Summary
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! features guest Kali Reis, an Emmy-nominated actress and former world champion boxer, discussing her transition from boxing to acting. The episode includes news quiz games, celebrity encounters, and discussions about current events including Trump's interest in Greenland, NYC's new mayor, and NASA's Artemis moon mission.
Insights
- Elite athletic discipline directly transfers to acting performance; boxing's focus and character-building translate to screen presence
- Unexpected career pivots from sports to entertainment are increasingly viable with proper foundational skills and imagination
- Minimum effective dose research (20 minutes weekly exercise) challenges traditional fitness narratives and has broader health implications
- Celebrity culture remains a dominant news narrative, with unexpected encounters generating significant public interest
- Government and institutional news (NASA, Federal Reserve, White House) continues to drive weekly news cycles
Trends
Athletes transitioning to entertainment careers with success (boxing to acting pipeline)Minimum viable lifestyle changes gaining scientific validation (exercise, health optimization)Tech innovation focus on quality-of-life improvements (bidet robotics, music delivery)Government policy announcements dominating news cycle (space exploration, immigration, economic policy)Celebrity encounter narratives as viral social media contentInternational geopolitical interest in resource-rich territories (Greenland rare earth minerals)Public skepticism toward institutional leadership (CBS News viewership decline, Federal Reserve scrutiny)Accessibility and convenience-driven product innovation in consumer electronicsSports entertainment crossover appeal and character-building through athletic training
Topics
Kali Reis Acting Career TransitionBoxing to Entertainment PipelineGreenland Geopolitical InterestNASA Artemis Moon MissionNYC Mayor Eric Adams Housing PolicyTrump Administration Policy AnnouncementsCBS News Leadership ChangesFederal Reserve InvestigationConsumer Electronics InnovationExercise Science ResearchCelebrity Culture and Viral MomentsInternational Trade and ResourcesImmigration PolicySpace Exploration ProgramsMedia Industry Disruption
Companies
HBO
Kali Reis starred in Emmy-nominated series True Detective: Night Country on HBO
Schrödinger
Computational chemistry software company where listener Benjamin works as a computational chemist
NASA
Announced Artemis moon mission launch potentially as soon as February 6
Intel
Introduced VR headset at 2017 CES that caused motion sickness requiring barf bags
Charmin
Partnered with tech company to create robot that delivers toilet paper via smartphone app
Jack Daniel's
Distanced itself from CBS News Whisky Fridays segment featuring anchor Tony DeCopel
CBS News
New editor Barry Weiss launched Whisky Fridays segment with anchor Tony DeCopel
Microsoft
Agreed to pay higher electricity bills in cities where they build AI data centers
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Listener Lauren works as internal auditor at this institution
People
Kali Reis
Emmy-nominated actress and former world champion boxer starring in HBO's True Detective and film Mercy
Donald Trump
President expressing interest in acquiring Greenland; administration meeting with Danish and Greenlandic leaders
Eric Adams
New York City mayor moving into Gracie Mansion and installing bidets
Bob Weir
Grateful Dead founding guitarist who passed away; known for iconic short shorts
Timothy Chalamet
Actor featured in fictional story about needing help tying shoes in a shoe store
Trevor Lawrence
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback who was squatted by a fan in a bar encounter
Christian Bale
Actor featured in fictional story about posing as a plumber for a film role
Barry Weiss
New editor-in-chief of CBS News implementing format changes including Whisky Fridays
Tony DeCopel
CBS News anchor featured in Whisky Fridays segment
Larry Ellison
Billionaire who named megayacht Isanami, later renamed due to backwards spelling controversy
Quotes
"That's their problem. Whose problem is it that they don't want to be invaded by the United States?"
President Trump (paraphrased from news)•Early in episode
"I wouldn't start fights, but I'd finish them. I didn't like to see kids getting bullied."
Kali Reis•During Kali Reis interview
"My father used to actually play with Marky Mark in the funky bunch."
Kali Reis•During Kali Reis interview
"I have a huge imagination. I used to have this character called Mary that I would do."
Kali Reis•During Kali Reis interview
"You may not agree with everything you hear on our broadcast, but we trust you to hear it."
Tony DeCopel (CBS News)•News segment
Full Transcript
Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. More information is available at Hewlett.org. To follow. I'm Bill Curtis and here's your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you everybody. Thank you so much. It's all good to be with you. You do have a great show of your day. Later on we're going to be talking to Kayleigh Reese, a champion boxer who seemingly almost overnight became an acclaimed and Emmy-nominated actor starring in HBO's True Detectives. She's now starring in the upcoming movie Mercy. We assume that she learns her lines by punching them. If you'd like to try your hand at a non-contact competition, give us a call to play our games. That's one, triple eight, wait, wait, that's one, 888-924-892-4. It's time to welcome our first listener contestant. How you run, wait, wait, don't tell me. Hi Peter, my name is Benjamin and I'm calling from Boston, Massachusetts. Boston, I've spent a lot of time in Boston, one of my favorite places. What do you do there? Well, I work as a computational chemist at a scientific software and discovery company called Shrodinger. Typical Boston guy, am I right? Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. That's great. Well, welcome to the show. Benjamin, let me introduce you to our panel this week. First up, she's host of the TikTok series Boy Room, Found Wherever You Might Watch Your Short Form Videos. It's Rachel Coster. Hey Benjamin. Next up, he's a comedian and co-host of the new podcast, Health Stuff, which is found wherever you get your podcasts. It's Hari Kandabolu. And he is the host of the Daily Podcast T.B. T.L. as well as the public radio variety show Live Wire, which will be live at the research center for the Arts and Beaverton Oregon on January 23rd. It's our old friend Luke Burbank. So Benjamin, welcome to the show. 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 for your voicemail. Are you ready to go? Yeah, I'm ready. All right. Your first quote is from President Trump responding to a country saying it wanted to remain part of Denmark. That's their problem. Whose problem is it that they don't want to be invaded by the United States? That would be Greenland. That would be Greenland. This week, the administration met with the leaders of both Denmark and Greenland until them get ready to get liberated. Trump has been obsessed with Greenland for a long time and we know why they made Greenland one of the five words he had to remember on his cognitive test. I don't think I knew Greenland was a real place until about eight months ago. I don't think the president did either. Yeah, that's why neither of us should be trying to take control of the place we only learned exactly eight months ago. Now people have speculated and the White House has not been able to deny this that Trump wants Greenland so badly because it looks so much bigger on flat maps. Right, then an actual is their Mercator projection is if I need to tell NPR people about that. Right. We should never, never have given them any of those map of the world placements. It's oil, right? What is up there? No, there's there's rare earth of the earth. Okay, right. Which ones? I don't know. That's not what he does. He doesn't know. They're rare, though, and they're in the earth. We have to go get them. Right? There's gotta be aliens there, something like he knows something. You think? Yeah, of course. Why would he be so excited and be keeping it such a secret? Minerals know to look into that. And alien, I would live there if no one else is there. And I haven't thought this one there. Sorry. Well, pretty much neither has anyone else. So that's you want to be president? All right, very good. Here is your next quote. We will be installing a few bidets in Gracie, Menture. That was somebody moving into his new residence in New York this week. Who is it? That would be Zoraan Mamdani. Zoraan Mamdani, very good Benjamin. Two weeks after his inauguration, New York's new mayor, Zoraan Mamdani and his wife Rama are moving from this is true. There one bedroom apartment in Queens to the 11,000 square foot mansion on the upper east side of Manhattan that he gets to live in for free. See, he told you he would make housing more affordable. And the bidets that he is in fact having installed there are just confirming for as many enemies that he is one of those a feet European types. Real Americans don't even wash their hands. He's installing bidets or as we say in New York, he's taking care of the subway. The underground? As it were. I am a huge proponent of bidets. As I've often said, if you got some peanut butter and a shag rug, you wouldn't take it out with a paper towel. I've never heard that metaphor before and I think I can tell you why. But like. Carbiting is so old-fashioned. Because of my love of bidets, I was doing some remodeling in my house and I thought I was really upgrading these two little bathrooms. Both of them have these robo toilets that have the bidet built into the toilet. Yes, it's great to have these. And I'm so excited to have people over and to have everybody enjoying this really nice experience. Everyone has been going out to the garage to use the one normal toilet in my house because these toilets are terrifying if you've never used one before. I ask both for myself and for the New Mayor of New York, if you were to throw a party or a gathering in which the purpose was to have people use the bidets that you're so proud of, what do you serve? That's a trap and I'm not going to fall into it. We did have a comment card that people were filling out on the way out. How did you enjoy your bidet experience? I understand. I understand. What's interesting, this is, and I don't think this has ever been as true in the history of New York politics. It's such an upgrade for the Mondani's, right? 11,000 square feet is a tremendous amount of space to fill when you only own two IKEA tables and a futa. Prior mayors, very different. Mayor Bloomberg, this is true, never moved into Gracie Mansion because it would have been a downgrade from his own home. That's true. Now Rudy Giuliani, on the other hand, keeps texting Mondani, asking him if it's cool, if he comes back and couch serves for a couple of weeks long, gets some things sorted. Eric Adams just lived in the club. Yeah. He has a home who's riding some Molly high. All right, Benjamin, your last quote is from a NASA astronaut talking about their next mission. We are ready. We are going. Turns out that very soon we will be going back where? Would that be the moon? It would be Benjamin the moon. NASA announced this week that the first Artemis moon mission could launch as soon as February 6, which is really soon. I mean, all of a sudden they're going to the moon. This is like when my family puts off making spring break plans for too long and then it's like, oh my god, it's coming up in three weeks. So let's just go to the moon again. It's nice. Man, the moon landing. Really? Yet another Hollywood remake. Am I right? Yeah, I'm not going to be original. It's really that interesting to go to the moon anymore. Because we've already done it and at this point it's just a gas station on the way to Mars. Well, that's why they're presumably they're going. They need to set up the gas station. Right. It's Tom Hanks going to be part of this moon mission because I really think he should be. He did it good last year. He did it fine. He did it fine. Yeah. Like it looked bad for a while, but he figured it out. Yeah. By the way, the news came the same week. I don't know if this was a coincidence that a crew of four NASA astronauts returned to Earth early from the International Space Station because of a quote, health issue, unquote. NASA is saying what it is and neither is that little freaks that just burst out of the astronauts' chest. Bill, how did Benjamin do in our quiz? San Chabot is so smart. He got him all right. Congratulations. Thank you. Benjamin, congratulations and I'll see you around the comments someday, I hope. Looking forward to it. Take care. Bye-bye. I hope you have been a good town. We'll reach a destination soon. We just have an equate ride to the moon. Right now, panel, time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Rachel. Yes. Rachel scientists working together around the world have finally agreed on the answer to the most important question about exercise. What is that question? How long before you get abs if you don't do that much work? You're close. Okay. You're close, but that's not right. What's the best way to make someone fall in love with you for your body, but not in a way that they'll break up with you if you change? I don't know, they're really important. So I love that. The idea is like, you want them to fall in love with you because you're like hard-bought and sexy. But then things like kind of you get comfortable and like you're just having like meals at home a lot. Then what does the time frame and this transformation in your mind? I can gain weight pretty fast, I would say. I'll say it within a month. I'm just going to say just based on this conversation, I'm going to say that you'll be very interested in this finding because they figured out what about exercise, specifically the amount of exercise. One hour a week, I need. I'm going to give it to you. They figured out the minimum amount of exercise people need. Working out once a week for 20 minutes. 20 minutes. Has no meal benefits. No, no. It's science. This country's gone soft. How do you think, Stan? Literally. Walking a little more quickly. Just a little bit more quickly. We'll extend your lifespan significantly. Even vigorously running errands helps. So just order, really this is true. This is science. We just order some weights from Amazon and then immediately return them. You did it. Now enjoy that smoothie. You've earned it. So my walk to the coffee shop in the morning and back that I'm good. Yeah, but basically a hero. If you work that easy now, if you just walk more quickly and make it just a little little hard, then you get huge health benefits and you'll extend your lifespan. All right. I'll think about it. Right. Coming up, our panelists, Rob Elbowes with the rich and famous and our beloved listener game called One Triple Eight Weight to Play. We'll be back in a minute with more of Whitway Don't Tell Me from NPR. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend and receive and up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com, Tee's and C's apply. Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hulett Foundation, investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities and the planet flourish. More information is available at huelett.org. From NPR and WB Easy Chicago, this is Whitway Don't Tell Me. The NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Ritual Custer, Harri Gundabalu and Luke Burbayne. And here we get a share host at the Stoodabaker Theatre in Chicago and I, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. Right now it's time for the Whitway Don't Tell Me Bluff to listen to your game called One Triple Eight Weight to Play, or Game in the Air. How you were on Whitway Don't Tell Me? Hi, this is Lauren from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm Minneapolis. Got a lot of fans here. Minneapolis does. What do you do there? I'm an internal auditor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Yeah, okay. You live in Minneapolis. You work at the Federal Reserve. If you have no stress in your life, what's so ever? I'm so glad to hear. Well, Lauren, it's great to have you with us. You're going to play the game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Lauren's topic? I'm Starstruck. It's always exciting to meet a celebrity. Who knows? You might discover that stars are just like us, except of course they're not. Our panelists are going to tell you about a star studded encounter that we found in the news. Pick the one who's telling the truth, you'll win our prize. The weightweight or if you're choice in your voicemail. Are you ready to play? Yep. All right, first let's hear from Harri Gundabalu. When Jutton Chopra went shoe shopping last week, he thought he was getting some new kicks. Instead, he picked up the story of a lifetime. As the music blasted in the trendy streetwear stored tootsies, Chopra heard a quiet sss from the bench next to him. It was Timothy Shalame. Chopra was familiar with Shalame's work because according to Chopra, quote, my wife has a huge crush on him, which is weird because he looks like that. But Shalame wasn't at the store to promote his new movie or White Wrap. He was there to buy sneakers and he had a problem. According to Chopra, Shalame whispered, hey bro, can you tie my shoes for me? I never learned. That's right, while Timothy Shalame can sing like Bob Dylan, play professional level ping pong and do whatever Dune is about. He never learned how to tie his shoes. Jutton Chopra didn't just tie Shalame's laces, but he misterrodged the situation and taught him how to do it for himself. Wow, they really do look like bunny ears, marveled at Oscar nominated actor. The man teaches Timothy Shalame how to tie his shoes because you didn't know how. Your next story of a dazzling, how do you do comes from Rachel Costa. Football fans will do whatever it takes to lift their team spirits. Usually that only goes as far as wearing the team's colors or getting really hammered and screaming at them. But for one fan, it didn't stop there. Natasha Lane, a Florida native, was waiting for a friend outside of Pete's bar in Jacksonville, a bar with mostly positive reviews, excluding one one star review that says, stay away, lots of fights. If you like that, as she waited, who else would enter the bar, but Jacksonville Jaguar star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was coming off a high from his victory against the Titans 41 to 7. Lawrence wasn't the only winner that night because upon seeing him in all of his big football guy glory, Natasha Lane asked what every girl dreams of asking an insanely hot pro athlete when he walks into your neighborhood bar. She asked if she could squat him. The five foot five, the five foot five inch tall 31 year old hoisted the six foot six inch tall 220 pound Lawrence onto her back and proceeded to squat him five times with perfect form. The Samsonian effort was recorded by a friend and went viral. When asked what Lane would do if she ever saw Trevor Lawrence again, she replied, I would ask can I squat you again? A woman meets her sports hero in a bar and immediately asks to squat him your last VIP in passing comes from Luke Burbank. Sandy De Carlo knew her plumber looked familiar as she explained to the daily Colombian last week, the toilet in our guest bathroom kept backing up so I called a company to come fix it and when the guy shows up I was like, is that Christian bail? It was Christian bail doing research for an upcoming film role where he plays a plumber. He introduced himself as Ricky but I could definitely tell he was Christian bail who counsels herself a fan of his work in the Batman movies in American Psycho. I told him what an honor it was to have Christian bail fixing my toilet but he just looked at me like I was crazy and headed for the guest bathroom. After four hours of dismantling the toilet with apparently no clear idea on how to reassemble it, it also became obvious that Christian bail doesn't know anything about plumbing. According to De Carlo, bail was swearing under his breath and his Welsh accent which was another big giveaway. Eventually Ricky said he needed to go back to the shop to get more parts that was last Tuesday. He has yet to tell her. But Sandy is not mad. She says, I just think it's so cool that the Christian bail broke my toilet. All right, one of these celebrity encounters happened in the news and we found it and you take it out from the fakes. Was it from Harry Cundabolo, a man who happened to run into Timothy Chalamet in a shoe store and taught him to tie his shoes. From Rachel Coster, a woman who ran into the quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars through him upon her shoulders and did squats or from Luke Burbank, a woman who was convinced that it was Christian bail who came to her house and ruined her toilet. Which of these is the real celebrity encounter we found in the news? I'm going to say it's Trevor Lauren. He's like something a girl would do. Here's the great thing we happen to have for you now, the voice of the celebrity in question, describing the event. Did not think that was going to happen. I mean, you know, I was going to squat it. She didn't just pick me up. That was Trevor Lawrence talking about getting squatted in a bar for a group of reporters. Congratulations, your instincts were correct. That is something a woman would do. Lauren, congratulations. You have, it's correctly. You first of all, want a point just because Rachel told the truth for her, but you have also won our prize. So, congratulations very much. Congratulations and thank you so much for calling. And now the game we call not my job. If you first saw our actor, Kaylee Reece, starring with Jodie Foster in the series, True Detective Night Country and HBO, you probably said, wow, what an amazing actor. Did she train it? Yell or Juilliard? No. She trained at the big six boxing academy in Providence, Rhode Island. The former world champion Walter Wade Boxer now stars in the movie Mercy coming out next week. Kaylee Reece, welcome to Weight Weight, don't tell me. So, I was kind of describing myself. I saw you in True Detective Night Country as extremely impressed as we're the Emmy committee. You were nominated. And I was amazed to discover that was as far as I can tell, your third professional acting job. Correct, it was my third professional acting job, first TV show ever. Wow. And you did in fact train at the big six boxing academy in Providence where you're from, right? Yes, that is my extended family. I've been training with them for a very, very long time. And from a very young age, when did you start boxing? Around the age of 13 or 14, I found boxing. Prior to that, I did a, I played softball, I played basketball. I'm one of five kids. I'm the youngest girl. I always tried to do what my big brothers did. But nobody, nobody in my family box, it was kind of, you know, grown up. I wanted to be the karate kid. I wanted to be Bruce Lee, you know, I was so obsessed with Rocky. So it just kind of, just kind of happened. Yeah. Wow. I mean, you were obsessed with Rocky. Wait a minute, I know some elite athletes. It doesn't just kind of happen, right? You must have like really been dedicated to it. Yeah, I was dedicated to, I mean, you know, I was a little rough kid growing up, you know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't start fights, but I'd finish them. Oh, yeah. So, you know, I didn't like to see kids getting bullied. I didn't like getting bullied. So I would always be the one standing up for the bullies, but it wasn't like, I wasn't trying to be a fighter. I do come from a very musically inclined family, very artistic family. Fun facts, my father used to actually play with Marky Mark in the funky bunch. No. Really? He was part of the bunch. He was part of the bunch. She was a keyboard player. So there was good vibrations everywhere. Wait a minute. You're a descendant of Marky Mark. You truly are. New England royalty. That is, I'll take that. I know. That is amazing. And so again, I stress how amazed I am that with the background, not in acting, how good an actor you are, I know you have talked about how the discipline and focus of elite boxing has helped you into, in the acting world. But isn't there an element of acting in boxing, like in the way-ends when you're like glaring at the opponent? You're like fronting a little bit, right? I mean, did that? Oh, it's not the entertainment business that they're very, at the very core of it. I mean, we're up on a stage. We're performing, you know, there's a character. I'm not going around one shot and hit people on the street. That's not who I am as a person, but it's also like, you know, you have to be an artist. You have to, you know, you have to be really calm. You have to prepare. So, but there are people who build characters, big charismatic entertainment. You know, all that build up is really good for it for people to and in. I mean, we have some really cool things happen in boxing because of that charismatic type of entertainment value of boxing. So absolutely right. We are performing there. Right. I mean, was there ever a moment when you started acting where you were like, you were completely at sea and you were like, you mean, they want me to say these words as if I'm thinking of them now? I mean, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's a crazy concept, but what helps me is I have a huge imagination. I, you know, it's not a big surprise. I got into acting. It wasn't something that I grew up, I want to be an actor, but I used to have these, like, I love to, like, just people watching observe. So I used to have this character that I used to get my mom stuff, like her jewelry and everything. And I used to have this, I'm from Rhode Island. We have a very heavy accent, but there's some more than others. I used to have this character called Mary. And I used to come off her and I'm like, how are you doing dialing? I love to see it. I used to do this whole thing. And it wasn't so far. So it really wasn't. I can immerse myself in this imaginary world anytime, by myself, which is should be studying. I probably. Yeah, people are the child. I don't know why my mom would have to go to the therapist. Speaking of your accent, I read that in a true detective night country, you play an Alaskan native. But what I read, and you can tell me if it's true or not, is that your native or island accent would come out frequently enough that they figured they'd better write that into your character so that it would be exlikable of all of a sudden. You're like, you're like looking at a corpse or something and you're like, oh, that's wicked gross. Yeah, I love the accent of the director. She decided to make my character part of it because I was working with the dialect coach to keep my quote and quote accent at bay. I didn't want to sound like Peter Griffin making an investigation. I think you just sold the next hit series for XBO, by the way, hopefully with you in the lead. It was weird how your character always had a cup of Duncan in her hand. So in everything you've started so far from true detective to this new movie, Mercy, you always play people who seem like they could and would kick your ass at any moment. So do you ever want to get cast on a different kind of part, like romantic lead in a hallmark movie? For example, I would love to. I wanted to have one with some comedy. I would love to do some comedy. I love a challenge. I love something that maybe I'm not as strong yet. I would love to take any, you know, whatever is meant for me. I don't want to just stick to the, I mean, I can't help the bad ass or you just shine. How about how about let me put something to you? How about a hallmark movie where you come back to your hometown, leaving the big city and you find the guy who, you know, broke your heart 20 years before and it turns out he's a jerk and you beat the crap out of me. I'm sorry. I got that's happened. It's fine. That's another show for XBO. We're lining up projects for you. Well, well, Kayleigh Reed said it is a pleasure to talk to you and we have asked you here as we do with everyone to play a game and in your case, we're calling it the future is here. And by here, we mean Las Vegas because that's where every year the consumer electronic show happens. It just wrapped this year. It's the annual convention where tech companies show off their newest innovations, hopefully, to the public that will love them. So we're going to ask you three questions about the CES consumer electronic show, past and present. If you get too right, you want a prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Kayleigh Reed's playing for? Christopher Wolfe of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All right. Hey, go birds. Here's your first question. At the 2017 CES Intel made waves when they introduced their newest VR headset, which they handed out to members of the media along with what? A, a nurse with an IV so they wouldn't have to stop playing and you know, eat. B, protective gear for when they banged into each other while playing the games or see barf bags. C. You're right. You knew it. Yeah. If you've the demo program that they tried out included jumping off helicopters, traveling to Vietnam flying high with a drone. And in some cases, apparently, project alvameding. All right. Good. Did that really well. Now, there are always robots being demoed at CES, but in 2020, the most exciting new robot had one purpose. What was it? A, to open your car door from the inside, if you lock your keys in the car, B, to look up people's names that you have forgotten at a party or C, to bring you a roll of toilet paper if you run out while you are in the bathroom. I'm going to go with C because I hope that exists. It does. It's all right. A tech company partnered with Charmin to create a new robot which you operate with your smartphone from the toilet. I need that. We all do. But here's the thing. So you have the where with all the the foresight to set up the robot in this little niche wherever it is with a roll of toilet paper on it all set to go. Why didn't you just put the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom? All right. I just stepped children forget to put it in the bathroom and then you're stuck there with no toilet paper. That's what I'm just going to say. I haven't seen all your projects as a performer, but I've never seen you more vulnerable than you were. That seat that's me. I just gave you like an audition of my vulnerable. I know. I am ready to cast you in your latest project about a vulnerable sensitive woman who's caught in a bathroom with no toilet paper. That's going to be my first short. We are planning a career here. Okay. Last question. You were doing this pretty much about as well as you have done everything else you have ever attempted. At this year's CES, one manufacturer introduced a new device with which you can enjoy music. What is it? A large case with two built-in stereo speakers known as an iBoom box. Be a lollipop that plays music inside your head when you suck on it or see a robot bassist complete with genuine bassist scent. What was being again? B was a lollipop that plays music inside your head while you suck on it. I'm going to go beat as a soundspan cool. You're right again. I mean, what? Your competence extends to everything. When you put lollipop's scar, that is what it is called in your mouth. It vibrates against your teeth which connects to your face bones, which connects to your ear bones, and it comes in three flavors or rather songs. Bill, how did Kaylee Reese do in our quiz? Well, if I don't get it right, she's going to come down and beat the living hell out of me. Fortunately, I don't have to because she is perfect. Three in a row. There you go. Hey, Elaine. Honestly, Kaylee Reese is an Emmy nominated actress and member of the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame. You can see her in the new movie Mercy that is out next week. Kaylee Reese, what a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. And wait, wait, don't tell me. Thank you. In just a minute, Bill pays tribute to some grateful gams in our listener, Limerick Challenge. Well, one triple eight, wait, wait, wait to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute. With more, wait, wait, don't tell me from NPR. From NPR and WDB, easy Chicago, this is Wait, wait, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Luke Burbank, Rachel Custer, and Hari Kahn DeBolue. And here we go to your host at the Stoodle Baker Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, Peter. Thank you, Bill. In just a minute, we get to the rymiest part of our show. It's called the listener, Limerick Challenge. If you'd like to play a give us a call of one triple eight, wait, wait, that's one, 888, 924, 892, 4. Right now, panel some more questions for you from the week's news. Hari, scientists have known for years that unlike all other animals, and this is true, of course, wombat poop is cube shaped. You all knew that, right? But a new study finally tells us why that is. What's the reason? They're robots. They're not robots. They're wombat. They're wonderful Australian marsupial. I guess they have the stinkiest inboxes in the animal kingdom. They're trying to repel predators with what arrives in your inbox, your inbox. Mail, which is a kind of paper. Kind of correspondence. It's a way to communicate with the other wombat. They're communicating with other wombat's with their square poop. You got it. Yes, that's insane. Some species like us communicate by email or text. Some do it via poop cubes. Here's the amazing part. All the wombat messages begin. I hope this poop cube finds you well. If I was pooping square, I'd leave that behind for my roommates to find to send a very powerful message. I've got something extremely cool going on in my body. Yeah. So wombat's tend to be loners. They avoid each other in the wild, but they like to poop in common areas and they do it to let the other wombats who are around know that they're there and more or less who they are. It's sort of like very stinky. Hello, my name is badges, right? And the reason the pooping cubes is, so these very important messages to other wombats do not roll away. Wow. Isn't that amazing? And it's also so the wombat's can use them as dice afterwards. Trust me, you do not want to play wombat yotsy. Luke, new editor-in-chief Barry Weiss has been remaking CBS News and in just a few months, I've heard. Yes. And in just a few months, she's already lost a million viewers. So, to make the newscast more fun and relatable, they have announced a new weekly feature in which anchor Tony DeCopel will do what on air? Drink. Yes. Daniel Swisky. That's right. CBS News is testing a segment with their new anchor called Whisky Fridays with Tony DeCopel. I know it's hard to believe. But as Walter Cronkite might say, if he were working at CBS News today, that's the way it is. So it's great. Drinking segment. Instead of throwing two commercial, they'll throw up two commercial. And as you said, a picture of the set shows an anchor desk in the middle of what looks like of a homie bar with a Jack Daniel sign prominently displayed. And if you're wondering how this whole idea is being received, Jack Daniels, the company, put out a statement saying they had nothing to do with it. Oh my gosh. That's true. Imagine if your behavior is so embarrassing that Jack Daniels doesn't another W for the Tiffany Network. Exactly. Now, Mr. DeCopel, who is on board with a new program, he posted to Twitter this week, quote, you may not agree with everything you hear on our broadcast, but we trust you to hear it unquote. So I guess, it's also, you're going to listen out. So I guess we can do is it's also Whisky Tuesdays with Tony DeCopel. Wait, so he's just saying that you might not agree with what we're saying, but you're going to hear it. The average age of a CBS viewer is like 98. Like I don't know if they're going to hear it. It's true. Respectfully. Respectfully. I've got where it was for a second. Yeah. Coming up, it's lightning film 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 it a message at 1-888-888-9248-924. You can come see us most weeks right here at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago, and you can also catch us on the road. And if you live in Chicago, and want to come hang out with our panelists without me constantly interrupting them, come check out our special comedy grab bag live stand-up show. March 11th at the Den Theater and Wicker Park. Adam Burke will be hosting along with Alzo Slay, Joy Elm Nicole Johnson, and more for tickets and more information for all of our live events, go to nprpresentz.org. And while you're at it, head over to nprshop.org and check out our new merch. Grab one of our new weight-weight teas and sweatshirts and we can be twinsies. Hi, you're on weight-weight. Don't tell me. Hi, my name is Ken and I'm from Champagne, Illinois. Hey, Ken, how are things down to Champagne? A little chilly, little windy, but not too bad. Not too bad. And what do you do there? Well, when I'm not chasing after my four-year-old or working from home, I play a lot of board games. Really? You're one of those board game geeks that I know and admire so much. I'm probably a little bit past that. The collection's sitting around 2100 items. 2100 different board games? I guess I should ask, what is your favorite? It doesn't quite work like that. Peter, you've embarrassed yourself again. I really have. It's like, I have to be... So, wait a minute. So, how does it work? Well, okay. What moving would you watch with your kids? And is that the same movie you'd watch with your wife? Well, yes. Pods of the Caribbean, Pods of the Caribbean. Well, welcome to the show, Ken. Bill Curtis is going to read you three news-related lemurics with the last word of phrase missing from each of you. If you can fill in that last word of phrase correctly, and two of the lemurics, you will be a winner. Ready to apply? Thanks, sir. Okay. Here is your first lemuric. With Bob Wears guitar in support, the grateful dead gladly held court. And with his style of dress, his legs would impress, because he'd cut off his jeans really short. Yes, short. When grateful dead, founding guitarist Bob Wears transitioned to the actual dead last week. Oh. They realized they were asking for it from the beginning for that. Fans around the world pay tribute to him, observing a moment of silence that was in honor of his music, 16 minutes long. But people didn't celebrate just his music. They also celebrated his iconic short shorts. There was such a part of his identity that dead heads, this is true, do not call, you know, cut off jeans, daisy dukes, they call them Bobby shorts. The rest of us might call them uncomfortably shorts. But if you would just play with his butt cheeks hanging out? Pretty much. Wow. Yeah. The whole point of those concerts is to trip on drugs, not your pant leg. That's true. So it's important to keep them tight to the body. That's absolutely true. All right, here is your next lemuric. Not all princes can dance at our ball. And some short kings might just start a brawl. To enter our club, you can't be a wee cub. You must be at least six feet tall. Yes, a nightclub in London is only letting men enter if they are over six feet tall. Woo! As to why they are doing that and what happens inside, how am I supposed to know? We're all just brams of our shelves. Bumping into stuff. Here, Bill, let me climb into your shoulders. I have an idea. The event, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's these one-off events, they've already sold out. It's called Land of the Giants. You know, it would make this really funny if these guys line up to get in, they get in and the ceiling of the club is like at five foot ten. And all the guys, trying to pick up the girls, are coming in and are like, hey, ow, I mean, what's your ow, man? Here is your last lemuric. My green Buddha gets prayers and respect. You see weird ears, but I didn't check. You say he's an ogre, with bad swampy odors. Turns out I've been praying to... Shrek. Shrek, yes. Okay. A woman in the Philippines worshipped a green figurine for four years, believing it was the statue of the Buddha. Only to finally discover. It was actually a little figurine of... Shrek. Now, I know you're laughing, how could this be? But if you knew what it looked like, it would make more sense to you. First picture, Shrek. That's what it looked like. According to one article about this woman's mistake, quote, with its round shape and gentle expression, she believed it to be a depiction of Buddha and treated it with great reverence. Is it really that much of a mistake? Shrek is also a source of enlightenment. What is the sound of one donkey farting? I have to say I feel for her as a girl dating in New York City. I've also worshiped the wrong nasty guy for a really long time. And I regretted too. Yeah, we're not going to judge. Bill, how did Ken do in our quiz? He did. Perfect. Way to go, Ken. Congratulations, you won our game. Thank you. Take care. Thank you. Bye, Bill. Now, onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now with two points. Bill, can you give us the scores? Rachel and Luke, each have two, Harry has three. All right. Harry is in first place. The other two are tied for a second. So I will arbitrarily pick you, Luke, to go first. Here we go. The clock will start when it begins to first question fill in the blank. On Wednesday, the White House said it would stop processing blank applications from over 50 countries. Immigration. Close enough of visa. On Thursday, 17 players were charged with a scheme to shave points during college blank games. Basketball. Right. This week, Russia launched another massive aerial assault on blank. Ukraine. Right. According to a new poll, over half of Americans think that blank officers are making cities less safe. Ice. Right. After naming his new megayot Isanami, billionaire Larry Ellison is renaming it because blank. That name was already taken. No, because people pointed out that it spells I am a Nazi backwards. On Wednesday, the IOC began a lottery to win tickets to the 2028 summer games in blank. Uh, Los Angeles. Right. This week, IOC officials said they definitely be ready for the upcoming winter Olympics in Milan, despite reports that the ice hockey rink had blank. Melted. No. A hole in it. Olympic officials in Italy said the country will be 100% ready to host the winter games, despite the test event of the hockey arena being delayed, thanks to a hole in the ice. They should model their prep on the TV show He Did rivalry, where the only holes are off the ice. We were all curious about how that sentence was going to end. Bill, how did Luke do in our quiz? He had five right, ten more points, that'll do 12, puts him in the lead. All right, very good, Luke. For now. Rachel. You're up next. I'm ready. Here we go. On Thursday, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell the protests in blank. Minneapolis. Right, on Sunday, the DOJ said they'd opened a criminal investigation into federal reserve chair blank. I don't know. Jerome Powell. Sorry about that. It's okay. On Wednesday, Microsoft agreed to pay higher electricity bills in cities where they build blanks. AI. The data center's last right? This week, a bear in California who was finally removed from a crawl space by wildlife officials immediately blanked. No, moved into a neighbor's crawl space. On Monday, luxury retailer blank filed for bankruptcy protection. Right, that you know, on Sunday. On Sunday, Hamnet and one battle after another with the big winners at the 20 2016 S blank awards. This week, a man who had collected a jar full of valuable US coins was shocked when his partner blanked. Took them. No, when brought them to the store and exchanged them all for a couple of dollars. Man's partner took the jar full of old coins some he collected years ago and that were worth $1,000 each and brought them to the store. You know, to get rid of all that, lose change, get paper money, although lucky for him, and this is true, she did save among all the coins the chucky cheese tokens that were in there. The man was disappointed to lose such a valuable coin collection, but the woman is making up for it by mailing him a apology note every day using those old stamps he had lying around. Hill, how did Rachel do in our quiz? Four right. Eight more points. Ten puts her in second place. All right, how many then does Hardy-Kunderbolo need to win? Five to win. All right, here we go. Hardy, this is for the game. On Tuesday, Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to appear before the House Oversight Committee investigating the blank files. Epstein, right? Amid the ongoing government crackdown, several European countries urged their citizens to leave blank. Leave their homes. No, leave Iran. On Wednesday, an outage of blank cellular network left tens of thousands without service. Verizon? Yes. This week a TV station in Japan regularly interrupted a horror movie to broadcast blank. Godzilla. No, they interrupted the movie to broadcast a monk who offered a prayer every time the evil ghost killed someone. Don't want people to worry. After a four-year hiatus, K-pop giants blank announced a world tour. BTS? Right, this week blank rates fell to their lowest level in three years. Interest? Close enough mortgage rates, this week a man developed a new invention that you affixed to your cars back. Bumper that allows the cars behind you to blank. Go to hell. No. Lord, is it suggest that they do that? No, it allows the people in the cars behind you to watch TikToks while they are all stuck in traffic with you. It's called honk to swipe. It's a tablet attached to the back of your car that lets people watch TikTok and scroll to the next video by honking their horn. The tablet, of course, is mounted high on the car above the trunk. So it won't be ruined when people inevitably rear-end your car because they are watching TikTok. Bill, did how are you doing enough to win? Well, he did well. He got four right, eight more points for 11, but that means Luke is our champion. Congratulations. Coming up, our panelist predict now that we're going back to the moon. What are we going to find there? But first, let me tell you all. Wait, wait, don't tell me. It's a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago, an association with urgent haircut productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godica writes our lemrex. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman, our tour manager is Shayna Donald, thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theatre. BJ Leedham and composer are a theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Droboss and Lily and King. Special thanks this week to Mahanad Al-Shehi and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynne will defend Gwynland at all costs. Our visual host is Emma Choi, technical directionist from Lorna White, our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse, our senior producer, Zee and Shelog and the executive producer. A wait-wait, don't tell me. Is Mike Danforth. And before we leave you this week, we lost our former senior producer, Maraud Abid, none to us and all his many friends at NPR News as Rod. Rod led our show in the early years from when it was a struggling show when just a few stations to a mainstay of public radio, most importantly, by taking us from recording in a studio each week to in front of a live audience, which is why, in my opinion, we are all still here. So we owe Rod a tremendous debt and if you enjoy our show, you do too. Now, pal, when we go to the moon again, what are we going to find? Luke Burbek, a platoon of Scandinavian swimmers. Rachel Costa. It's already seen someone who waited till... And Harry Kunderbolo. Jimmy Hatha. And, if any of that happens, Patel, we'll ask you about it. And wait, wait, don't tell me. Thank you, Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Rachel Costa, Harry Kunderbolo and Luke Burbek. Thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Segal. We'll see you next week. This is NPR.