Celebrating the 4th with nothing but bangers!

protection for we the people. Today, the NPR network proudly upholds your

first amendment rights with reporting accountable only to you. It's something we

protect together. Join the people who power the NPR network by showing your support at plus.npr.org. From NPR and WB EZ Chicago, this is way, way, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. Forget Uncle Sam. I'm the uncle you actually want to hang out with. I'm out so slayed and here's your host at the Student Brigadier Theater in the

Fine Arts Building in Chicago Illinois. Peter, say go. Thank you, I was out. Thank you all. Great to be with you. We, like apparently everybody is, we are so happy to be celebrating America's 250th birthday with the rest of you. People are having

“parties, parades, cookouts, even reenactments. Also, how are you celebrating?”

I like walking up to those reenactors just like the founding fathers and saying. Boo. So, well, the nation looks backward so a week with some of the highlights from the past year or so. So, let's start with a visit from the actor and devoted Chicago guy, John Cusack, who joined us on stage in March. Thanks for having me.

I have a habit when I'm talking to actors with astonishingly long and very careers, like yours, of asking what role they're most recognized for, but since I started this show with a say anything joke, do people like ask you to like either pretend to hold a moon box up, like Lloyd did in the movie, or do they ever do that to you? You know, I haven't had them do it to me, but they have asked me to hold it up, but I tell them I only do that at parties.

But yeah, but there's been a strong reaction to that character at times. And there, but there are no boom boxes anymore, so they just ask you to hold their iPhone up.

So, I told my wife that you were going to be in the show, and I saw a look in her face I've never seen before.

She's like, "John Cusack, really?" And she told me that your character Lloyd holding that boom box just absolutely blew her away, the most romantic thing she had ever seen, and I pulled all the women I know, and they all agreed.

“Well, as I said, people like that character in that film a lot, which is pretty cool.”

Live-natured still does some screenings of the movie, and we do a Q&A afterwards, and people get pretty rowdy, which is fun, and a guy came up to the mic right over there, and he said, "My wife left me because she said I wasn't you." (Laughter) Now, I sort of had the look that you're, I know. Well, you're thinking about my look, and you're a look. I'm thinking about that look, my wife gave me, I mentioned earlier.

(Laughter) Do you want to go home? Sorry, but I got to go, guys. But the gentleman stopped, and then he said, "And I want to thank you from the bottle." (Laughter)

And he literally dropped the mic, and I thought that kind of covers the whole game.

But I know this is a very tough question. I was thinking about your movie career. I know I have a favorite movie of yours, which in my case would be being John Malkovich. Do you have a favorite? Of all the ones you've done, and I know there are a lot in a lot of great ones.

You know, I sort of think back on them, and they're sort of like a little bit of a fever dream, and some of the ones that I wrote and got points blank. Yeah, that's a good one. (Applause) I think just because that kind of black comedy done that much.

That's the movie in which you play a hitman who goes back to his, if I'm not mistaken, 10th high school reunion? I think it was 10th high school reunion. And I'm told that that was inspired by you actually attending your own high school reunion in Evanston? Yes.

And you were like, "So there you're back." And by that time, I'm very accomplished and well known actor. And did you really say to yourself and discuss with your collaborators in the film? You know, be really cool if I was a hitman. (Laughter)

“Well, I thought to myself, I wrote the script and I said, "Well, if we get funding for this, that's the only way I'll go to my 10 year high school reunion."”

Really? As a research? Yes. Oh, wow. I didn't think we'd get the funding, but then we did, so I had to go.

I thought you were going to say you were inspired after going to your high school reunion, because when you went there, you were like, "I can't stand any of these movies." (Laughter) What this place needs is a hitman. (Laughter)

You still live here in Chicago where you grew up, which I think is great. I do, and that is not a choice that a lot of people who get very successful in the entertainment business make. Why do you just stay here or come back, perhaps? Have you been to LA? I have.

(Laughter) Yeah. (Applause) (Applause) Yeah, I guess we don't really need to talk about that anymore.

(Laughter) And I love this. You get around Chicago by scooter.

When you're riding up and down in your scooter, do people ever pull up to you in division and look at you and go, "Hey, it's John Cusey." Yeah, everyone's so wild. Yeah, in a car. Yeah.

This is a car.

“They're going to be cool about it, right?”

Everyone's so cool about it. Yeah. Yeah. They're basically like, "Oh, hey." (Laughter)

That's the Chicago West. And I love it. I heard this. I might get your assistant in trouble, because we were talking about low-wence John

getting, he was always coming in to West.

And she told me that your Vespa, which is a beautiful old Italian scooter, runs on gasoline, but not very much at a time, right? It's got a small gas tank. And so she told me you have like a bottle filled with gasoline. That might be true.

Although that might be too much information from me. (Laughter) Yeah, they're really. (Laughter) But it's like, "Okay, so you're riding around your Vespa."

And you're like, "Oh, I don't need gas." Reach into the pocket. Pull out the bottle. (Laughter) I don't even know what I'm doing.

It's legal. (Laughter) You sound it. Yeah. Peter, you're a smick.

I know. (Laughter)

“If any members of the Chicago police are listening, remember?”

No, no. It's John Kewsack.

You're not going to follow.

I'm going to get my Vespa search. Yeah. (Laughter) That's the way Kewsack is. We've got to switch up.

We've got to switch up. We've got to switch up. We've got to switch up. We've got to switch up. We've got to switch up.

You've got to see if you've got two tree bottles of gas in there. You've written a graphic novel. I grew up reading this kind of graphic novel. Very big in Europe. In your case, this graphic novel is about 300 pages long, and it features sex violence, drugs,

aliens, Jackie Gleason, and a plot centered around the very real French avant-garde artist and philosopher Antonine Arto. So, you've sold out and gone mainstream. (Laughter) Well, just think of a metaphysical crime movie mixed with a drug-muel movie mixed with ET.

So, I think French connection meets ET, meets my dinner with Andre, meets Smoky in the Bandit. It meets the Mike Douglas show. Right. Another of those? Yes.

(Laughter) All right. He got again. It's a shame to see an actor. But I'm a shelf worker.

He comes so derivative. (Laughter) He's serious. Well, the origin of it was I loved this artist Arto. And then I thought, well, no one is going -- no one's going to give me money

to make that movie yet.

But if I write a graphic novel, I always believe in the possibility of possible.

Sure. It's pretty funny and very bizarre, and I recommend it to everybody. Oh, thank you. It's really so. Thank you for reading it.

Oh, my pleasure. (Applause) I know speaking for myself. I could talk to you all day, but we have business to do. John Cusack, we are thrilled to have you here.

And we have invited you here to play a game we're calling. Say nothing. (Laughter) As we discussed, you started the iconic movie, say anything. So we thought we'd ask you about people who should have kept their mouths shut.

(Laughter) And so two to the three questions about some unwise statements. You'll win our prize for one of our listeners.

“Also, who is the legendary John Cusack playing for?”

Jill Farrell of Beaverton, Oregon. All right. I'm going to do my best for you, Jill. I'll be with you here. Here's your first question.

Gerald Ratner was the head of Ratner's great. Britain's largest jewelry store chain. When he unfortunately called his own company's products, called Crap, how did he try to undo the damage? Was it A, by trying to convince people that Crap was a slang word.

He learned from his kids that meant really great. (Laughter) B, by having all his company's stores, but a sign in the window saying, "What we mean by Crap, cheap, reliable, and affordable prices."

(Laughter) Or C, by saying, "producing Crap is a universal part of the human experience." (Laughter) I'm going to follow the wisdom of the good and great Jason Penettis. And all the last week.

Always pick me. And you and Jason are right. (Laughter) His plan was to put up a sign saying, "Crap means cheap, reliable, and affordable prices."

It did not work. And he had to step down from the company, and to this day, according to these one source, we found in the United Kingdom saying something really stupid and self-destructive for no reason.

It's still called pulling a ratiner. (Laughter) Wow. That was really good. Here's your next question.

In 2005, former French President Jacques Chirac caused a diplomatic incident with a UK, when he made a comment who Vladimir Putin that was called on a hot mic. What did he say about the British?

A, you can't trust people who cook as badly as that. (Laughter) Look, they were once conquered by us. How tough can they be? Or see, they think they're all Winston Churchill,

but they're really just Benny Hill. (Laughter) Now, here's a problem. Yeah. Can I say what I want to pick?

You know what I mean? Yeah, this is your game.

And you're right, it wasn't.

Yeah. Of course, his French. Of course he's been on the software cooking. He's not going to know who Benny Hill is. Exactly, also true.

He also said, on the same hot mic incident,

“that the only thing the British had contributed”

to agriculture was mad cow disease. (Laughter) So you're doing really well. Here's your last question. A lot of sports broadcasts, I know.

You know, Mike the crowd, as well as the announcers, and sometimes it can backfire, as at a lacrosse game between Sacred Heart University and Santa College last year, when the mic picked up one Santa fan yelling what?

It made the ESPN broadcast. Was it A?

We wish we were watching football.

(Laughter) Be stabbed them in the Sacred Heart. (Laughter) Or C, Sacred Heart has diarrhea. (Laughter)

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

I mean, I want all of this. Yeah. (Laughter)

“Different sections doing different chants, you know?”

I think based on the state of America, it must be C. It is C, yeah. (Laughter) That's what he said. (Laughter)

The -- that's smart. (Laughter) The -- the chant from a Santa fan, who found the mic and ran up to it and yelled into it, it was hard to make out,

but, hopefully, one of the ESPN announcers said, "They're chanting Sacred Heart has diarrhea." (Laughter) I'm sure he got a bonus. He did.

Also, how did John Qsak do in our quiz? He said something. He got three out of three. He's a winner. (Applause)

Yeah. (Applause) John Qsak is an actor, writer, and producer. His new graphic novel, Momo, is available now. He's also a proud Chicago guy.

John Qsak, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. John, Qsak. Everybody.

(Applause) When we come back, you got demons, no worries. We have a K-pop demon hunter. That's when we return with more of weight weight don't tell me. From NPO.

This week on Shore Wave, working from home is popular. No commute, sweatpants. People who do it say makes them happier. And the data suggests they're probably wrong about that on average at least. We unpack a new study about the social isolation of remote,

moreover. Let's take a look. Let's take a look. On average at least. We unpack a new study about the social isolation of remote work.

And what it means for your help. This week on Shore Wave and Pierre Science podcast. Listen daily on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, every day on up first NPR's golden globe nominated morning news podcast.

We bring you three essential stories.

At the heart of each story, our questions. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and to follow the facts.

“Follow up first wherever you get your podcasts and start your day knowing what matters and why.”

Are you tired of looking for a comfort show or film and realize it's moved to yet another streaming service? Or having to buy more storage for your $1,000 smartphone? Is it even possible to truly own anything anymore? On it's been a minute. We dig into how folks online are taking back their agency.

In the media, we all consume. Listen to it's been a minute on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR and WBE, EZ Chicago, this is way, way, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. And here's your host at the Student Baker Theatre and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago.

Peter, say go. Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. It is America's 250th birthday and I have to say America, you do not look a day over 200. Did you notice they both talks the coast of Maine?

It's a smoothest floor to now. One way to stay young is to constantly dwell on the past. We're not just saying that as an excuse to take the week off. Last year, Netflix had its biggest hit ever with the animated musical "K-Pop Demon Hunters." Art and Chow, who was the voice of "Demon Hunter Roomie,"

joined us in February to talk with guest hosts in the "Gean For Side." Thank you so much for having me. Well, so I have to be honest with you. I have a love-hate relationship with Roomie. Voice by you because I have a seven-year-old daughter.

And I see where this is going. And I hear your voice all the time. Are our parents mad at you for making the most popular movie of all time? They are kind of at this point a bit sick of it. I've heard that, you know, at least it's something that has a positive message.

And it is very, like, family friendly. Wait, what's your daughter's name?

“Rika. Okay, Rika. Well, Rumi says better with than Demama.”

Oh, my God. You have her too bad. Oh, my God. I get up on replay for the rest of her life. That's what's going to happen.

Rumi, I mean, Rumi. Are they? You really have her. You really have her. I literally do hear your voice way too much.

Okay. So what of the really unexpected things about you is that, you know, you're not just an actor. And you're so many more things. And one of those things is a champion poker player like you are internationally ranked. How did that happen?

I was actually psych major in college and I always love the game.

I've just respected it so much. And I really wasn't great. I've always been quite shy and I'm not much of like a partier and quite a more of an introvert. So I like these quiet settings. It's taught me to be confident and to take risks.

Learn to say no and to bet on myself. I'm often underestimated.

“I think people are just like not expecting anything from me.”

And then they're like, oh, she's not that bad. Oh, maybe she's. I love it. That you've put such a positive spin on a degenerate practice. Well, there are a degenerate partner that we're of course you are.

But I find that there are a lot of really great parts in that world as well. I've met a lot of really cool players. People who are like, I want to like hang out with my friends, but I don't want to sit in a club. It's kind of like a nice alternative.

Yeah. So, Art and you, you actually had some news recently that you got engaged. Congratulations. Thank you. And then something else happened that day.

Right after you got engaged at the TSA pre-check line. He knew tell us what happened. Oh, my goodness. So, so funny. Well, it was actually before we got engaged.

My fiance and I were flying to Hawaii.

But we always, you know, get in together and you were flying business.

So I didn't have TSA pre-check at the time. He did. And all of a sudden, he's just like, I'm going to go this way. Into the TSA pre-check line and leave you. And I was just like, wait.

What? And you were like, I want to marry that man. Well, no, no. We weren't in great spirit. He was sneaking away because he was afraid that they take out the ring

and that I would see it. Because we were in the Hawaii for our friends wedding. So, I thought all of a sudden he was being ultra competitive and seeing him go faster. And then, of course, the next day he proposed.

And I was like, oh, everything makes sense. Right. Like, it wasn't just being a jerk. Yeah. Well, you had a whirlwind year, Arden.

And we've asked you here to play a game that we're calling. K-pop demon hunters meet K-Mart, bargain hunting. [ Laughter ] Okay. That's right.

And we're going to ask you three questions about the late great discount store K-Mart and sort of just two of them correctly.

“And you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, Bill, who's Arden playing for?”

Gina Hoffman of Sacramento, California. Okay, Gina. I'm going to try my hardest. I'm quite competitive. I shall try.

All right.

Here's your first question.

By the 2010s, K-Mart was struggling to keep up with Walmart and Target. So they tried to do anything they could to grab people's attention. Like, which of these commercials? Was it A? An ad where a woman stripped from a parka down to her underwear

to show all the different kinds of clothing that were on sale? Was it B? An ad promoting free shipping for online orders that used the phrase, "I can ship my pants 11 times." [ Laughter ]

Or was it C? An ad with a jingle that went, "K-Mart, it's K-K-K-K-Mart." K-Mart. Do you read? No!

That is correct. [ Laughter ] It was ship my pants. They ran another ad for K-Mart with gas stations attached, talking about their big ass savings.

So they were really doing it, K-Mart. All right. Here we go. Here's your next question. In 2019, a man named Andrew Lippie was arrested for stealing

$300 worth of goods from a K-Mart in Florida. This came as a shock to people. Why? Was it A? Because he was the manager of the Walmart across the street.

[ Laughter ] B, he was a city councilman who ran on promises to fight shoplifting or see earlier that week.

B! [ Laughter ] No, wrong it is C! Wow! Here's your last question.

While K-Mart is all bought gone in the US, there are over 300 K-Mart in Australia. But one mom and Melbourne is furious with the company

“because the toy lion she bought there for her son was what?”

A, anatomically correct. Was it B, louder than a jackhammer? Or was it C? Stuffed with a combination of styrofoam and gunpowder. [ Laughter ]

A, that's right. It was A! Wow! Oh, my goodness. [ Laughter ]

This lion never been so nervous in my life.

[ Laughter ] Return to the city that's new. No, this lion was clearly a male. And some toy designer was definitely trying to get fired. [ Laughter ]

Why did this? Bale, how did art and do on our quiz? Art and can stop hunting demons because she got two out of three, which is a win for us. Yes!

[ Cheers and applause ]

“Art and thank you so much for joining us.”

Art and Cho is the voice of Rumi in Netflix's K-Pop Demon Hunters, which is nominated for Best Animated Film at this year's Oscars. Art and Cho, thanks for joining us. [ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause ]

I first became a fan of Asif Monvie,

when he was one of the hilarious correspondents in the Daily Show,

but when he joined us in March, he talked about all the odd jobs as a performer he had before he made it big. I used to perform in murder mysteries where we would go under, like sort of incognito into these parties, and then someone would get killed.

And one of the most infamous ones that I ever did was add an orthodox Jewish meat. They were trying to meet people to get married. It's like a singles meet-up. It's a mid-up thing, right?

And we go in there. And I just want to pause and say, somebody organized a singles meet-up for Orthodox Jews, and said to themselves, "You know, it makes us a really great eat." Yeah.

It's somebody who are murdered. Yeah. All right, you're doing there.

“And so I just remember that I was one of the other actors”

who I used to work with at the time. It was Connie Britain. And she was sort of chatting up this guy who I just remember was wearing a yellow suit, so I'll tell you everything about him.

Yeah. And he thought he had, and she was really chatting about, and he thought he had hit the jackpot. Right. He was like, "This is like this beautiful woman just talking to me."

And then about 20 minutes into it. He, she was killed. Uh, bad luck. I've had dates like that. Yeah.

You are going on Broadway in this revival of the Noel Coward play with the Great Rose Burn, among the many others. The other thing you have coming out is TV Show and Peacock, a comedy called The Miniatur Wife.

And I have to say I heard the title, and I said to myself, "Oh, that must be like a metaphors about a wife. She's in the shadow of her husband. She feels small."

That's not what it's about. No. No. It's about a man who has a scientist who has designed a sort of a serum

that can miniaturize crops to come back climate change. So, you know, Matthew McFaden, who I love from succession. Yeah. And Elizabeth Banks, who I worked with many years ago

and William Stown, is literally six inches tall. Yes. And lives in the dollhouse. Yeah. Oh, so much.

But they hate each other. And they're constantly trying to kill each other. Honey, I shrunk the kid's meat's time in Jerry. Did you have to spend any time on set, like crouching down and pretending you're talking

to a six inch child Elizabeth? Yes. The later in the season, Matthew hides the whole storyline of his wife

from me for a long time until he finally can't.

And then there is a moment where he and I are both on the floor, talking to a small cardboard cut out of Elizabeth Banks. Right. And they would sort of move her around.

Right. Sort of pretend like she was walking. One more question for you, like I said at the beginning, I first knew you became a big fan when you were on the daily show. But I heard a story, I don't know how this could be true,

the same day you auditioned for it. Yeah. How is that even? That is true.

“A couple of days earlier, I had found out”

that my ex-girlfriend had got engaged. And so I was very upset when I was writing one of those letters. No. You know, that you write to your ex-girlfriend saying

how you f*** up, you know, and I can't say that. Can I say that? I mean, you just did. That's all right. Look finger it out.

All right. Anyway. So I'm writing this and I get this call to come on audition for the daily show. And I was in such a bad place

that I said I can't come in today. I don't feel it. Can I come in tomorrow? And they said, no, if you don't come in today, then it's done.

So I literally just put on a suit. And I went in. And I honestly just had this attitude

of like, I'm never going to get this.

This is ridiculous. I mean, the wrong frame of mine had John met me and he said, and I was a little bit surly. And I said, because he said to me,

said, if you, you know,

“have you ever performed in front of a live audience.”

And I'm looking at it and just being like, dude, I've been on Broadway. And I had such, but I just did my best even covariant pressure. Because that's all I knew to do.

And I was a fan of the show. And he hired me right there on the spot. And I was on the show that night. And I didn't even got a chance to tell anybody. And something it was just,

I was on the show and people were calling me. I was like, this is a guy. [LAUGHTER] So I'm the daily show tonight. And so I didn't even get to tell my family until after it was gone.

Did it comfort you maybe given the circumstances the day to know that maybe your ex-girlfriend would see you on this hit incredibly culturally significant TV show and thanks to herself, my God, what have I done?

[LAUGHTER] You know, it's so funny. Like, the minute I got the daily show, I need to really care about my ex-girlfriend. There you go.

Less than for you all. [LAUGHTER]

“As it monthly, it's a pleasure to talk to you.”

We have asked you here today to play a game. We're calling miniature wife. Meet miniature groom. So your new series is the miniature wife. And we're going to ask you about a place you usually find.

Many of your brides and grooms on top of wedding cakes. Answer two to three questions correctly. You'll win our prize for one of our listeners. The voice of their choice and their voice mail, Bill, who is Ossif Monvie playing for it.

Linda Evers of Colon'sville, Illinois. All right. Ready to the blind?

Here's your first question.

Wedding cakes have been around since at least ancient Roman times, but the tradition back then was a little different. Instead of the bride and groom cutting the cake together, what would happen? A, the bride would throw the cake as far as she could

and the groom would go find it and bring it back. They would break the cake over the bride's head or see they would put a live squirrel inside it and wait for it to eat its way out, plus cutting the cake.

I'm going to go with B. Yes, you're right. They would break the cake on the bride's head. They lost a lot of good brides back then. All right.

Here's your next question. Wedding cakes, of course, are a tradition now, but if you were getting married in 17th century Europe, you and your guests would most likely be cutting into what at the wedding celebration. Would it be A, what was known as the bride's pie,

a savory pie filled with oysters, lamb testicles, and occasionally live snakes?

B, potatoes, basically just dozens and dozens of potatoes,

or see just the air or as wedding planners of the time called it a cake of the mind. I'm going to say that they would just cut into potatoes. Potato. They had a lot of potatoes at the time.

No, it was actually A, the brides pie. According to Wikipedia, in addition to the other tasty things, they would occasionally put a live snake there to, quote, "Help guests to pass the time in a wedding. I guess they did that because at the time,

they needed entertainment and they had no DJs." Right. That's true. That is true. It didn't come around until about the 1800s.

Exactly true. Yeah. You have one more chance, if you get this one, you win. The one tradition today that every wedding expert tells you, just skip it.

Don't do it is when the groom smashes the cake into the brides face, right? If the bride does it, if the groom, one couple went so hard in the cake's mashing bit that after they cleaned up, this just happened to January, they did what.

A, they did it again, smashing each other in the faces with the on-tray from dinner and then all the side dishes.

to smash on each other, join the fun,

or see they got divorced. The audience, you think they got divorced? Yeah. The audience thinks they got divorced. All right, we'll go with the audience.

And they're right.

“Do you have to listen to the audience all right?”

Yeah. Yeah, how did I suspend be doing our quiz? I just have got two right, and that makes him a winner. Congratulations. Congratulations.

There's a little house. A little house. We're all here to help each other. It's a community. I said, "Mond be, what a pleasure to talk to you."

Thank you. Take care. Break legs on Broadway. Thank you. Take care.

Bye-bye. When we come back, our panel proudly displays their refusal to actually pay attention to the news, and we visit with Kaylee Reese, the only actor who could ever win an E.G.G.O.T.

and Emmy Golden Gloves Oscar and Tony. That's when we come back with more of what we don't tell me. From NPO. Hi, it's Terry Gross, the host of Fresh Air. Catch my interview about the birth of the culture wars.

Even breakfast cereals have become part of the culture wars.

“Author Isaac Butler takes us back to when the Christian right mobilized”

against provocative art. Listen to fresh air on the NPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts. For instant clarity on world events in just five minutes, listen to NPR news now. New episodes drop every hour,

with the latest on US politics, international news, the economy, health, science, technology, and more, five minutes is all it takes to get fully caught up with NPR news now. Listen on the NPR app, or wherever you get podcasts. Every episode of its been a minute,

NPR is what's happening in culture podcasts. Starts by asking three questions. Who? How? Why now?

If the culture is asking it, we're talking about it. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious, and indulge your cultural curiosity. Follow its been a minute wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll break down the zeitgeistie topics that are filling your feed.

From NPR and WBE, easy Chicago. This is, wait, wait, don't tell me. The NPR news quiz. I'm Alzo Slade, and here's your host, at the Student Baker Theater,

and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Peter Sago. Thank you, Alzo. (applause) Thanks, everybody.

“We are celebrating America's 250th birthday,”

like most people by looking back with admiration and pride on its history. Well, not the whole 250 years, and not necessarily the history of the whole country. Basically, just the recent part of its history

that involves just us. (laughter) That's significant events on the world stage, sure, but also way less to apologize for it. (laughter)

Our panelists strangely never apologize

for not knowing the news, even though it's their job to answer questions about it. Here are some of the questions we've posed to our panelists that you have never heard before. Josh, yes.

This season, Major League Baseball, a lot of changes, catchers are reporting, that there is a huge increase this season in the number of times what happens.

It's not falling asleep during the games, because they've tightened those up. Yes, they have. It's something that's happening to catchers. Two catchers?

Yes. More frequently than it used to. Is batters hitting them with the bat? Not with the, they're not getting hit with the bat.

But like interfer, catcher interference? No. No. What are getting hit? I'm pyrus hitting them.

No. (laughter) Damn you, sir. Damn you. I know what you're doing.

Back of my hand, to you, sir. I'm getting slayed into you. No, give you hand. Sometimes after a foul ball, the catcher also ends up with fouled balls.

Oh. Uh, catchers getting hit in the groin? Yes, five baseballs. Yes. Sure.

Catchers are taking baseballs to the junk a lot more than they used to. The players told the New York Times that there's been a huge increase this season. In that, you know, getting hit by a baseball right in the peanuts and cracker jacks. (laughter)

I mean, it's great, because major league baseballs are working so long to make baseball more entertaining.

And they finally done it.

(laughter) Now, the phenomenon is due primarily to this new stance that catchers are using behind the plate. They don't crouch behind the plate anymore. Most catchers are down on one knee, with their other leg, slayed out straight,

which is a lot less fatiguing over the course of the game. But it's basically when you do that, you're giving the pitcher two targets to choose from. If I had two options of how to stand, and one of them got me hit in the testicles

with a baseball a lot more than the other one. That would make my choice to form me. I would give it to you.

Yeah, that would pretty much be like only one of them. Well, less fatigued on one side. Hit repeatedly in the testicles with a 90 mile bow or fastball.

“But then how are you going to win America's funniest film video?”

(laughter) Shane, baseball star Bryce Harper, the Philadelphia Phillies posted a get ready with me video, right? On Instagram. But he got a lot of heat after he revealed he brushes his teeth

by doing what? (laughter) Was he a baseball bat? (laughter) No, good.

No. If... All right. I do this, so I think it might be this,

'cause I never thought this was it.

I put the toothpaste directly onto my tongue. That's it. And we're both great athletes. (laughter) So this is amazing.

Because Bryce is like doing this get ready with me video, and he just takes the toothpaste and he squeezes it into his mouth. What's down the toothpaste grabs the toothbrush and starts scrubbing? Yeah. We're both alphas.

And everybody's like, "This is so weird. Nobody else in the world does this." And we right here have discovered the other human being. Who does this? This is amazing.

(laughter) I never thought I'd have something in common with someone who plays for Philly. (laughter) So what Shane is the advantage of squeezing the toothpaste

onto your own tongue rather than placing it on the toothbrush as God intended. (laughter) Do you want to know my logic behind it? Truly is that this is insane.

But I take it, and I put it on my tongue, and I feel your judgment. (laughter) I don't think they're trying to hide it. (laughter)

And then I take my tongue and I press it to the roof of my mouth because people brush their tongues. But people don't talk about brushing the roof of your mouth and I don't understand why you wouldn't. Because it's still...

“What did I got to do with you putting that on your tongue?”

I just like, it's an even application. Oh, I see it. It's like you squeezing two pieces of bread together and then you get the sandwich all over. Yes.

This is boy brushing teeth. That is. Because now I locked it immediately together. I see the dishes. Does this seem insane?

Yes, it does. Because you can brush the roof of your mouth if you wanted to do that by putting the toothpaste on the brush. But now I'm saying I'm really thinking about this, like if you simply got a convertible.

(laughter) But if you put it directly on your tongue,

you never have to worry about water pressure

kicking the toothpaste off the toothbrush before you brush a teeth. Something I never even thought about. See, you can add that to your reasons. Thank you very much.

(laughter) Bryce Harper and I thank you. (laughter) Tom, a well-known mortgage company is expanding their business.

They've announced that in addition to home finance loans with competitive terms, they will also offer what? They will also offer cemetery plots. How does that figure?

I'm not much for math. It's probably like a 4%. I see what you mean. That's not it. No.

No. Like another kind of offering. A completely different kind of product. Totally different kind of product. Oh, man, that could be anything.

Is it related to mortgages? Not in any way that we can see. Not what we thought we'd bring it up here. They're going to sell tiny genetically modified ponies. (laughter)

That'd be fun. Yeah. Tom, this is where you asked for a hint. Oh, thank you.

Bill never would advise me like that.

No, I wanted to talk more about the tiny little ponies. Me too, can I do that? Sweet. Well, can I have a hint? Yeah, well, I guess in response, Lulu Lemon

will start selling mortgages. Oh, they're going to sell underpants. Athletic. Athletic. Athletic.

Athletic. Athletic. Mortgage lender company rate. Launched their new spin-off company rate fit. Which sells athletes are clothing.

They say it's about, quote, building the world's largest wellness community. You're a financial, physical, and mental fitness are in harmony, unquote.

“Yeah, so there's definitely going to be another mortgage crisis, okay?”

Yeah. Is the CEO of that company some cross-fit-doot on ketamine? That's what it sounds like. Possibly. It was his idea, apparently.

This is like something he really wanted to do. So he started this new clothing line. They're making sweatpants, sweatshirts, and something called

And you'll be able to pay it off by the time you turn 60.

That's the plan.

“I wish them well, but I just know, in about a year and a half,”

they're going to be in a board meeting. And that guy's going to have his head in his hands going, "We should have done the ponies." Yeah. [laughter]

Consider this NPR's afternoon news podcast because we cover everything for politics, to the economy, to the world, but every story starts with a question. And NPR, we stand for your right to be curious, to make sense of the biggest story of the day and what it means for you.

Follow, consider this wherever you get your podcasts. Every story from shortwave and pure science podcast starts with a question. Like, why do we have nightmares? How does AI affect my energy bill?

At NPR, we are here for your right to be curious about the world around you. Follow, shortwave, wherever you get your podcasts, because the more you ask, the more interesting the world gets. Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air. Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us,

and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians, and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHY-Y. Finally, in January, we talk to an actor with a pretty unusual background

instead of theater or film school in New Yorker, L.A. She trained in a boxing gym in Providence, Rhode Island. Kelly Reese was nominated for her role, opposite Jody Foster in True Detective, Night Country, which came very soon after her transition to acting.

It was my third professional acting job first TV show ever. Wow. And from a very young age, when did you start boxing? Around the age of 13 or 14, I found boxing, fried to that, I played softball, played basketball.

I'm one of five kids on the youngest girl.

I always tried to do what my big brother did.

But nobody, nobody my family box. It was kind of, you know, a 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 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 really been dedicated to it.”

Yeah, I was dedicated to, I mean, you know, I was a little rough kid growing up. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't start fights, but I'd finish up. 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 bar. She was like, 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 an entertainment business that the very, core of it, I mean, we're up on a stage where performing, you know, there's a character. I'm not going around one shot and hit people on the street. That's not cool.

Him is 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 you, but there are people who build characters. Big, charismatic entertainment. You know, all that buildup is really good for people to in it.

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 read that in a true detective night country. You play in Alaska native. But what I read and you can tell me if it's true or not is that you're, you're, you're native or island accent would, would come out frequently enough that they figured they'd better write that into your character.

So that it would be explicable if 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, they, I love Ace of the director. She decided to make my character part of it because I was,

you know, working with a dialogue coach to keep my, quote-unquote accent at bay. I didn't want to sound like Peter Griffin making, you know, an investigation. [ Laughter ]

So I just -- I think he just sold the next hit series for F2BO by the way.

They go on.

“It was weird how your character always had a cup of dunk in in her hand.”

[ Laughter ] So in everything you've started so far from like 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, like, want to get cast in like a different kind of part, like, live romantic lead in a hallmark movie? Presumably bad. I would love to.

I would love to. I would love to, you know, I wanted to have one, some comedy. I would love to do some comedy. But I would, you know, I love a challenge. I love something that maybe I'm not as strong at 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 assery. It just shines through. It does. I'm sorry.

How about, how about, let me put something to it. 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, I just -- That's happened, it's fine. [ Laughter ] That's another show for HBO. Lyrical.

I'm lining up projects for you.

“Well, if you're documentary -- [ Laughter ]”

Well, Kaylee Reese, 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 electronics show happens. 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 Kaylee Reese playing for? Christopher Wolff of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All right. Hey, go birds.

[ Laughter ] 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 C, barf bags. [ Laughter ]

C. You're right. You knew it. Yeah. [ Applause ]

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, projectile vomiting. 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 role of toilet paper, if you run out while you are in the bathroom. I'm going to go and see because I hope that exists. It does. It's right.

A tech company partnered with Sharman to create a new robot, which you operate with your smartphone from the toilet. [ Laughter ] I need that.

We all do. But here's the thing. So, you have the wherewithal the foresight to set up the robot in a little niche wherever it is, with a role of toilet paper on it, all set to go.

“Why don't you just put the role of toilet paper in the bathroom?”

[ Laughter ] All right. I just -- I just stepped children to get supported in the bathroom and then you're stuck there with no toilet paper.

That's -- [ Laughter ] 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 in that home. [ Laughter ] That's -- that's the -- I just gave you like an audition of my vulnerable. I know, and I'm -- I -- 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. [ Laughter ] I'm going to be my first short. [ Laughter ]

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

the new device with which you can enjoy music. What is it? A large case with two built-in stereo speakers known as an eye boom box. Be a lollipop that plays music inside your head

when you suck on it, or see a robot basis complete with genuine, basis sent. [ Laughter ] Yes. Oh, what was B again?

B was a lollipop that plays music inside your head while you suck on it. I'm going to be because it sounds kind of cool. You're right again. [ Laughter ]

I mean, what the -- Your confidence extends to everything when you put lollipop star 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 res do in our quiz?

and beat the living hell of it.

[ Laughter ]

“Fortunately, I don't have to because she is perfect.”

Three in a row. There you go. Kaylee, honestly. Kaylee is in any 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 res what a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Well, wait wait, don't tell me.

[ Cheers and applause ] Thank you. We'll be back next week.

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Our senior producers in Chilag and the executive producer of "Wait, wait, don't tell me it's my damn for it." Thanks to everybody you heard on our show this week all of our panelists' houses laid our guests, then of course.

No Curtis. And thanks to all of you for listening, I'm Peter Sagle. And we'll see you next week. [applause]

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