Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: Cynthia Nixon

Episode Date: September 27, 2025

This week, special guest Cynthia Nixon joins panelists Negin Farsad, KC Shornima, and Adam BurkeLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is Eric Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not, break it. Yeah.

To break international laws. Your life stories, really good ones. This American Life. Easy, Chicago, this is Wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News Quiz. When you yell echo, I'm the voice that yells back.

Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois. Peter Seigal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. Thank you all so much. We are also excited because we have a great show

lined up for you. Later on, we're going to be talking to the legendary actor Cynthia Nixon, star of, among many other things, sex in the city and its sequels. And I am particularly excited because for years, people have been telling me that I remind them of a character in the show, Mr. Big. And I've never myself watched the show. I'm assuming that's a compliment. He's a great guy. And that to this day, he's alive and well, right? So it's all good. And just like that, it's your turn. So give us a call. the number is 1-3-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1-88-9-24. Now let us welcome our first listener-contested. Hi, you're on Wait-Wait-Wait, don't tell me.

Hi, this is Coup Daly. I'm calling from Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey. How are you? I'm great. I'm great. I'm great. As an NPR fan and Sexman City fan, this is a great-come-true. There you go. I mean, you actually, all your worlds are coming together. Well, welcome to the show, Coop. Let me introduce you to our panelists this week. First up, she is a comedian and host of the podcast, Fake the Nation. You can see her new TED Talk on dating. It's Nagine Farsad. Hey.

Next, a comedian who will be hosting the new Thank You Good Night Show at Chicago Second City every Friday in October. It's Mr. Adam Burke. Hello. Hi. And making her debut on our panel this week, she's a comedian and writer for Saturday Night Live,

whose work can be found online at k.c.shornima.com. It's Casey Shornima. Hi. Welcome to the show, Casey. And welcome to the show, Coop. You're going to play Who's Bill this time? Bill Curtis, of course, is going to read you three quotations from this week's news.

Your job simply identify or explain two of them out of the three. Do that, and you will win our prize. Any voice from our show on your voicemail. You're ready to go? Let's do it. Let's. Here is your first quote. It's amazing.

Melania and I didn't fall. That was President Trump demanding an investigation into the malfunction. What that delayed his arrival at the UN General Assembly this week? The escalator. The escalator. Just as the president and first lady stepped onto an up escalator at the UN, it stopped with a jolt. Melania was just in front of him.

So he came within inches of touching her for the first time in years. Everyone saw this. It happened, of course, on live TV. He is furious on one. Wednesday, he announced, he demanded an investigation into whoever was responsible. Then on Friday, he held a press conference announcing that escalators cause autism. Like, I remember when I was, it's a really early memory. I must have been like four or five years old, and I was afraid to get on escalators, you know,

and my mom was going up an escalator, and I was just too far behind her, and the escalator stopped. And she, and I looked at her, and she, and I looked at her, and she, was at the top and she was just like just come up the stairs like stairs you know what I mean yeah and someone needed to be my mom needed to be there for Trump to know like what to do in that moment because like it helped you know that that helped me but um but like Trump as a five year old I immediately called the UN General Assembly and I made it an international issue I don't know how much you believe in symmetry but it would be nice if this guy's entire political career was bookended by escalators

because he came down that one and I think this escalator was like we don't want any part of this anymore Trump does look like a guy who thinks all stairs are just a broken escalator that's true yeah he just stands there waiting to start working again

he's standing there in front of like the marble steps and the Lincoln Memorial saying why is this one broken maybe this will change the windmill rant into like escalator rats you know what I mean Here, here, Coop, is your next quote. I paid 300 bucks for a terrible seat for merrily we roll along. That was a commenter in a New York Times story explaining, in fact, why what New York Institution is now in big trouble.

Broadway. Yes, that's right. The Broadway musical, not a single one of the 18 musicals that opened on Broadway this year have made a profit. That is terrible if they go away. Broadway musicals, how else could you spend a thousand dollars to sit in front of a lady who wraps along with Lin-Manuel Miranda the entire time? Nagin, I understand this is upsetting news to you.

Okay, I just love, I live in New York City, and when you're in New York City, I went to a Rosh Hashanah dinner the way most Muslims do. And, so on Tuesday night, I was on Rosh Hashanah dinner, literally there was a guy there that writes musicals for a living, and did he break out into a lot? a little Jewish New Year song, he did. And I'm like, that's because we live in New York City, this great thing where people will just be like, Happy New Year!

And it's so, like, it's such a part of the fabric of New York and the idea that people don't want to be annoyed by it the way they should. I find that depressing. But I don't know why it's so expensive to put on musicals because everybody knows you can get like a great production of cats with just one insane teacher and the 12 worst people in your high school.

Yeah, should they be like, is there some world where we merge reality TV with musicals? Or like, do we get somehow like zin pouches or something in the musical? Sort of like product places. I'm just like, yeah, what do we, how do we? Actually, you know what might work? Because this has really sort of revived the finances of professional sports, legalized gambling, right? I'm seeing West Side Story. I got $5,000 on the sharks over the jets.

Come on, Maria. Yeah. $500 says fomteen doesn't make it to act free. I'll take that bet. All right. Here is your last quote, and it's from someone anticipating leaving it all behind. I ask God to please let me take my dog with me.

That person was one of many people convinced that what heavenly event was going to take place this week. The rapture. The rapture. That's right, Coop. The rapture, that is the essential. of all the holy people to heaven was supposed to happen this week. Oh, no, what if that's what was happening to Trump at the escalator stop?

The rumor went big on TikTok, hashtag rapture talk, and it all started from this one guy who said, God came to him in a dream and told him the rapture would finally happen on September 23rd and or 24th, which is weird since when is God uncertain about dates? God's like a plumber, you know what I mean? I'll be there between these hours. They gave us a window. You're like your cable provider, yeah. I didn't know much about this whole thing,

so I was amazed to find out that in the rapture, when it happens, eventually, it's not one of these like transcendental, like, soul things. You literally, your physical body floats up into the air and all the way up, right, when you're raptured. So I didn't know you couldn't get to heaven if you're inside. wait is that real yeah yeah apparently it's like think if the rapture happens right it finally happens

the prophecies come true and all of those otherwise virtuous people who do not get to heaven because they're just like bumping up against the roof they're tangled in the light fixture so even if you're like mother teresa but you're inside your condo right also one word question aeroplanes yeah oh god what if there's like an airplane between you and heaven can you imagine you've lived a life of pure virtue never giving into temptation and you're on your way to heaven and boom you get sucked into a jet engine. Do you like keep hitting your head on the ceiling? Like a

like you know when you're on a video game and like you keep hitting the wall. Exactly. Keep hitting the wall, you're stuck. Or do you eventually? I don't know. I mean, I don't know what the upward suction is like so can you like bounce along the ceiling to get to a window? Can we reverse Santa Clauset? Can we go on the chime down? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Head on up, yeah, I guess so. Does it make the slide whistle noise? When you went on. Because if it does, I'm on board. Yeah, Gideon puts down his trumpet, picks up one of those. Yeah, okay. Bill, how did Coop do in our quiz?

Coop did really well. Three in a row. He's a winner. Yeah. Congratulations, Coop. People are shouting your name. Thank you so much for playing. Thank you so much.

Go Cubs, Chicago. Go Cubs. Bye, bye. Right now, panel, it's time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Adam, the journal of the American Bar Association recently published a paper exploring the idea that who might soon be able to be witnesses in court. I've been off a feeling about this. Really quick, one time I was in Milwaukee, and I was really hung over, and I was looking for a pub to go to.

Me and my brother. For some reason, we couldn't find a pub anywhere. And I was like, quick, I found one. Over then, I started running towards this building. And my brother was like, Adam, that's the American Bar Association. Well, it's what it's called. It's a different kind of bar. It's not AI, is it?

It's not AI. Is it pets? It is pets. It's animals. Everybody knows that you should never murder someone in front of a parrot, right? Basic, murderer 101. We all know that. But now you might have to.

to worry about all your pets diving you out. Pretty soon now, AI will be able to translate animal communication into English, right? We can understand what they're saying, and lawyers are already trying to figure out how to bill them. Oh, I'm sorry, no. I mean, my mistake, I mean whether their testimony will be admissible in court. And how, if that happens, how do you treat an animal witness? Objection, he's badgering the witness. Overruled. It's a badger. Will they allow hostile witnesses, and by hostile witnesses, I mean, cats? Yes, presumably.

Because cats are just going to send everybody down the river, just because they're a-hawks. They're cats. Are you confusing this entire story with just the next Disney movie? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you drop acid and watch Zootopia? Raise your hands and show us strong. Those who know the right from wrong Those who know the truth from lies

Raise your voice and testify Can I get a witness, a witness? Coming up, our band-a-lis-go-fishing In our bluff to Listener game, call 1-T-A-W-A-W-T-A-W-T-P Play. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait-W-W-W-W-T-Tell me from NPR. This message comes from an PR sponsor, SAP Concur. Latora Jackson, senior manager of finance projects at Atricure, shares how SAP Concur solutions helped them automate outdated procedures

so employees could focus on purposeful work. Literally, employees would receive a mailed invoice from our suppliers, put it in an approval folder, and walk it around to about three different desks. The great thing with concur invoice, it provides automatic. workflow. The AI technology for the invoice reading has made it seamless and almost touchless for our accounts payable team to be more efficient in what they're doing. We're now able to have team building and decision-making input from that team that we normally didn't have the time to receive before. So it was almost like a retraining of the brain on job functionality

and opportunities that they have here at Atrocure. Visit concur.com to learn more. Military commanders, intelligence officials, diplomatic power players, they know things you may not about where the world is headed. And we will pull back the curtain on what they're thinking on sources and methods, NPR's new national security podcast. Our team will help you understand America's shifting role in the world. Listen to sources and methods from NPR. 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 Casey Shortnemah, Nguyen Farsad, and Adam Burke. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

Peter Sagle. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. Now it's on for the wait. Wait, don't tell me. Bluff the listener game call 1-3-8. Wait, Wait, Wait, to play our game on the air. How you are on? Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me. Hi, this is Paxton from Duluth, Georgia. Hey, Paxton from Duluth. How are you? I'm great. How are you?

I'm fine. What do you do there in Duluth, Georgia? I am a doctor of physical therapy student at Georgia State University. Oh, wow. That's pretty cool. And do you have an ambition of, like, who you want to work with as a physical therapist? Yeah, I thought I did when I got into school, and then I got to actually. actually work in a clinic, and I realized I have no idea. Oh, really? Yeah. So you're just absolutely headed straight for that career, and all of a sudden you start

doing it, and you're like, I don't know. Paxon, welcome to the show. You're going to play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Paxon's topic? Fish tales. Fishermen, classically, have been known to tell tall tales. But this week, we saw in the news a real fishing story. We had trouble believing was real, but apparently.

it is. Our panelists are going to tell you about it. Pick the one who is telling the truth, and you'll win our prize, the weight waiter of your choice on your voicemail, and a 75-pound trout I caught just last week. Really? Are you ready to play? Yes, I am. Let's do it. First, let's hear from Adam Burke. For decades, the talk of the town among ardent fishermen in picturesque Warner's Hollow, Tennessee, has been the old Commodore, a legendary, enormous blue catfish, said to inhabit the waters of nearby Warner's Lake. He's got to be 150 pounds, estimates local fad plover, who claims to have almost landed the behemoth on several occasions. He's a wilder one. It felt like he was towing with me. The mystery

of the Commodore's elusiveness was solved this week, thanks to Mallory Thwait, who, when cleaning out her recently deceased grandfather's house, found a seven-foot motorized catfish, complete with remote control. It didn't take long for Thwait to realize her grandfather's engineering career plus his lifelong and off-stated hatred of fishermen made him the perfect culprit for creating the waterborne myth

that's bedeviled regional casters for so long. I found diary entries where he'd glow about making guys fall out of their boats trying to catch him, she says. I think I will carry on his work because let's face it, he has a point. The old Commodore. A legendary catfish turns out

to be a robotic hoax. Your next story of someone gone fishing comes from K.C. Shornima. Following the popularity of apps like T. and Irby dating the same guy, which are designed to help women navigate liars and cheats in the dating world, Alondra Davis set off to

take on another ubiquitous problem in many straight women's dating lives. Did he actually catch the fish he's holding in his dating profile? Alondra, who grew up hunting and fishing, moved to Atlanta for college. She was initially excited to find so many guys on dating apps holding their catches.

But upon going on dates with them, she found that many of those men did not actually catch the fish they were holding in their profile picture. I'd ask them what kind of bait they used, and they just stare at me and say, uh, warm? So Alandra launched the fish or phony app on her college campus

at Georgia Tech. She said anyone can pose a picture of a guy with a fish on the app and anonymous sources confirm or deny whether the guy caught the fish. She added that they, quote, Aren't trying to embarrass anyone, not that you can embarrass a guy proudly holding a 12-inch trout. A new app that fact-check's fish being held up in dating profiles. Your last book line and sinker story comes from Nagin Farsop.

Time to toss out our preconceived notions about redfish. I know we all think of them as illiterate idiot fish, but this week, shocking news came out, red fish are covered in secret written messages on their beautiful slimy skin. More and more redfish are being found with spots, spelling out letters and messages. Apparently, these letters and symbols are like the fish equivalent of freckles, but unlike human freckles, they can spell words. One fish had an angler's initials on it. Another said, I love you. And even more moving, another said turd.

Now, what does it all mean? Is God telling fishermen that he loves them and also turds? Andrew Brown and angler and redfish freckle connoisseur self-proclaimed because no one should be a formal redfish freckle connoisseur thinks that the fish are actually here to tell us something. Quote, they have this connection with our world and pop culture. They're trying to tell us something. We just have to slow down and observe.

Move over astrology, fish freckles are here. All right, one of these stories about fishing we found in the news, was it from Adam Burke? Turns out the legendary catfish of northern Wisconsin, the old Commodore turned out to be just a remote-controlled hoax. From Casey, an app that fact-checks the fish that men brag about in their dating profiles, are from Nagin, secret messages being found on the body markings of the elusive redfish. Which of these is a real fishing tale that we found in the week's news?

Yeah, I think it's the redfish story. You think it's the redfish with the weird messages on their tails? All right, well, to find out the correct answer, we spoke to someone very close to that real story. Catching a fish is very exciting, but catching one with a heart shape or a smiley phase. That's just even more special. That was Andrew Brown. He is the founder of Drumspots, who is the first to start tracking the unusual redfin fish spots.

Congratulations, you got it right. You're into point for Naguine, and you have won our prize. Thank you. Thank you. Take care. And now the game we call Not My Job. Cynthia and Nixon had her first on-screen role at just eight years old,

pretending to be a junior horse racing champion on to tell the truth. She has been a working actress ever since but became an icon in 1998 when she was cast as Miranda and Sex in the City. And she wrapped up Miranda's story this year on the sequel show and just like that, but you can still see her on HBO's The Gilded Age.

Cynthia Nixon, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. So, despite all those huge, enormous, well-known hits that I just mentioned. I know you because I was a theater guy once upon a time, and you were and are a legend because you were the only person to ever star in two Broadway shows at the same time. Well, star would be generous, because obviously my roles were confined in some way. Otherwise, I would not be able to have done the first act of one, the second act of the other,

and then the third act of the first one again. I just want to know how this logistically works. So you did the first act, you appeared in the first act of Hurley Burley, right? Yes. David Ray play, great play, amazing cast, legendary cast. Then you would walk off stage and like run out the theater door and how far was it to the next theater? I would not run.

I would change my clothes and I would go. I would walk two blocks away and I would walk through the Edison Hotel and then I would wait and then I would go on at the real thing and then I would kill a lot more time and then I would take my curtain call and then I would change again, go back to Hurley Burley, my character who was

an innocent runaway by the third act had become a street hooker so I did like very garish makeup and then I would wait until the very last scene which was what with William Hurt and I

in the very last scene of Hurley burly, which would be, I think, after 11 o'clock at that point. Right. I love the notion of you walking, like looking prim and proper to the one play and then coming back in your sex worker outfit and someone seeing both

and going, man, this city's rough. Oh, yeah. Happened so quickly to the nice young girl. Wow. We, of course, we'll ask you about sex in the city. So you were, it's amazing to me that it was this long ago. 1998 was when sex in the city went in the air. And when

You were cast as Miranda. Did you have any idea what kind of phenomenon it would become? No, I mean, we knew there was nothing like it on television, but also HBO at that point, you know, the Sopranos hadn't happened. They did not do original programming, really. But by the second season, they put us on the cover of Time magazine with a slogan that said, who needs a husband? And by that point, we weren't just entertainment.

We, like, had fully entered the zeitgeist. so many women, including, I believe, some here, grew up with sex in the city, giving them the idea of the kind of life they should aspire to as an independent woman in the city. And my question to you is, how do you feel about that? Well, you know, women are often coming up to me and saying, I moved here because of your show, and I do feel a little guilty. Right. It's, you know, people have also said that all the unrealistic things that happened on a show, the most unrealistic

was that there were that many attractive single men, just anywhere you walk. And I do sometimes feel a little responsible that women who watch and love the show

think that actually they're really supposed to be wearing high heels 24 hours a day. Casey, didn't you say that you grew up watching sex in the city? Yes, I grew up watching sex in the city, and then I moved to the city, so thank you for that. And how is it... I hope it didn't disappoint. How has your real life in New York City measured up to premium cable?

It's honestly, I recently watched the episode where Miranda has chlamydia, right? Yes, I believe it's come. And let me say it's measured up. No, I'm kidding. So wait a minute. So, wait a minute, when people say, well, I'm more of a Miranda, that's what they mean. No, that's the results you get back from you. We absolutely have to talk to you about the other HBO show you've been doing, which is the Gilded Age,

takes place in Victorian era in New York, also known as no sex in the city. You talked about the high heels of all your characters were wearing in Sex and the City, so what's more fun the costumes in Sex and the City or the costumes in the Gilded Age? Oh, my.

I mean, the corsets are formidable. I'm not going to say they're not. You know, speaking of shoes, a number of us do, you know, we have our little lace-up boots, but a few of us wear them, particularly few of us of a certain age. Yeah, there's a lot of people in ugs and a lot of people in clogs. You mean to tell me if, like, the camera were to pan down to, like, and Ada's feet, and we saw underneath the skirt, there'd be, like, ugs? Every time I arrive on set to shoot a scene, that is my first question.

Can you see my feet? Right. Well, Cynthia Nixon, it is a joy to talk to you, and we have asked you here to play a game that this time we're calling. You're a New York Nixon. Meet the New York Knicks. Oh, no. Oh, yes. You grew up in New York, still live there,

so you should be able to handle three questions about New York's most beloved and or most disappointing basketball team, the New York Knicks. Answer two and three questions and you will win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Cynthia Nixon playing for? James Lee of Seattle, Washington. All right. Here, ready?

I'm judging from your reaction that you are not perhaps the most avid basketball fan? I am not, although I will tell you a fun fact that, you know, Miranda dated Dr. Robert, Blair Underwood, who was the sports doctor. fictionally for the Knicks. Right. So it means like you were practically in the locker room. Okay. Exactly.

Here is your first question. When LeBron James was leaving Cleveland, the Knicks pulled out all the stops to try to convince LeBron James to come to New York and play. They even did what? A, they had Times Square

officially renamed LeBron Jimes Square. B, they sent the actual Broadway cast of Phantom of the Opera to his house in Cleveland to perform for him or see they had E.D. Falco and James Gandalfini film a new

secret ending to the Sopranos just for him. What was the middle one? Middle one was sending the entire Broadway cast of Phantom of the Opera to his house to welcome him. Would he care? Would he care?

I'm going to go with the first one. I'm going to go with renaming time square. You're going to, LeBron, Jimes, Square. I don't blame you. I find this hard to believe, too, but they had E.D. Falco and James Gandalfini film a scene. Yeah. Wow. It is Tony. I hope

this is still available somewhere. I have not been able to find it, but it has Tony and Carmelo Soprano trying to find LeBron a nice apartment. And yet he went to Miami. Who knew? Okay. You two more chances. Okay. James Dolan is the owner of the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden where they play.

He's an innovator in sports entertainment. For example, he uses facial recognition technology at Madison Square Garden to do what? A, identify attractive audience members and make sure they're seated courtside where the cameras can see them. B, make sure any couple is legally married to each other before showing them on the kiss cam.

He was a pioneer in that, maybe. or C, find any of the many lawyers suing him and prevent them from entering the building. Oh, number three. There you are. Yes. That's right. The answer was C.

James Dolan gets sued a lot. Okay, here's your next question. A New York Times reporter credited what event with loosening the tension in the locker room before a pivotal playoff game against their rivals, the Pacers, last year. Was it, A, quote, an epic fart in the locker room? B, the coach giving all the players popsicles,

or C, the entire team joining in a karaoke performance of Katie Perry's roar. Hey! I say roar. You say that the entire New York Knicks, all of them, gather around a karaoke machine. I think sang along

I think since it is so classy that that roar is what she calls a fart Is that what you're encouraging me I believe that's what they call farts in the guilty in the guilty

did somebody roar did somebody roar who let the lion in all right I don't I don't think it's the popsicles. Why would that matter? Let's go with the fart. It was, of course, an epic fart. Excellent.

The New York Times reporter refused to reveal who was responsible for the quote, epic fart that broke the tension and led the team to a big win. But it is true that Jalen Brunson walked down to the court looking 15 pounds lighter. Bill, how did the legendary Cynthia Nixon do in our quiz? A win. Two out of three, the fart wins. Cynthia Nixon is a Grammy, Tony, an Emmy-winning performer who you can see on HBO's The Gilded Age, which is streaming right now. Cynthia Nixon, what an absolute joy to talk to you. Thank you so much for being with us.

It's a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. In just a minute, Bill heads back to the beach in our listener, Limerick Challenge, call 1-3-8-Wait-Wait to join us in the air. We'll be back in a minute with more if wait-wait-wait-don-tell me from NPR. Sources and methods, the crown jewels of the intelligence community,

shorthand for how do we know what's real, who told us? If you have those answers, you're on the inside, and NPR wants to bring you there, from the Pentagon to the State Department to spy agencies, listen to understand what's really happening and what it means for you. Sources and methods, the new national security podcast from NPR. This week on Consider This, COVID, vaccines, Tylenol, As the government makes massive changes in its approach to public health, we hear from doctors trying to keep up.

If you hear something and you have a question about it, that's the time to have a conversation with the person who knows your health best. This week on Consider This on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We're playing this week with Adam Burke, Casey Shornima, and Nagine Farsad. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Peter Sago. Thank you, Bill.

In just a minute. In just a minute, we thought we would try something new this week, and then we decided not to. So here comes our listener to Limerick Channel. If you like to play, give us a call at 1-3-8-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1-88-9-24-8-8-9-24. Right now, a panel some more questions for you from the week's news. Nagin, Meta, you know them, recently had a huge live event that included CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself, demonstrating their new $800 AI-powered smart glasses.

But one thing didn't quite work during this presentation. What? The smart glasses. Exactly right, the $800 AI smart glasses. Zuckerberg stood on stage in front of this packed crowd come to see his great new product, and all he demonstrated was how good his glasses are at dry. dropping four phone calls in a row. Not a great start.

I mean, I already have glasses that cannot answer a phone call. Also, do we need another piece of tech that our mothers can't use? You know what I mean? You'll be on going, Mom, how are your glasses upside down? No, it's the one with the microphone, Ma.

Ma, it's the one with the, you know, I'm hanging up. Yeah. So the Facebook tech guy who was in charge of all this was fired, of course, but he got a new job the next day running the escalators at the U.S. Casey, there's a new trend

taking over men's fashion. Shirts are changing. They're getting way more what? Mesh. No. Did you say that out of fond wish or fear? She had a lusty look in her eyes. Just want to see some nips.

Okay. Oh, shorter. Yes, shorter, shorter shirts. Grab your scissors, fellas, because the new look is short shirts. According to the New York Times, the market is now flooded with teas and button downs that end just barely below or sometimes even above the waist, because why should the pleasure of bending forward and having your shirt ride up to show everyone your butt crack be only enjoyed by plumbers? Even high fashion brands are jumping in on this with Louis Vuitton offering a short hemmed shirt for $1,600.

Look, I will sell you a long hemmed shirt from turn. Target and a pair of scissors for only 200. Yeah, this is, this is, all fashion is a scam. We're going to charge you more for less of it. It's just amazing, yes. Oh, yeah, this is shrinkflation. Exactly, yeah, less shirt, more money. Some experts call the popularity of short shirts a response to the trend toward big

pants, so here you go. Ready? Perfect outfit. Small shirt, big pants, tiny hat, huge clown shoes, medium gloves. McGeen, a question for you. Yeah. Negan, an amazing accomplishment in ichthyology and ocean science for the first time ever. Leopard sharks were recorded mating in the wild.

But even more amazing than that, in the video, the leopard sharks are seen doing what? Oh, the leopard sharks are seen lighting a cigarette after mating. They're, yeah, they're just like us. Yeah, exactly. I will give you a hint. Yeah. It turned out it was a menager shark. Oh my God, they're doing, they're like doing threesome?

Yes, they were having a threesome in a true scientific breakthrough. Two male sharks and one female shark were filmed doing the kind of thing you can usually only see on only fins. Were they, were the sharks like in the? their kind of early 20s and like still experimenting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The video has shaken up the thinking around shark mating, and now we also have to rethink the lyrics to baby shark, right? Because there's baby shark, mama shark, daddy shark, mama and daddy's special friend shark.

It does sound like a weird deleted scene from Jaws. I've you ever seen that shark's eyes? Oh, we're in the water for two days. Sharks, we're having threesomes all around us. We're going to need a bigger bed. 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 or leave a message at 1-8-8-Wait-wait.

That's 1-88-9-24-8-9-24. You can come see us most weeks here at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago, and you can also catch us on the road. We will be in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii on October 9th and 10th, so why not consider joining us in Paradise? Those points won't cash in themselves. We'll also be in Costa Mesa,

California on November 6th. For tickets to all of our live events, just go over to NPRPresents.org. And if you like our show, but kind of wish it was only eight seconds long, well, follow us on TikTok. We're at Wait, Wait, Wait, NPR. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't tell me.

Hi, this is Alyssa from Morristown, New Jersey. Morris Town, New Jersey happens to be near where I grow up. Near where I grew up, I should say. I am done growing up. Finished sadly that process despite what other people may think. But yes, I grew up quite near there.

What do you do there? I am a child psychologist. Wow. I was just, no, I'm sorry. It's like 50 years too late, but I'm glad to meet you. Well, welcome to our show, Alyssa. You're going to play our listener at Limerick Challenge.

Bill Curtis is going to read you three news-related limericks with a 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. You ready to play? I'm so ready. Okay, so were we. Here is your first Limerick.

Jolato is my favorite by far. But from scooping some, I have been barred. Now I summon my id to get mad at this lid, because I cannot get into the jar. Jarre, yes. Talenti is a fancy brand of gelato that comes on all kinds of delicious flavors. Well, at least they look delicious. No one can actually taste them because the jars are so hard to open.

This week, the Washington Post reported on all the solutions people have posted to social media, screwdrivers, hammers, saws. It's terrible. Worse, the Talenti brand of hot fudge comes inside a hand grenade. I kind of want to try it now. I kind of want to open it by dropping it from a large height, like an eagle with a coconut, you know what I mean? Jolato is not worth opening.

You've tried it, you're like, no. Yeah, just get an ice cream. That's what the sign is. Yeah, it's like, go get Ben and Jerry's. Is that what that word means in Italian? Yeah, gelato means no. The jars are clear. You can see the ice cream.

It makes it worse because while you're trying and failing to get it like the sea salt caramel gelato, you're making eye contact with it the whole time, and it's taunting you. All right, here is your next limerick. I like ink, if I'm telling the truth. It's not just for impetuous youth. I am going to town on my left canines crown. I just got a tattoo on my...

Tooth, right, that's it. So are you either bored with, you know, traditional skin tattoos or you've just run out of room? try the newly popular tooth tattoo. It's the hot new fashion trend that has the tooth fairy saying, yeah, that's stand under the pillow. Now, you might be thinking how painful that would be, no, it's not because the designs are etched

and then dyed onto crowns that are then fitted over your teeth. You can get anything tattooed on a tooth, a butterfly, a bird, your partner's name, as long as your partner's name is Ed or something shorter. Casey. For example. You know, you could do like both in the front teeth, K-C, that would be awesome, right? So, but does it also kind of look like you have rotting teeth?

Well, a little bit. From like a short distance, I think you would look, you know. Yeah, you look like you're just, you know, dying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It turns out they're really artful designs, yeah. Yeah, I thought I got a piercing in my tooth, but it was just a cavity. No, it's okay. I just have ginger vines.

All right, here is your last limerick. The hoff was as smooth as a day scotch. Now new lifeguards get kicked up a sleigh notch. They run down the beach with their teeth and hair bleached. We are launching a reboot of Baywatch. Baywatch, yes, Baywatch. That hit show from the 1990s whose plots had to be simple because everything happened in slow motion is back.

Fox has already greenlit the reboot of Baywatch to air next season. Now, if you never watch the original show, it centers around a bunch of lifeguards, or as we called them, back then, beachnarks. And it had something for everyone. It was really great. It had action. It had melodrama.

It had Pamela Anderson for guys who lied about being interested in the action and the melodrama. I'm assuming they're rebooting it because of climate change. There's just so much more Bay to watch. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, the bay that they're watching turns out to be like somewhere in West Virginia. I was going to say, it's so shocking that, like, hot people in bathing suits could still get a TV show. Whoa, isn't that amazing?

Bill, how did Alyssa do in our quiz? Since we've been watching so carefully, she got them all right. Congratulations. Alyssa, well done. Thank you. Say hello to my old haunts for me. Thank you so much for calling. Of course.

Bye-bye. Hey, it's Rachel Martin. I'm the host of Wildcard from NPR. For a lot of my years as a radio host, silence sort of made me nervous. That pause before an answer, because you don't know what's going on on the other side of the mic. But these days, I love it.

Hmm. Ah. Gosh. Give me a minute. Yeah, yeah, think. Listen to the Wild Card podcast only from NPR. On the TED Radio Hour podcasts, scientists at Alphabet's Moonshot Factory tackle big, serious global problems. But their leader likes to show up on rollerblades, sometimes dressed as Gandalf.

My way of trying to disarm people and remind them, humor and silliness are very close to the wellsprings of creativity. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Now onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now with two points. Bill, can you give us the scores? McGee has four KC and Adam each have two. Okay, Nagine.

That means you're in first place and the other two are tied for second. So I will arbitrarily pick Adam to go first. The clock will start when they begin your first question, fill in the blank. After being pulled off the air last week, Blank made his return to late night on Tuesday. Kimmel. Right. On Thursday, former FBI director, Blank, was indicted by a grand jury. Comey? Yes, James Comey. This week, meteorologist warned the tropical storm

on Berto could strengthen into a category three blank. Hurricane. Yes. On Thursday, hundreds of senior military officers were ordered by Secretary of Defense, Blank, to meet in Virginia next week. Pete Hesgeth? Yes. This week, a proposed wealth tax in France was called Deadly for the Economy by Blank.

Is it Macron? No, not by Macron. It's by Europe's richest man. On Thursday, NASA confirmed potential launch dates for the Artemis 2 trip to the blank. The moon. Right. This week, the woman who was caught cheating on camera at that cold play concert revealed that her husband found out about

the affair because he was blank. He was at a Maroon 5 concert. No, he was at the same Coldplay concert with another woman. Wow. Last month, Kristen Cabot and Andy Byron went viral after they were put up on the big kiss cam

at a cold play concert, and this week, Cabot revealed that she had, at that moment, she was already separated from her husband, and in fact, he was at the same cold play concert with another woman. The news led the entire world to be like, please, please, please, let the other woman be the other guy's wife. Bill, how did Adam do in our quiz? Five, right, did very well. Ten more points. His total of 12 puts him in the lead. All right. Casey, you're up next. Here we go. Fill in the Blank. On Tuesday,

international health agencies pushed back on President Trump's claims that Tylenol causes blank. Autism. Right. During the UN General Assembly, France declared its recognition of a blank state. Gaza. Palestinian, I'll give it to you. This week, the FBI said they were investigating a shooting at a blank

facility in Dallas. Ice. Right? On Wednesday, former Vice President Blank kicked off her book tour. Harris. Yeah, Kamala Harris. Even though it had a permit to remain another five days, the National Park Service removed a statue of who holding hands from the National Mall.

Trump and Epstein. On Thursday, doctors warned of the rise of a so-called nightmare bacteria immune to common blanks. Antibiotics. Right. According to a new report, many sports are trying out referees that are blanks. AI? Well, I'll give it to you robots.

This week, a man attempting to get out of a traffic ticket by giving police a fake name was arrested because he couldn't blank. Spell it? Exactly. Wow. Look at that. Her first time.

Wow. Wow. Wow. But let me tell you about this guy. According to police, they originally pulled the man over because his muffler was too loud, and when they asked for ID, he said he didn't have it on him, but that his name was John Rarden.

And when officers couldn't find that name in their system, they asked him to spell it, and he couldn't, so they realized it was a fake name. Here's the irony. The man's real name, Chrysanthemum, Mississippi, on him on a page. Bill, I think Casey did really well. Right. It's the first time on the panel. She got eight right. Sixteen more points, a total of 18.

Wow. Wow. Where did she come from? Well, I don't know. And how many does Nagin need to take it from rookie of the year over here? Seven to tie an eight to win. There you go, Nagin. This is for the game. On Wednesday, the White House warned federal agencies to prepare for massive layoffs in the event of a blank. Shut down. Right. On Thursday, online shopping giant blank agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the FTC. Amazon? Right. This week, several airports in Denmark were closed after unauthorized blanks entered their airspace.

Aliens. I wish. Drones, probably from Russia. This week, at least two people were sent to the hospital in California after being attacked by blank. Sharks in a threesome. No, by quote, a very mean squirrel. On Wednesday, one of the winners of the second largest blank jackpot in history came forward

to collect his prize. Zotto. Yeah, Powerball jackpot. On Thursday, Ghostbusters and Honey I Shrunk the Kid Star Blank announced his return to acting. Rick Moranis? Right. This week, a man in China riding an electric scooter crashed into a temporary traffic light and things got worse when he blanked. Realized that he wasn't wearing any pants.

No. When he somehow got the traffic light stuck onto his head. Now, we don't know how exactly this happened, but somehow this guy got his head all the way inside this traffic light. But, by the way, it was still on. When the police got there, he was like, stop. No, wait. Bill, didn't again do well enough to win? I don't appreciate the tone, Peter.

Okay. Quisical. It was quizzical. Very tight game. Four, right. Eight more points. Twelve means she's tied with Adam, but guess who's the winner? Hey.

Casey. Well done, Kay. see. Thank you. How does it feel? Incredible. Well, coming up, our panelists predict what will be the big new musical that's going to save Broadway. But first, let me tell you that, wait, wait, don't tell me. He's a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with urgent hair cut productions, Doug In Absentia Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godica writes our Limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shane AdDonald. Thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theater,

B.J. Leaderman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles, Dornboss, and Lillian King. Special thanks this week, Tremna de El Sheiky, and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynne predicts the next rapture will be August 44th, 2543. Our visual host is Emma Choi. Technical direction is from Lorna White.

Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse, our senior producers, Ian Chilock, and the executive producer. Wait, wait, don't tell me, is Mr. Michael Danforth. Now panel, what's the musical That Will Save Broadway? Adam Burke, Epstein, exclamation point.

Nagin Farsan. Phantom of the Miserables on the roof. And Casey Sharnima. Chicago, based on the movie, based on the musical, based on the play. And if any of that happens, panel, we'll ask you about it on wait, wait, don't tell me. Thank you so much, Bill Curtis. Thanks to Nguyen Farsat, Adam Burke, and congrats to Casey Shornima for a great debut in our show. Thanks to our fabulous audience here at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago.

Thanks to all of you for listening wherever you might be. I'm Peter Sagan. We'll see you next week. This is NPR. I kind of miss being back in school. I mean, you get assigned to read great books and then you have time to talk about them. It seems like a dream. If you're in the same boat, NPR's book of the day has a whole week of interviews with authors big on high school syllabi.

Bernie Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, Jason Reynolds, and more. So listen to NPR's Book of the Day podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. We all wonder about life's big questions. Why are we here? What are we to do and how to make sense of it all? On Ye' Gods with Scott Carter, I talk with Politico's, priests, actors, and atheists on how they wrestle with life's mysteries. Their stories will spark reflection, challenge assumptions, and maybe even bring you some clarity on your own journey. Listen to Ye Gods, part of the NPR Network, wherever you get your podcasts.