Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: Thanksgiving Edition!

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

This week, Wait Wait celebrates Thanksgiving with a cornucopia of great guests!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for this podcast and the following message comes from Autograph Collection Hotels with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. From NPR in WBEZ, Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm the person everyone thinks of when they're asked what they're thankful for. Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal.

Thank you, Bill. Oh, thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. We're all excited. Yes, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. Oh, thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. We're all excited. Yes, it is Thanksgiving when people gather with family and express their gratitude that they no longer have to argue about the 2024 election.

No, I'm kidding. We'll argue about it till we die. But still, when it comes time for us to express our thanks, we go right to the fact that we've been doing this show for more than a quarter century. And despite that history, interesting people still agree to come on and subject themselves to our games. For example, Eric Wyanmior, a man who climbed the tallest building on every continent and had many other adventures despite being blind.

But as we discussed when he joined us in June he was perhaps most famous for something else entirely. We first heard about you from a video that went viral in 2006 and we're going to play it for our audience. This is just a local newscast with someone who is announcing that they're going to interview you. Let's just listen. Right after the break, we're going to interview Eric Wyhenmayer, who climbed the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. But he's gay.

I mean, he's gay. Excuse me, he's blind. So we'll go that fast. Okay. Yeah. So a couple questions. A couple questions. Okay, excuse me, you're blind. So we'll get out of that real quick. I'll do it in the post-it. Yeah, so, um, a couple questions. A couple questions.

Uh, I assume you've seen, you've heard that before. I've heard it, uh, a thousand times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what they didn't realize, they think it's funny, but I'm like, no way, man. You made my career. No one heard about climbing Everest, but everyone heard about my day video. Yeah, I guess. So I guess now that we've established that, I should say, first of all, happy pride. Secondly, so this local news anchor was going to interview you about your achievement of

being the first blind person to climb Everest. Were you standing by as that was said? Did you hear her say that? And did you have to... Yeah, there's another clip where if you go online, you can see me just completely laughing, cracking up for... I couldn't even do the interview. And by the way, I just want to say for the NPR audience, nothing funny about being gay

or being blind, but I don't know how the two look the same on a script. When you have to introduce yourself, you say, well, yes, I'm Eric Weinmeier. I climbed Mount Everest, first blind person to do it, first blind person to climb the seven summits, and there's still nothing, and you're like, I'm blind, not gay. And then they go, you! No, no, no. In fact, I take, I like more records than I can get. You know, like, first blind guy to climb Everest, first blind gay man to climb Everest is even better.

So I'll take it. Which also, you actually raised another question. Somewhere out there is the first gay man to climb Mount Everest and he must be thinking, well, gee, he didn't get the credit. He got rocked. That Wernmeyer guy. He got completely rocked. Yeah, I know gee, he didn't get the credit. That Weinmeier guy. He got completely rocked. Yeah, I know.

I stole his thunder. You did. Now that we have covered that, I actually want to talk to you about the actually impressive things that you did. There might be people out there who say, oh, he's a blind guy who climbed Everest. I guess he just was roped to some guide who did the climbing. No. You do it by feel, right?

Yeah, and I did have great guides though. I mean, like on Everest, we had 12 friends and eight surfers on our team. And those guys were helping me get through like the Khumbu Icefall. I mean, the Khumbu Icefall is right out of base camp on Everest and it's a blind person's worst nightmare. It doesn't meet Americans with Disability Act standards.

I mean. Yeah. So yeah, they were ringing and jingling a bell in front of me and talking to me and telling me which ropes to clip into. So for sure, blind guys, at least as far as I know, don't climb Everest alone. And I owe my team everything. I'm sure you get this a lot.

When I think about climbing mountains, which is not something I have done, but I think if I were to do it it would be for the view Which is not relevant. Yeah. Yeah to you. So what is the appeal to you to do this remarkable alpine climate? I'm Sensing my body moving up the ice swinging my tool into the ice Making you know kicking my feet into the ice, feeling the wind and the sun on my face.

And when I get to the summit, you're so high. Blind people use this kind of skill called echolocation. And it's the idea of sound vibrations moving out through space and bouncing off of objects and coming back at you. And when you're up high on a summit, those sound vibrations just move out infinitely through space. It's sort of like you've been swallowed by sky. It's this scary, infinite, beautiful, powerful sound of vibrations just moving through the universe. And so I'm getting a lot of scenery. It's just not visual.

They made, like I said, your career and your life has been documented in documentaries and in one feature film about you going up to the top of Everest. That must have been a little odd, having a movie made about you while you're still here. Well, even odder, I was the... This guy, Peter Faccianelli played me,

and so they asked me to be the stunt man for Peter. So, I think it was a first in history because it was a story about me played by Peter, and I was the stunt man for Peter. I don't know, it was really weird. So, Peter, this actor is playing you. How handsome did he tell you he was? Oh, he was way handsomer than me.

I heard he's a real handsome man, so. It occurs to me if you ask me, well, how handsome is Peter who plays me in the movie? I would be stuck, because if I say, well, he's very handsome, would that be flattering you? Oh yeah, no. You could play me for sure. From what I understand, you'd have to put a wig on though.

Maybe two wigs. I'm just... I'm so disappointed. Who told you? Because this entire conversation I have felt so free and unburdened by my, for the first time in years. Blind people, you know, we're judgy, but we're just, we have to get the information in another way.

Was it the echoes coming off the top of his head? have to get the information in another way. Was it the echoes coming off the top of his head? Well Eric Weinmeier, it is a pleasure to talk to you. We've asked you here to play a game we're calling Mountain Climber meets Social Climber. So since you are an accomplished mountain climber, we thought we'd ask you about another kind of climber. Social climbers, people who are trying to rise above their station in society. Answer two or three questions correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the

voice of their choice from our show on their voicemail. Bill, who is Eric playing for? Lilac Rain Thompson of Black Mountain, North Carolina. Lilac Rain Thompson. All right, Eric, here is your first question. Two of the most famous social climbers in recent history were Tariq and Michaela Salahi, who famously crashed a 2009 White House state dinner

to which they were not invited. Now, what did Ms. Salahi go on to do after that? Was it A, she joined the CIA as an infiltration expert? B, she became a life coach promising to help clients, quote, get past any velvet rope holding you back? Or C, she left her husband to marry the founder of the rock band Journey in a wedding broadcast live on pay-per-view? Wow, the third one sounds so specific.

Maybe I'll go B. Wait a minute. I'm just going to go through. No, no, no. I'm going C. All right. There we go. Lightning reflexes.

Yes, it is C. She ran off. One day her husband, Tariq, filed a missing persons report because he didn't know where she was. It turns out she had ran off with Neil Shone, co-founder of Journey, and she eventually married him in a pay-per-view event in 2013. They are still apparently happily married. Wow. I know.

Wow. Just a small town girl. Sneaking through the White House. All right, next question. A woman named Rachel Lee loved celebrity style and she wanted to dress just like her favorite celebrity fashion icon, so she did what? A, she created a wearable digital screen that could display images of any look she wanted. B. She sent every celebrity a version of her favorite dress so eventually they'd be copying

her. Or C. She just broke into celebrities' houses and stole the outfits she liked. Uh, I'll go with A. You're gonna go with A. No, it was actually C. She broke into their homes and stole their outfits. What? She did. This was a big deal. She and her accomplices became known as the Bling Ring.

Shoulda known. Yeah. Here's the funny thing, too. Their first victim was Paris Hilton because they figured Paris Hilton would never lock her door, and they were right. All right, last question. If you win this, you have summited one of the most famous social climbers of recent

years was Anna Delvey. She pretended to be a wealthy heiress as she scammed other people out of money to fund her lifestyle. After her conviction for fraud, which of these did she really say when a reporter visited her at Rikers Island Prison? Was it A, I'd be lying to you if I said I was sorry for anything? B, would you mind loaning me $75,000?

I'm good for it. Or C, the last thing I remember is hitting my head on a car door in 2012, where am I? A. Hmm, um, A sounds kind of plausible. You gonna go for A? Alright, we'll do it. You're gonna go for A. Alright, yes, it was A. I'd be lying to you if I said I was sorry for anything.

Yeah. These people must have seen the Netflix series about her. Bill, how did Eric Weinmeier do on our quiz? He got two out of three and that's enough for a win. I'm so excited. I feel like I just summited the seven summits all over again. And it was easier. Yeah. Go enjoy your piano. And I did it on my couch. It did, exactly. Eric Weinmeier is an adventurer, activist, speaker, and the first blind man

to summit Mount Everest, but not, despite what you've heard, the first gay one. Eric Weinmeier is an adventurer, activist, speaker, and the first blind man to summit Mount Everest, but not, despite what you've heard, the first gay one, Eric Weinmeier. Thank you for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. What a great pleasure to talk to you, sir. Bye, Eric. Take care. Bye-bye. When we come back, the strongest person I've ever known, and with a medal to show for it, that's when we return with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

Hey, it's Peter Sagal. Before we get back to the show, I just want to take a moment to talk about what makes Wait, Wait and everything you hear from NPR possible, and that is drum roll. Somebody do a drum roll. Or I'm assuming somebody out there is doing a drum roll right now. You, yes you. NPR is, as we often tell you, public media.

That means we rely on the public, and the public is everyone. Good people and people who eat deep dish pizza. Think of NPR as kind of like infrastructure. It's just like the roads and the highways and the sewers are available to everybody, so are we. We connect people, we give people something

they all can complain about, something they can all use. Everybody's got it. It is a public good. But like any kind of infrastructure, it needs maintenance. It needs support so that everybody can keep enjoying it. Otherwise like Steve Inskey, develops terrible potholes. The problem is he kind of expands in the heat and then shrinks when it's cold and you end up getting cracks.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is that we need your help to keep this infrastructure of information healthy. Giving Tuesday is coming up, so if you haven't made the leap yet to contributing, now's a good time. And a great way to support us is to sign up for NPR+. It's a program especially for our podcast listeners. As an NPR Plus member, you'll get to hear this and other NPR shows without the sponsor messages. And you get other perks too, like a chance to play our special quiz, the Wait, Wait, Way Back Machine, where we invite one of you on with me in the studio to try to answer questions from our show 20 years ago.

To learn more, just go to plus.npr.org, or you can always make a gift at donate.npr.org. And by the way, if you've already signed up for NPR+, or if you've donated to your local station, we really appreciate it, and we are taking your money and we're filling in the gaps on Stevenskey right now. Thanks. Support for this podcast and the following message

come from Dignity Memorial. When we think about the people we love, it's not the big things we miss the most, it's the details. What memories will your loved ones cherish when you're gone? With Dignity Memorial, you can pre-plan your celebration of life now to protect your loved

ones, because nobody should have to plan for a loss while they're experiencing one. Planning truly is one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.com. This message comes from Omaha Steaks. Deliver some joy this holiday with the unrivaled quality of Omaha Steaks. Skip the holiday hustle. Let their gifting experts make it easy to deliver the perfect gift starting at $89.99. From legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts, save 50% off-site wide during the Cyber Sale at omahasteaks.com. Plus, get an extra $30 off with promo code

WAIT and a $30 reward card when you shop early. Minimum purchase may apply. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com, T's and C's apply. This message comes from Wondery. Kill List is a true story of how one journalist

ended up in a race against time to warn those on the list whose lives were in danger. Follow Kill List wherever you get your podcasts. ["Wonderful Newsreel"] From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis, and here's your host at the Studebaker Theater and the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segel.

Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. So as you are all listening to this, we are lying around in a tryptophan haze from our Thanksgiving meal reminiscing about all the amazing people we got to talk to this year. And since we consider you family, we're going to share a few of them with you. But don't hog them like you did the sweet potatoes. For example, here's something we're broadcasting for the very first time. In late August of this year, we went to Minneapolis and we did a show that we broadcast that week.

But then we did another show the next night, really just as an excuse to stick around and spend a day at the Minnesota State Fair. Did you know that chocolate chip cookies come in a bucket? But the show we did that day was terrific. Here's some of it, starting with a round of Bluff the Listener with panelists Alzo Slade, Emy Blotnick, and Shantira Jackson. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hey, this is Cassidy from Durham, North Carolina.

Hello, Cassidy. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm fine. What do you do there in Durham? I am doing my clinical rotations in my last year of pharmacy school. Your last year of pharmacy school. Your last year of pharmacy school that's really cool. Can I ask I'm genuinely curious what's the

most important thing about being a good pharmacist? I would say making sure that we have patients on the most affordable medications I would say that's the biggest impact we make. I would have guessed not poisoning people but... That's important too. Well Cassidy, welcome to the show. You of course are going to play the game in which you have to try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Cassidy's topic? Bring your child to work day. Bringing your child to work always a special occasion, right? You get to share

all the joys of your workplace with your little one. You get to show them how to submit an expense report and why they should never trust the office milk. But this week we heard about a child who was brought to work and made quite an impression there. Our panelists are going to tell you about it. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you will win the weight-weighter of your choice and your voicemail. Are you ready to play? Yes. All right. First let's hear from Emmy Blotnick. Brain surgery can be a tricky thing and that's true even if you are a brain surgeon but it's especially true if you are the 13 year old child of a brain surgeon and your mom hands you the drill. This was the nightmare scenario

that played out during a patient's brain surgery in the Austrian city of Graz last January. Thankfully, the doctor was fired, but how was this ever allowed to happen? The conversation between the brain surgeon mother and her 13-year-old non-brain surgeon kid may have gone something like this. Kid, hey, mom, are you sure you want me to use a drill for the first time on a living

person? Maybe I should start somewhere low stakes like the foot? Mom, nah, do the skull. Kid, hey, by the way, who is this guy? Mom, you can ask him when, I mean if he wakes up. Now don't focus too much and drill, baby, drill. A brain surgeon brings her daughter to work and lets her drill a hole into the patient's skull.

Your next story of some kid commotion comes from Alzo Slade. With Georgia State Election Board again grabbing headlines, some new information has come to light regarding the 2020 election. A new investigation have proved there was, in fact, tampering with the ballots in 2020. A Republican election official in Valdosta brought their nine-year-old Simon to work on election day

to show him real-life democracy in action. However, after coming to the conclusion that democracy is boring, Simon pulled out his arts and crafts to entertain himself. Within minutes, he had an idea to liven up the voting process by creating ballots of his own. Turns out there were only 20 ballots that had to be thrown out after they found glitter, Elmer's glue, and construction paper with one question written on it in crayon.

Will you go out with me? Yes or no? An election official in Georgia brings his kid to work and he actually introduces election fraud. Your last office OMG comes from Shantira Jackson. A jeweler in Southern California was accused of stealing his customers jewelry when it was discovered that boxes that were supposed to contain priceless items were swapped out and replaced without his knowledge. It turns out that his seven-year-old daughter was making

friendship bracelets for an upcoming Taylor Swift concert. And when she saw how boring all the jewelry her dad was selling looked, she decided to pull them out of their velvet boxes and swap them with more festive and colorful Taylor themed friendship bracelets. When asked why she would do such a thing, she simply claimed that she didn't think diamonds were a girl's best friend because every girl's best friend is Taylor. All right.

Here are your choices. Somewhere, somebody brought their kid to work and something went wrong. Was it from Emmy Blotnick, a brain surgeon who let their daughter just, you know, for the experience of it, drill a hole in a patient's brain from Alzo Slade, an election official who brought a kid to the counting house and he ended up, shall we say, forging documents and ballots or from Shantira Jackson, a jeweler's kid who decided that what those Beverly Hills type people needed was not diamonds and rubies but Taylor Swift friendship bracelets. Which of these was the real story of a kid coming to work and messing things up?

I'm going to go with the brain surgeon. You're going to go with the brain surgeon? Yeah, why not? Absolutely. Okay, that's a good choice. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to someone who reported on the real story. I'd generally be mad if anybody was drilling into my head. If they didn't wake up and find out I was a 13-year-old girl, I would hope that she at least watched some YouTube videos about it or something. Watched some YouTube videos? That was Louis Prada, a writer from Vice, who reported on the junior brain

surgeon in Vienna. Congratulations, Cassidy, you got it right. You earned a point for Emmy just for telling the truth and for acting out the scenario. Thank you, Emmy. But you have also won our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose. Thank you so much. Thank you. And then, since the Paris Olympics had just ended, we decided to talk to an actual Olympian about what it was like. And now the game we call Not My Job. The best thing about this summer's Paris Olympics was that thanks to streaming you could watch any sport you liked and the best sport to watch

was weightlifting. No like complicated tricks with weird names, no incomprehensible judging, just people picking up enormous weights or not. In the course of just four years, Mary Tyson Lapin went from complete rookie to Olympian weightlifter representing the U.S. at the Paris Games. She grew up just over the border in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We are delighted to have her with us here. Mary Tyson Lapham, welcome to Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me. I am, I wasn't kidding. I watched weightlifting because I was able to. Thank God you finally got some attention.

And I was fascinated because I don't understand the first thing about it. So let's start at the basics. You pick up weights, is that right? You lift them. Yes. I mean, obviously there's a little bit more to it than that, but at the end of the day, it's a very simple sport. It's whoever lifts the most weight wins the meat, and you want to try to be as strong

as you can, and that's who gets to win. So in the Olympic weightlifting there's basically two different events. And you're gonna say them because I can't without blushing. Okay, so we snatch and then we clean and jerk. You snatch and clean and jerk. Yes, the snatch is from the floor and you're going straight over your head without stopping. The clean and jerk is you're gonna clean it, pull it to your shoulders, take a little rest, a break, not a break, it's like a second.

And take your breath. You don't stop and go get a cup of coffee and come back. You take a one second rest, you're basically enough to recover and get your breath and then you push it over your head. So typically you clean and jerk heavier because you get that little short rest and that's the lift.

You add the two up and that's your total, that's your score and that's where you decipher where you're gonna place and that's your total, that's your score, and that's where you decipher where you're gonna place. In the off season, you don't lift weights at a regular gym. You're not at 24-hour fitness or nothing, right? No. There are people that go to gyms like that, but most of us have weightlifting gyms where it's people during what we're doing because it gets distracting at times and I try to

avoid it because I get embarrassed kind of embarrassed in gym. I was about to say but Mary you never get the temptation to just walk into a 24 hour fitness and just flex on these fools. I never ever do. You should walk into like a 24 hour fitness with your USA singlet on and be like, yeah. No, I do not get the temptation. Some people do. Some gym bros standing there with two 50 pound barbells, and you pick him and them up at the same time and put them back in the rack. That would be awesome.

Put them back in his car. Speaking of stupid questions, does anybody, for example, oh my god, you're an Olympic weightlifter. Could you pick that up? And they point to some object near you. Oh, yeah, all the time. All the time. Right.

Do you think you could lift that? I'm like, well, yeah. Can I ask you a little bit about the Olympics? Yes, yes. So you got to be on the boat in the boat parade? Was that fun? It looked like fun. It was raining. It was raining. It was fun. I will say it's fun. I'm not going to say it wasn't fun. It's not what I imagined. We had all those like AI generated images before the Olympics where the sunset was beautiful And everyone was cheering and like we saw the Eiffel Tower and everything and then we get there and it was gray Yeah

And it was wet and we had these jeans on and a wool jacket and we're all soaking wet and I don't think Ralph Lauren Had any idea we're gonna have 99 cent ponchos over our $2,000 outfits. Wait a minute. Are you, in fact, you just pointed to your jeans. Those are the jeans. These are my opening ceremony jeans. Those are genuine Ralph Lauren designed opening ceremony jeans. Wow.

I know. Are they worth $2,000? Well, I think the jeans are like $400. Oh, okay. But the whole outfit was like $2,000. That jacket, I looked it up. I know. Because I wanted it.

It's in the car. I got mine in the car. Can I see it? It's in the car. Sorry. And then, Rowe, I've also wondered, did you get to hang with LeBron? I'm sure everybody asked you about LeBron.

Well, I have a picture with LeBron, but it wasn't on purpose. I was in the background. And someone took it. You photobombed with LeBron James. Someone someone took it and it was after it started raining and he had a nice poncho and my hair was soaking wet on my face and I was like looking at him. So I won't share the picture because I look really silly. Well wait a minute Mary, to be clear, LeBron James has a picture with you. And you got to do one of those promotions, those little cute movies that NBC did with

Snoop Dogg. Yep. And just like Michael Phelps, for example, taught Snoop Dogg sort of to swim, you taught Snoop to lift. Yes. How did that go? He actually did a pretty good job. I pretty much just, everyone asked me what my strategy was because I said I did a good job. So I said my strategy was basically coaching a kid that's never touched a barbell before. Probably wise. And if he did a really good job. Coaching a kid

who's never touched a barbell and is stoned. Yes. Well that's what you just do. You're just like, Snoop, imagine this barbell is a 25 pound joint. Yeah, basically. That doesn't work, also, because at the end you have to drop it. But anyway, it's what you're saying. He did a really good job. He wanted to lift more weight than I would let him. And I said, I think it's a terrible idea.

Let's stick with the little ones. And then he asked if his producers would crop big weights in. And I think I did see a video of that. Really? Just to get a sense. So Snoop Dogg is a grown man. How much weight did you have him lift?

First we started with a broomstick. Oh, I saw that. So you had him lift his body weight. Yes. He's a skinny fellow. He's really skinny. And then his final weight we lifted was, it was 15 and a half kilos, which is maybe like 35 pounds. Wow. Yeah. And just for comparison, what was your starting weight at the Olympic finals? Um, like 300 and...

That's it, that's all you gotta say. That's all you gotta say. That's all you gotta say. We believe you. We believe you, yeah. Mary Tyson Lapin, it is just a pleasure to talk to you about what you do. And we have asked you here though to play a game that this time we're calling... The Bad Kind of Lifting.

So, you're an expert on weightlifting, as we have been discussing. But what do you know about shoplifting? Correctly answer two of our questions about the five finger discount, and you'll win our prize, one of our listeners. Bill, who is Mary playing for? Jessica Nelson of St. Paul, Minnesota. Ready to play?

Yeah! You ready to go? Sure. Here's your first question. We also have three of these, three tries of this, so you're used to this sort of format. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's your first question. Not every shoplifter is caught, but a man in Scotland who stole a bottle of vodka from

a liquor store was almost immediately apprehended. Because he did what? A. He took two steps out of the store, guzzled the entire bottle, then passed out right there. B. Asked the cashier on a date and left her his full name and telephone number. Or C. Came back 20 minutes later and said, oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to steal some tonic water. I'm going to go with B. You've met men. Yes, you're right. Yeah, you know. All right, here's your next question. You handled that well. That was an easy lift for you. Yeah.

When a security guard at Target once caught a teenager shoplifting, as he said later, he didn't want to quote, ruin a kid's life for stupid mistakes. So what he did was he just called the police department. They said, send over an officer and just give this kid a, you know, scared straight type of speech. One problem, what? A, they took him literally and a film crew from the scared straight TV show came along so no, everyone knows what she did

Be the officer that showed up to give her a talking to was her own stepfather Or see the policeman walked out with a candy bar. She stole without paying for it Wait a minute they're saying see okay. I'll go you're from with you're a minute. They're saying C. Okay, I'll go with C. You're from Wisconsin, they're Minnesotans. That's true. I'm just saying. My sister lives in Minnesota, though. Your sister lives in Minnesota.

Yeah. But I'm just saying there is a rivalry. Let's go with C. You're gonna go with C. No, actually, it was your stepfather. Oh. Yes. All right.

This is what happened. A Target store in California. Somebody runs out with hundreds of dollars of merchandise, just runs right out the door. And a customer at the cash register asks the cashier, why don't you do something? Why don't you let that person go? And the cashier says, oh, well, that's just because Governor Newsom has changed the law,

so stealing that much doesn't even count as a crime anymore. What did the customer do in response? A, say, fine, ran out, caught the shoplifter himself, and then brought him into the police station. B, put his own stuff back in the car to then roll that out without paying. Or C, just stared at the cashier until she realized that he, in fact fact was California Governor Gavin

Newsom. Ay, ay, ay. Okay, let's go with C. You know what's C. That's what happened. It's true. Governor Newsom told this story himself. He was not happy about it. What happened was once she realized it was Governor Newsom, she was like, oh my God, Governor Newsom,

can I get a selfie with you? And he said, I would actually like to speak to your manager. Oh man. Bill, how did Mary do in our little competition? Two out of three, Mary. That's a win. Good lift. You did it! You got the title! Mary Tyson Laven is a champion weightlifter who won gold at the Pan-American Games for going to represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics. Mary, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.

What an absolute pleasure to talk to you. Thank you. When we come back, actor Maya Hawk and an artist who is the undisputed master of his chosen medium because as far as we know, he is the only guy making sculptures out of gum wrappers. That's when we return with more of Wait, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me from NPR. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, offering over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Hand selected for their inherent craft, each hotel tells its own unique story through distinctive design and immersive experiences, from medieval falconry to volcanic wine tasting.

Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of over 30 hotel brands around the world. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. And thank you, everybody.

You know how after Thanksgiving is over, you can't wait to sneak into the kitchen at midnight and make a sandwich out of the leftovers? Well, that is basically what we are doing this week. Peter, I've always thought of you as the leftover turkey of public radio. Well, here are two more essential ingredients for this midnight snack. First up, in May of this year, we talked to Lyndon Barrois, who had become well known for his brilliant miniature sculptured figurines.

You might be thinking, well, we're all nerds here. We all make little figurines down in our basement. But what makes Barrois special is what he uses to make them. A little bit of a fact check here. I referred to you pretty confidently as the greatest living artist who works with gum wrappers. Are there any others?

No, I think I'm the only one on the planet, actually. Right, yeah. All right, I think we just need to go right back to the beginning and ask you how you got started doing this. As a kid in New Orleans, I just grew up making things all the time, you know, discarded phone wire, aluminum foil, anything I got my hands on, clay. And then, you know, of the tons of gum that my mom chewed and I discovered, you know, her discarded wrappers were paper on one side and foil on the other, I had the idea that

if I sculpted it with the paper side out I can color it and Boom the light switch went off and you know here. I am right In your magnificent mansion made entirely of gum wrap And and this is where the only one of my few times that I'm sad on the radio because I would love for people to Instantly see these but what people need to understand is like, these are not, I don't know, little stick figures. They're incredibly detailed, miniature, full-body portraits. Oh, he's holding one up now. It'll be, yeah. And the two you're holding up are football players.

And was that where you started? Because I know that one of your first major projects was football, right? Well, yeah, that was the first? Because I know that one of your first major projects was football, right? Well, yeah, that was the first solo show I had. But I actually started just from making drivers for Hot Wheels cars. Because the cars are so cool. The doors open, the hood, the trunk, everything.

But there's no drivers, so it made no sense to me. And so I just started making people put in the car and never stopped. Did your mother up her gum chewing to provide you with more raw material? She did, but then the doctors told her she had to stop because she swallowed it and said, this is not healthy now.

Wow. That's like the low point in your behind the music. low point and you're behind the music. You have a day job, which is you do animation and special effects for Hollywood films, some very very big Hollywood films. Yes, that has been the bulk of my professional work. I'm responsible for the creature work, the character and creature work. So like I've done everything from the Matrix trilogy to Happy Feet, the CG creature effects in those films, the ones that are brought to life, the actual characters themselves.

I can't let you go without asking about what must be your masterpiece. I refer of course to Karate Dog. Oh my god! Were you aware, because we looked into this, that karate dog, of course a classic, but there are some people who are unhappy with karate dog because despite the title, the dog only does karate twice. Wow, I can't imagine. I never heard that criticism.

What? What? Let me know why. It is fascinating to talk to you. And we have, in fact, invited you here to play a game we're calling That There Is a Really Big Sculpture. Since you create very tiny sculptures,

we thought we'd ask you about big ones. Answer two to three questions correctly about very large works of art, and you will win our prize for one of our listeners. Any voice they may choose from our show. Bill, who is Lyndon Bajua playing for? Larry Sylvester of San Francisco, California. All right. You ready to do this? Yeah, okay. I hope I don't blow this.

Okay. The ancient Olympic Stadium in Greece Greece where they had the Olympics had a row of giant statues outside. Those statues served what purpose? Was it A, they were each posed as if they were doing a particular athletic event showing which way you had to go to see that event, b. the names of athletes who had cheated were inscribed on them as a badge of shame, or c. their arms and legs were posed to spell out the letters in Olympics like, you know, the YMCA dance.

You're going to go say a. You're going to go say a. Like, if you wanted to go see the javelin, you went over to the statue that was holding the javelin and you went that way. No, it was actually B. If you cheated at the Olympics, they inscribed your name and what you had done onto the statues so that people would know and you wouldn't compete again. It was the ancient Olympic version of a photo by the cash register. Don't let that person in here. That's okay. You still got two chances. and you wouldn't compete again. It was the ancient Olympic version of a photo by the cash register.

Don't let that person in here. That's okay. You still got two chances. So once one of these big monumental statues goes up, it's rarely changed. One exception is the very big statue of the Duke of Wellington in Glasgow, Scotland. What change was recently made to that statue? Was it A, because historians finally proved his horse had been a mare, not a stallion, certain items were removed? B, there is now an orange traffic cone permanently atop the Duke's head? Or C, after a sponsorship deal his Wellington boots were replaced with Uggs? I gotta go with A on that one. They had to have made him a gelding. The audience is yelling, what is the audience yelling? The audience is yelling B, the orange traffic cone. I'm just going to lay that in front of you.

Yeah, B, they were right and now you are too. So what happened was, sometime in the early 1980s, for reasons no one exactly knows, people just started putting this traffic cone on top of the duke's head, and they'd take it off, and immediately somebody would come up and put another one on it. And it was such a pain in the ass to climb up and get it that they said, you know what, from now on, that's part of the statue. Problem solved.

I love this because I'm learning things. You are, you know? Yeah. I know what your I'm learning things. You are, you know? Yeah. I know what your next sculpture will be. All right. One of the most famous large statues we have is Bob's Big Boy, whose figure looms over many of their franchises. That big statue played an important role in someone's life once when what happened?

A, author Norman Mailer said he stopped drinking finally when a Bob's big boy looked down at him and told him to straighten out. B, Patricia Arquette told Nicolas Cage she would only marry him if he could bring her a Bob's big boy statue. Or C, all of the customers of a Bob's big boy were saved from the 1966 Topeka tornado by hiding inside him. B. You're going to go for B. You're right. Patricia Arquette told the story that Nicolas Cage had wanted to marry her for a long time and she said, fine, if you want to marry me, you must complete this quest and gave him a bunch of things, including

J.D. Salinger's autograph and a genuine Bob's Big Boy sculpture. And he did it, and they got married and lived very happily for about four years. But let me ask, Bill, how did Lyndon Barrois do on our quiz? Lyndon got two right, and you have won... You have won a little tiny statue. Lyndon J. Barrois Sr. is a sculptor, artist, and animator. You can learn more about his remarkable work at itsarapper.com. Lyndon Barrois, thank you so much for joining us.

You're a genius and we love talking to you. Take care. Thanks for having me, guys. This was too much fun. It really was. Take care. Thanks for having me, guys. This was too much fun. It really was. Take care. MUSIC Finally, here's an interview with actor Maya Hawk,

who also joined us in May, and talked with guest host Alzo Slade. Now, Ms. Hawk had also put out an album of original songs, so Alzo asked her what came first, singing or acting? I've done them both my whole life. It's a notoriously terrible career choice. It's like you try to do one thing well, and then you're like, hey, look, I can do another thing badly. And then everyone makes fun of you.

But it's fun, and I've been doing it forever. So you've been a singer-songwriter forever, like when you're like four or five years old? What are we talking? We're talking like seven, eight, but I was not a professional child in any way. What were you writing at seven, eight years old? I was rewriting the lyrics to songs

from the Hannah Montana TV show. You were dropping remixes at seven, eight years old. So Stranger Things is what most of us know you for and you entered in the third season and this show was like the most streamed show in the history of streaming forever throughout all eternity. True. And so, when I watched Stranger Things, it was nostalgia for me because I grew up in the 80s.

I mean, you're much younger than me. You're 25 years old. How did it feel playing a character that works in a mall that when malls really don't exist anymore. You know, it felt a little bit like, you know, being on the Nina and the Pinta and the Santa Maria, you know? It felt really strange. Yeah, my people weren't on any of those shit. So Stranger Things is so popular and people, there are some people who didn't want spoilers, didn't want to know what happened, but then there are people online really trying to figure

out what was going to happen in the next episode. Were people, when people see you in public, were they kind of, you know, joked you to try to figure out what's going to happen? They do it all the time, even today, about the upcoming season, but the good thing about me is I can't understand what's happening in the show whatsoever. Tell them even if I wanted to. Maya, I saw the trailer for your new movie Wildcats. It looks beautiful, it looks amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about what the movie is about and the

role that you play? Yes, I play at least five roles in the movie. I play Flannery O'Connor and characters in many of her short stories. And for those who don't know, she's an extremely complicated, curmudgeonly, unpleasant woman from the Jim Crow South who wrote a lot and also died of lupus. That's my pick. That was quick. And we want to see that. Thank you. When I was in college, I was already obsessed with Flannery O'Connor or drama school, and

I had a boyfriend who wrote me a song about it. And the last verse of the song was, the only thing I knew about Flannery O'Connor was that she died of lupus, just like her father. And that's the bottom line. That's a solid approximate rhyme. Is that on the soundtrack? It plays over the closing credits when they do the big dance, the big Flannery O'Connor dance.

Maya, do you have a favorite lyric of yours? Like if you had to choose one of your favorite lyrics from one of your songs, what would it be? It would be from a song that's not out yet, but it's going to come out, which is a lyric I stole from something that my grandfather always says, which is, why do it right when you can do it yourself? I like granddad. That's some real wisdom right there. That's the real wisdom. Maya Hawk, we've invited you here today to play a game we're calling,

Oh My, a Hawk. That's right. We're going to ask you three questions about bird watching. Answer two out of the three correctly and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Maya playing for? Liz Price of Denver, Colorado. Liz, I'm so sorry. You're going to do great. I can feel it.

Here's your first question. Urban birders can get amazing video if they're lucky. Like one person who got footage of a crow doing what? A, cutting a car's brake lines. B, sorting a neighbor's recycling, or C, goading two cats into fighting each other? Ooh, okay, I love crows stories. Crows are amazing, and they do amazing things, and so I'm going to have to go with, because

of my extensive crow research, with B, sorting a neighbor's recycling. The answer is C. No! Yes. Man. Goating two cats into fighting each other. These two cats are opposite each other on two shed roofs, and the crow keeps flying back and forth, poking them on the butt to push them toward each other until they start

going at it. Do you think the crow had money on it? Probably so. Yeah. All right, Maya, here's your next question. Birding may seem like a calm and relaxing hobby, but that's not always the case. Some birders have reported spotting birds doing what in the wild? A. Screaming cuss words. B, trying to convince hikers to buy them a pack of cigarettes.

Or C, selling tickets to watch two cats fight. Okay, that's extremely funny, but I'm gonna have to go with A. I think it's a gimmick. Correct. Yeah. The theory is that captive birds who learn to swear escaped and taught the wild birds all of their dirtiest words. All right, Maya, here's your last question. A reporter uncovered a questionable tactic used by birders in Rhode Island to see birds who rarely fly close to the shore.

What do they do? A, send out a rubber raft full of bird seed and then reel it back in like a fishing line. B, buy tickets on a whale watching cruise, only look at birds, then hope they never see a whale so the company refunds their ticket, or C, play loud recordings of boat noises so the birds think they're still over the ocean. I'm gonna go with the whale watching. Yes. Nice.

Nice. B, thewatching cruise. Bill, how did Maya Hawke do on our quiz? She did great, two out of three, and Maya, that is a win. Oh, thank you. See? Ladies and gentlemen, Maya Hawke's new movie, Wildcat, is in select theaters now,

and her new album, Chaos Angel, is out May 31st, and Inside Out 2, an animated movie, is out June 14th. Maya Hough, thank you for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you. That's it for our Thanksgiving Leftovers edition. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago. In association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Burnham, Benevolent Overlord, Philip Gotica, Rezar Lemrex, our public address announcer is Paul Friedman, our tour manager is Shana

Donald. BJ Liederman composed our theme, our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornbos, and Lillian King. Special thanks to Monica Hickey and Blythe Robertson, Peter Green is our little butterball, our vibe curator is Emma Choi, technical directionist from Lorna White, our CFO is Colin Miller, our production manager is Robert Newhouse, our senior producer is Ian Chilag, and the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me,

is Mike Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on this week's show. All of the panelists, our guests, also slayed for guest hosting, and of course, Bill Curtis, and thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Segel. We'll be back next week with a new show. Applause

This is NPR.