Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM Best of NMJ Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 26, 2022

Nathan Lane, Puja Patel, Darryl "Cornbread" McCray, and Jeremy O. Harris are featured in this Thanksgiving edition.Sign up for Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.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've come to your land from far away to create a new country. I'm a pilgrim, Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It's Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. Thank you so much. We have made it to Thanksgiving where we take as

much time as we need to pause and be thankful for everything that's happened in the past year. And we're done. With all the time we've got left, why not revisit some of our favorite interviews and panelist questions from the past few months?

Personally, I am grateful for the three weeks I was able to take off from this job during the summer so I could spend some precious time with my family having COVID. And while Peter was away, guest host Tom Papa, interviewed star of theater, film, and TV, Nathan Lane. And now the game where stars prove they're not actually just like us. If award shows had all stars, Nathan Lane would be the first pick every year. The legendary actor has been nominated for six Tonys, seven Emmys, two Golden Globes, and probably an Espy at some point.

He's now nominated for yet another Emmy for his role in Only Murders in the Building. The second season is out now. Nathan Lane, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, Nathan, you are the most nominated guest actor in Emmy history. Are you excited for the seventh ceremony, and will you get to

attend? Well, you know what they do? They give out the guest actor category at the Creative Arts Emmy, which is held in a warehouse somewhere. The shmemies. So they usually tell you not to go to the Creative Arts Emmy

and just sort of wait and see if you win. And then if you win, they allow you to go to the Big Boy Nighttime Emmys and present there. And have you gone before? Well, I went the very first time. Right. And then I learned not to go to them anymore. So when you went, did you...

And I was right because I haven't won. Even though I made f***ing any history. You're so iconic now. I can imagine if people are just like, how are we going to make this better? Just get Nathan Lane. But you worked really hard for a lot of years. And I saw in your history, which I did not know,

you worked a number of odd jobs when you started looking for acting work in the early 80s. Is it true you were a singing telegram? Yes. Yes. I moved to New York in the late 70s, yes, I delivered singing telegrams. And you would put on a tuxedo and a little belt top hat, and you would go to offices or people's homes and usually to a public domain. I don't know why it had to be a public domain.

Like who was checking about water? I don't know. But you would like to the tune of the William Tell Overture. You would sing, you know, it's your day, it's your day. You sing, it's here. So we're sending such a lost art. Nowadays, people just go door to door doing singing text messages

to the William Teller, where they're just, L-O-L, L-O-L, L-O-L, L-O-L, L-O-L, L-O-L, L-O-L. Nathan, was it ever poorly received when you got there and finished your song and tipped your top hat? People, if you go to someone's office and you have to sing to them, they hate that.

They really hate that. Yeah, no, it's always a little, it's embarrassing for them and embarrassing for me and then they, I, you know, they rarely would kick me. And you just stand there with the top hat in front of them?

Sad and desperate like you're at the Schmemmys during the day. Like, what's 20% of a song? You know who I, I had a Like, what's 20% of a song? You know who I had to sing to Sam Waterston? This is how long ago this was. Young Sam Waterston. It was his birthday,

and I sang for him, and I could see the pity in his eyes. He realized I was a struggling actor, and he gave me a very nice death. So I always sing very fondly of Sam Waters. Oh, that's great. And then,

you really, I mean, you're nominated for this guest role, and you're so good in Only Murders in the Building. Oh, thanks. And it's very intriguing, because it's whodunit, and it pulls you in. Do they make you sign anything?

Are you not allowed to give away secrets? No, no. What do you want to know? He's just a guest. I know who killed Bunny. No, it's really a tribute to those writers. It's a very delicate ballad, and they really pull it off. It really is.

I have to say, I mean, you're amazing. The whole cast is amazing. But the thing that really strikes me as a New Yorker is the size of everyone's apartments. I just drool when we watch it, and I'm trying to figure out who's murdering who, and my wife is

like, seriously, how much a month? They should call it any openings in the building. All right, Nathan Lane, we've asked you here to play a game that we're calling... Famous Nathan, meet Nathan's famous. You are a famous Nathan, so we thought we'd ask you about Nathan's famous hot dog eating contest. The annual tradition and the grossest part of

the 4th of July. Wow. You know, I was hoping. Answer two out of three questions right and you'll win a prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Nathan Lane playing for? Ian Walsh of Boston, Massachusetts.

All right, Nathan, here is your first question. Joey Chestnut has won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 15 times. This year's win was extra impressive impressive as he not only ate 63 hot dogs in 10 minutes, but also did what? A, a backflip after every 10 hot dogs. B, ate his hot dogs with spicy mustard as an extra handicap. Or C, put a protester who stormed the event in a chokehold and shoved him off the stage in between hot dogs 17 and 18? Well, is Joey Casnnut still with us? Is he living?

He is. He is. I believe he stopped a protester with a chokehold. Yes, there we go. That's right. C, he did double duty as a bouncer, and he still beat the runner-up by 15 hot dogs. He is truly a freak of nature.

What? Joey Chestnut. Joey? Fuck me on the Sopranos. All right, here's your next question. Joey Chestnut may be the winningest champion, but he's not the only notable one. There's also Joe Baldini and Paul Seiderman, who were co-winners in 1980, despite doing what? A, co-winning a potato salad eating contest an hour earlier.

B, both getting stung by bees during the competition, or C, only eating nine hot dogs each? I believe they were stung by bees and kept eating. No, the answer is C. In the 80s... Oh, get the f*** out. You only ate nine hot dogs? Yep, they only ate

nine hot dogs. It was a different time. In the 80s, a hot dog a minute was good enough to win. If you're asking what changed, we're not sure, but it might have something to do with the fact that the prize these guys got for winning was, quote, two trophies and two yellow plastic bags.

To puke into, I imagine. All right, here's your last question. Before the hot dog eating contest started, Nathan's needed other ways to drum up publicity. So in the 50s, they paid to have what placed next to their restaurant? A, the first ever Wienermobile. B, a 70-ton whale carcass. C, a fake McDonald's, which they intentionally kept filthy. What was the first one again?

I wouldn't pay attention to that one. Tom, why are you hosting Jeopardy? I think because that show gives away money. All right, I'm going with the whale carcass. You're right. Wow. The answer is B. It may have worked, too, but the weather was so hot that the carcass started to rot in the sun,

driving away customers. What did they think was going to happen? Bill, how did Nathan Lane do on our quiz? Nathan, this may surprise you, but two out of three in this game win. You are a winner. Wonderful. I mean, wonderful. When we come back, we can't solve all of your problems,

but our bluff game will solve one small one. That's when we come back with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me 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 and Fine Arts Building, downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. It is Thanksgiving week, and even though the supply chain issues of last year seem to be finally solved, we thought we could still bring you some extra things to be thankful for. We've had appetizers, and now let's start the entrees.

First, a classic bluff the listener game from when we went to San Francisco in May with panelists Adam Burke, Paula Poundstone, and Maz Jobrani. Oh, my goodness. Hi there, Peter. This is Sydney Rogers, a.k.a. Miss Barbecue. Hello, Miss Barbecue. How's by you? I'm doing amazing.

I'm from L.A., but I'm down in San Diego for a conference. A conference? What kind of conference, may I ask? Oh, for the California Workforce Association Conference. I work for Trans Can Work. I'm the education and trainings manager, and I'm also a professional drag queen. Well, that's cool. Yes, I've been doing drag since 1992. Well, I know the drag scene is competitive. As the saying goes, you've got to have a gimmick.

So do you have a gimmick? Oh, my goodness. I think my gimmick is fierce, black, and keeping it real. That's a good gimmick. That's a good gimmick. Well, welcome to the show, Sydney. You're going to play our game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Sidney's topic?

Solving the big problems. We have the most powerful science and technology in the world, but we still can't seem to stop. Climate change, endless words, or people who don't know how to thread their tweets. But this week, somebody actually finally fixed something that we needed fixed. Our panelists are going to tell you about it. Pick the one that's telling the truth. You'll win the white waiter of your choice in your voicemail.

You ready to play? Yes, I am so ready. I'm so happy to hear it, Sidney. Here we go. Here, first up, Adam Burke. Ah, the humble burrito. Some say it was invented in Mexico in the late 19th century.

Others say it was created by a Juarez street vendor in the 1940s. Still others say the ancient Egyptians invented it back when they were addicted to just wrapping stuff. There are even those that contend the burrito did not reach its true apotheosis until the invention of the Mission-style burrito right here in San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s. But who would say that but a feckless pandora trying to curry favor with a local audience?

But there's one thing that we can all agree upon is their fundamental design flaw, that they are so full of meaty, starchy goodness that they often burst forth from their flowery or corny winding sheet, spilling their cheesy cargo all over you like an overwhelmed frat boy his first night out in the mission. But fear not, for a stalwart band of Bothans at Baltimore's John Hopkins University have tackled and possibly solved the issue of structural snack integrity by creating edible adhesive tape that will fasten your beloved parcel shut

like the wax seal on a calorific royal proclamation. Putatively called tasty tape, the food-safe suture is patent pending. So hopefully in the near future, we can chow down on our favorite doughy meat sack without fear of a Tex-Mex-plosion. Burrito tape. Edible tape to hold your burrito together.

Your next story of a problem solved comes from Maz Jobrani. Anyone who's ever had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night knows it can be a precarious endeavor. Well, designed for people who have a long walk to the bathroom down a dark hallway, Swedish engineers at home furnishing giant IKEA have come up with a mattress that senses when you get up to urinate and proceeds to illuminate a dimly lit path of nightlights that you follow from your bed to the toilet where the toilet seat is also lit. limb. The invention known as the P-landing came to Anders Anderson when he was flying in the LaGuardia one night. I looked out into the pitch dark black night and as we approached the airport, I saw the landing strip lights thinking, if those lights can help a plane hit its target,

they can help me hit my target too. those lights can help a plane hit its target, they can help me hit my target too. The P-landing, an automatic system that lights your way to the safety of the toilet in the middle of the night. Your last story of a thorn removed from all of our sides comes from Paula Poundstone.

A team of University of Helsinki graduate students took on one of life's greatest challenges. How do you open clear plastic clamshell packaging without damaging the product within or without losing a limb? And they won. Their device, informally called the clamshell cracker, subjects the package to specially calibrated vibrations and radiation so that after only an hour inside, the plastic is soft enough to be easily manipulated. The hard part wasn't coming up with the process

to weaken the polymers so the package would open easily. The problem was making it safe for home use, says team member Yargo Alali. So it has to be a little bigger than a commercial refrigerator, so it has to be a little bigger than a commercial refrigerator, but we think it's worth it. Parent Karen Miller explains, my daughter actually outgrows toys before I can get them out of the package. So what? The machine is big. We'll decorate it. My wife's career as a surgeon was cut short by nerve damage she received while opening the plastic packaging

containing a laser pointer for our cat, says Charlie Roop. We're getting this machine. Yeah, it's big. We'll put it in my son's room. He can sleep on the couch. All right. One of these problems has been solved. Is it the problem of your burrito opening and spilling everywhere

solved with new burrito tape? Is the problem not being able to find the bathroom accurately and quickly enough in the middle of the night, solved by the P-landing automatic lighting system? Or the problem of not being able to open those damned clamshell packages, solved by the new, large, but efficient machine

invented in Helsinki? Oh my goodness. I've tried to eat a burrito in the movie theater. Never do that. No, that's not very smart. And the clamshell thing, I'm allergic to shellfish. So I'm going to go with the burrito taste because now I can go to the movie theater and eat a burrito in peace. Well, Sydney, I really like the way your mind works. To find out if you're right, we spoke to one of the real problem solvers. Tasty Tape allows you to keep your burrito wrapped or any food like that securely closed during cooking

and consumption. That was Erin Walsh. She is a recent graduate from Johns Hopkins University and one of the developers of Tasty Tape. We anticipate a statue of her in the mission any day now. Congratulations, Sydney. You got it right. You earned a point for Adam. You've won our prize. The voice of your choice and your voicemail. Thank you so much for playing with us today.

Enjoy that conference. Thank you so much, y'all. Take care, Sydney. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Back in July of this year, when Peter decided he'd rather spend some more time with the virus than us,

we got over the snub by inviting on Pooja Patel, the editor-in-chief of Pitchfork, to talk independent music with guest host Tom Papa. Thank you so much for being here. It's really nice to meet you. So happy to be here. Yeah, this is very exciting. So how did you get into music journalism?

What was your relationship with music when you were a kid? So I grew up in a house full of music, the kind of house where you wake up to your mom blasting music and that really sets the tone for what her mood is for the day. So, you know, if it was something really like if it was Chaka Khan or Tina Turner, we were gonna, you know, it's gonna be a great day. If it was something sad, I pretended I was asleep for another hour. And when you were a little kid just listening to the music, were you rating things? Yeah, it was slowly, you know, this is four tomatoes out of five,

just taking household objects and starting to rate things, yeah. So everybody talks, and I know you get this question a lot. Everybody talks about the rankings of, of albums and songs on Pitchfork. Is there a difference between like an 8.2 and an 8.6? Yeah, I'm not so different from my mother in that it's affected by my mood that day. my mother and that it's affected by my mood that day. That's so upsetting. There's a band out there just trying their best in their garage. They finally get it all done. So it can be extremely arbitrary to you, but if you care, you really care. Right. It really, really means something. Really care. Yeah. And do you get a lot of pushback? Do people go crazy?

How could you rank this, this? Yeah. Does that happen a lot? It happens all the time. It does. It happens all the time. Where the fans get angry? The fans get really, really angry.

And do they show up with, I don't know, some kind of implement? I can't think of one of the things. Shovels. Shovels, shovels. And are you still a passionate fan like do you still really love music like if you want to relax yeah and just enjoy yourself yeah do you does music even do it for you anymore because you're working and you're every single day or do you just like listen to the microwave go i it really depends on my mood, but I can't imagine a day without listening to music.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? Anything that you listen to that would surprise people? I just got into an argument with one of our editors on staff about the album Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette, which I

say is very good. You know, it's so funny because you're so cool. I immediately wanted to blurt out, I love that album, but I was like, what if it's not? That's great. I'm giving you permission. I love that album. And at its time when she came out, I mean, it was all grunge and then she comes out. And a song about Uncle Joey?

Yeah. Wait, was it really about Uncle Joey? Oh, for sure. It was in the theater? No, you ought to know. You ought to know. Yeah, but I know. Yeah.

He's talking about a very specific line. All of a sudden, you're talking a different language. Paula, just give me five minutes. The cool kids are talking. I'll bring you into it, Paula. Have you heard of the song Chattanooga Choo Choo? Well, that is a good question, though, because I'm a dad of two teenage girls,

and I'm so aware of not being present. And like, when you're younger, what happens to us? When you're young, music finds you. And then you get to a certain age and hairline and you have to, you have to go find the music. It's no longer a part of your world and you don't even have, and you have no reference of whether it's cool or not what happens to us and has it happened to you ever yeah I think especially in the last couple of years people tend to return to things that feel familiar and comfortable and that's the stuff that you listen to when you were younger and right and our brains are shaped that way too I mean just mechanically mechanically, you remember things, you learn things faster when you're younger.

You associate emotions and sensory memory to things when you're younger, and then when you get old, you're just like, life is bad. Let's return to the good old days. What pitchfork rating would life get? Right now? Yeah. H yeah hovering around at four points well i have to say um i don't feel cooler since you've been here um i feel like i still need to know a lot more what give me one band that i could um put on while i'm with my daughters that they won't give me an

eye roll. Because a lot of times I'll throw something out and be like, this is cool, and it's not been cool for a while. I think you should listen, I met your daughter, I think you should listen to Doja Cat. Doja Cat. Yeah. Everyone loves Doja Cat. Oh, Doja Cat.

Yeah. Yeah. I love Doja Cat. They did Who Let the Dogs Out, didn't they? They did a remix of Chattanooga Choo Choo. All right. Pooja Patel, we've asked you here today to play a game that we're calling... Put Down the Pitchfork. It's time to pitch first.

You know all about pitchfork, but what do you know about the hallowed baseball tradition, the ceremonial first pitch? Answer two of the three questions correctly, and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Pooja Patel playing for? Joe Edison of San Francisco, California. All right. Ready? I'm ready. All right.

Here's your first question. Everyone is familiar with the president throwing out the first ball on opening day. What you might not know is he used to do this from the stands. And there was a second part of the tradition. What? A, he'd throw the ball to his vice president who could play any position he wanted in the first inning. B, he'd throw the ball to the director of the Smithsonian who would immediately put it on display. Or C, he'd just throw the ball out on the field where all the players would fight over it like bridesmaids going for the bouquet. I'm going to say B. B, that he'd throw the ball to the director of the Smithsonian who would immediately put it on display.

This sounds, all of these sound insane. Okay, so you're telling me C. I am contractually bound not to tell you anything. But yes, C. He would just chuck

it out there and whoever ended up with it got to keep it. Wow. And apparently people went pretty crazy for it. All right. Here's your next question. To honor the 150th anniversary of baseball coming to Japan, the New York Mets invited the Japanese ambassador to throw out the first pitch, but he never got to do it. Why? A. A seagull with a hot dog landed on the mound and chased away anyone who came near. B. Mets pitcher Max Scherzer went out onto the mound to warm up and wouldn't get off to let the ceremony happen.

Or C. The ambassador was so excited to see the big globe and towers from the end of Men in Black in the park across the street that he was an hour late to the game. See, both of those are viable options. B? You're right. It's B. Apparently, Max Scherzer has a routine and sticks to it

no matter what country he insults. Here's your last question. Not all first pitches go as planned. Red Sox superfan Jordan Leandra fired the ball from the mound, but unfortunately it didn't reach the catcher's mitt. What did he hit? A. His own foot breaking five bones. B, the groin of a photographer standing 10 feet behind home plate.

C, the face of the Red Sox manager who is standing in the dugout. Dang, I should know this. I'm going to say B. You're going to say B. You're right. The drawing of a photographer standing 10 feet behind home plate. Couldn't have thrown it any better if he tried. Bill, how did Pooja do on our quiz? Three home runs.

Congratulations. Congratulations. You did very well. It's really nice to meet you. Congratulations It's really nice to meet you Coming up The man who invented graffiti tagging Think about it, somebody had to The first one didn't spray itself 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 downtown Chicago, Peter Segal. Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. This week, we are doing our annual ritual of coming up with reasons why, despite everything, we really should be thankful. Yeah, there's that, and the other thing, and you know that's coming straight down the pike. But on the other hand, boy, we had some good times in this radio show, didn't we? Well, for example, in July, we went to Philadelphia and interviewed a local hero, Daryl McRae, known as Cornbread, the man who is credited with inventing modern graffiti. I'm a credit for being the inventor of graffiti. Such is not the case.

Graffiti has always been there since the beginning of time. Right. Like the caveman. Sure. I am the world's first modern-day graffiti artist. Okay. I wrote my name on the walls for the sole purpose of establishing a reputation. Is that called tagging? Yes. That's the new term. Right.

So you more or less invented tagging. When he was doing it, it was just called cornbreading. He was the first guy. I know. Why did the name come after him? So part of your legend that we heard about as soon as you mentioned your name to people in Philadelphia is some of the places and things that you tagged with your name,

including, if I'm not mistaken, an elephant. I had to do it. elephant? I had to do it. And I want to assure our listeners, especially the elephant, was fine, but tell me what happened. Well, I started walking bus routes. I don't go to work one day. I always buy the newspaper so I can read while I ride. On the front page of the newspaper is cornbread shot to death. Who else could it be? Yeah. It's on page three. And it read, the fantastic career of Philadelphia best-known graffiti artist came to a marlin and sunny outside a hotel and bar.

I'm reading about my own death. Right. Well, this became a prescription for disaster. I knew I had to do something bizarre. I'm getting the idea. So in order to prove to the world that you were still out there, you had to do something bigger than you'd ever done before. You know what I did. Right.

So you broke into the Philadelphia Zoo. I didn't break into the zoo. No. Peter, come on, man. I'm sorry. I came to the back of the zoo, and I came over the fence. I came down to the toilet where he was at. I hopped into the pit.

I walked up to him. I took the spray can off. He turns around. He's like, this must be the biggest bag of peanuts I've ever heard. Elephant turns around and looks at you. I walks up to him. I write, cornbread lives.

Cornbread lives. Well I tell the side. Cornbread lives. Well, I was kind of disgusted because I went through all that to do something within 60 seconds. When I came out the pit, the entire zoo was at my disposal. Right. I just bombed the whole zoo out. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, I bet. So, the elephant was cool with this. Somebody. Was the elephant cool? The elephant was cool with this. Nah. Oh, I bet. So, the elephant was cool with this. Somebody. Was the elephant cool with this? The elephant was cool with this. Yes. Consent. Yes.

Basically, this is the Philadelphia version of Charlotte's Web. Someone else was in that zoo. Somebody else. Yes. And seeing what I did. Yeah. And called the police. Yeah.

By the time I came out the zoo. Yeah. Come to the term stop. Zoop, zo tombstone don't run put your hands on top of your head take me to the police station and all this time I'm tired because I was up half the night

I'm sleeping, we're trying to rest and every five minutes the cops come to the, what's 20 hours cornbread I said here, what's up give me autograph kid this was was cornbread. I said, here, what's up? Give me autograph, kid. This was all day long. So, I was about to say I have a feeling that's not true. I know we could be here all day and you would have even more amazing stories. Yes. But sadly, we don't have all day and we have

business to do. So, cornbread, Daryl, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling... Tag. You're it. So, you're an expert, obviously a pioneer in one kind of tagging. We thought we'd ask you three questions about the game of tag. Answer two of them correctly, you'll win our prize. One of our listeners, the voice of their choice in their voicemail, perhaps at this point yours. Bill, who is Cornbread playing for? Dan Foley of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All right. Ready to do this? Here's your first question. Of course, as you might imagine, there is in this world a professional tag league. They play the sport professionally.

It's called World Chase Tag. The idea is you have a small arena, obstacles, a chaser tries to tag an evader in a set period of time. Which of these is an official term used in that sport? A, the wounded rabbit, in which the person chasing fakes an injury, drawing the evader to come help, and then he tags him. B, the Benny Hill, in which the chaser chases the evader around and around, an obstacle to no effect, like that old comedy program. Or C, the existential crisis, in which either player suddenly realizes that playing tag is ridiculous for grown adults? C.

It's going to go for C. It's like an acceptable term. He's not wrong. I know. It's a good guess, but in fact, the answer is the Benny Hill. That is a term they use in professional tag.

Apparently, it's a mistake rookies make. This is not a problem. Cornbread, you got two more. Perhaps you're bored by that kind of professional tag. You want something more exciting.

In which case you can enjoy which of these? A. Catch Me If You Can. That's a Croatian dating show in which people compete for the right to date someone by chasing them through a house. B. Global Tag. An amateur league in which the playing field is the entire planet and rounds often take years to complete. Or C, archery tag, in which instead of tagging each other, players shoot arrows at each other. I'll go with A.

You can go with A. I'm afraid it was C, archery tag. What? It's called archery tag. They're padded arrows, and I gotta tell you the truth, I watched it on video, and it looks like a lot of fun. You didn't mention they were padded arrows. Yeah, that's true.

That's a technicality. Because, you know, that takes all the fun out of it. It does, really. Cornbread tags the arrow as it flies by. All right, here's your last question. The multimillionaire Andrew Mellon and his brother Richard engaged in a decades-long tag war with each other, which finally ended when which of these happened?

A. Richard trying to escape Andrew's tag leapt into the Susquehanna River and was never seen again. B. On his deathbed, Richard called Andrew over and whispered, Last tag! into his ear and then immediately died. Or C. Andrew had himself encased in a giant rubber ball so he could never be tagged again? B. You can go for B. On his deathbed, Richard would call Andrew over and say,

last tag, gotcha, and die. You're right. That's what happened. Bill, how did Daryl Cornbread McRae do on our quiz? He got one right, and just short of being a full winner in our game. But we do know that every time you go in public and see the word cornbread, you'll know he's a winner. Yeah.

Cornbread, I have to ask I have to ask one thing When we walk out of here tonight Are we going to see Cornbread on the wall backstage? No Alonzo, it's already on the back Oh my god You can see Daryl Cornbread McRae's artwork online At paradigmarts.org and artsy.net

You can see it in person over at the Paradigm Gallery In studio in Philadelphia. Daryl McRae, thank you so much for joining us. And wait, wait, don't tell me. Give it up for Cornbread. Thank you. Finally, we are all grateful around here that we are no longer doing the show on Zoom anymore, even though we often had some pretty great virtual visits with fascinating people.

In January, guest host Naguid Farsad interviewed Jeremy Harris, the playwright, whose slave play was The Talk of Broadway, and who wrote the film Zola, perhaps the first movie to be adapted from a Twitter thread. Hi, Nicky. How are you? Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited to be speaking with you. I just saw Zola. It was so good. I really love this movie. And what's crazy to me about it is that it's based on a Twitter thread, as I mentioned. Can you tell us about this particular Twitter thread and what made it seem like it could be a good movie? Well, I mean, honestly, what's wild is that it was a Twitter thread before threading was possible on Twitter.

You know, this young, this 19-year-old Black woman, like, told a story on Twitter that stopped the internet for an entire day back in 2015. And, like, thousands and thousands and thousands of people were hanging onto her every word. And it was almost like when Dickens would write his periodicals, where we're like, you know, one will come out one day, except we got them all over a night, right? So we get one bit of the story and we had to wait five minutes for Twitter to load. Because she starts to tweet with this iconic phrase. Like it's one of the great first lines for me it goes up there with like you know uh Moby Dick and Hamlet but it's uh um let me tell you the story about me

and this b word here fell out it's kind of long but it's full of suspense um and then I mean can you tell us a little bit about the movie without giving it away oh Oh, totally. Sorry. Did I just like go too much into the process? No, that was awesome. That was wonderful. Well, the movie, I think simply put, it's a movie about a young Black woman who works at a Hooters type establishment, who meets another young woman who is white, who they immediately bond over the fact that they both are strippers. And so after they spend one wild night out together, the young white woman calls her and asks her to go on a trip with her to Florida. And 14 hours later, they're in a car to Florida on a 14-hour road trip that takes them to hell in more ways than one. I know that sounds really dark and scary. You might just be like, oh my God, I just want to go watch Tick, Tick, Boom and smile.

But like, it's really funny. It's a really funny movie. Jeremy, I mean, like you've written in so many mediums and so successfully and wonderfully, but I think maybe your best writing I've ever seen was you finding an NPR appropriate way to tell the story of Solo just now. I've had a lot of practice.

I have an 11 year old niece who has now become quite curious about what uncle Jeremy is writing. And she's been very frustrated because she can't see slave play. She couldn't see Zola. And so she's, she's like, well, can you just explain it to me like a preteen can. And so now I've learned how to talk about my work, like for preteens, not to say that NPR audiences are preteens, but I do know that the co-writer of Zola,

Janixa Bravo, has been listening to this program since she was a preteen. So I'm trying to make it for little Janixa. Well, I want to also, I want to talk to you about Slave Play, which by the way, I live in New York City. I mean, was the talk of the town. Like I mentioned it once, you know, it was nominated for so many Tonys.

And it lost them all. And it lost them all. That's even cooler. That's actually a cooler thing. To be nominated for 12 and to lose 12, it's like kind of a really punk act, right? Yeah, that's the, yo, I feel like no claps is better than one clap. You know what I'm saying? Yes, yes. No, because that was what I told my mom at the end when like the last award of the night

was Best Play, where I was like, well, baby, maybe this is the one. I was like, mom, that would be the worst thing. I was like, the worst thing would be walking away with just this one. So actually, let's just vibe out on losing. And then we did. And I was like, see, this is cool. I have a very important question to ask you, though, about slave play, which is that is it true that Rihanna texted you while she was watching it? Oh, that is very true. Did you text Rihanna back being like, please turn off your phone? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why aren't you paying attention?

This better be intermission. I really hate to do this to my own self. But I guess, again, being a double Gemini, I can't help but get myself in trouble. But I actually caused a big rift in the theater community after Rihanna came and texted because I said, I don't mind people texting during my show as long as they're texting about my show. I would love for that to happen in more plays as long as it's Rihanna every time. Just like at the music band, like, do 77 trombones! Well, Jeremy O'Harris, we've asked you here to play a game we're calling... You're a playwright. These guys play wrong. As Bill said, you're a very successful playwright, so we thought we'd ask you about people who play wrong, the athletes who made some of the worst plays in sports history.

Answer two out of three questions correctly, and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Jeremy O'Hara playing for? James King of Madison, Wisconsin. Okay. Here's your first question. Of Madison, Wisconsin. Okay. Here's your first question.

Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley once made a slick catch of a fly ball, posed with it, and tossed the ball to a fan in the stands. One problem, though. What? Was it A, the fan was the owner of the team they were playing, the Minnesota Twins? Was it B, the fan was a 99-year-old woman who broke her wrist catching the ball? Or was it C, there was only one out, the ball was still in play, and the runners on first and third both scored? I'm going to say C, even though I feel like that might be for a different game. You know what? That's absolutely correct. You're basically a sports expert as far as I know. Oh, my God.

All right. Well, let's see how you do on this next question. Brazilian soccer star Neymar did such a bad job faking an injury during a 2018 World Cup game that which of these things happened? Was it A, the referees gave the other team one free injury without worrying about getting a penalty? Was it B, the New York Times interviewed acting teachers to explain why Neymar was so unconvincing? Or was it C, the referee wrote boo-hoo on the yellow card that he gave to Neymar? I'm gonna say B. That's right. The gonna say B. That's right.

The answer was B. This is crazy. Rihanna just texted me about how well you're doing at this game. All right, Jeremy. Here, let's just, let's see if you can keep this going. This is your last question. Dick Stewart was a first baseman who led the American League in RBIs in 1963. But he was such a terrible fielder that he earned which of the following nicknames?

Was it A, Stone Fingers, B, Dr. Strange Glove, or C, The Ancient Mariner? Because that poem begins, It is an ancient mariner, and he stoppeth one of three. I'm going to say A just because we haven't done an A yet. Jeremy, you've done it again. They're all right. He was so bad at fielding that, true story, he once picked up a hot dog wrapper that was blowing

towards him and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. I mean, literally this one was pure gas. Bill, how did Jeremy do on our quiz? Well, it's hard to get all three, but Jeremy, you got all three right. Oh, my gosh. That's what I love to hear.

Well, Jeremy O'Harris, thank you so much for joining us. Jeremy O'Harris' newest movie, Zola, is available to stream now. Jeremy O'Harris, thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Oh, my God. Thank you so much for having me. That's it for our Reasons to be Thankful edition. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and

WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord, Philip Godeka writes our limericks, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman, our intern is Vaishnavi Naidu, BJ Lederman composed our theme, our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Grombos, and Lillian King, our Peter Peter pumpkin pie eater is Peter Gwynn, our tour manager, that's Shana Donald, technical direction is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos, and Lillian King. Our Peter Peter pumpkin pie eater

is Peter Gwynn. Our tour manager, that's Shane O'Donnell. Technical direction is from Lorna White. Our business and ops manager is Colin Miller. Our production manager

is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilog, and the executive producer, wait, wait, don't tell me, is Mike Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on our show this week.

That would mean all of our panelists, all our fabulous guests, of course Bill Curtis. Thanks to everybody here at the beautiful Studebaker Theatre. Thanks to all of you for listening at home. I am Peter Sagal, and we will be back next week. This is NPR.