and commercials and odd little movies. You were in Ghoulies.

And you did your time on Seinfeld. I did. I know. That was such a pleasure and a joy. You played an actor auditioning for the role of Elaine in the show. Yes. But in fact, you had auditioned for the role of Elaine for real. Yes.

Right. And did the real life audition go like the one on the TV show? It basically Jerry Seinfeld like massively hitting on you? Exactly like that. That's what happened. That's what happened. I mean, look at me. I know. Alright, so it's like

99 or so, and Law & Order has been out there for a while, and you get presumably a call from your agent saying they're casting a new show. It's called, if I'm not mistaken, Law & Order Sex Crimes. Right. Okay, so first of all, it's even better than that. Oh, please.

I had just come off ER. I did ER for almost a year. Right. And after I left that show, I said, I've hit the top. Where am I going to go now? And I remember saying, the only other show out there is law and order. Right. And I thought, well, Dick Wolf likes brunettes.

And then, no joke, as if I was speaking to the man upstairs the audition came and that's what was so crazy and the rest is history people so after all these years of doing that role um how much of like you has become olivia benson do you carry that around with you? I do. And how does that manifest? Well, I am good in an emergency. Really? Has that come up? I jump into action. Yes.

I jump in if there's a problem. Right. It just happened at the marathon. What happened? I'm standing there going, Go, Roger! Who's Roger? Any guy that's running by.

Okay. No, what I'm saying is, the marathon is not the best day in New York City. I don't know what it is. Great day. I've done it. It's amazing. I was just there with my son,

and then this guy cramps and, like, falls to the floor. And I jump in, and I'm grabbing him. I'm like, are you okay? And I pick him back up. He's having a cramp. And then I run to the side and grab, somebody had a roller. He's covered in sweat. So gross.

Grab the roller and I start rolling out. There's photos of it online. I start rolling out his legs. Now he's just like, I don't even know what's happening right now, but he was in pain. So he's running a marathon. He got a bad cramp. I said, dude, eat a banana. He's like...

And he's standing there. Captain Olivia Benson of the sex crime unit is rolling out his leg. This is a true story. And he's like, I have died. It was so funny. I've had a massive heart attack, and this is heaven.

Actually, truth be told, I don't think he recognized me. And neither did anybody else. They're not thinking about that. They're not thinking that Captain Liv's going to save the day. They're just not thinking that. Are you a good detective? Are you good at finding your husband's lost phone, for example? Well, I found his first two mistresses like this.

I found it and he was like how did you do that i was like peter come on already you guys you guys are laughing and it's making me think that i i picked the wrong show to be on you don't understand. As comics, you're like one of our patron saints. Yeah. Really? Yeah, because we travel all over the country by ourselves, right? We are alone.

We have these gigs. Whether they go good or bad, we have to go back to the Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden Inn if you want to splurge. And we're lonely, and we put the TV on, and you're always there. I am. Always. You are home. Always.

You are home to us. You don't understand. You are home to us. Can I get a part next season? Yeah. I can play a body. I can play an uncooperative witness in the neighborhood who ends up a body. I love all these ideas.

We were trying to figure out earlier, would he be a victim or a special victim? Very. He would be oh, so very special. You guys, let's make t-shirts. I already have one that says arrest me sex cop.

I see a whole marketing thing. We could get rich. I'm going to take questions. Go ahead. But do you understand I have 25 years of pent up jokes. I can tell.

No, it's clear. Because I walk around going, where are you Tuesday night? Between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m. I'm going to need to talk to him. Come here, let me hold you. You know what I'm saying? At this point, you are such a dominant person in this show and in that universe. And secondly, it's 24 seasons.

You've done every other plot. Why don't you say, guys, you're an executive producer. Guys, this week, Captain Benson does stand-up. She has to go undercover because somebody has been murdering comedians, and people are too grateful. So he has to be stopped. I love it. First of all, these are great ideas.

Write them down and text me. Great stuff. Great stuff. Well, Mariska Hargitay, we've invited you here to play a game. We're calling... Welcome to the SVU, the Sweet Valley Universe.

That's right. We're going to ask you three questions about the universe of Sweet Valley High, as described in the Teenage Book Series that sold 150 million copies between 1983 and 2003. Answer two out of three questions correctly, you will win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they choose. But did you read any of those books? Not one. Okay, neither of them.

Bill, who is Marisha Hargitay playing for? Kathy Good any of those books? Not one. Okay, neither of them. Bill, who is Marisha Hargitay playing for? Kathy Goodwin of New York. New York. All right, here we go. I'm so nervous. Here's your first question. The credited author of the Sweet Valley High books was a woman named Francine Pascal, although she did not write a word of any of them. She farmed it all out to ghostwriters. Why did she say did she not write any of the books herself? Was it A, because, quote, I'm more interested in math than literature, specifically counting my money. B, because, quote, my own writing is for a sophisticated, educated audience. B, because, quote, my own writing is for a sophisticated, educated audience. Or C, because, quote, you know what's better than doing good work?

Telling somebody else that theirs needs to be better. B. You're going to go for B. That's exactly right. That's what she said. Her own writing, you see. They're the sophisticated audience. And then she went on to say that she wanted these books to be, quote, for everyone. All right, here's your next question.

The Sweet Valley universe is a lot like our own with some small changes. Which one of these things from the real world does not exist in Sweet Valley, California? A, cocaine, B, the F word, or C, vampires? I'm going to say the F bomb. Exactly right. Okay. In one novel, a character died from trying cocaine. Another, Jessica, the character Jessica, dated a vampire. But the series Ghostwriters were only allowed to use three curse words,

and they were damn, hell, and a B-word we can't say because NPR is more uptight than Sweet Valley High. All right, you're doing very well, Captain. Your last question. After 20 years of high school dating and broken hearts and true friendship, Francine Pascal decided to end the series with a bang. What happens in the last Sweet Valley High novel?

A, the entire series is revealed to be the creation of an 11-year-old girl playing with her Barbies. B, the town of Sweet Valley is utterly destroyed by an earthquake, or C, the central characters, twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica, are revealed to be aliens and they return to their home world to teach their own people how to go steady. I'm going to say A. You're going to say A. It was B. What? I'm going to say A. You're going to say A. It was B. The town was destroyed in an earthquake,

and one of the main characters got smooshed by a refrigerator, too. It was serious. Maybe this is why I never read it. What? I don't know. It's sad. Bill, how did Mariska Hargitay do on our quiz? Two out of three.

It was a win on this show. Mariska Hargitay is the star of Law & Order SVU and the founder and former president of the Joyful Hearts Foundation. Mariska Hargitay, thank you so much for joining us. When we come back, Martha Stewart on doing everything the right way and an aging nerd gets to interview a living legend. That's when we come back with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz.

I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. Thank you guys so much. So, as anybody who has met me or listened to me or, let's be honest, just happened to see me walking down the street knows I am an enormous nerd. I grew up on the original Star Trek and have spent my whole life wishing the next door I would walk through would automatically open with a whoosh

noise. So you can imagine how excited Peter Wise was in 2009. He got to interview Lieutenant Sulu himself, George Takei, in Southern California. He asked him if he ever got tired of being associated with that one role. No, I didn't get tired of that part, because they're the ones that made Star Trek so popular and so long-lived. However, there are producers and directors and casting people who are not very imaginative and they can't see you in any character outside of Sulu

and so there was a time when I found it very difficult to get cast so I decided well I'm not going to fight it I'm going to go into public service and I served for 11 years on the Southern California Rapid Transit District Board of Directors. Yeah, I mean, you got into politics, but you didn't get in any of these big, you know, political causes.

You actually got into nitty-gritty retail public service administration. You were actually getting things done. The cause that Mayor Bradley, who appointed me to the board. This is Tom Bradley, mayor of L.A. for many years. That's right. He said, we need to get started on a subway system here. Right. And we need someone to steer it.

I come with experience. Tom Bradley just likes saying, full speed ahead, Mr. Sulu. Anyway, but go on. So we did have a cause, a mission, and that was to get started on building a subway system. And so we got the half-cent sales tax passed. We went to Washington to get the federal match. Well, wait a minute. Stop right there.

So you're doing very important work, very complicated work. When you go to Washington to get, you know, federal legislation passed, so LA can build a subway system or have preliminary planning, didn't you have the problem of all the congressmen going, hey, it's Mr. Sulu? Yes, yes. And did you, were you able to leverage that to your advantage? Absolutely. I'm shameless. I used everything.

Great. Did you leverage that to your advantage? Absolutely. I'm shameless. I used everything. I went on those lobbying trips with a satchel full of Sulu photographs. Really? And, you know, autographed them. Ten million. Which one goes for ten million dollars of federal funds? I feel a little left out because I'm actually not a Star Trek geek. You're not? I'm not, but I am a rapid transit geek. You sound like one.

I'm not a Star Trek geek. I'm just mistaken for one constantly. No, but I am a rapid transit geek. And I just wanted to know, is there any future in the monorail? Here in Los Angeles? Just anywhere. I love them. You do? Yeah.

No, what we're doing here in Los Angeles is building a network of light rail, because that's less costly, and putting the focus on extending the stub-ended Wilshire line. Is this what other people feel like when we're talking about Star Trek? Yeah. I love it.

I know, I'm like... I'm like, blotty, blotty, blah. Sorry about that. It's all right. You just don't get it. We have conventions. This is awesome. You'll dress up as conductors.

As a matter of fact, if the purple line is going to be powered by dilithium, then I am. Dilithium crystals. I feel like, you know, I did a Star Trek convention right here in this room, and I feel like I'm doing one again. It's kind of like that.

Well, George Takei, we obviously are really excited to have you here. And we have invited you here to play a game we're calling... Push! Push! Come on! Push! The theme of the week? Family.

Families usually begin with somebody getting born, so... People have been giving birth to other... There you go. People have been giving birth to other people for millennia. It was only recently that science, modern science, began to bear on the problem. We're going to ask you three questions about modern childbirth. Get two right, you'll win a prize for one of our listeners.

Carl, who is George Takei playing for? George is playing for Clara Aronovich of Los Angeles, California. You ready to play? All right. Karnavich of Los Angeles, California. You ready to play? All right. First question.

There's a childbirth educator in Australia, and she recently discovered that her classes would be more attractive to men if she did what? If she, A, held them in pubs, if she, B, built a model of the womb out of chicken wings, or, C, taught the classes in the nude? I think the third one. The third one, taught the classes in the nude? I think the third one. The third one, taught the class in the nude. Am I right? No, I'm afraid you were wrong. It was actually in pubs. She taught her childbirth classes in pubs. Well, that was my second choice. Yeah, I'm sure. You're at these pub-based birthing classes in Australia. Dads to be learned about birthing techniques, etiquette, and where the pub is so they can flee to it.

techniques, etiquette, and where the pub is so they can flee to it. All right, you still have two more chances. Next question. A leading French obstetrician claims that contrary to conventional wisdom, the ideal birth environment involves no what? A, crying, B, men, or C, babies? You're allowed to ask advice from Roxanne. She's the only person here that had another person come at her.

Actually, I would say that men, for the most part, are not particularly helpful. No, but they're usually there to help their wives. No, this is a relatively recent innovation. Well, I think men are necessary. You think men are necessary?

If I'm wrong, I'm going to go down flaming. Yes. So you're going to choose. What was that? You're going to go down what? Let me just summarize. I'm just going to summarize here. George, you're going to go down flaming because you think men are necessary.

Yes. Where we are with this. You really think I should change my answer? I'll go with the advice that I got from the only person here that's had that experience. I'll say men. You're right! Last question. A British think tank has suggested that all women should be entitled to maternity leave from their jobs

even if, A, they don't have a job, B, they don't have children, or C, they really, really don't want to go? C. You think that's the one? Wait, wait, wait. Go back to the... Can I get consulting service?

You may. Does he need consulting? I don't know. I do. Well, there is a possibility, which is that one thing that's been

a point of contention is that women who don't have children and who work don't get time off that's paid to be able to pursue other things.

So there is that to think about. That's a very... That's a very solid case. So what's your choice going to be? She. Be.

If they don't have a child. Is that your choice? I mean, no. It doesn't make sense. This is the first time he's hearing this. Alright. At a certain point, you have to let a man steer his own ship. So...

I am steady. I'm sticking with my original answer, C. And that is brave, and it is wonderful, and it is wrong. Wrong. It's wrong, right? Yeah. Well, why would a woman with no child...

Well, it's as what Roxanne said, is they felt that women should get the extra unpaid leave even if they don't choose to have children. That was the suggestion. We didn't say it was a good suggestion. I just want to say I'm a little shocked because I remember when Captain Kirk said, go there, you said, yes, sir.

There was none of this. But why do we want to go there, Captain? Wow. How did George Takei do on our quiz? Well, terribly, terribly. George needed at least two correct answers to win. How did George Takei do on our quiz? Terribly. Terribly. George needed at least two correct answers to win. He had just one.

Well. But I apologize to the person that I was the surrogate for. But there is. And it's so sad that poor woman's in her third trimester. With no child. There are. George Takei is an actor and a public servant

and a gentleman and one of my heroes. What a pleasure to have you with us. George Takei ladies and gentlemen. In 2012, we got the chance to talk to that goddess of the garden, the high priestess of homemaking, Martha Stewart. Peter started by asking Ms. Stewart, given all the things she does, how would she describe herself? Well, I am a teacher

and I teach people what they want and need to know, all about living. And the subject is quite vast, so you have to be pretty good at a lot of different things to teach the subject of living. I mean, you say people need to know. Yes. Do people need to know how to make their own brass andirons from melted jewelry? I mean, because you do these incredibly elaborate things. Well, I don't think I've ever done that, but I have. I think that people want to know how to do practical and everyday things,

like how to get the pomegranate seeds out of a pomegranate. Do you know how to do that? No, tell me. Take the point of a sharp, sharp knife and just score through the skin and then quarter it, okay? Then break it into four quarters, the pomegranate. Turn the quarter of the pomegranate skin side up in the palm of your hand and hit it with the back of a wooden spoon over a bowl. and hit it with the back of a wooden spoon over a bowl.

And if you just keep hitting that skin of the quartered pomegranate in your hand, all the seeds will fall out neatly into the bowl, and you will be left with an empty skin. Right. You haven't bruised one of those beautiful little ruby red seeds in the pomegranate. I actually have a fairly serious question. I want you to imagine that you've been invited by a friend, a close friend, somebody you're very easy and casual with over to dinner, and they take out a pomegranate

and they start removing the seeds incorrectly. Could you, Martha Stewart, in that situation which I have described, stop yourself from telling them how to do it better? No. You couldn't? It would be hard. It would be hard.

It would be hard. You just don't have that gear. You can't just stop and go. No, but it's fun. And they will love me forever. Because I have solved a problem, a lifelong problem of how to get the... Oh, excuse me. I guess it has been a problem. Yeah.

One of the things I admire so much about you is you make everything sort of excellent and classy and lovely, no matter what you start with. And we had some challenges for you to see what you would think of to do with this. Oh, okay. Here we go. So, for example, let's say, I say, Martha, here's your project.

Boom on the table, a can of Spam. What would I do with it? Yes. Oh, I would open the can. Yes. I would slice it into about between an eighth and a quarter of an inch slices. Mm-hmm. And I would fry it in butter, just lightly saute it in butter, nice butter, unsalted butter.

And I would eat it with Dijon mustard on nice country white bread, crusty bread. It is delicious. You were a bachelor guy in a former life. I made that breakfast. First of all, you've done that. I have, I have. I mean, listen, I grew up in a family of six kids. All right, it's time to throw down, Martha Stewart.

Uh-oh. Velveeta. Oh, I love Velveeta. Oh, come on! It's awful. I do, though. If I'm in somebody's house and they have Velveeta cheese, I do take a piece of it and I really like it.

I'm not kidding. But I have never bought it. Never. Never. Well, Martha Stewart, we are delighted to have you with us. It is a pleasure to have you here, but we have asked you here today to play a game that we are calling... It's a bad thing. Oh, my gosh.

So you're wonderful at helping people come up with great do-it-yourself projects. We're going to ask you about three not-so-great projects somebody really put together and displayed on the Internet, as helpfully collected by BuzzFeed. Get two questions right, you'll win our prize. Carl's voice on the home answering machine for one of our listeners, of course. Carl, who is Martha Stewart playing for? She's playing for Hannah Hudson of Tacoma Park, Maryland. Okay, well, poor Hannah.

She's probably going to not get your voice. All right, here we go. Okay. Here's your first question. People love to put logos on things on which they do not belong. One big fan of Louis Vuitton put their logo all over their what? A. Their house.

B. Their wife. C. Their assault rifle. Their house. Their house. No, their assault rifle. Next question. People love to reuse common household goods in their crafts, as I'm sure you know.

There's a whole website out there devoted to making crafts out of spare what? A, fingernail clippings. B, tampons. C, sodium sulfate, a byproduct of paper mills. Fingernails. I'm going to ask you something. If I came to you with a small container of fingernail clippings and said, make something, could you do it?

Probably. So you're going to stick with that answer, fingernail clippings? Yeah. It's tampons. It's tampons. The website is called tamponcrafts.com. You can go there to learn how to make Christmas ornaments. I bet you could probably find the fingernail thing, too.

You're probably right. All right, Martha, one last question. Let's see if we can pick this one up. People love to make homemade beauty products. So if you want something crafty for use in your bathroom, you could buy, from Etsy, of course, A, tanning lotion made with real gravy, B, soap with real razor blades inside.

Or C, exfoliating wipes that are just squares of sandpaper. Hmm. Maybe the exfoliating wipes. Are you going to stick with that? Yeah. It was actually the soap with the razor blades. Ew. That's very unpleasant.

And they sell that on Etsy? They do sell it on Etsy. It's translucent soap, so you can see the razor blades inside. And these soaps are labeled for decorative purposes only. Oh, I don't like that. Sort of like Hannibal Lecter. Yeah. Carl, how did Martha Stewart do in our quiz?

She needed two correct answers to win for Hannah Hudson, but she had no correct answers. Oh, man, I'm so sorry. I'll do my voice for you, Hannah, any time. Oh, yeah, Hannah, that's an offer. Hi, this is Martha Stewart. Hannah's not here. She's out doing something useful.

Oh, okay. Something like that. Martha Stewart, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. I'm glad I can tell me what fun to talk to you. Thanks, Andy. Thank you, Martha. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Coming up, we help you get ready for the big Barbie movie by talking with director

Greta Gerwig. That's when we come back with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. NPR. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, everybody. So we have been doing this show for 25 years, so we were bound to come up with something great every once in a while.

Peter, I always say, if our jokes don't work, let's talk to a country music superstar. For example, in 2011, we went to Nashville to do our show with special guest Vince Gill, who was surprisingly a little nervous about it. I'm scared to death. No, you shouldn't be scared to death. You've faced more hostile crowds than this in one of the moments. I'm not the brightest guy. My junior year of high school was the hardest three years of my life. So we know. You know, this

being NPR and all, I've lived here for nearly 30 years and Nashville is a great city for charity. Yeah. I figured this will be another in my long list of things that I've done in my career that once again, I won't be paid for it. You came to Nashville a long time ago. 30 years ago, thereabouts? Yeah, I moved here in 83. My first trip here was in 1974. Made my first record here in 1975. And then moved here in 83.

You've won how many Grammys? Do you even know? 20. 20. He knows. I underestimated him. But country music, stereotypically, is about hard times. You know, the classic joke is, my wife left me, my dog

died, my truck won't start. I mean, is it hard to maintain that perspective when you're as successful as you are? Have you written a song like, my Mercedes S-Class won't start? Well, I think with anything attached to humor,

I think out of that, out of the songs that I've written, one was with Rodney Crowell. The title was actually inspired by my father. It's called It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long. And what is your wife, the fabulous singer, Miss Amy Grant, think of that song, may I say? Well, she has a good sense of humor, thank God.

But I do remember the day that I came home after I'd written that song, and I got home and Amy was waiting for me, and she said, where you been? I said, well, I was out at Rodney's today, and we were working on a song, and we wrote a song. She goes, oh, let me hear it. I said, well, I don't really remember it.

Haven't got it memorized. We're just kind of messing with you. And against my better judgment, I sang this song for Amy Grant, my wife. One of the more popular Christian singers. Yes. And her feelings about it were? Well, it took a while to make her understand that it was the idea of my father's before he passed away in 97. So it sadly dawned upon me that evidently the song was inspired by my dear mother.

Oh, yeah. She hates that particular song. We know that you have a pretty clean image, squeaky clean, in fact. And you're also a big golfer. And we heard that to protect your squeaky clean image, you actually brought somebody out to swear for you on the golf course. Yeah. You did that? I was a little arrogant. I was doing really good. And I said, I need a designated cusser. Really?

So what did you do? How did you find that person? They're everywhere. Yeah, I know. You must have been tempted to write a song about golf at some point or another, though, right? There's one that was... I was talking... Well, I shouldn't say this, but... Paul McCartney told me never drop names, but... I'm actually... I'm going to steal that.

Amy and I have the good fortune of this July 4th weekend that we're going to get to go spend it with James Taylor in Massachusetts at a place called Taylor. And we were talking on the phone today about songs, and I mentioned that I'd been playing golf, and he said, well, there's never been any golf songs. And I said, yeah, probably not. There's one that I know of.

It was called Golf's a Bitch and Then You Die. One last question. You've hosted the Country Music Awards for 12 years straight? I did back in the early 90s. Really? 12 years. Wow. I've been known to host some things myself. Do you have any tips for me? You're doing great. Thank you.

You're doing great. You've got 3 million people listening to you. I know. But still, that's amazing. The same award ceremony, 12 years. They must have loved you. It was fun. I had a good time doing it, and it wasn't hard.

I just brought people on, took people off, and cracked a few jokes and went home. It wasn't that tough. Wow. Wow, you just made Peter's job sound easy. Vince Gill, we are so delighted to have you with us here in Nashville. We've invited you here to play a game that today we're calling... Carl Castle, ladies and gentlemen.

Vince, meet Vincent. Vincent Price, that is. We're going to ask you three questions about the career of Vincent Price. Get two right, you'll win a prize. One of our listeners, Carl's voice in the home answering machine. Carl, who is Vince Gill playing for? He is playing for Cary Burgess Brown of Nashville. You ready to do this?

Yes, make a fool of me. All right, you ready to do this? Yes, make a fool of me. All right. Vincent Price grew up in a distinguished family. What was his grandfather's claim to fame? Was it A, he ran St. Louis' most successful and busy mortuary business, B, he invented baking powder, or C, he single-handedly killed 100,000 bison, a record at the time? I thought it was Fisher Price toys all these years.

Baking powder. You're right. His grandfather invented baking powder. It was called Dr. Price's cream baking powder. Big product in the late 19th century. Made billions of dollars. Lost it all. True.

All right. You got one right. Next question. Vincent Price starred in a lot of horror movies, as you know. Some of which, though, they were pretty obscure, including which one of these? A, Bloodbath at the House of Death. B, Scream Screaming a Person. Scream.

Or C, an educational film for the U.S. Marine Corps called What's Really Scary? Gonorrhea. Sorry. A. You're going to go for A, bloodbath at the house of death. You're right. Sorry. A. You're going to go for A, Bloodbath at the House of Death. You're right.

Very good. That was great. It was a 1983 British horror school. If you've ever seen it, you seem pretty confident. No? No. No. Okay.

Last question. See if you can go for perfect. Like many celebrities, Vincent Price lent his name to products and services, including which of these? A, the Vincent Price collection of fine art from Sears Roebuck, B, the Vincent rice cooker, or C, the Vincent Price home blood glucose monitor. I just like that one. I'm going with that one. The Vincent Price home blood glucose monitor. No. No, you're not I'm going with that one. The Vincent Price Homeblood Glue Clothes Monitor.

No. No? You're not going to go with that? Okay, I'll go with A. You're going to go with A. The Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art from Sears Roebuck. Yes, indeed! Well done!

Vincent Price, for those of you old enough to remember, he was a famous art connoisseur, and he curated a collection of art that you could buy at Sears. Carl, how did Vince Gill do in our quiz? Vince had three correct answers, Peter, and that's good enough to win for Cary Burgess Brown. Congratulations, Vince. Well done.

So I've got to ask you. Yeah, ask me. How did the saxophone player do last week? So Bill Clinton? Yeah, Bill Clinton. Known primarily for playing the sax. He did. He got all three. And he didn't mess around.

He just knew them. It was really weird. So you're saying I could be president? I'm saying... Vince Gill is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, a legend here in his home Nashville. Vince Gill, thank you so much for being with us today. Hey, Mike Danforth, Wait Wait executive producer here, with a plug for our quiz game, The Wait Wait Wayback Machine.

It's a game we play with a Wait Wait Don't Tell Me plus listener, where we challenge them with questions from the show that are no joke. Oh, uh... 20 years old. Was that Freedom Fries? Play along. Henry Kissinger? For news trivia, you'll be surprised

you remember. Clone Babies. Or wish you could forget. Kim Jong Un. Was that Czechoslovakia? It was of course Joe Lieberman. Oh, yeah. We play with a new contestant every few weeks. You can listen and learn how to enter for a chance to play

if you're a Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Plus supporter. If you're not, you can sign up on our show page in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Finally, everybody is excited for the big budget Barbie movie coming out in just a few weeks. And if you've already prepped for the premiere by buying a pink wardrobe, well, there's one more thing you can do. Listen to this 2017 interview with the movie's director, Greta Gerwig, live on stage in Seattle. Peter asked her about the source of her inspiration for

her first hit film, Lady Bird. So, you grew up in Sacramento, California. That's right. Where you went to a Catholic high school graduating in the early 2000s. The movie is about a quirky artistically mindedminded young woman

who's in Sacramento in the early 2000s going to a Catholic high school. Where did you ever come up with that? It's my floored imagination. I know. No, actually, it's... I mean, Sacramento is me and where I'm from, and I love it. But actually, I was kind of the opposite of Lady Bird.

Really? Yeah, well there's similarities but in a way I sort of invented this heroine that I had no ability to be. Did you ever, for example, hurl yourself out of a car in the middle of an argument with your mother? The car was just idling. It was not...

So wait a minute. The case you are making, that this is in no way an autobiographical film, is unlike the character in the movie who throws yourself out of a moving car in the midst of an argument with her mother. These are very important distinctions. In your case, when you hurled yourself out of the car in the middle of an argument with your mother. These are very important distinctions. In your case, when you hurled yourself

out of the car in the middle of an argument with your mother, the car was only idling. It wasn't moving. No, it wasn't moving. Well, that would be crazy. And I just exited the car. I didn't hurl myself. I just stepped out.

And how interesting would that be? It's not as good. It's not as cinematic. One of the best things, or at least fascinating things, to me in the movie is the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother because they both fight all the time and they adore each other

and they're able to go from one to the other like that, which is both completely bizarre and utterly believable, which is an achievement on your part. And so I have to ask, is that or was that your relationship with your mother? No, I mean, we had... My mother is different than the character that Laurie plays, as I was different from Lady Bird.

But we were very gifted at both being able to really yell at each other and then get over it right away. We did have that. And I would realize that everyone around us would be sort of traumatized. And we were like, oh no, we're fine. This is great. This is what we do.

We fight like that and then we're fine. Has your mother, I assume your mother has seen the film? Oh yeah, she's seen it six times. Yeah. Yeah, she loves it. Has she ever, you know, congratulated you and been so proud of you and then say,

was I that mean to you? No, no. Because she knows more than anyone else which parts of it are made up and which parts of it are real. And she knew that I was creating something that was, like, based on something true, but also it became fictional.

And do you know what you're going to do next? I mean, I know it's a terrible thing to ask. You've just finished this. It's out in the world. Yeah, direct another picture. Yeah. Do you know one you're going to do next? I mean, I know it's a terrible thing to ask. You've just finished this, it's out in the world. Yeah, direct another picture. Yeah. Do you know one of the things that happens, it seems, is that young, talented, independent directors

who make a successful movie on a low budget are immediately handed enormous Hollywood blockbusters. Have you picked yours? Oh, my enormous Hollywood blockbuster? Yeah, like, what's your comic book? Lady Bird Ragnarok? Yeah, Ragnarok. Exactly.

No, I have not picked my blockbuster. That hasn't happened yet. But get ready. Yeah. Well, Greta Gerwig, we are so happy to talk to you at this time. But we have also invited you here to play a game we're calling... Polly Want a Cracker? So your movie is about a fierce young woman.

She calls herself Lady Bird. So we thought we'd ask you about real lady birds. What does that mean? Well, this is what it means. We're going to ask you these three questions about female birds, actual birds, actual female birds. Answer two out of three correctly, you'll win our prize, the voice of any of us, on the

voicemail of one of our listeners. Bill, who is Greta Gerwig playing for? Paula Menges of Seattle, Washington. There you are. So here's your first question. The female hedge sparrow has an interesting mating behavior. Before it mates with a male hedge sparrow, she does what? A, she demands the male give her a garment of leaves that takes four days to make.

B, she, quote, talks with the male's prior female partners to see if it's a decent bird. Or C, she hides another male hedge sparrow in the bushes nearby and then invites him over when the first bird leaves. Oh, I guess I'll go with C? Yeah, that's the one. Okay. This is what the hedge sparrow does. The hedge sparrow hides.

It's like guy in the side in the bushes. Does it with number one. He goes away. She calls out the side guy she hid. They do it. Then she called back the first one. Oh, man. Yeah.

A literal side chick. Yeah. Exactly. All right, next question. Female birds are attracted to males in various ways, including, of course, we know about plumages, like the peacock, dances. But the female palm cockatoo of Australia

chooses the mate who performs the best what? A, the best drum solo, B, the best juggling act, or C, the best comedy routine? A, drum solo? You're right. That's exactly right. The male palm cuckoo,

excuse me, the male palm cockatoo bites off a bit of branch and then drums it against the tree trunk until the female shows up who likes the sound. Same. Last question. Maybe the most clever female bird is the cuckoo, which does what? A, famously invented a clock. B, she puts her eggs in another bird's nest

so somebody else has to raise them while she enjoys herself. Or C, she stays single her whole life so she can really enjoy herself. I'm going to go with B. Yeah, that's right, Greta. Cuckoo birds put their eggs in another bird's nest and then they go

clubbing. It's a great evolutionary strategy. How did Greta Gerwig do on our quiz? Well, she got the trifecta for God's sake. She got them all right. Greta Gerwig has been the star and co-writer

of the movies Francis Ha and Mistress America, but she is the writer and director who made Lady Bird, which is in theaters right now. Greta Gerwig, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Greta Gerwig, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thatta Gerwig, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. That's it for this edition of 25 Years of Wait, Wait, Just

the Good Parts. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with the Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord, Philip Godica writes our limericks, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman, BJ Lederman composed our theme, our tour manager is Shana Donald.

Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos, and Lillian King. Our Yankee Doodle Gwinnie is Peter Gwynn. Technical direction is Lorna White. Our business and ops manager is Colin Miller. Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilock. And the executive producer, wait, wait, don't tell me, that's Mike Danforth.

Thanks to everybody you heard this week, all of our panelists, all of our guests, Bill Curtis and our original judge and scorekeeper, the much-missed Carl Castle. And thanks to all of you for listening. I am Peter Sagal. We will be back next week. Thank you.

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