Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: mxmtoon
Episode Date: January 25, 2025This week, special guest mxmtoon joins panelists Paula Poundstone, Faith Salie, and Hari KondaboluLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy...
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From NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is wait, wait, don't tell me the NPR News Quiz. Filling in for Bill Curtis, I'm the voice so buttery you need extra napkins.
Chioki, I answer. And here's your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois,
Peter Segel.
Thank you, Chioki.
Thank you, everybody.
Yes, it's great to see you, too.
Great to be with you.
We have a fabulous show for you all today.
Later on, we're going to be talking to the musician MxMtoon who has become
hugely popular performing her music online. Basically, she is to the internet what Bruce
Springsteen is to New Jersey. And we want to hear your hit, so give us a call and play
our games. The number is 1-888-WAITWAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. Let's welcome our first listener
contestant. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
Hi, this is Daniel calling from St. Paul, Minnesota.
I love St. Paul, one of my favorite places.
We have some people who came down for the warmth of Chicago.
What do you do there?
I'm a plant biology PhD student here at the University of Minnesota, which I was delighted
to hear shouted out last week by Rose. Yes, Rose Metafayo, our guest, became an accidental
supporter of the University of Minnesota where she wore one of your shirts on her
TV special. Is everybody at the University of Minnesota talking about
that? It's just the buzz of the campus? Well, I'm a PhD student and I work
with, you know, professors and we all obviously listen to NPR, so some of them are.
Right, exactly.
But basically what you're saying is you're a PhD plant biology
student.
You don't talk to anybody.
He talks to his plants.
Exactly.
I do, yeah.
Well, welcome to the show, Daniel.
Let me introduce you to our panel this week.
First, the contributor to CBS Sunday Morning,
it's Faith Salie.
Hi, Daniel.
Hi, Faith. our panel this week first the contributor to CBS Sunday Morning it's Faith Salie. Hi Daniel. Next the comedian headlining the Laughing Tap in Milwaukee March 20th through the
22nd and the Gramercy in New York City on May 29th is Hari Kandabolu. Hey Daniel.
And you can see her February 8th in Glendale, California at the Alex Theatre and hear her
just about every week on the podcast and nobody listens to Paula Poundstone.
It's Paula Poundstone!
So Daniel, welcome to the show.
You're going to play Who's Chayoke?
This time Chayoke Iancin filling in for Bill Curtis is going to read you three quotations
from this week's news.
If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you'll win our prize.
Any voice from our show you might choose in your voicemail. You ready to apply? Absolutely. All right. From this week's news, if you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you'll win our prize.
Any voice from our show you might choose in your voicemail.
You ready to apply?
Absolutely.
All right.
Your first quote is from the governor of the great state of Louisiana.
I hope everyone is safe and warm at home with a big pot of gumbo.
What rare weather event are the people of Louisiana dealing with this week?
Well, I guess it's rare for Louisiana, but it's not rare for me in Minnesota.
I'm guessing the answer is snow.
Yes, snow! Yes!
You and me and all the other northerners were laughing as we looked at New Orleans covered in
snow. They warned us the weather would get weird.
It has a cold front moved across the South, dumping a record breaking 10 inches of snow
on New Orleans.
But the party goes on, right?
It always does there on Bourbon Street.
You take off your shirt, you get beads and frostbite.
I was thinking this happened a little too early because if it if it happened during Mardi Gras
It could be like that ring toss, right? You take off your shirt and you'd you'd throw the beads and they just
They just stay if you had a good toss. I have no idea what you're referring to face
But I mean, can you imagine what's going on in the city right now?
All the drunken bachelorette parties staggering into stores to buy everybody emergency Uggs.
Usually when there's this much snow in New Orleans, it's going up people's noses.
Am I right, everybody?
Mardi Gras.
Yeah?
Ha ha.
It's the first time, at least in modern memory, snow has come to that city down there on the
Gulf of America.
The big easy, more like the big freezy.
I had written it down and I didn't want to give it up.
I appreciate that.
I support you.
And Daniel, you will appreciate this.
If somebody lives in Minnesota, I live in Chicago, nothing is more fun than watching
people in a state that never gets snow trying to deal with snow.
It's great.
They're out there with like whisk brooms and spatulas.
Do you think they spell it S-N-E-A-U-X there?
Y'all, we got snow.
We got some snow.
Now Daniel, Daniel, your next quote is somebody
who launched a new social movement for January.
Why am I grumbling right now?
And is it necessary?
So that person, she's based in Belgium.
She started this movement, which is asking people to not do what
for the whole month of January.
Oh, my.
It's not dry January, because that's
been a thing for a while.
Right, it is.
So this is a new, but you are on the right track.
Dry January means no wine.
This means no whining.
Not complaining.
Not complaining, yes.
Welcome, everybody, to no complaining January.
You've heard of dry January. Now a social campaign movement out of Belgium and the Netherlands
has banned complaining for the entire month.
It's a great idea and whoever decided to pair it with the month that I also gave up alcohol,
genius.
This No Complaining business feels ageist.
Yeah, really.
Because what are my parents supposed to do?
That's what they're retired, they're in their 70s, they complain, they watch TV, and they talk behind each other's backs to
their children. Really? Were you going to ban that too now? We're not going to do that? Talking
behind each other's backs strikes me as another sort of subset of complaining, right? Because
they're not calling you up and going, Harry, your father, he's so wonderful.
Oh, right. No, no, no, no. You're right.
One in three are the same.
Exactly.
Well, you know, on the other hand, I mean,
it would be a good exercise
to just spend one month trying to look on the bright side of whatever happens to you.
So you're like, you know,
some of these bankruptcy judges, they're really nice.
For example, although the real problem is these extra pounds really fill up my pants. Exactly.
I've never noticed how interesting the inside roof of an
ambulance is now that I can stare at it for a while.
And that's what I mean. It's really cold out, but I didn't want those balls anyways. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha That was from a Wall Street Journal article on boomer asking, which is the latest trend in conversation they're noting and condemning.
It's boomerang asking.
What that is, is when you ask someone a question just so they will do what?
Just so they'll ask you the question again and then do it.
Exactly.
Ask you the same question.
So, boomer asking is
the term that was just invented for asking someone a question not because you
are interested in their answer but just because you want them to ask you that
question so you can tell them what you want to tell them it was in the Wall
Street Journal do you guys read that every day because I don't know Peter do
you why as a matter of fact I do.
There you go, very good.
That's boomer asking, you just demonstrated it.
I thought boomer asking is when you ask your parents who are boomers like hey did you know
the flashlights on on your phone?
Did you take your statin?
Or when your father asks you if you've watched Yellowstone yet. So I could go up to somebody and be like, have you heard of Hari Kandibolu?
I'm Hari Kandibolu.
That's not exactly it.
I'm going to do it anyway.
You can say the Wall Street Journal told you it was okay, right?
You know, Peter, the truth is the boomer asking thing would never work on me.
Why?
Because if somebody asked me how I was, I would just keep telling them.
That's true.
I have a tendency.
I'm one of the most selfish people I've ever met in my life.
If someone comes to my house, which they rarely do because I'm very selfish, but if someone
comes to my house, you know, I'll be eating and drinking the whole time
they're there, I'll have a soda, I'll eat some chips,
and it's not until they're on the way out the door
that I realize, oh geez, did you want anything to eat?
I just realized, it would be weird if you're like,
if you realize your therapist is doing this,
and all along, all along, all along,
she's just wanted you to ask her about her mother.
Yeah.
What are your big feelings?
Exactly.
Chioki, how did Daniel do in our quiz?
Can't complain.
Hey!
There you go.
Daniel got all three right.
Congratulations, Daniel.
Nice work, Daniel.
Thank you.
Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news.
Faith, the New York Times offered a new way to experience local culture while traveling.
Just do what?
Just, so it's something like when in Rome, act like a native.
When in Rome, do this.
Try to speak that language even if you don't know how.
No.
Nope. Well, as they say in France, I'm loving it.
Oh, gosh. Go to McDonald's?
Yes.
What?
A go to McDonald's.
A travel writer points out that while Americans usually seek out, you know, these out of the
way authentic local cafes in a foreign country, all the people who live there eating at McDonald's
to get away from the tourists at the authentic cafes.
Right?
So you'll find the locals at the local McDonald's?
That's what he says.
He says it's a great way to meet just normal people who live where you're visiting.
This is McDonald's propaganda.
There's no way that the New York Times has been paid off by McDonald's.
I'm going to say it right now.
Yeah.
Was it?
Okay.
The guy who, the travel guy, is
he kind of tall with red hair and big feet? Very pale skin. No, he points out that they've
had McDonald's as long as we've had things like Chinese and Thai restaurants. So why
aren't there, why can't we say those restaurants over there are just a part of their culture?
And they do have the French fries. They do. They do. And't we say those restaurants over there are just a part of their culture? And they do have the French fries.
They do, they do.
And of course, you know, there are variations in the menus from country to country.
In India, it's all vegetarian, for example.
Plus, it's so fun to walk in and be like, tell me, here in your country, what does your
grimace look like?
I mean, if you're really trying to meet the locals, why not go to their DMV?
That's actually a pretty good question.
Very good.
Why not just cut off your hand and spend some time in their medical system. Coming up, strap on your tool belts, it's a DIY bluff to listen to game called one,
triple, eight, wait, wait to play.
We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPO.
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President Trump is back in Washington pursuing major policy changes on his own terms.
We know from the past that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against
the status quo.
NPR is covering it all with Trump's Terms, a podcast where we curate stories about the
47th president with a focus on how he is upending the way Washington works.
Listen to Trump's Term terms from NPR.
From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz.
I'm Chioki Iancin.
We're playing this week with Paula Poundstone, Hurri Kandabolu, and Faith Salie.
And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segel.
Thank you, Giochi. Thank you, everybody. Yes.
Right now it's time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Bluff the Listener game.
Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play our game in the air.
Or you can always check out the pinned post on our Instagram page at Wait, Wait, NPR.
Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
Hi, my name is Savannah Morello and I'm calling from Odenton Maryland. Oh I love Maryland what do you do there? I'm a
fermentation scientist. You are what? A fermentation scientist not the fun kind
of fermentation that we all enjoy I make like nutritional lipids and an algae and
stuff like that. Wow so when you like went to science school you said I want
to do fermentation but not the fun kind.
Yeah, I think there was too much alcohol, and then I checked the wrong fermentation
box.
Always a mistake.
Well, welcome to the show, Savannah.
You're going to play our game in which you have to tell truth from fiction.
Shoki, what is Savannah's topic?
Do it yourself.
Why have something done well when you could do it yourself instead?
Our panelists are going to tell you about somebody who did a surprising do-it-yourself
project this week with interesting results.
Pick the one who's telling the truth and you can win the weight-weighter of your choice
in your voicemail.
Are you ready to apply?
I'm ready.
Let's go.
Well, first, let's hear from Hari Kandabolu.
Park ranger Nikki Fisher has overseen Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home in southern Indiana
for 20 years, but recently, visitor numbers have dwindled.
Three months ago, ranger Nikki decided to take things into her own hands.
There's always videos of traffic in Yellowstone because people are gaga over some elk.
People, they're just fancy deer.
So after sending $1,000 to a company
called No Questions Asked Animals Direct Online,
Nikki bought a herd of elk and planted them
right in front of the front gate.
People were confused about how they got there,
but I just said, quote, climate change is crazy.
And they bought it.
When the initial buzz died down, Nikki upped the ante.
Soon there were two bison living in the park.
A month later, a herd of flamingos flew in.
Wildlife experts were finally called in when a local farmer spotted a Bengal tiger in his
chicken coop.
Now that all the animals have been returned to their countries of origin, Nikki has now
moved on to her next project, finding a new job.
A park ranger decides that she wants her park to not be quite so boring and gets to work.
Your next self-sufficiency story comes from Paula Poundstone. Plastic surgeon Shen Wenong recorded himself performing his own vasectomy as a gift to his wife,
not realizing presumably that there are services that can help men choose unique and treasured gifts. A vasectomy is a form of birth control in which the surgeon cuts and seals the tubes
that carry sperm.
And although a vasectomy is an effective means of birth control, so are mutton chops.
In the tutorial video, the doctor slash patient applied anesthetic cream to numb his genitals
before having at them with a scalpel and surgical clamp to perform the surgery, during which
he only once seized with pain, perhaps thinking, roses, she might have liked roses. A doctor performs his own vasectomy as a gift to his wife.
Cutting out the middleman, I guess.
Your last homespun tale comes from Faith Salie.
Mike Hickman asked his four-year-old Sadie what she wanted for her birthday, and she
replied, Bluey's daddy, aka Bandit, the relentlessly fun Australian dog of the hit cartoon series
that leaves every parent feeling crushingly inadequate.
So Mike fulfilled his daughter's dream himself.
He dressed as Bandit and improvised for the first half hour of Sadie's party using a terrible
Australian accent that left guests asking if Louis' dad was from Boston.
But no human can keep up that level of playfulness,
especially when you're stifling in a bandit suit from Amazon Prime and four-year-olds keep climbing
on you to play horsey on the doggy. So bandit broke. Get the hell off me. He then commanded
so much compliance for the rest of the party that the kids called him Mean Bluey's daddy, sir, and other parents started hiring Mean Bluey's daddy to implement
order at their kids' parties.
He's even started a parenting YouTube channel called Meanie until the cease and desist letter
from Disney comes.
Mean Bluey daddy.
All right, let me review these do-it-yourself projects, one of which we found in the news.
From Hari Kandabolu, an enterprising park ranger at Lincoln's birthplace decides to
make it more, you know, national park-like.
From Paula Poundstone, a doctor who performed his own vasectomy on himself.
And from Faith Salie, somebody who tried to be a character from TV on his own and ended
up coming up with his own meaner, more effective version, which of these is the real story
of a do-it-yourself project in the news?
I am going to have to go against our American medical system and go with Paula's story about
the DIY vasectomy.
You're going to go with Paula's story about the DIY vasectomy.
Well, that's your choice
then to bring you the real answer. We spoke to an expert on this particular act of creation. Despite
how many vasectomies I do, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to do it all myself. That was Dr.
Jugen Kanzel, founder of Down There Urology, talking about the DIY vasectomy.
Congratulations, Evanna, you got it right.
Thank you so much.
Take care.
Okay.
And now the game we call Not My Job.
When she was in high school in Oakland, California, a young woman named Maya picked the online
handle MXMtune and started posting videos of herself playing the ukulele and began to
blow up.
Today she is touring the world performing her own original music with millions of followers
on every platform and a new album called Liminal Space MXM Tune.
Welcome to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
This is the most surreal experience I've ever had in my life.
If I understand correctly, your stage name, your online name MXM Tune began because you
were a cartoonist as a very young person and you were like posting cartoons, right?
I was.
My dad is actually the person who created the handle,
so I'll have to hand it to him.
He is also a longtime fan of Wait, Wait,
so I have to mention it.
All right.
But yeah, he created it when I was 11 years old
and was sharing things on my cartoons on the internet
and thought that would be my claim to fame.
It was not.
No.
But something was, and I'm told it was the ukulele.
So you were posting your videos of it was the ukulele. Yeah.
So you were posting your videos of yourself playing the ukulele.
How did you know they were getting popular?
I mean, let me tell you, Peter.
There's a thing called a view count and a light count.
And I saw that number kind of slowly creep up and then get exponentially bigger.
And then suddenly, I didn't go to college and I was a full-time musician.
So that is where I'm at.
Yeah.
Wow.
You know, there's a man who gave himself a vasectomy and filmed it.
And it got four million views.
How about you?
I'm definitely not beating out that vasectomy video.
So I'd say that that's where I'm definitely not beating out that vasectomy video, so I'd say that that's where I'm at.
Well, if you can find a man who will do that, well, you play the ukulele.
I'm curious, you just said you blew up in the internet playing music, so you decided
to skip college and become a professional musician.
Did you walk into your parents one day and say, guess what everybody, I'm skipping college and I'm going to go just be a musician on YouTube?
Essentially there was two coming outs that came out as bisexual in 2017 and then the far scarier one was coming out as
a musician who didn't want to pursue higher education, which was mortifying to both of my parents who are both educators,
but they've been nothing but supportive since then.
Really?
I was about to be a queer and a musician.
I'm guessing the first one was easier.
The first one was actually way easier.
Yeah, I mean, I'm from the Bay Area.
I grew up in queer spaces.
And yeah, they were definitely more horrified
to know that I didn't want to go and pursue
an architecture degree.
In both cases, was it a kind of ceremonious thing?
Did you sit them down a kind of ceremonious thing?
Did you sit them down and kind of hold hands?
Like when my brother came out, he made my mom sit down and watch The Little Mermaid
with him.
And then he turned to her and told her.
He came out to me at Chick-fil-A. I mean, everyone has their thing.
I think both felt maybe slightly ceremonious as they were done in the passenger seat of
my parents' car and a passing moment hoping that maybe, you know, we would figure it out
from there.
Did it get to the point where your parents never wanted to get in the car with you?
Oh, my gosh.
Honestly, I think we're still at that point.
I'm a freshly licensed driver at the age of 24, about three months ago, so I'd say they
definitely a little bit scared to be in the car with me.
I want to talk a little bit about your music because you've progressed, and I mean no offense to the great ukulele players, but you have progressed far beyond merely playing the ukulele.
You are writing and performing these beautiful heartfelt songs that actually remind me of like the great torch singers like Dionne Warwick or
Peggy Lee or these amazing women who sang these heartfelt songs about heartbreak and
stuff. Did you have a particular inspiration? Did you have a sound or a person you were
trying to emulate or reach when you started singing and writing and singing your own songs?
Maybe Kermit the Frog, I think, is the only person that comes to mind.
Really?
He's just the best.
I love him.
What's better than that?
Yeah.
You're listening to Kermit and you're going,
you know what else?
It's not easy being me.
It's not easy being me.
I want to sing about that.
What I love about your music is it's timeless,
but it seems very much for and by your generation, which
I guess technically is Gen Z. Am I right about that?
Like you have this one lyric in one of your songs one of your love songs that I love
Where you talk about the singer talks about a relationship with this other person
We snap together like Legos and I was like that is perfect
It is except that the plural of Lego is just Lego and I found that out way too late
of Lego is just Lego and I found that out way too late. Really?
It doesn't matter for the comment.
It doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, the comment section made that abundantly clear to me.
Really?
Oh, that was another question.
But it still doesn't matter.
It's the passion of what you're doing and I wouldn't get tripped up by that if I were
you.
You actually brought something I was going to ask you, which is one of your songs, Prom
Dress, which is a beautiful song about a prom dress and a moment in life when a woman finds herself wearing one, went viral on TikTok, right?
And everybody's posting it with themselves in their prom dresses.
Is that kind of fame fun to know that the entire world knows 40 seconds of one of your songs?
It's the best ever. I mean, for me, it feels like a bit of like a Mariah Carey moment every single year.
I'll never write a song that is as catchy as All I Want for Christmas, but I did write
a song for any sad teenager who is having a tough time in their prom season.
And for that, I'm very grateful about the evergreen nature of that music.
I was about to say, I don't know if it was intentional, but it was smart because just
as we will always have Christmas, we will always have sad teenagers at prom season.
And honestly, that feels a little bit more permanent than Christmas in some ways, I'd
say.
You know, you should write a song about reading the comments.
Ooh.
I should.
That's a good idea.
I'll do that after I collab with the guy who did the self-esectomy.
There you are.
So we'll get back to you.
That's pretty good.
Well, Maya, it is enormous fun to talk to you, and we have invited you here to play
a game we're calling...
MXM Tune, meet Tune M&Ms.
By which we mean those charming animated mascots that help sell M&M candies,
you know, that always make us feel a little weird when we get around to eating them.
We're going to ask you three questions about those cartoon candies. If you get two right,
you win our prize to one of our listeners, the voice of their choice and their answering machine.
Choki, who is Maya playing for?
Mallory Kelly of Peoria, Illinois.
All right, you ready to do this?
I think so. Mallory, I'm going to try. So my very best for you.
All right.
So here's your first question.
For M&M's 75th anniversary, there were a list of videos showing 360-degree views inside
the M&M mascot's homes, right?
One feature of the orange M&M's house surprised some people.
What was it?
A, six locks on the front door,
B, a tanning bed, or C, a Robert Mapplethorpe print?
First of all, I have not seen this advertisement.
I'm delighted to know that the M&M's are homeowners.
Congratulations to them.
I want to say tanning bed.
They want to say tanning bed.
I feel like the locks thing is a little too ominous.
While it might be ominous, it is true, apparently, Orange's little quirk is that he's paranoid
about being eaten.
I can't imagine why.
So his apartment has six locks and a monitor showing feeds from nine security cameras.
Okay, so here's your next question.
You got two more.
You can do it.
Before her redesign in 2022, the green Eminem was a female with big eyelashes and go-go
boots, relatively sexy for a candy.
Why was she designed to be sexy?
Was it A, because research showed that people get hungrier when they are feeling romantic?
B, because of the widely held belief that green M&Ms were an aphrodisiac?
Or C, because of a planned but abandoned ad campaign featuring a passionate love affair
between her and the jolly green giant?
Wow. Okay, you know, I've listened to this show for years and I've always
thought maybe I'd be good at this and I think I'm just learning rapidly that this is not my skill
set and that's okay. That's all right. The audience is trying to help you by... They are helping me
and I've been, I haven't been able to hear them a lot throughout the Zoom call, but I'm going to be thankful when I answer, I believe that it's the second one.
It is, in fact.
Because apparently, certain members of the audience, I'm not saying they're old enough
personally, but they might have heard that back in the 70s, that was a widespread rumor
that green M&Ms were an aphrodisiac.
It was the thing.
It really was.
All right.
That's good. You got one right with one to go. If you get this, you win. Here's your last question.
M&Ms almost had a live mascot. They asked Kevin Bacon, the actor, to do a
commercial where he would dance to the song Footloose from his famous movie in
a yellow M&M costume, but he turned them down. Why did he turn them down? Was it A,
his agent told him, you're Kevin freaking Bacon. you don't play the yellow M&M, you play the blue M&M. B, because he was
doing ads for Hormel Bacon and his deal banned him from representing any other food. Or C,
because his wife, he said, gets too creeped out by the concept of talking food.
You know, marital problems present themselves in all sorts of colors and sometimes in the
format of people, you know, revealing their deepest, darkest secrets, like talking food
being a real fear.
So you're picking C?
I think so.
And you're right.
Yeah.
There you go.
Woo-hoo!
His wife, Kara Cedric, said, quote, doesn't like it when food talks and put her foot down
about it.
Chioki, how did Maya do in our quiz?
It makes him tune, got two right, which means she has to come out to her parents as a winner
on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Him.
Well done.
This is going to be the best coming out I've ever had.
That's great.
Mom, Dad, let's go for a ride.
Really, no, this time you'll enjoy it.
MXMtune's new album is Liminal Space.
It's delightful and moving and beautiful.
You can hear her play it on her upcoming world tour dates.
And more information are over, of course, at MXMtune.com.
MXMtune, Maya, thank you so much for joining us.
What a pleasure to talk to you.
Thanks for listening, thanks for playing, and we'll see you around.
Take care.
Thank you so much for having me.
Bye-bye.
Good luck.
In just a minute, why you really should check in on all your Penguin friends., Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR in WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz.
I'm Chioki Iansen.
We're playing this week with Faith Salie, Paula Poundstone, and Hurri Kunda Bollou.
And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal.
Thank you, Chioki.
Thank you so much.
In just a minute, did you know, did you know every week
in America, as many as three limericks go unfinished?
You can help in our listener limerick challenge game.
If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-wait-wait.
That's 1-888-924-8924.
Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news.
Hari, we're all familiar with the concept of safe words.
Yes.
An article in the New York Post says safe words can also be useful.
While doing what other activity? Bobbing for apples.
That's very specific. I'll give you a hint. You might want to use these safe words when
you're involved in risky activities like overseeing mass play dates or bath time or...
Parenting.
Yes, parenting safe words. Here's the idea.
Say your toddler is having a tantrum.
You've been dealing with her all day,
and you're about to snap, and you need your partner
to take over.
Well, you just yell out, Michael Barbaro, or whatever
your safe word might be.
And the trick here is that your kids are listening,
so your safe word can't be something like, I hate them, or you were adopted.
My safe word right now is I just look at my husband and say,
perimenopause, and leave the room.
Really?
Yep. That means you got this now.
That's not so much a safe word.
It's a threat and a reality.
I was about to say that was more of a threat.
Yeah. Faith, there's a new option out there for couples who cannot decide between a big wedding
and a small intimate wedding.
Some couples are now having what?
A Goldilocks wedding, a medium-sized wedding.
No, that would be the old way of doing it, to compromise.
This is not the new way.
Are they having both?
Yes, they're having his and hers weddings.
An invitee took to a wedding page on Reddit
to tell this story.
The bride wanted a small wedding, intimate friends,
family.
The groom wanted a huge wedding with everybody.
So they decided, let's have his and hers weddings.
It was that or the other really fun option.
Realized they're two fundamentally different people.
And call it off. So each wedding for this particular couple had its own venue, its own wedding planner,
and yes, two separate registries.
Right?
Wow.
Oh my gosh.
How much money do these people have?
They have a ton of money.
Clearly too much.
And do they both go to each of them?
Yes.
I think if you, I mean, all right, deciding you're going to have two weddings because
you can't agree on what kind of wedding you want to have is one thing.
Not inviting the person you're marrying to your wedding, I think is definitely a sign.
I think you just have like a stand-in.
You know, Bob would be here, but he doesn't enjoy a big wedding.
Why not just do it like the circus and have like a big tent and then a little tent and
then you can go to whichever wedding you want to go to.
So you had like a main attraction and a sideshow wedding?
Well I wouldn't call it a side show, it's a more intimate wedding.
You can have a freak show too.
That's for the honeymoon.
That's for the honeymoon.
Alright and now it's a game we're gonna call
No Complaining January.
So in honor of No Complaining January,
Chioki is gonna read each of you a real headline
we found in this week's news.
You have to say something positive about it.
That's the challenge.
A real headline.
You say something positive about these alarming headlines, you get a point.
Alright, we're going to start with Faith. Here we go. This headline is for you. Say something positive after you hear it.
Your first headline is about something weird that happened with a fresh fish entree.
Restaurant customers left screaming after meat crawls off dinner plate.
Something positive, Faith. After meat? Crawls off dinner plate. Something positive, Faith. After meat crawls off
dinner plate. It turned that person vegan and that's better for the
environment. Chioki, what do you think? We got it. One point. One point, okay. All
right, Paula, this one is for you. Chioki, please read the headline. Woman
intentionally pooped on stores floor in shoplifting scheme
Don't have to clean the restroom
And a point for Paula
Rocket explodes on man's penis at family fireworks display
No more need for a safe word man's penis at family fireworks display.
No more need for a safe word. Or a self vasectomy.
Or a self vasectomy.
And that's a point for her.
Very well done, you guys.
I feel really good.
Good job, good job looking on the bright side.
There you are.
Coming up, it's lightning fell 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 1-888-WAIT-WAIT.
That's 1-888-924-8924.
You can catch us most weeks right here at the Studebaker Theater in beautiful downtown
Chicago or come see us on the road.
For example, we'll be at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, Florida on March 20th.
For tickets and information to all our live shows, go to nprpresents.org.
Hi, everyone.
Wait, wait, don't tell me.
Hi, this is Kate Howard from Austin, Texas.
Austin, one of our very favorite places.
What do you do there?
I'm a singer-songwriter.
Of course you are.
I love it.
It's the law.
It's the law.
You have to do it.
You're not allowed into town unless you're carrying a guitar and your heart in your sleeve. Yes. It's the law. It's the law, you have to do it. You're not allowed into town unless you're carrying
a guitar and your heart in your sleeve.
Yes.
That's cool.
Well, Kate, welcome to the show.
Chioki Ianssen is gonna read you three news related
limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each.
If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly
into the limericks, you'll be a winner.
You ready to go?
Yes, I am.
Here's your first limerick.
In midwinter, I'm thrown for a loop.
Both my health and my energy droop.
So I eat Granny's candy.
It's soothing and dandy.
It tastes like some warm chicken.
Soup?
Soup, yes.
This week, Progresso, the soup company,
introduced soup-flavored hard candies called soup drops.
Oh, thank you.
Which they describe as, quote, soup you can suck on.
It's big news in my household because my kid has such a soup tooth.
It was Campbell's?
It's Progresso.
Yeah, that's a Progresso move.
It really is.
Campbell's has the market.
Progresso's trying. You don't see Amy's pulling that.
No, it's true.
Here's your next limerick.
Married penguins have buyer's remorse.
Lack of babies is often the source.
When their passions have dulled, they can't get things annulled.
So the penguins will file for...
Divorce.
Yes, indeed.
Penguins are supposed to be monogamous for life, so everyone is alarmed by a new study
showing that a certain population of penguins have a divorce rate between 25 and 50 percent.
I guess a certain flightless bird can stop being so smug at the PTA meetings.
According to the study, if a reproduction does not go well for a couple of penguins
for about a year, penguins will just split up, right? They'll just go their separate
ways. I wonder what those fights are like. The male says, sorry, baby, I just need to
spread my wings. And the female's like, and do what with them?
There are scientists who do studies. That means they were watching these penguins like it was love Island exactly
Yes, quite literally love Island
And then somehow they had to tell the difference between the different penguins that they knew the differences between them
Yeah, and then we're able to say that one's not sleeping with that one anymore. Yeah, move down with that one
Yeah, and this and this is they do this for a living
They get paid that is their, to observe the penguins.
To see whether they're having sex
with the same partners or not.
Yes.
This is some sick stuff.
Here is your last limerick.
My trophy case leaves me nonplussed.
My achievements are turning to dust.
Last summer's bright gold is all tarnished and old
because my medals are starting to...
Rust, yes.
100 medal winners from the Olympics in Paris last summer
have complained to the International Olympic Committee
that their medals are falling apart, they're flaking away.
And these champions shouldn't have the rust medal,
that's what you get if you're fourth place.
Oh.
So these medals from Paris,
and they've been posting photographs,
have visible signs of obvious crumbling and staining and wear.
You may remember when they made these medals,
the company that made them announced
that they have included in them
iron from the Eiffel Tower built into them.
So don't worry everybody, it's not the Olympic medals that are falling apart,
it's just the Eiffel Tower.
That's terrible.
It is, and that's for the bronze, silver and gold?
Bronze, silver and gold, although the phenomenon seems to be centered on the bronze medals.
Oh well, yeah, okay.
I can...
Yeah, what do you expect? You came in third.
You wanted something of quality?
I can attest to that.
My bronze medal is gone.
It's rusted away.
So athletes are actually sending the medals back to the committee saying, hey, can I get
a new medal that won't fall away?
It's obviously the Olympians' fault.
It says right in the back of the medal, not dishwasher safe.
Yeah. Jokey, how did Kate do in our quiz?
Let us sing Kate's praises.
She got all three right.
Congratulations, Kate.
Well done.
Thank you so much.
We'll come down and hope to see you on 6th Street next time
we're in Austin.
Take care.
OK, bye.
Bye, Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. the scores? All right, Paula has four. Faith and Hurry each have three.
All right, Paula, you are doing particularly well.
So we are going to arbitrarily pick Hurry to go first.
The clock will start when I begin your first question.
Fill in the blank.
On Wednesday, thousands of people in Southern California
were evacuated after a new blank started in the area.
Fire.
Right.
After the ceasefire took effect,
over 2,000 aid trucks were able to enter blank.
Gaza. Right. On Thursday a federal judge blocked President Trump's order to end a birthright blank.
Citizenship. Right. According to the Congressional Budget Office by 2035 the federal blank will jump to $2.7 trillion.
Debt. Yeah, deficit. This week for the first time in the history of the NHL the outcome of a game was influenced by blank.
Who cares it's hockey? Well, no, some people care very deeply.
It was a tray of nachos a fan threw under the ice.
It distracted the goalie.
This weekend, NASA told sky watchers that six blanks will be visible from Earth at once.
Planets.
Right.
This week, an 84-year-old man in the UK successfully fended off a mugger by repeatedly blanking.
Crying.
No, by repeatedly hitting him with a pair of jeans.
The would-be mugger attacked the 84-year-old at a laundromat, so he grabbed the closest
thing he had, a pair of jeans, and repeatedly swatted the guy with them.
The man was at a huge advantage because he had both a 65-inch reach and a 36-inch inseam.
Chokie, how did Harry do in our quiz?
Harry got five right for 10 more points.
That's a total of 13.
Harry's in the lead.
Well done.
All right.
Faith, you are up next.
Please fill in the blank.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration
said they were sending 1,500 troops to the blank.
Southern border.
Right.
After announcing a record jump in subscribers, streaming giant blanks to the blank. Southern border. Right.
After announcing a record jump in subscribers, streaming giant blank said it would be raising
prices.
Netflix.
Right.
For the first time in a decade, the Ohio State Buckeyes beat Notre Dame to win the blank
championship.
College football championship.
Right.
On Tuesday, three top tech firms announced a $500 billion investment focused on the development
of blank.
Cryptocurrency?
No, AI.
Oh.
Following the success of spin-off shows
like FBI Most Wanted and FBI International,
CBS unveiled the newest show in their FBI franchise, blank.
FBI...
Hyperlocal.
FBI CIA.
Oh.
On Wednesday, Nepal announced they were increasing
the fee to climb blank to $15,000.
Mount Everest.
Right.
On Thursday, Amelia Perez and Wicked
led the nominations for the 2025 Blank Awards.
Oscars.
Yes.
This week, a medical journal found a new side effect
of the trendy carnivore diet, which
involves eating massive amounts of meat, cheese, and butter.
It may make your hands blank.
Hairy.
No, it may make your hands leak cholesterol.
Oh.
Jesus.
According to the study, after eight months on this carnivorous diet a man in Florida had such high levels of cholesterol
That had literally started leaking out from his hands now. I know what you're wondering was it the good cholesterol or the bad cholesterol?
Actually kind of interesting it was the gross
Jokey how did faith do in our quiz right, Faith got five right for 10 more points.
That's the total of 13.
Oh snap, they're tied.
All right, so then how many does Paula need to pull away and win it all?
Five. Five. Here we go, Paula.
This is for the game fill in the blank.
On Tuesday, the White House announced plans to impose steep blanks on goods from China, Mexico and Canada.
Tariffs. Right. According to officials in Georgias on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada. Tariffs.
Right.
According to officials in Georgia, blank flu was found in commercial poultry.
Bird flu.
Right.
This week, Thailand formally legalized same-sex blanks.
Marriage.
Right.
On Tuesday, YouTube star MrBeast announced he was considering buying social media app
Blank.
TikTok.
Right.
This week, an Ohio man who crashed into a fire hydrant asked police to give him a break
because blank.
Uh, he was hot.
No, he asked police to give him a break because he'd been drinking.
On Thursday, scientists warned that coral bleaching in the blank reef had reached catastrophic
levels.
In the coral reef?
Which one?
Is there more than one?
There is.
Uh, the big one, over on the left.
It's on the left.
It's on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
On Monday, new data showed that the Earth's magnetic blank was shifting.
Magnetic pull.
Right.
This week, a woman in Indonesia had to call the fire department to free her after her
blank got caught in an office chair.
After her blank got caught in her office chair. Yes her blank got caught in her office chair.
Yes.
I don't know, her hair.
No, her nose ring.
Oh, jeez.
In a story that is definitely not,
we think about a woman sniffing furniture the office worker had
to call for help after her nose ring got tangled in the mesh of her office chair.
According to the fire chief, quote,
the incident wasn't the strangest call we've ever had,
which really makes you wonder what other piercings
have gotten stuck to chairs.
Yeah, that's just, yeah, you shouldn't,
see, that's telling you no about that.
Yeah.
Chioki.
Chioki, did Paula do well enough to win?
Well, she got five right for 10 more points.
So, with a total of 14 points,
Paula Poundstone is this week's champion.
Congratulations, yay!
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
In just a minute we're gonna ask our panelists
to predict after we finish No Complaining January
what will be the first complaint heard on February 1st.
But first, let me tell you that,
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 Kotica writes our limericks, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman,
our tour manager is Shana Donald, thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theater,
BGA, Liederman, Composer, and Theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos,
and Lillian King. Special thanks to Biddy M. Vizuna and Monica Hickey.
Peter Gwynne is our COOL.
Emma Choi is our Vibe Curator,
technical director of some Lorna White.
Our CFO is Colin Miller, our production manager,
and that's Robert Newhouse.
Special thanks this week to Gary Yack.
Our senior producer is Ian Chilag,
the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me,
is Mike D'Anforz.
And now, panel, what will people be complaining about
as soon as they are allowed to on February 1st?
Hari Kandabolu.
January has too many days.
Faith Salie.
That the newly declassified JFK, RFK, and MLK files
are TLDR and boring.
And Paula Poundstone.
These office chairs are so grabby.
And if any of that happens, panel, we'll ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
Thank you, Chair O.K. Anson, doing another fabulous job filling in for our friend Bill Curtis.
Thanks also to Hari Kandabulu, Faith Talley, and Paula Poundstone.
Thanks, all of you here at the Student Vickers Theater, our home.
And for the moment, yours.
Thanks to all of you who are listening wherever you might be.
I'm Peter Sagal.
We'll see you next week.
This is NPR.