WWDTM: Molly Seidel
49:02 Share

Support for Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and the following message come from Dave's Killer Bread. Now with the new Rock and Rolls, soft and slightly sweet and packed with seeds and grains. Learn more at Dave'sKillerBread.com or look for Dave's Killer Bread in the bread aisle of your local grocery store. Dave's Killer Bread. Bread Amplified. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. The weather outside is frightful.

But my voice is so... I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you so much. Listen, I've arrived at the holiday season.

Let's be honest, it can be a slog, it can last forever, there's a lot of things we all got to get through. It feels like a marathon. So we thought that maybe to get some tips in getting through this kind of difficult time, we'd talk to American marathon star and Olympic medalist Molly Seidel. She'll be joining us later, and hopefully she'll have more advice for us than just, oh yeah, just poop your pants and keep going. LAUGHTER

Our quiz is more of a sprint, so give it a try by calling us at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. Now let's welcome our first listener contestant. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, my name's Jennifer Lopez, and I live in New York City. All right. I'm going to play it cool. I'm going to play it cool. I'm assuming, and forgive me for this presumption, you are not that Jennifer Lopez, but I'm going to say an even better Jennifer Lopez. Is that right?

I can't say. You can't say? Well, can I ask, what do you do in New York, Jennifer? I am a nanny over here. Really? Can I at least hope that you nanny for some insanely wealthy person so you get to, like, play with their toys all day?

Well, Jennifer, welcome to the show. Let me introduce you to our panel this week. First up, a writer for the style section of the Washington Post, OG panelist Roxanne Roberts is here. Hello, Jennifer. Next, a writer for Big Mouth Season 7, now out on Netflix, it's Shantira Jackson. And a comedian whose album Soldier for Christ is available at Pretty Good Friends Records, it's Bobcat Goldthwait. Hello, Jennifer. Hey.

How's it going? How you doing, you crazy little minks? So, Jennifer, you're going to play Who's Bill this time. Bill Curtis is going to read you three quotations from this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you will win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose in your voicemail. You ready to go?

Awesome, yes. All right, here we go. Here is your first quote. They crowd the gate like it's the front door of a Best Buy on Black Friday. That was the Washington Post commenting on people who line up long before they need to, to get on a what? To get on a airplane. Yes, an airplane. Yay!

Just as we enter into the holiday travel season, the Washington Post asked psychologists if they could explain why so many people get up to line up to get on an airplane long before they're supposed to. Now, they say part of it is just social pressure. You think, look at that dumb guy standing there way too early. And then you think, wait a minute. I don't want a dumb guy getting on the plane before me.

I'm going to ask you guys, some of whom flew here, do you do this? I think it depends on what number you are to get on the plane because there's never enough overhead space. Right. So I feel like it's less of me being like, I love standing in line and more of, I don't want to give them my bag. Right. You cannot have my bag. I see.

And at this point there's like 300 people and one space for an overhead bag so yes I literally the last time I flew which was like you know yesterday they were like I'm counting how many people come with bags there's 78 spots and I was like I gotta be one of the 78. Oh wait wait I also flew here I flew here today and I

quote, the carry-on, one lady had like a normal Royal and she also had this giant like garbage-sized bag that had all sorts of stuff in it. It was like three pieces of luggage. I love that for her. I like the people who...

People who have a bag in the bag, and then you see them come through and take the bag out, I say, I like you. Really? Now, see, I thought, see, I think that's bending the rules. I love that. Break all the rules. Break them. There's something about me that, like, and I don't want to brag, but, you know, I'm often in business class. All right. All right.

And when I get up, everyone goes, oh, I guess everybody's getting on now. Yeah, that guy got on. That guy can't be in first class. I thought that guy was just sleeping at the airport, but apparently, I guess it's now hobos. Yeah.

Here is your next quote, Jennifer, and this quote is from a congressman. His staff is wildin'. That congressman was talking about the staff of a particular senator because a member of that staff was caught filming a sex tape where? In the Congress room? Yes, in a Senate hearing room, in fact. We're using the word staff really loosely. We are. LAUGHTER

So what happened was, sometime in the last few weeks, a staffer brought a friend, a very, very close friend, to a congressional committee room and there made a sex tape. So it's amazing. It's not often a film makes the top ten on both LinkedIn and Pornhub. That's the most business that's gotten done in the Senate in a long time. That's true.

And the best part, the tape was released by the Daily Caller, which chose... Very reputable. Very reputable, which chose to censor certain body parts by covering them up with a picture of the Capitol Dome, which I guess was tasteful, but couldn't have they given the guy a little credit and used the Washington Monument? LAUGHTER

Jennifer, your last quote is from the New York Times. This year's breakout shape is unknown. That was from an interesting report that says if you want to understand what Americans are interested in, look at the kind of what that the nation's bakers are buying. The kind of lettuce? Not quite.

I'm not going to stop and say, what does one bake with lettuce? I will instead give you an example. All the little Christmas tree-shaped ones we're seeing right now indicate it's going to be Christmas soon. Oh, cookies.

Oh, cookies. Cookie cutters, in fact. Cookie cutters. According to the Times, in their in-depth investigation, cookie cutter sales predict cultural trends. For example, this is all true, demand for guitar shapes spiked right before the huge Taylor Swift era's tour. Lipstick and convertible car shapes sold well before the Barbie movie came out. So if cookie shapes predict the future, we can say with some confidence, 2024 is going to be a really big year for circles.

Now, we just happen to have a big cookie baker on the panel. This is true. Who's been baking professional cookie baker. Competitive cookie baker. Competitive and enthusiastic. And I probably, I was trying to think. I probably have about a thousand cookie cutters. Right. Lots and lots of cookies. What's your favorite? That's a humble brag. Yeah.

because what happens is that they're the classics. The shapes and the Christmas trees and the candy canes and the snowmen. But I also have the Capitol, the White House, and the Washington Monument. Really?

This is true. They say that cookie cutter sales can even predict elections. They say that in 2016, Hillary Clinton-shaped cookie cutters sold in proportion to Donald Trump-shaped cookie cutters at about the same results of the actual election. And we don't have like a predictive statistic for Biden-Trump because, and this is true, Biden's look is generally so boring that you can't really come up with a cookie cutter prediction.

shaped like him. I feel like he is cookie cutter shaped. Yeah, he is. It seems part of the cookie cutter. Is this a ghost cookie? What am I eating? The cookie cutter maker suggests that if you do want to do something representing Biden, you go for the aviator glasses that have become sort of his trademark, or just leave a regular gingerbread man in the oven for way too long.

Bill, how did Jennifer do in our quiz? Got us off to a great start. 3-0. Perfect score. Well done, Jennifer. Thank you. I think I can say that having won on our show so well that you are the most accomplished Jennifer Lopez there is. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you, Jennifer. Take care. You have a good day.

Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Roxanne, a new study just discovered that apes, chimps and bonobos, may have the ability to do what? Is this one of those fake studies or is this a real study? This is an actual, real study done by actual scientists. And reported in the Washington Post. You know, I've been busy making Christmas cookies. I understand. I understand.

So I need a hint. You need a hint. Well, to study this, the apes were sent to their high school reunion without name tags. To recognize old friends. Yes. Apes can recognize old friends. Research has found...

Researchers found that chimps and bonobos were able to recognize images of apes they had met before but hadn't seen for as many as 25 years. And they're like, oh my God, Dale, it's me, Bobo. I threw that poop on you, remember? That's why I never borrow monkey money. Because they'll know, man. Yeah, they'll go, dude, where is that? That was like 20 years ago, man. Get off my case, Bobo. I don't know the rate of ape aging.

I don't know how different you look if you're an ape from 25 years ago. Yeah, well, they lose hair and stuff. Do they? Yeah, yeah. There's nothing sadder than a bonobo with a comb over it. Yeah, like Bubbles, Michael Jackson's monkey. He looks like a used car salesman now. No, he really does. He's kind of put a couple LBs on and he's bald. You've seen him recently? Yeah, well, not personally, but yeah.

Coming up, accept no substitutes. It's our Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT-TO-PLAY. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. Support for NPR and the following message come from SimpliSafe Home Security. Picture this. A stranger with a crowbar pries open a window. A fire breaks out in the kitchen. In moments like these, every second counts. That's why you need SimpliSafe Home Security. With SimpliSafe, 24-7 monitoring agents act within seconds.

five seconds of receiving your alarm. Visit simplisafe.com slash wait to save 20% on a new system today. That's simplisafe.com slash wait. There's no safe like SimpliSafe.

This message comes from NPR sponsor Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Be inspired to plan a small ship voyage to France in 2025. With an exclusive docking location in the heart of Paris and privileged access experiences, Viking brings curious travelers closer to the most iconic destinations across France. Discover more at viking.com.

This message comes from NPR sponsor, Capella University. With their game-changing FlexPath learning format, Capella empowers you to fit education into your life without putting other priorities on hold. FlexPath lets you set your own deadlines and adjust them if something comes up. And depending on your schedule, you can take courses at your own speed and move on to the next one when you're ready. Imagine how a flexible program can make a difference in your life at capella.edu.

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Roxanne Roberts, Bob Golfwaite, and Shantira Jackson. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. Right now.

It's time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bluff the Listener Game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play our game in the air. Hi, you are on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, this is Lucy Roberts calling from Los Angeles, California. What do you do there in LA? I'm a sign language interpreter. Oh, wow. Okay, that is a great thing to do. I've always thought of sign language interpreters. The best thing, in my experience, is sign language interpreters, even when they're talking to a hearing person, will continue to sign. And it's like hearing somebody talk in Technicolor. It's awesome.

Yes, we do that. We're a lot like Italians in that way. We talk with our hands. We do that. Well, Lucy, welcome to the show. You're going to play our game on which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Lucy's topic? We'll replace it with something of equal or lesser value. You can't always get what you want, according to the Rolling Stones, who ironically did get what they want, eternal life.

Our panelists are going to tell you about people getting something they didn't ask for this holiday season. Pick the one who's telling the truth. You'll win the white waiter of your choice in your voicemail. Are you ready to play? I'm ready. Bring it on. All right. First, let's hear from Shantira Jackson.

A restaurant in Wooster, Ohio recently had the surprise of a lifetime when Michael Jordan Jr. called to make a reservation for an ultra-private surprise holiday dinner for his dad, Michael Jordan, who would be in town for the Cavaliers game. The owner, Jerry Rothwell, worried his diner, The Roadhouse, wasn't fancy enough, so he flipped the decor faster than the Property Brothers.

The day of the dinner, two all-black SUVs pulled up and out hopped a five-foot-six middle-aged white man named Michael Jordan.

was in town for an insurance convention and a Cavs game. Jerry pushed his disappointment aside enough to give white Michael Jordan and his friends a night to remember. Plus, Mr. Jordan was so thrilled he even recommended that the National Actuarial Association hold next year's holiday party at this diner. As long as they kept the enormous banner that says, we honor Michael Jordan, the greatest of all time. Laughter

A restaurant thinks they're hosting a party for Michael Jordan, and they are, just not that Michael Jordan. Your next story of something unwanted...

Comes from Roxanne Roberts. Charlie Conway planned the perfect proposal for his Christmas-loving girlfriend, Sarah. A photo with Santa at Boston's Natick Mall. Then Santa would present a ring box to Sarah and say, perhaps you'd like this for Christmas. And Charlie would drop to one knee.

The mall's general manager was not only in on the plan, but arranged for a discount on the ring and a TV crew to cover the happy couple.

But things went awry quickly. In a really unfortunate coincidence, Santa was actually Jack Summers, an out-of-work actor and Sarah's ex-boyfriend. WCVT-TV later reported that Sarah suddenly recognized it was Jack behind the beard, burst into tears and ran off with Santa in the ring in hot pursuit.

A dumbfounded Charlie was filmed looking frantically from the camera crew back to the fleeing couple.

When the dust settled, Jack was fired from the Santa gig, he and Sarah were back together, and Charlie was broken-hearted but not empty-handed. The mall donated a $5,000 shopping spree, a full refund for the ring, and season tickets for the Red Sox because misery loves company. A man thought he was going to get engaged with the help of Santa.

but did not. Your last story of a sucky substitute comes from Bobcat Goldthwait.

Bahama-bound cruise ship passengers on their way to a 10-day Christmas Caribbean vacation were devastated when their voyage was rerouted to Jamaica? No, Boston. The passengers dreamt of lying on warm beaches eating conch fritters while sipping pina coladas, but now they get to freeze in New England eating fried clam sandwiches simping Dunkin'.

The MSC Miravigali was scheduled to sail from NYC to the Bahamas, but severe storms forced a last-minute change in the ship's itinerary. You would think people would be glad to avoid a giant sea storm, but no. Turns out people would rather die than go to Boston. I did not pay $5,000 to come to Boston, said Connie C., who lives in Pennsylvania, according to The Globe.

This was supposed to be our Christmas vacation. Lakia Allen shared on TikTok, we're from Chicago. We wanted a change in weather. Her friend, Val Montgomery, added, we have kids in the pool. It's cold outside. The pool is not heated. Ha!

The pool is not heated. While many passengers are disappointed at the change of plans, you know, there's got to be one guy who was like, oh, hell yeah, I love the departed. All right. Thank you.

So, somebody wanted something. Somebody was hoping for something, but they ended up with something else. Was it from Shantira Jackson, a restaurant thinking that they were going to be hosting the great Michael Jordan and got another Michael Jordan for their big customer? From Roxanne Roberts, a guy who thought that he'd walk out from his visit to Santa with his fiance and instead got, you know,

baseball tickets as his fiance ran off with Santa, or cruise passengers who thought they were going to the sunny, warm Bahamas ended up in the not sunny, not warm Boston, Massachusetts, which of these is the real story of a disappointment in the week's news.

Well, I was going to choose Roxanne's until she said that the mall gave him a bunch of stuff, which I don't think they would at all. I'm going to go with Bobcat's story about the cruise. All right. You've chosen Bobcat's story of the cruise passengers who ended up in Boston in the Back Bay rather than the Caribbean Sea. We actually have tape.

of one of these disappointed people. There was a slight change to the route, and we ended up in Boston. So instead of going down, we're going up. Yeah, that was a cruise passenger talking to CBS Boston about being rerouted from the Bahamas to Beantown. Congratulations, Lucy, you got it right. You earned a point for Bobcat. And you've earned our prize, the voice of your choice in your voicemail. Congratulations. Well done, Lucy. Yay, Bobcat!

Thank you so much for playing, Lucy. And thanks for doing what you do. Take care. You too. Bye. Bye.

And now the game we call Not My Job. After winning multiple NCAA distance running championships as a college student, Molly Seidel was wondering what to do next and decided to run her first marathon at the Olympic Trials kind of on a whim, and she made the team. Then in Tokyo, she figured just making it to the starting line was achievement enough, but she ended up with the bronze medal in the Olympic marathon. That's why we assume...

That's why we assume by the end of this interview, she will be the host of this show. Molly Seidel, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thanks so much for having me. It's a pleasure to have you. I wanted to first go over this story. So you had been a distance runner, and the story I heard was that you just said, you know,

maybe I'll go run a marathon in the Olympic trial, see how that goes. Yeah, basically what happened, I was living in Boston at the time, and with my sister we were at a holiday party, and just sitting on the rooftop of this townhouse, and Izzy was like, it would be really funny if you ran your first marathon at the Olympic trials. I was like, that actually would be hilarious, and then...

Everything kind of spiraled out of control from there. Yeah. Now, according, I will say, according to Runner's World, what were you doing on the top of that building? I was smoking a joint on the roof. Yeah. Sorry, Mom. So you were smoking weed, and you go, I think I'm going to be in the Olympics. Yeah.

See, now that's happened to me, but it's never worked out. So you go down from the roof and you go and you run the Olympic marathon trials and you win. I got second. You got second. Yeah. Which is, as we all know, good enough. First loser. Yeah, first loser. And have you discovered the secret to running marathons for someone who hasn't ever run a marathon before? Were you chased a lot?

I get asked a lot, like, what are you running from? Honestly, like, I think the coolest part of all of this is just...

Every time I'm a little bit surprised by like getting to like go and qualify for the Olympics, like first time out. That was like, you don't expect that. Then come away with a medal in it. There's been so many just cool, exciting things in my career. Like it's honestly been kind of a joy ride. So, all right. Now I have watched the video of the end of the marathon. Now, again, we should, this was, I believe your third marathon. You would run one in the meantime during the pandemic. Yeah.

And this is what you can see if you watch the last five minutes or so of the marathon. You see the eventual gold medalist and the silver medalist were both women from Kenya. And they look pretty tired. They're like, oh, my God, I got to get through this. I think I'm going to win this, but I am beat to heck. That's what's on their faces. And then there's you, and you're like, I'm going to marathon. You were like, woo-hoo. Woo-hoo.

Honestly. Well, I think the problem is that the... So Paris Chepchishire and Bridget Koskai, who came in first and second, these are world record holders, like multi-time medalists. So for them, going and winning another medal is just another walk in the park. For Bridget, she was probably disappointed because she was getting second and not winning. Meanwhile...

This was the best day of my life. So I should say this is the first medal that any American woman has gotten in the Olympic marathon in, I think, 18 years, right? So that's quite something. These are not easy to come by.

These medals. And so I do want to touch on the many, many years before that medal that you labored, shall we say, in obscurity. So, for example, we understand that in addition to your Olympic medal, you also have the extraordinary distinction of having once been the second fastest DoorDash delivery woman in Flagstaff, Arizona. Yeah. Yeah.

As you could probably guess, pre-Olympics, the title of professional runner doesn't make you much money. So I was delivering a lot of groceries in the meantime before I made it. Is that with or without a car? That was with a car. Okay. Yeah. No, I wasn't carrying that to people's homes. I was an absolute nightmare, though. To get that second fastest shopper, I would like sprint through Whole Foods. Like I have this layout memorized of most of the Whole Foods in Boston. Okay.

Really? So how, was there a secret to your efficiency as a door dasher? Probably aggressive driving and yeah, being willing to like push over an old lady for some avocados. Right. Just relentless. That is how you win a

This is how you win. Competitive drive. That's how you do it. Did you, did you, I got to ask you one more thing, which is, have you heard about Taylor Swift's workout that she says she did? We were actually just talking about this, that apparently Taylor Swift, to get ready for her concert, ran for like three and a half hours on the treadmill while singing all of her songs as well. Yes.

That would be unbearable. To be on a treadmill for three and a half hours a day, you've got to be working through some stuff. She got like $250 million for that tour. I'd do it. I would do it. I would sing the entire

tour too for $250 million. She probably slows it way down to the really slow songs. That's a walk. I wonder if she's running the whole time or if she's walking. I don't know, but I'm sure whatever she's doing... Can't we just call her up and ask her? As a matter of fact, we can. Hang on a second. Taylor, she's backstage! Could you imagine if that's how we soft-launched Taylor Swift? You all thought

we're getting a marathoner. Yeah, I know. Well, Molly Seidel, we are delighted to have you here and we've asked you to play a game we're calling... Call Now. Please, I beg of you, call now. You run, as we have been discussing, marathons, so we thought we'd ask you about another incredible test of endurance, the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. LAUGHTER

In which the late comedian would raise money for muscular dystrophy for 24 hours live on TV. If you answer two out of three questions correctly about it, you will win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose from our show for their voicemail. Bill, who is Molly Seidel playing for? Kyle Walton of San Francisco, California. All right.

Now, first question, one of the first times that Jerry Lewis appeared in a fundraising telethon before he launched his own was back in 1952. And when Lewis walked out on the set of the telethon, host Bing Crosby ran right off. Why? A, the two of them had been engaged in a high-stakes game of tag for seven years. LAUGHTER

B, Crosby was terrified that Lewis would run over and take off his toupee. Or C, Crosby, as he said later, quote, had to pee like a racehorse. One of these is real? One of those is real. LAUGHTER

I think I have to go with C. You're going to go with C? Makes sense. Yes, I understand that. But the answer was B. Apparently, Lewis had made a thing about tearing off Crosby's toupee and he wasn't going to let it happen again. All right. Here is your next question. One of the great things about watching the telethon was that Jerry Lewis would improv and the improvs would get wilder and wilder as the night wore on. That might explain why he once made an impassioned plea for who to donate to his cause.

A, any children who had just received money from the tooth fairy. B, his friend Dave, who he once loaned 75 bucks. Or America's drug dealers. Were they allowed to say drug dealers in the 50s? Well, first of all, this was now later on when he started this thing. So this was into the 70s and 80s. Let me just say this. You should get this. Okay.

I think they're telling me I should go with the drug dealers. You always should go with the drug dealers. It's a general rule. It's worked well for you so far. Yeah, and...

And by the way, this was not like a one-off joke. Hey, if you're a drug dealer, send me your money. No, he actually said, take away the cue cards. And he talked to the camera. And he talked, it's like the Miami Vice period. And he talked to the drug dealers in Miami where he singled out. And he said, I know you make a lot of money. Maybe you should take some of that money and donate it to my kids. Wouldn't you feel better about what you do? It is surreal. All right. Last question.

The show over the years featured a lot of great musical acts, but in the middle of the night, as you can imagine, that's when they had some lesser musical acts come on, including which of these? A, the Hells Angels Singers, B, Ray Sanders, Master of the Musical Turkey Baster, or C, Limp Bizkit? LAUGHTER

It's, oh, it definitely can't be B. You're saying it definitely cannot be B. You're absolutely certain that you, it can't be Ray Sanders, master of the musical turkey baster. Can you play a turkey baster? Okay, so I think I have to go with B. You're going to go with B, Ray Sanders, master of the musical turkey baster. You're right. Yes! Like I said. Woo-hoo!

Thank you. Thank you. 2 to 3 a.m., you'll never know what you might have seen. What was this show? Tell us. Bill, how did Molly Seidel do on our quiz? Two out of three, she wins another bronze. So she's the winner. Congratulations.

Molly Seidel is an Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon. Her Instagram handle is bygolly.molly, and you can root for her in February at next year's Olympic trials. Molly Seidel, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. Molly Seidel, everybody. Thank you.

In just a minute, we'll tell you the one thing you must not do to your Tesla. And our listener, Lumberick Challenge, call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us in the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. Support for NPR and the following message come from Amazon Business. Everyone could use more time. Amazon Business offers smart business buying solutions so you can spend more time growing your business and less time doing the admin. Learn more at AmazonBusiness.com.

This message comes from NPR sponsor Sony Pictures Classics presenting Kneecap, a new comedy about three friends who start a rap group that creates a movement. Starring the group Kneecap as themselves and Michael Fassbender. Now playing nationwide only in theaters.

This message comes from NPR sponsor Capella University. With their game-changing FlexPath learning format, Capella empowers you to fit education into your life without putting other priorities on hold. FlexPath lets you set your own deadlines and adjust them if something comes up. And depending on your schedule, you can take courses at your own speed and move on to the next one when you're ready. Imagine how a flexible program can make a difference in your life at capella.edu.

Hey, it's Peter Sagal. The year's almost over, and here at Wait, Wait, we are counting our blessings. After all, 2023 gave us George Santos, the Chinese spy balloon, the coronation of King Charles. I mean, really, so many funny hats. Here's hoping the news will be even easier to make fun of in 2024, but we could not do it without your support. This is where I want to say a big personal thank you to our Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Plus supporters and anyone listening who already donates to public media.

Because, you know, we can't make fun of the news if there is no news, which is why we need journalists to cover everything in the first place. To anyone out there who isn't a supporter yet, right now is the time to get behind the NPR network, especially with our journalists gearing up for...

You know, a relatively important election. Supporting public media now takes just a few minutes and it makes a real difference. So join NPR Plus or just make a tax-deductible donation now at donate.npr.org slash waitwait. And thanks.

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Roxanne Roberts, Bob Galthwaite, and Shantira Jackson. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. In just a minute...

We're simply having a wonderful Christmas rhyme in our listener limerick challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. Right now, panel, of course, some more questions for you from the week's news. Roxanne, there is yet another workplace trend. This one is called coffee badging. That's where employees go into the office just to do what? I assume just to steal the office coffee? Exactly right. Right.

to drink a single cup of coffee and then turn around and go home. Employees are doing this apparently to protest their company's return to office policies because nothing sticks it to the man. It's quite like spending an hour in traffic each way and then drinking the worst cup of coffee you've ever had. According to new research, 58% of hybrid employees, that is, you know, work and home, admit to coffee badging and say it's a way to show their face at the office while still doing a majority of their work at home.

It's second in popularity among them to bathroom badging, where you go to the office and

Head into the bathroom, spend 45 minutes sitting quietly in a stall contemplating how all of your dreams led you to here. I used to do that. Really? What was the job? I used to work at Banana Republic. Whoa. And I would just go sit in the bathroom and look at my Blackberry. Whoa, that's old school. It's old school. And then I would be like, all right, time to fold some chinos. Yeah. Yeah.

Nobody bothers you if you go in there. If you go into a bathroom for 30 minutes, they're going to be like, what are you doing? Absolutely not. They'll be like, okay. Shantira Hafize Erkan was hired to be the head of the central bank in Turkey with a mission of bringing down rampant inflation in that country. But it is so bad there that she had to do what? Print money and it was okay. No, that might have been the problem. Not that.

Give me your hand. I will. She's like, Mom, can you knock before you come in? I'm a senior government official. Oh, so she made everybody be roommates.

No. Does anybody else know? I'm guessing she had to move in with her mother. She did. She moved in with her parents, both of them. Hafize Erkan served in various important posts in international finance all over the world before moving back to Turkey to run their central bank with the mission of stopping inflation, which is up to 70% a year. And it was so bad, in fact, the inflation. Are you laughing at the inflation rate? When I get overwhelmed, I laugh. That's too much. That's too much. Yeah.

I didn't know you were also an economist. Yes, that's too much. In fact, inflation in housing is so rampant, she could not afford an apartment of her own and she had to move in with her parents at the age of 44. Is that sad? Do you imagine her just going back to her old bedroom with the posters of Milton Friedman and Paul Krugman on the wall? No.

All right, Bobcat, you've probably heard of Flacco the Owl, right? Sure. Flacco escaped from the Central Park Zoo last year, went to live in the wild in the park, became a huge celebrity in New York. Recently, though, Flacco the Owl has taken up a new activity. What is it? Skateboarding. No, although that would be cool. No, I don't think so. If a little retro. Okay.

Okay, give me a hint. I'll give you a hint. The creepiest part is when he turns his head all the way around to follow you to the bathroom.

So what's his hobby? He's just watching people? Yes. He's lying up to apartment windows and staring at the people. Oh, okay. That's what he's doing. So he said, yeah, but it's very specific. He only goes to bird watchers house. Right. He's like, how do you like it? It's really cool where he like looks at the people, the binoculars goes, oh, and makes a note. Uh,

Flacco the Isle was everywhere in New York City in 2023. He went to the Rockefeller Center, the Met Gala. He was seen on Broadway spitting out little pellets with hair and bones from the cast of Hamilton. But recently...

He has started showing up on people's windowsills to stare at them and freak them out. I mean, I get it. Trying to find an apartment in New York is hard. It's really true. You know, he's looking in your windows and he's about to ask, so how much are you paying for this place? Yes. He could just be looking for graduation caps. In the classic wise owl. They always wear them. They always have.

Either that or he's trying to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll. Either one. A Tootsie Pop. ♪

Coming up, it's lightning fill in the blank, but first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can catch us here most weeks at the beautiful Studebaker Theatre in downtown Chicago. And check us out on Instagram at waitwaitnpr. It's tons of fun with tons of pictures of us you will not be able to unsee.

Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, how are you? Hi, who's this? My name is Paula Ciccone. Hey, Paula Ciccone, where are you calling from? I'm calling from Menden, Massachusetts. Menden, Massachusetts? Yes, it is a little town south of Boston. South of Boston, great. Have you seen a very unhappy cruise ship recently? Not in my area.

Well, Paula, welcome to the show. Bill Curtis is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly on just two of them, you'll be a winner. Ready to play? Sure. Here is your first limerick. Don't miss Teslas with water, oh gosh. That's a plan I will just have to squash. The steering corrodes and then it explodes. Because some Teslas break down in the...

In the wash, yes! A California man lost power steering in his Tesla when he went over a speed bump. So he took it to the dealership and the dealer explained the wiring had corroded, certainly because, the dealer said, the owner had made the stupid but common mistake of taking his luxury car through a car wash.

It's tough when you're driving your new car off the lot and the dealer says, you'll love the car, but remember, never ever get it wet. That's like, it's so interesting because like when you, I really need to wash my car a lot. It's like you do something good. It's like no good deed goes unpunished. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I'm a good car. Do you have a Tesla? No, I'm a comedian. Okay.

I have a Honda. They're crappy, but they're waterproof. Here is your next limerick. When the steel mill closed, Steubenville cut backers. But our towns reborn. Who knows by what factors? It's our Christmas display of Tchaikovsky's ballet. We've got hundreds of six foot tall. Oh, nutcrackers.

Nutcrackers, yes. After years of struggling to revitalize its economy, the Rust Belt town of Steubenville, Ohio, found a solution. Hundreds of giant nutcrackers. Tourists come every year to see the over 206-foot-tall nutcrackers lining downtown, featuring everything from Wizard of Oz nutcrackers to the brand-new Jake from State Farm nutcracker. LAUGHTER

The Mitch McConnell nutcracker is actually just Mitch McConnell, and his staff says he'll snap out of it in a second. Here, Paula, is your last limerick. On the HMS humpback we sail. Unlike Ahab, we're not doomed to fail. We're not under a curse. We just want to converse. And we had a nice chat with a...

Whale? A whale. A group of researchers in Alaska claim to have had a 20-minute conversation with a humpback whale. It's an amazing breakthrough, but unfortunately for the scientists, the whale had just had the craziest dream and just wouldn't shut up about it.

For the experiment, the scientists equipped a boat with these giant speakers, and then they played a pre-recorded whale song into the water, and a whale responded to the recordings and sang back, and it's like so cool. But they don't know what the whale said. It could have just been yelling, would you shut that off? The whole time. I think the whale is going, hey, do you guys know where any Italian yachts are? LAUGHTER

To sink them? Yeah. Yeah. That was orcas. What do humpbacks do? Humpbacks, I don't think sink Italian boats. They just chew? They just chew. They're like, I don't need to do revenge. Right. But one thing humpbacks do, I know this, is they leap up in the air for reasons that scientists don't know. And now they know because they can understand. They're going, watch this. Watch this.

Bill, how did Paula do in our quiz? Very, very well. How about perfect? How about perfect, Paula? Thank you so much for playing, Paula. Take care. Thank you. Have a good day.

This message comes from NPR sponsor, Capella University. Capella's programs teach skills relevant to your career, so you can apply what you learn right away. See how Capella can make a difference in your life at capella.edu.

This message comes from NPR sponsor, Midi Health. If you're a woman over 40 dealing with hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, or brain fog, you don't have to accept it as just another part of aging. The clinicians at Midi Health understand what you're experiencing and know how to help. Midi Health provides specialized care for paramenopause and menopause covered by insurance. Book your visit today at joinmidi.com. That's joinmidi.com.

Now it's time for our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you please give us the scores? Oxanne has four. Bobcat has three. Shantira has one. All right. So, Shantira, you are in third place. That means you will go first. Here we go. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank.

On Tuesday, the Colorado State Supreme Court disqualified blank from that state's presidential ballot. That's right. On Monday, a federal judge ordered the unsealing of documents related to the case of blank. Tony Soprano. No. No.

Much worse, Jeffrey Epstein. On Wednesday, a federal judge blocked a California law barring blanks in certain public places. Guns. Yeah, in addition to delighting fans of true love everywhere, according to a new analysis, the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey romance has also blanked. Increased football ticket sales for Kansas. No, well, they might have done that, but they've produced over 138 tons of excess carbon emissions.

This week, a man using a car dealership website's AI-powered chat box tricked it into blanking. Driving for him. No, he tricked the website into selling him a car for a dollar. Send me a article. Yeah, so they've got this...

I got a Honda. So this chatbot is powered now by ChatGPT, and the guy tricked the chatbot first into agreeing that anything it would say to him is, quote, a legally binding contract. No takesies-backsies. Then he got it to agree to sell him a new Chevy Tahoe truck for $1. Even worse, the AI itself bought the undercoating. LAUGHTER

Bill, how does Shantira do in our quiz? Two right, four more points. Enjoy it. You're in the lead, Shantira. All right. Bobcat, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, a federal judge cleared the way for the removal of a blank memorial from Arlington National Cemetery. Civil War. Which side?

The southern side. Yeah, the Confederate Memorial. This week, a chartered jet carrying over 100 migrants from Texas landed in blank. Illinois. Chicago. Yes, on Thursday, the New York Teachers Union filed suit against Mayor Blank over budget cuts. His name escapes me. Next one. Eric Adams. This week, a prisoner in Texas escaped after his mother came to visit him and he blanked.

Pretended he was a baby. No, put on her hat and sweater and walked out with her. On Monday, a volcano in southwest blank began erupting. Uh, Hawaii. Iceland. This week, a family's vacation was put on hold after they discovered that instead of $10,000 of Disney theme park gift cards, they had bought blank. 10,000 cards of...

-Pokemon. -No, close. $10,000 worth of gift cards for the streaming service Disney+. That would not get them anything at the theme park, but it was good for 70 straight years of watching The Mandalorian. It's fine, though. They were able to return the cards, and they got their money back, and they're very excited for next year's family trip up the Amazon. Oh, no!

Bill, how did Bobcat do in our quiz? Two right, four more points. Seven puts you in the lead, Bobcat. All right, so how many then...

Does Roxanne need to win? Only two to win. Two to win. Here we go, Roxanne. This is for the game. On Monday, the Pope formally approved blessings for blank couples. Same-sex couples. Right. During her funeral on Tuesday, President Biden praised blank as an American pioneer. Sandra Day O'Connor. Yes. This week, the United States agreed to a prisoner exchange with blank. Venezuela. Right. After being ordered to pay over $140 million for defamation, blank filed for bankruptcy. Giuliani. Yes. This week, three men were quickly apprehended after robbing a store in Colorado because blank.

Because their getaway car was stolen. That's exactly right. According to a new study, Idaho has the highest number of school children who are not blanked. Who are not attending school. Who are not vaccinated. On Wednesday, the House Education Committee said it would investigate accusations of plagiarism against the president of blank. Harvard. Yes. This week, a bank robber in Ohio claimed he was too high, and that's why he forgot to blank. He forgot to ask the teacher.

teller to give him the money? That's right. The would-be robber handed the teller a note that said, give me the, and then just nothing. Despite this, the teller understood and gave the man $700 and a tracking device, which is how the police found and arrested him a short time later. The man, however, is proclaiming his innocence. He says, quote, I didn't

Bill, how did Roxanne do on our quiz? Let's put it on the record. Seven right, 14 more points. Total of 18. Yeah, oh my God. Masterfully done. In just a minute, we're going to ask our panelists to predict what will be the next hot-selling cookie cutter on the market. But first...

Wait, wait, don't tell me. This is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircare Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord, Philip Godeka, Reza Lemnick. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shane O'Donnell. Thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theatre. BJ Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornboss, and Lillian King. Special thanks to Monica Hickey and Vinnie Thomas.

Peter Gwynn is our elf on the shelf. Emma Choi is our vibe curator. Technical direction is from Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager, that's Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chilock. And the executive producer of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is Mr. Michael Danforth. Now, panel, what cookie cutter is going to be a big seller next? Shantira Jackson. Everybody's supposed to be paying their student loans, and they aren't. So I think everybody's going to get one that says, I owe you, and send that to Sally Mae.

Roxanne Roberts. The 2024 election cookie cutter. It's big, it's misshapen, and no one knows what the end result is going to look like.

Bobcat Goldthwait. Well, people think people are getting more greedy, so it's actually a gingerbread person cookie cutter with teeth marks, so it looks like someone's already taken a bite out of your cookie. Well, if any of that happens, we're going to ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Mr. Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Shantira Jackson, Roxanne Roberts, and Bobcat Goldthwait. Thanks to our fabulous audience here at the Studio Victor Theater in downtown Chicago. Thank you.

Thanks to all of you for listening. Have an amazing holiday. I am Peter Segal. We'll see you next week. This is NPR. This message comes from NPR sponsor Capital One. With the Spark Cash Plus card, you earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase for your business. Find out more at CapitalOne.com slash Spark Cash Plus. Terms and conditions apply.

This message comes from NPR sponsor ShipBob. The holidays start earlier every year, so get your store and ship shape now with ShipBob. They'll handle fulfillment, provide key metrics, and more. Get a free quote at shipbob.com. ShipBob.

New from the Embedded podcast. Female athletes have always needed grit and talent. But for decades, they've also needed a certificate. There was chit-chat about, is that really a woman? And even now, they're still being checked and questioned. Their story is the newest series from CBC and NPR's Embedded. It's called Tested. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.