Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: Paul Giamatti, Laufey, and more!

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

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This message comes from Rethinking, a podcast from TED. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant asks today's greatest minds about their fascinating ideas on leadership, joy, resilience, and more. They might just challenge your assumptions. Listen to Rethinking. From NPR and WBEC Chicago, this is, wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News Quiz. Turkey too dry, just pour this rich voice all over it. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagle.

Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. So you got everything ready for Thanksgiving. You bought all the groceries for the big meal. You prepared at the guest room for the one relative. you like and you prepare to lie about not having a guest room for the relatives you don't like. But if you are like a lot of other people this year, you forgot one thing, something to be thankful for. No worries. We've got you. Think of us as a door dash driver with a big hot

bag of gratitude. This hour will be sharing some of the great things that happened on our show this past year and you'll see why we are thankful for every one of them. Last summer actor Paul Giamatti joined us at Tanglewood in Western Massachusetts. He's the kind of actor who feels like someone you know. So Peter asked him, what do people think they know about it? Usually when I talk to actors with extremely long and very careers like you, I ask what role you're most often known for, but in your case, I wanted to ask something slightly different, which is, based on all the roles you've played, what kind of assumptions

do people make about you as a real person? Oh, lots. I mean, the wine thing, everybody assumes I know all about wine. I don't know crap about wine. I know literally nothing about wine. Nothing. You're telling me it was all an illusion. It was all an illusion. It was all pretend. Oh, wow. That's terrible. I love horses. I love horses. I've gotten to ride horses and stuff. Love horses. There you go, okay. Is there like a paradigmatic Paul Giamatti role? Like, who do they, there's a role that they say, we've got to get Paul Giamatti to this. He's perfect. Geez, I don't know. I mean, it used to be, I would get a script, and I'd open it, and I'd be reading it, and I would come to a character where they say, kind of a disheveled man sort of shuffles into the room. Or something, an angry voice is heard off camera. Yelling in the bathroom or something.

And I was like, this is my part, okay. Get out the highlighter right there. Here we go. And so it's, yeah, it's generally, you know, there's an angry middle management type of stuff. Just as soon as you see the line, what the hell are you doing? Exactly. That's right.

Exactly. Wow. You started out in theater, you started at Yale, and like a lot of actors, you worked your way up. One of your first TV roles I was told was Man in Sleeping Bag, or NYPD Blue. That's right. Well, it was, yeah. It was one of the first kind of roles I had on television or anything.

I'd been doing some legit theater. Well, of course. And then I took a day off to go play Man in Sleeping Bag. sleeping bags. Yeah. What did they have you do as man in the sleeping bag? Not witness the crime is what I did. Really?

Yeah. They came to question us about who witnessed the crime and I said, not me, man. And that was it. Really? I was in the sleeping bag and they were, Dennis Franz was going, who saw anything that happened? I said, not me, man. And were you down on the ground? On the ground?

Yep, I was down. Exactly. I was looking up at Dennis Franz. I went, not me, man. It's amazing. years later, you can still remember your lines. Right? Yeah. I was doing some research.

I found this profile of you from The Guardian. You really weren't doing some research. I was. I read this profile of you. It was in the Guardian newspaper in 2007. It was titled Paul Giamatti, Mr. Potato Face. Have you had your vengeance upon them? I'm the Guardian? Yeah.

No, not yet. I mean, I'm in the Downton Abbey movie. coming out. Oh, hey you go. I feel like, yeah. I feel like in a sense in that movie, I stick it to the English a little bit in that movie. Are you the guy who shows up and tells the Earl of Grandfam,

he's doing it wrong? Let's say it's close to that, yeah. Really? Sort of. You know, you'll have to see the movie. Okay. Yeah. Was that, I'm assuming, I mean, we actually have met some of the actors.

It seems like that's a lot of fun to do that show. Oh, really fun. Yeah. The people are terrific. It was really great. They dress you up. They dress you up. And I play the kind of.

doofy American who comes in and sort of, you know, is all like, what is this tea business with you people? I don't get this. What are you talking about? Sausage rolls. And, you know, I'm more like, since I brought it up, I have to mention the movie Big Fat Liar, in which you were, in fact, died completely blue. Correct. Can you explain, for those who didn't see that movie, why were you died completely blue? I stole a kid, an idea from a kid for a screenplay. I play a big movie producer. Yeah. And I steal the kid's idea and the kid gets revenge on. me in various ways, but one way is dumping a bunch of blue dye in my

swimming pool. Right. And so now I go for a swim and I get dyed blue. Right. Yeah. Listen, man. You know, I made decent money. Yeah. Listen. You know, I mean, what was I going to do? Say no. Yeah, I know. And did you lie

there as they were spray painting you blue for two hours? Yeah. Oh, two hours. Saying, I am a graduate of Yale School of Travel. Absolutely. I tell you, interesting little thing about that, they spray you with tattoo ink like that. It was blue tattoo ink.

And every night the guy had to, or somebody had to rub it off of me. It stayed on my feet for about six months. We couldn't get it off my feet. So my feet were blue for about six months. Just a little bit of trivia. Yeah, and did your friends and family just sort of understand this?

Yes, they did. Yes, very understanding people. And it wasn't like you went home, and your wife is like, Paul, do you have gangrene? Yes, I do. You have, and I'm among them in a larger sense, you have a very devoted fan base. And, in fact, they have created the Wax Paul Now movement. Are you aware of this? Yes, I'm aware of it, yeah.

I think it's a thing of the past. I think that train has left the station. I don't think I'm getting a wax statue of Matt I'm too soon. So that idea was the people, they actually, created a movement to get you, Paul Giamatti, star of stage and scream, your own wax figurine at Madam Tussos. Yes, they tried to, and it didn't work. Right.

Yeah. Did you— I don't know how you qualify. That's my question. What's the qualification for getting a wax statue? I don't know. Right. If I can't get one, who the hell can get one?

I mean, that's true. For Christ's saying, I mean, my God. Right? No, that would have been, that would have been, that would have been retirement. time. I would have been like, I'm done. That's good. I don't need any more honors than that. Well, Paul Giamatti, we have asked you here to play a game. We're calling Holdovers, fun. Leftovers, yum. So you just started a movie called The Holdovers, which was great, but it made us think

of leftovers. A lot of people liked it. Nice, good, great. And that movie made us think of leftovers, which of course made us think of Tupperware. Answer two or three questions about the iconic food containers, and you will win our Prize for one of our contestants, the voice of anyone they choose for their voicemail. Bill, who is Paul Giamatti playing for? Barbara Jack Litch from Salisbury, Connecticut. All right. Here's your first question.

Ready to go? Yeah. Here's your first question. Okay. Everybody loves Tupperware, including your fellow celebrities, like legendary singer Patty LaBelle. We know this because she recently told an interviewer, what, A, that Elton John stole her Tupperware and never gave it back. B, that her concert rider includes eight quart-sized Tupperware containers so she can take home leftovers, or C, that she keeps the cremains of her three late husbands

in them so they can, quote, stay fresh. Ooh, boy. Cremains sounds like something you can eat. Yeah, you know. It does. Enjoy cremains, yeah. From your dressing room. Soft serve.

Now I have no idea with the right answer. I guess I'm going with that one. I guess I'm going to do with the cremains. Yeah. No, it was Elton John. Oh! Wow. Yes, you mentioned that she has a big heart.

She did back in the 60s when she was pretty big, but Elton John was just a starving young piano player. He came to her house. Not only did she feed him, she gave him leftovers to take home in Tupperware, and she says, 50 years later, never got a back. That's amazing. That's awesome. All right, you have two more chances.

Here's your next question. Tupperware isn't just for leftover food. A Tupperware container was used at one point for something. storing which of these? A, Queen Elizabeth's collection of favorite earrings, B, Albert Einstein's brain, or C, two pounds of plutonium left over from making the first atomic bomb. That seems absurd to me. The plutonium one, that would just melt the plastic. Even Tupperware couldn't do that. Even Tupperware couldn't handle that. Einstein's brain was stolen by a couple of guys, right? Yeah. And they drove around with it in the trunk of their car, I think.

I'm going to actually guess it's that one. Einstein's brain, you're right. So what happened was Einstein's brain was removed from his body after he died by the doctor who did the autopsy, and there was no law against it then. But when he did drive across the country in an attempt to return it to Einstein's descendants,

he did put it in a Tupperware. Amazing. So this is the last question. Earl Tupper, the guy who invented Tupperware, it's called that. Wow, really? Yeah. Wow. He was a prolific inventor.

he also came up with which of these ideas. A. A. A. Fish powered boat. B. A combination belt, buckle, and photo frame. What? No, that's not interesting. Or C. The jet ski. Okay, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. This is hard. I want to go with fish powered boat because I think that's kind of cool. Your choice is fish powered boat? He actually came up with the idea for all of them. Wow. That's true. Good question.

Wow. He left a notebook behind with all these ideas, including all the ones I mentioned, and yes, one of them was a motorcycle for the water that looks just like a jet ski. He never patented it, but he did come up with it.

Wow. There you are. He's like Leonardo da Vincied that guy. He really was in many ways. Bill, how did Paul Giamatti do in our grade? Two out of three? That's a wind, Paul. Yes.

They're the champ. They're celebrating in Salisbury. They are. They are. They're going nuts in Salisbury. Setting things on fire. Pushing cars over. Paul Diamati is an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner.

You can soon see in Downton Abbey the grand finale coming to theaters on September 12th or the episode Ulogy of Black Mirror available right now. Paul Giamatti. Thank you so much for you. Thank you. Paul Giamatti. When we come back, three hilarious stories about dentistry and how the 25-year-old musician Lave makes yourself sound like a middle-aged woman singing torch songs for a lover lost at sea.

That's when we return with more. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, from NPR. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's Apply. This message comes from Hyperfixed, a Radiotopia podcast. In each episode, host Alex Goldman sets himself on a listener's unsolvable problem and explores the hidden systems that created that problem in the first place.

Subscribe to Hyperfixed wherever you get your podcasts. This message comes from BandCamp, a comedy podcast about banned books. Each episode of BandCamp feels part book club, part comedy show, and part deep dive into why these books were banned in the first place. Listen to BandCamp, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Peter Sengel. Last time I didn't ask me anything, I got asked about my first job, my favorite Star Trek episode, Best Fillin Host, and Cheese.

So what do you want to know? Call and Leave us Your Question. at 1-3-A-W-W-W-W-W. We might answer it in a future bonus episode. Sign up for NPR Plus to hear this and other great bonus content. Just go to plus.npr.npr.org. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Seigle.

Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. This week, we are piling up things to be grateful for on your Thanksgiving table. Could you move that plate? I don't want to get any cranberry sauce on our recycled gondet. For example, here's a bluff the listener game from May with panelists Dulcey Sloan, Hari Kandabolu, and Tom Papa. Hello, this is Simon from Asheville, North Carolina.

Asheville, North Carolina. It was one of my very favorite places in this green earth. You enjoy it just like the beautiful outdoor. life in Asheville? I do. It is a beautiful place. We have the mountains. We have the mountain biking. Despite everything that happened last year, it's still my favorite place. Well, me too. And well, thank you so much for calling, Simon. You're going to play our game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what's Simon's topic? Tooth and consequences. We all know the basics of dental care. Don't forget to floss. Don't eat too many sweets. Don't

take fluoride advice from RFK Jr. sustained. But this week, we learned about another unexpected oral hygiene oopsie. Our panelists are each going to tell you about it, pick the one in telling the truth, and you can win the wait-waiter of your choice in your voicemail. You're ready to play? I'm ready. All right. First up, let's hear from Tulsa Sloan. We all have fond memories of the wise-cracking opera singing drag icon known as Bugs Bunny.

But a botched procedure at a dentist office and cold. Rochester, Vermont, had the whole town asking, what's up, Doc? Feta Evans went to local dentist, Dr. Kurt Yash, in the spring of 2022 to get a set of veneers. Her and hundreds of other people in town got a shiny new set of years because Dr. Yash was new to town and running a special. Well, after six months, Fita noticed an odd taste in her mouth and her two front teeth were starting to become larger and longer. While out shopping one day, she noticed other people with the same.

affliction. Her wife also noticed and very gently said to her, y'all need to call that Dennis. This place is starting to look like a rabbit's den. Vita immediately called the dentist's office. The assistant apologized profusely and explained that Vita was one of many with this Bugs Bunny syndrome. It was caused by a defective adhesive and they would fix the problem free of charge as long as Vita promised not to lead a bad Yelp review. everybody in one particular town ended up looking like Bugs Bunny because the adhesive on their veneers all failed at the same time. Your next story of a dental error comes from Harikandabolu. When Chicago dentist Jonathan Freeman renovated his practice, he went all in drilling

a big screen TV into the ceiling so his patients could watch shows. However, after spending a fortune on his giant TV, Dr. Freeman bought a discounted package deal from a company called Humpty. Their direct-to-dentist package offers specialized TV shows licensed only for dentists with things you've never seen, like Truck Swap, the Great Serbian Baking Show. And of course, the last season of The Office. At first, his patients were resigned to watching Humpty programming, but they started drifting. to one show, the secret lives of central Nova Scotian wives. Dr. Freeman's patients are so hooked on the show, they will do whatever it takes to get to the dentist.

Patients are even opting out of anesthesia and raw-dogging their wisdom teeth surgeries to not miss out on episodes. They are considering moving the show from Humpty to a more popular streamer, like Streevy or Smudge Direct. Are those real? Who can tell? A dentist's exclusive TV programming

brings people to ruin their teeth just so they can watch it from the chair. Your last story of a mouth mistake comes from Tom Papa. Electric toothbrushes can do a lot of things. Time you're brushing, enhance deep cleanings, and now catch your lover having a secret, dirty affair. while you're at work.

Paul Jones, a private investigator of ARF investigators, worked with a client who became suspicious of her husband after noticing the unusual times he'd brush his teeth. She knew he wasn't great at dental hygiene. Sometimes he would forget he brushed its teeth, walk back into the kitchen, and eat a stack of Oreo cookies like a hungry diabetic raccoon. But the smart electric toothbrush app

connected to his electric toothbrush, showed he was consistently brushing his teeth late in the morning on Fridays when he should have been at work. The private investigator exposed that the husband had started an affair with a work colleague and they'd meet every Friday

when the wife and kids were out of the house. Four out of five dentists agree that when a digital toothbrush says someone brushed their teeth at 1048 a.m. When they were supposed to be at work at nine, they're probably naked. All right. Somewhere, someone was a little too devoted to dental hygiene. Was it from Dulce Sloan, everybody who went to a particular dentist all of a sudden one day looking like Bugs Bunny?

From Hari Kondobolu, people who saw a particular dentist ruining their teeth just so they could watch his TV program. on the ceiling, or from Tom Papa, a man whose cheat in ways were betrayed by his own smart toothbrush. Which of these are the story of a dental mishap that we found in the news? I'm going to have to go with Tom Papa. I think the toothbrush was harder than the cheater. We're going with Tom. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to an expert on the real story. As a professional, he's always home at 10 a.m. on a Friday. Yes, it is alarm. But we would definitely want to look into a little bit more. That was Jordan Alexander Shear of R.A. Private Investigators and Security Incorporated confirming that, yes, that would be suspicious behavior. Congratulations,

Simon. You've got it right. Tom was telling the truth about the cheater. You're in the point for Tom. You've won our prize, the voice of your choice, and your voicemail. Well done. And congratulations. Thank you. Thanks for playing with us today. Take care. Hey, it's Peter. Now, if you are anything like our typical fan, you must be an enthusiastic evangelist for our show. You tell everybody about it. You grab strangers on the street.

You lean into cars with open windows and say, Hey, have you ever heard about as they drive away? There's a much simpler and less dangerous way to spread the news about our show if you're a fan. Just go to the podcast site that you get this from and rate us and review us. People really dig that. So, if you like, wait, wait,

remember to rate us and review us. But, you know, positively. The musician Levei writes and performs songs that are all over TikTok, but they feel like you could have heard of them in a 1950s cabaret. So naturally, when she joined us, we asked her how she defines her sound.

Thank you for. I've been listening to your musical all week, getting ready for this. I am entranced and amazed and quite don't, and don't know how to describe it. And apparently this is a thing. People keep saying you're a jazz musician or you're a pop musician or you're a classical pop jazz musician. What do you say?

I'm Leve. There you go. That's all you need to know. She's Leve. That's it. That's all. You grew up, I understand. As a musician from a very young age, your mother plays violin with the Icelandic symphony.

So she had you like playing violin, cello, piano from an early age, right? Oh, yeah. I had the whole package. Yeah. She's from China, so it was kind of, you know, inevitable upbringing. But I learned cello and piano growing up. Right. And definitely had to practice every day.

Did you ever rebel at all? Did you ever like, I don't want to practice and want to go outside? I think this new album might be my first act of rebellion. Really? How so? I feel like I just, I don't know. There are a couple of swear words in there. Ooh.

All right. She literally just covered her mouth because she said swear words. Is there a song called, I don't want to practice anymore? I feel like for the first time, I refuse to really, truly refuse to be boxed in with this. with this album, so I just love my heart. I broke the rules. You broke the rules. Absolutely. You're reaching out. Now, I

you were not trained, although your voice is astonishing and reminds me of like the great singers of all time, but you were not trained as a singer. In fact, I read that you said you did a singing competition as a kid and the judge said you sounded

like a divorced 40-year-old. She did, yeah. I mean, bless her, like, that was definitely meant to be a compliment, but I, I mean, they were like, oh, you're so worldly, you've been around. I think he was trying to say that I had, like, I had, I've always had a very deep voice. Right. I was quite young. I've grown into it now, I think. Right.

I was odd, and I am odd. I think it worked out for the better. Right. Okay, yeah. Do you, actually, that's kind of interesting. Do you think yourself as an odd person? less and less or rather I just own it now

but yeah I mean I was like back then especially I was a 13 year old girl who was only interested in singing songs from the Great American Songbook in Iceland yeah because your music is so redolent of like classic American

song I was delighted to listen to a duet you did with Barbara Streisand our audience is like whoa really I am also like, whoa, really. It's shocking. So I'm assuming, just given your background and your training and your interest, you knew who Barbara Streisand was.

I thought my manager was pranking me. Really? Yeah, because it just seemed so far-sought. I thought, I was like, huh, this is a funny joke. Like, you got me. But it was true. And how did you find the great Barbara? I mean, I feel like I've never not known Barbara.

I have to ask you about your creative director who is your identical twin sister which is delightful you must have been tempted to try the thing that everybody assumes identical twins do all the time which is swap in for each other like maybe you're tired maybe you've done the concert maybe you don't want to go meet the fans

as you're obligated to do can you send out her and she'll do it well they all know who she is and they all want to meet her too It doesn't help. Doesn't help. Then it's like, even when I go out on my own, it's like, where's Junya? So, yeah, that hasn't. We did show up one time. What happened?

What was the occasion? It's a secret. Oh, that's great. It was a date. So wait a minute. It's a secret. You can't tell me. Does that mean like there's somebody who thought they had a date with you, but it was really

you or there's a music video in which we think we're watching you, but it's really you? no that's not it no to those two but it's something else really good I don't think I can easily say are we talking to Union right now I don't have her doing press yet no that might become necessary when you know then you get to the next level and there's so many people I know we could do a US and Europe tour at the same Yeah, exactly. Is there a way, if we were in a situation where we didn't know if we were talking to you

or your twin sister union, is there a way to tell you a part to, like, there's something about her that's very different than you? Well, I sing. Well, I guess he could force me to sing. Really? I have a degree in international relations, so you could probably ask her about some foreign policy and she'd be able to answer, and I would kind of stare at you blankly, I think. You would just start singing.

well levi we are so delighted to talk to you and we have asked you here today to play a game and we're calling it why is it still so light out your new record coming out soon is called a matter of time so we thought we'd ask you about a controversial matter of time daylight savings time answer two to three questions correctly you will win our prize for one of our listeners my daylight savings knowledge is we don't really do that okay all right well light out in Iceland during summer because the sun just doesn't set it just not all right bill who is levy playing for brandon green of seattle washington all right you ready to go here's your first question the idea of daylight savings time was first suggested

by benjamin franklin he told the french that they could save money and candles in the evening if they just got up earlier in the morning but the idea didn't count match on in France for a few reasons, including what? A, it was defeated by the French candle lobby. B, the French wanted it to get dark early for easier sneaking to their mistress's homes. Or C, Ben Franklin was just kidding. You're going to go with B.

You're going to go with B that they wanted to sneak over to see their mistresses. Yes. I don't, yes, yeah. I'm afraid it was C. Ben Franklin was just kidding. It was a joke. Who would ever do a silly thing like that?

Get up earlier than you had to. Come on now. All right, you still have two chances. This is not a problem. Here's your next question. Daylight savings time was introduced in America during World War I, but it wasn't very popular, as is evidenced by what happening after the war.

A, Timex introduced their daylight savings-proof clock, which couldn't be turned back or for a. B, the state of Connecticut made it a crime to turn your clocks back, or C, a bill introduced in Congress that would have imposed a national bedtime of 8 p.m. I'm going to go with B again. And this time you're right. Yeah, it was. The state of Connecticut made it illegal.

If you were caught in Connecticut with a clock showing anything but Eastern standard time, you could spend 10 days in jail. All right. You have one last question, and I'm optimistic because it's about your home. Iceland does not have daylight savings time, as I'm sure you know. And the reason is, in that in 1994, two astronomers from the University of Iceland convinced the government to abolish it. What was their primary argument?

A, the ancient Vikings who founded the nation believed sleeping late was an affront to Odin. B, it was bad for Icelandic horses. who got agitated when all of their meals suddenly came an hour earlier? Or, see, it is just so annoying. Between B and C. Yes. We take our horses very seriously. I'm aware.

So I could see inconveniencing their food schedules. I could see that being an issue. But also, it being just so annoying is also very Icelandic. So, I'm set. I want to say, I'm going to say C. You're right again, Leve, that's right. Bill, how did Levee do in our quiz? Well, she's a winner, of course.

She's from a long way from here. Congratulations. There you go. Congratulations. Leva, I've got to say, I've been enjoyed listening to your musical week. It was even more fun to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Leve is a Grammy Award winner

who's about to start touring behind her new album, A Matter of Time that drops August 22nd. Levee, thank you so much for being on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. What a pleasure. Good luck for the tour. Bye.

Bye. Bye, bye. When we come back, the man who made Superman fly again and the nicest person ever to earn an Olympic medal for stabbing people. That's when we return with more of Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, from NPR.

There is so much happening in politics in any given week. You might need help putting it all in perspective. As your week draws to a close, join the NPR Politics Podcast team for our weekly roundup. Here are best political reporters zoom into the biggest stories of the week. Not just what they mean, but what they mean for you, all in under 30 minutes. Listen to the weekly roundup every Friday on the NPR Politics podcast. Wolf researcher Jeff Reed built special recording. to try to understand what the wolves of Yellowstone Park are saying to each other.

When you first start hearing these chorus howls, they kind of sound like a cocktail party in the wild. Ideas about translating nature. Listen to the TED Radio Hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Lemelson Foundation. Dedicated to improving lives through invention, innovation, and clothing. Climate Action. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is, wait, wait, don't tell me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater and the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Peter Sagan.

Thanks, Bill. So we're here to help if you are still trying to make conversation with your visiting. in-laws. Let's say, somebody has gone off on politics and the room falls into an awkward silence. You can say, hey, everybody, remember when writer-director James Gunn was on Wait, Wait? Wasn't that great? And it was. Here's proof from back in July when I asked him about his early influences. That is, that is everything I grew up with. Comic books, you know, punk rock music and and zombie movies, yeah, all the things I love. When did you start making your own things, your own comics and films?

I started writing and drawing my own comics probably when I was nine years old and then started making movies with my brothers at about 11 or 12 years old. And what were some of those first movies? Do you remember? Do you have them? I do. I have some of them. There's one with playmobile figures that I stopped motion animated, but it was very bloody, so they're just, you know, cutting each other up and getting bloody. Then I had another one in which it was a zombie movie in which one of my brothers became a zombie and ate the other one. That was also very bloody. And then I had another one where one brother killed another brother. That was very, there's a theme. And the folks didn't take

it a therapy? Did your brothers ever complain? Like, James, we know you're the creative genius in the family, but could we do something other than kill each other, or were they into it? My one brother has a catch-up phobia. I won't say who's it. But this is true. He cannot be around ketchup because I made him lie on the cold-in-old floor and cold ketchup

for too long. And if he's around ketchup, he freaks out. Really? Well, I want to talk about Superman, and I love it all, and I have this theory why it's so good, and that's because you take the emotions of all these characters really

seriously, but you're not afraid of admitting that, like, super, heroes can be really silly. So, for example, your new movie, Superman starts immediately. Superman falls in the sky, hits the ground, and we see right away that the underwear is back on the outside. Yeah. Okay? I was so excited. I love the bottoms. I love his bottom. His trunks. It leaves something to the imagination. Yeah. Superman's wholesome. I don't want to see his junk. Yeah. And so, and then the next thing that happens is he falls to the ground and he is rescued by Crypto the Superdog, who is this fabulous mutt, who is wearing a red Superman cape.

And you're like, okay, one thing I know about this Superman movie, there will be no brooding. I mean, listen, I love all of that crazy stuff that was in the comic books that I grew up with, flying dogs and giant monsters and robots and sorcery. and that's just part of the fun of it all for me. I want to ask about the dog. Everybody loves the dog. The dog is a CGI creation that's based on your own dog, your rescue dog, Ozu. Ozu, that's right, yeah, yes.

And so does Ozu know that he is now an international movie star? Ozu doesn't know anything. He barely knows where he was two seconds ago. Even for a dog, he's not very smart, Are you asking me if... He also, he attacks himself every time he sees himself. No, really?

Yeah, he hates crypto. He hates crypto. Every time crypto's on screen, he attacks the screen. Oh, wow. He's a maniac. But I will say the one thing that's really been cool is last week, interest in adopting dogs went up over 500%. Yes, I saw that.

I wouldn't get to carry away with this idea that people are adopting dogs, wait till they find out that their dogs won't wear a cape. We're having too much fun, but we have work to do. James Gunn, it is such a joy to talk to you, and we have asked you here to play a game. We're calling...

James Gunn, meet the T-shirt gun. Superman, classically, faster than a speeding bullet, but can you be faster than a speeding T-shirt? Shot from a gun. Answer two to three questions about T-shirt guns, correctly. You'll win our prize, one of our listeners.

Who has James gone playing for? Ava Lewis of San Diego, California. All right, you ready for this? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He's ready. Here's your first question. The technology behind T-shirt guns, as we know them, was developed during World War II as a way to fire grenades.

But it wasn't until what happened that the inventors realized that this pneumatic gun had other applications. A, one of the scientists was trying to pack efficiently for a trip and stuffed his socks in the barrel of the gun. B, the inventors forgot to bring grenades. when it was time to demonstrate the weapon and they had to improvise with beer bottles and potatoes. Or C, one inventor went to clown college and later retooled all his wartime ideas for use in his act.

Oh, good gosh. Okay, so I don't think it's three. So it's either A or B. I'm going to go B. You're going to go B, and you're right. You're right, James. They realized they didn't have any grenades. We had to demonstrate it for the hires up,

and they found out it was just the perfect size to launch bottles. and potatoes very fast and very far. In fact, it was so successful they even used to shoot potatoes at actual planes in wartime. Boy, how humiliating would it be to be brought down by a potato?

That's true. All right, let's leave the Irish Army out of this. Here's your next question. That's very good. The modern-day T-shirt gum was developed by a college mascot, and it soon spread around the world. But not all mascots were equally good at using it,

like, for example, Chip, the mascot of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who once did what? A, launched a T-shirt that went into the marching band's tuba and got stuck so tightly that eventually they had to cut the tuba with a hacksaw to get it out. B, rolled up the shirts so badly that they only flew three feet before opening up and fluttering to the ground. Or C. accidentally held the T-shirt gun backwards

and launched a shirt directly into his own crotch. It is bolder. I'm going to go with the seat. You're right again. And yes, you can watch it on YouTube, and when you do, you'll discover not only are T-shirt guns powerful, but those mascot costumes, not as padded as you might think. Judging by his reaction.

All right, let's see if we can make this perfect, your last question. Not everyone should use a T-shirt gun. In fact, an Oklahoma woman was arrested for using a T-shirt gun. Why? A. She was trying to rob a. t-shirt store. B, she was using it to shoot cell phones and drugs over the walls of a prison to a friend inside, or C, she had it tucked

inside her coat and did not have a concealed t-shirt gun carry permit. Okay, this is, I don't want to let Ava down, so I'm hoping that it's B. It is, in fact, B. Wow. It's the proudest moment of my life.

She sat outside the prison, and she shot this flies into the prison. Bill, how did James Gunn do in our quiz? He is a superman. Getting all free right. Good going, James Gunn is a director, writer, and the co-hat of DC Studios. James Dom, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon and I hope. Bye-bye. has never been bigger, but it's always been big on Alt Latino. 15 years in, we continue celebrating Latinidad through a music lens, transcending borders through Ritmo.

Get to know artists from La Cultura on a deeper level and throw some new Latin music wrecks into your rotation. Listen to Alt Latino in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Instead of letting an algorithm throw mediocre podcast recommendations at you, sign up for NPR's Pod Club newsletter. through hours of audio to find the gems, the episodes that will make you gasp, cry, or crack up in a public place.

Then every week we send those picks to your inbox and tell you why they're worth your time. Subscribe now at npr.org slash pod club. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-2-8-8-8-8-8-2-4. That's 1-88-9-24. You can see as most weeks right here at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago

where catch us on the road will be in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 4th. Tickets and info are at nprpresents.org. Finally, in June, we spoke to an American athletic pioneer. Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal, and she even helped Nike develop the world's first hijab for athletes. When she joined this in June, Peter, ask her how she became so competitive. Well, you know, I'm the middle of five kids, and I think naturally, when you grow up in a large,

family, things are just naturally competitive. Like, we would, you know, race each other in the pool, you know, you want to get the last slice of pizza, just small things like that where I feel like you're just in, like, small competition. And I do feel like having an older brother who used to bully me a little bit definitely brought out this fierce competitor from an early age. Right, yeah. And I've just out of curiosity, has your brother ever won an Olympic medal in anything?

I would love for him to hear that. You were good at a lot of sports, but you gravitated to fencing, and how did that happen to be? Happened to be driving past a high school in my hometown and from Maple, New Jersey, in the car with my mom. And from the road, you could see fensers in the school cafeteria. And my mom was like, I don't know what it is, but they're covered, so I want you to do it.

I am not. Wait a minute. She had no idea what they were doing. They were just wearing head-to-toe outfits with a mask. You were like, that's for you. He thought they were wearing helmets, so that's how little we knew about fencing at the time. But, you know, I was a kid who would eventually wear hijab,

and I really struggled trying to find my space in different sports when I was just always out of uniform in a sense. Yeah. And when I started fencing, it just felt like home from the very beginning. Right. And you picked up saber of the three weapons. It is by far the coolest. Am I correct? Oh, the best for sure. I don't even know what the other weapons are. Yeah, exactly. Who cares about that? Are you one of those fensers who I've seen many times who, after every successful point, just goes nuts, just like shouts and screams and victory?

Or are you more of a quiet assassin type? In my mind, I'm quiet assassin, but then I watch video, and I'm like, oh, my God. Does that kind of competitiveness ever cross into the rest of your life? You know, it's, I feel like I have like a, I don't know if it's like OCD, but I have this, everything has to be perfect and I really struggle when things aren't exactly the way that they're supposed to be. Whether I'm, you know, fencing or, I don't know, mowing the lawn, whatever it is, I really need it to be perfect. understand. I just imagine you just mowing the lawn and after every row.

I'm really into this. Really? To the like lawn mowing? I will say that my parents have the best lawn on the block. I imagine. You've earned many medals and other honors, but one of the most impressive to me is that you were one of the women immortalized as a Barbie. I'm imagining, do you, I have to assume you have to.

have a Barbie of yourself somewhere, right? Oh, man, I have so many of them. Like, I was like, if I have a bunch of kids and my sisters have a bunch of kids, then we need, like, 100 barbies. Yes. And the people from Mattel were like, I'm sorry, excuse me? Well, I'm Tiyahj Muhammad,

it is a particular pleasure to talk to you, and we have asked you here to play a game we're calling Take a stab at this. You used to stab people professionally, so we thought we'd ask you about other people taking a stab at something, that is trying something for the first time. Answer two or three questions correctly.

You'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Ibtihaj Muhammad playing for? Sean Pratt of Madison, Wisconsin. All right. Ready you go? I got this, John. Here you go. Here's your first question.

In 2019, a woman in Turkey took a stab at flying for the very first time. It didn't go great, though, because shortly after she got to the airport, she did what? A, sat down on the luggage conveyor belt, thinking it would take her to the plane. B, got onto the plane and sat down in the first empty seat she saw, the co-pilots. Or C, drank an entire bottle of vodka in the security line when she was told she couldn't bring it on board. Well, first of all, she screamed. Crazy. That we know. Assume.

She got on the conveyor belt. Either she sat in the conveyor belt. Take her to the cup. She sat in the cup of seat or she drank an entire fifth or whatever of vodka because she couldn't bring it on the plane. I'm so stressed out for her. I'm going to go with C. You're going to go with C.

That was a little strange, but okay. I'm afraid you all were wrong. You should feel terrible about yourself. It was actually, I'm speaking to them. them. It was A. This is what happened. Think about it. She goes, she's never been there before. She goes to the airport. She checks her bags. They take the bag. They turn around. They put it on that conveyor belt that takes it behind the scenes to the plane. She goes, great. Thank you. She climbs over, gets on it herself.

Wee! Wee! All right. You still have two more chances. Here we go. All right. Here's your next question. At 18 years old, Brendan Shanahan decided to professional hockey. And one of the first things he did was get in a fist fight against fellow hockey player, Rick Vave. Why? Was it A, he'd heard of the first thing you're supposed to do in a hockey game, is find the biggest guy on the rink and punch him in the nose. B, because Rick, Vave had just broken up with his older sister, or C, because four years earlier he had asked Vave for an autograph and Vave had refused.

Oh. Um... C. C. It was C. He had asked Dave for an autograph. Dave says, get away from me, kid,

and the next thing you know, it's five years later, they're on a rink somewhere, and he gets punched in the face. All right. That C sounded so aggressive. I feel like I had to say C. I know.

I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't chosen that, so you were wise. All right. One more question. If you get this right, you win. Oh, my gosh. People should not be alone

for the first time when they try getting high. like one woman who started texting all her friends about what? A. How crate and barrel should be called barrel and crate. B, how really good it feels to put a wet Q-tip up your nose. C about how sorry she was for thinking mean things about all of them which she proceeded to list. I see it here, B, does the panel have anything to say?

Yes, B. I just heard it. I just heard it in my ear. Let's go with B, and we'll send Sean home with some. You're right, it's B. Bill, how did Ibti Hage do on our quiz? He is a perfectionist, so she got two out of three, which is a win. Congratulations, one more for your trophy case. What a thrill to talk to you.

Ibtihaj Muhammad is a retired U.S. Olympic fencer, the founder of Luella by Ibti Hage. and the author of three best-selling children's books, more info about all the things that she does can be found at ibtihajmohamed.com. Ipti-Haj-Mohamed, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.

Thank you. Bye-bye. That's it for our here's what you're thankful for edition. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, is a production of NPR and WB, EZ Chicago, in association with urgent haircut productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godica writes our limericks, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shane Adonnell.

B.J. Leaderman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles, Dormoss, and Lily, and King. Special thanks, as always, to Monica Hickey. Peter Gwyn is the whipped cream and our sweet potato pie. Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Technical directions from Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilog and the executive producer. Wait, wait, don't tell me, is Mr. Michael Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on the show this week, all of our panelists, all our guests. Of course, Bill Curtis. And thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Sagle. We'll be back next week. This is NPR.