Spirit Airlines, The Book of Mormon, and Grunting

Energy prices in March went up over 10%, energy flows into everything else that we buy.

“The big picture on inflation, housing, and prices that aren't coming down.”

That's on Consider This. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR, at WB EZ Chicago, this is, wait, wait, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. To answer your question, yes, it did hurt when my voice fell from heaven. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Suitavaker Theatre and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago. Well, no, I beat her, take on. Thank you, Bill.

Thank you, everybody. We have a great show for you today. Later on, we're going to be talking to Bobby Lopez, the composer who wrote the songs for the book of Mormon and Frozen, and is an egot winner twice over, which means that after he's a wait,

wait, guest, he becomes history's first ever, we got winner.

The first is your turn, Divi, for what must be the least prestigious prize in broadcasting a voicemail recording from us? Give us a call at one trip, wait, wait, wait. That's 1, 8, 8, 8, 9, 2, 4. It's time to welcome our first listener contestant this week. Hi, you're on wait, wait, don't tell me. Hey, Pigeon, this is Emma Johnson from Redwood City, California. Redwood City, California, oh, I love that authentic California accent. It's so rare to hear these days.

What do you do there? I run operations for a software company, but more importantly, I am proud parent to two adult adults, and I just have to share that one of them signed me

up to be a contestant on this show, so this is turning out to be an amazing mother's day guest.

That is a lovely thing to hear, and I just want you to understand we're still not going to go easy on you. We're going to have to earn this, okay? Well, welcome to the show, Emma, let me introduce you to our panel. First up, he is the co-host of the podcast's health stuff, and the untitled Condobolu Brothers podcast. It's Harry Condobolu. Next, he's a reporter for the style section of the Washington Post. It's Roxanne Roberts.

Happy Mother's Day, Emma. Thank you, Roxanne. Hi. And he's a corresponding for CVS, and in the morning, it's our old friend, Mo Raka. Hi, Emma. Hi, Mom. Welcome to the show, Emma. You're going to find who's built this time. Bill Curtis is going to read you three quotations from this week's news. You can correctly identify your explainages. Two of them, you won't mind our prize. Any voice from our show, you might choose.

Are you ready to go? You betcha, let's go. Your first quote is someone saying farewell to an

airline. RIP, but Anabas. Even though we've bullet you, we all loved you, deep down.

“What the love it and behavior to airline suddenly went out of business overnight on Sunday?”

That would be spirit airline. Spirit airlines. After more than 40 years of offering no frills, budget air travel spirit, suddenly went out of business last weekend, spirit customers arrived at the airport the next morning only to discover that flights were canceled because the airline no longer existed, which to be fair is better than spirits usual. Excuse, we're a bad airline. It happened for a bunch of reasons, but let's face its spirit was doomed.

The second, they chose that shade of yellow for their planes. Airplanes should not look like crime scene tape. We lost a great punchline. We really did. We really did. I know it's like, wow, frontiers not as funny, right? No, it just isn't sadly. Yeah. Now, it's interesting, they, you might be wondering, well, why did they have to strand people? Why couldn't they announce it? They had to close overnight. So there weren't any spirit airlines in the air

when they went out of business. Because all of a sudden they'd be like rogue planes. Can you imagine that? It's like spirit 4, 5, 6, 2, you are cleared to go buck wild. So they couldn't

“technically land? Well, no, they had to wait. I mean, what you're saying is like, I think”

at the board of the point. Because that would be weird. That would be weird. Oh, we can't land. Sorry. Can't pay the fees. So I guess we're up here forever. Is that the one? I'm sorry.

go viral. Isn't that more southwest? No. South West has cookies. South West is flassy.

“Okay, that's how they stopped the fights and breaking out. They just throw the cookies in the ground. They're”

like puppies. Oh, wait a minute. Your next quote is from a New York Times story about someone struggling while on the phone with customer service. Would it help? I told you, I'm the pope. So who was that, Emma? That would be Pope Leo the 14. Yes, that was the pope. So a friend of his told the story and he made the papers this week. The pope called his personal bank back here in Chicago from the Vatican using his birth name Robert Prevost to change

the address on his account. He's had a change of job and the woman at the bank said, "Oh, if you want to change that information on your account, you have to come to the branch and do it in person." And he said, "Well, I really can't." And when she wouldn't budge, he said, "Would it help if I told you I was the pope?" All true. And this is also true. She then hung up on him.

“Does the pope need money? Well, this is a thing. And where does he keep it?”

This is a thing. Apparently, as part of his humility, the pope insists on paying his own way and handling his own affair. So he's a bank account. He's paying for stuff. He's the guy who pays the bills. He's the guy who's calling for customer service, which finally explains why these days

when you call customer service the first thing you hear is for Latin press one. You never thought

about the pope having to do paperwork, right? Like it's a pain like reason for your address change? Conculant. Conculant. Well, I happen to know that you have met a prior pope. Was it John Paul the second? No, no, I met Pope Francis. And he did all his banking and Rome. He did. Yes. Do you, I know because Mo is actually involved with Catholic diocese in New York. Do you do good work for them? Do you think there's a chance you're going to meet this pope?

You know, I hope so. I mean, I mean, why I wish I'd been that customer service wrapped that would have helped me to get a meeting, but I hope so. Yeah, yeah. Do you know what you'd like to say to him if you do meet him? Go with city bank. Chase has too many things. Yeah. Your last quote, Emma, is about the return of a beloved breakfast ritual. If you've missed rooting around in a cereal box, you're in luck. So get excited, kids, according to the Associated Press.

What are you about to find in cereal boxes again? Uh, those, those little prizes that you've guessed here, boys, prizes in cereal again. Yeah. Hey. Thanks to Kellogg's toys are going back into cereal boxes. The idea, of course, for putting in a toy in cereal boxes, hey, kids, just eat all this cereal. Eventually, you'll get the prize. No kid ever does that. We know this. They just get the thing, rip it open, and stick their whole arms straight in there. Large animal veterinarian

styled. Just rooting around, finding what they need. And, and if you have more than one kid,

“you have to buy two boxes. Sure. You cannot just buy one. Yeah. This is genius. It really is.”

The thing that walked up and down the wall, the slinky, slinky, the wacky wall walker. Yeah,

that was, oh, it was very hygienic. Yes. I love that they brought the toys back, but I've always

felt that adults cereals should have like things in them too. Yeah. Like, by Agro or Libertor. It's something something. That's you see. Wow. I hope in my box of musely. Look, I found a loose cigarette. Why was it the same? Yeah. All brand should have met a musule, but they sort of did the same thing. Yeah. I'm a little redundant there. The first toy to be introduced is a novelty spoon. It's a toy story tie. And I love that they were like, "Hey, for our first toy,

let's make absolutely sure. It's something we know. A kid eating cereal already has." Bill, how did Emma do in our quiz? Emma, you've got them all right. You are perfect. Okay? Emma? Thank you for playing and happy mother's day. Thanks so much. There's a ton of fun. Take care. Thanks, Emma. Bye. Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news.

like people stealing packages from your porch. Fires even, but they're not always right. For

example, one woman was told there was a bear on her porch and it was really what? Scary. I mean, it's terrifying. It's terrifying. It seems obvious, isn't it? It was really traumatic. Yeah, no, no. It's a peek of you too. At least it didn't say there was a bear with a big saggy but this woman was told there was a big brown bear in her porch and it turned out to be a big saggy

“but. Give me the answer, Peter. I believe Monos. It was her. It was her.”

Oh, she was. No, that's terrible. Terrible. She was sweeping the porch wearing a brown track suit. Oh, God. It's a fairer in your porch. Root ring. Oh, that's awful. It's not all bears are overweight. Like booboo bear with nice and petite. Right. Okay, no, it's not nice. It's one thing like you mistake a cat for a burglar. It's another if you're arriving home from a long day at work. Can you get an alert in your phone from your ring camera? Hey, there's a messy bitch in your front

mirror. So, I'm so confused. It was with you just basically the height and the

height and the movements and the shuffling and the fact that she was eating a raw salmon. Coming up, our panel is sing. Let's all not go to the movies and our

“bluff. We'll listen again. Colin Triple 8. Wait, wait, wait, wait. We'll be back in a minute with more.”

Wait, wait, wait. Don't tell me from NPO. Hey, before we get back to the show, a quick plug for a very special event. Now you may have heard Bill Curtis, our judge and scorekeeper is retiring from weight weight. I still have problems dealing with it, but in Bill's honor, we are hosting a live virtual event on Monday, May 11th and you can join us. Bill and I will talk about his time on weight weight. His career as a legendary anchor man and we'll be answering your questions about

Bill and the show. So, to get your invitation, just sign up for NPO+ and we'll send you a registration link, signing up as also a great way to support the show and NPR. So, just go to plus.mpr.org and watch your email. Again, that's plus.mpr.org. This week, on Consider This, every day Americans are feeling it more, a wartime economy. Energy prices in March went up over 10%. Energy flows into everything else that we buy.

The big picture on inflation, housing, and prices that aren't coming down. That's on Consider This. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Chicago, this is. Wait, wait, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Roxanne Roberts, Hardy Cunderballoo, and Mo Raka. And here again, I'm sure, host at the Student Baker Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Seigall. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody.

Right now, right now, it's time for the weight weight. Don't tell me, we'd love to listen to a game called One Triple 8. Wait, wait, wait to play our game on the air. How are you around? Wait, wait, don't tell me. I, this is Hillary Long in Santa Barbara, California. Santa Barbara, one of the most beautiful places I know. What do you do there? Well, now that I've reached a certain age in my husband and teen daughters like to say, I'm retired.

So, I guess I'm a retired university administrator, but I am moonlighting for the last several years as everybody's caretaker. I see. And how, how nostalgic are you for actually getting to leave the house and having a job? Not very. No, okay. Well, good. I'm going to join the lifestyle then. Hillary, it's great to have you with us. You're going

“to play the game when you have to tell truth from fiction. What's the topic, Bill? Screw you,”

silver screen. Now, movie theaters, as I'm sure you know, have been struggling lately to bring in an audience who wants like that immersive cinematic experience when you can just watch a movie on the toilet. Our panelists are going to tell you about a brand new threat to movie theaters. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win our prize, the weight waiter of your choice,

on your voice melody. Ready to play? Yeah. All right. First up,

let's hear from Harry, Kunderbolo. 15-year-old Billy Robinson of Middletown, Connecticut was sick of

be having them ourselves? If you assumed young Billy was inspired to leave the house and have new

life experiences, you would be wrong. No, Billy decided to make the movies more interesting by editing himself into them. Ever wonder why Jack drowned instead of getting on the door with Rose and Titanic? Now we know there wasn't enough room because Billy was lying on there, too. Did Han shoot Greedo first in Star Wars? Nope, it was Billy. Or how about Billy's

“Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory where he plays all the Umbalumpas?”

According to the owner of the Brunswick Theatre, people keep calling to ask if we have the Billy

version of the Devil Wars product, too. They don't want the normal one. Billy said, "I've always

felt that Merrill Street was overrated and now I can prove it." In Middletown, Connecticut, people don't go to the movies because they want to wait and watch the Billy cut at home. Your next movie Meltown is from Roxanne Roberts. Faced with slumping sales last month, Peloton introduced its latest innovation run for your life. The high-end fitness treadmill has a new program that screens Hollywood movies, mostly thrillers and horror films, with an option

for the runners to become the lead characters. They're connected to monitors that track breathing,

“heart rates, and adrenaline by watching movies such as Running Man, obviously, Halloween,”

John Wick, and other really scary classics. Early users report elevated heart rates, more endurance,

and not so cheap thrills. "I got so carried away that I had a panic attack and ended up in the ER. But my God, it was the most fun I've ever had, actually. I was back on the track the next day." Peloton, version that lets you elevate your heart rate by watching horror movies and thrillers in the comfort of your home, and your last cinematic up comes from Mo Raka. The last two years have been brutal for movie theater owners with attendance way down. Poor Nicole Kidman did the best that she

could, but she has only so many hours in a day to sit alone in your theater. And now Chinese technology is about to make things even worse for owners. Chinese electric vehicles are now capable of projecting full-color movies from their headlights. Wow, we, sorry, I mean, Huawei is the company behind this adaptive headlight technology that allows you to park your car and use the nearest wall to watch your favorite movie. Think your own personal drive then.

I know what you're wondering. If Thelma and Louise have been driving a Chinese EV, might they instead have turned away from the clip and flipped on the headlights to watch a proto-feminist classic like Atlas doesn't live here anymore. If Stephen King's Christine were a Chinese EV, would she take in fast in the furious, board versus Ferrari, or might she

“surprise and delight us by watching her be the love bug before committing her next killing?”

All right, which of these is yet another threat to the well-being of old school movie theaters? Is it from Hari Kandabolo, a boy named Billy who's cuts of movies with himself starring in them or so popular? People want to stay home to watch that instead. From Roxanne Roberts, a new version of Peloton that shows you the movies while you exercise, you can get some benefit from that elevated heart rate from fear, or from Mo Rocka, a Chinese EV that can project movies

through its headlights onto any surface you happen to be pointing your car at, which of these is the real story of new cinematic technology? Oh, shoot. I'm gonna go with my heart. I'm gonna go the movie from the headlights. All right, you're gonna choose Mo's story. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to someone who will probably be affected by the real story. So it's gonna be driving and being like, all right, let's just project that in the furious

on the back of this semi-truck and see what happens. Now, that was Ryan Ostrich, the general manager of the music box theater here in Chicago reacting to the real story with less horror than I would have expected from him. But congratulations, Hillary, you followed your heart, you got it right. There's a lesson for all of us. You'd want to point from Mo just for telling the truth and you, of course, have one art prize, the voice of anyone you might choose from or a voicemail, choose Bill, choose Bill,

And now the game where we ask very accomplished people to accomplish just one more thing,

“we call it not my job. Composer Bobby Lopez, not only has an egot, he has more than two of them,”

with two Oscars, three Tony's, three Grammys and four Emmys, and that's as of Showtime. With his wife, Kristen Anderson, Lopez, he wrote the songs for the movie's Frozen Frozen Two and Coco and with Tray Parker and Matt Stone, he wrote the Broadway mega hit, the Book of Mormon, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this spring. Bobby Lopez, welcome to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. So let's start here, congratulations, in the Book of Mormon, 15 years on Broadway,

that puts you in the rarefied heights of like Broadway composers. We're the 10th longest-running show of all time. How does it feel to be the Andrew Lloyd Weber

of F bomb shows? It feels good, it feels good. I would never put myself in his rarefied air.

No, now if you've never seen the Book of Mormon, I don't know how that's possible at this point, but it is incredibly obscene in the best possible way. And I heard a story, it was actually in Josh Gads memoir, Josh Gads from the original cast. He says he was at an initial workshop, you were working out the show, and he like read or perform one of the songs, and he actually said to Tray Parker, one of the authors, he said, "You can't do this. This is too offensive.

“People will kill you." Did you ever worry about that?”

You know, I give them this. When you read the Book of Mormon on the page, you know, there's a convention in writing the scripts out, where all the lyrics are in all caps. Which looks like screaming. Yes. So when you have the lyrics to Hossegia, you'll be by filling the page. It jumps out at a different tone than the music makes it much sweeter. Yeah. And I just want to say to the audience, if I were to translate that phrase,

the name of a song, not only would we be cancelled, NPR would be burned to the ground. So yeah. And so the music, were you surprised that this musical about Mormon missionaries

“with its extraordinary language and themes and sense of humor? It was the monster hit that it became?”

We were hoping to run a year and maybe get some protesters. And said we became this long-running

mainstream right down the middle hit, which still baffles me. I know it's amazing. And the

amazing thing is, the Mormon church was okay with it, right? They kind of got on board? Yeah, they kind of jute odos. They were like, "Let's put an ad in the Playbell. You've seen the show now, read the book." [audience laughter] Are you aware of anybody who came off the streets saw the book of Mormon the musical and any of its many iterations or productions and then said, "You know what? I think I'll look into

this religion." No, but I would love to meet you. Yeah, out there. Before we leave the topic, I understand that in June, once the show comes back from its theater catching fire, the show is going to be doing something called "Magical Morning Mystery Week." Yeah, we're having Josh Gad, Andrew Randall's, and all of the original company kind of come back and pop into the show. It sort of ran them in random scenes. And I will get to also be in it

with Matt and Tray on certain nights. We're raising it every night, yeah. Tray is going to play Jesus and Joseph Smith every night that week. So, wow, I'm so interested. From what I know of, and that's kind of a dream come true, right? I mean, he looks like Jesus and Joseph Smith. That's true. Famously, you are the youngest person ever to egot any Grammy Oscar Tony. And you also are the only person, as far as I know, who's done it twice in each category, sometimes more than twice.

And we're just wondering, as the only person in the entire world who have ever done that,

Well, see, my family, my kids, my kids were very young at the time, and they, and

“Kristen, my wife, got together and made an egot necklace, like the one from 30 Rocks.”

Yes, out of, out of cardboard and macaroni and blue. Oh, that's awesome. I hope you can see it. It's online, sir. That's fabulous. Speaking of your wife, who's astonishingly talented and cheered in your Oscars, because she curled the songs from Coco and frozen with you. She is missing that Tony award. So she's an ego. She's a big ego. Big ego. Any tension around the house, or maybe when you're having, you know,

those spats, like we all do, you're like, "Don't try and get me in trouble, man."

I know. Like Tony says, "It's your turn to clean the kitchen."

Yeah. I'll know. No. Is that tough though, too? I mean, because you obviously worked very

“successfully with your wife. Does it, like, interfere with, like, your daily life? Do you pause and”

go wait a minute? Is that a song? Do we just write a song? Is that a song? Or is it like, you're not going to write a song about this, right? Absolutely. We are on vacation and we end up like, running to write something, not about not for any project. Just like, we wrote lyrics to the, like, our kids love Terry Potter, way back when and we wrote a whole Harry Potter quiz show set of lyrics to the Harry Potter theme. It was what time is it? You know what time it is,

time for the Harry Potter quiz. And it went on. I got the whole thing. Really? Wow. Well, Bobby Lopez, it's a joy to talk to you. We haven't invited you here to play a game that this time we're calling. You are 15 going on, 16. It's the 15th anniversary of Book of Mormon, which means it's time to start planning for the show's appearance on the MTV reality show, my super sweet 16. That's the show in which America's richest and most entitled teenagers

through extravagant birthday parties and then cried at them. So we're going to ask you three questions about that show and answer to them correctly. You want to prize one of our listeners.

When you give me a second to watch all those of them. Yes, please do that.

Bill, who is Bobby Lopez playing for? Luxem Wong of Gethersburg, Maryland. All right, there we go. In season seven, as fans remember, birthday girl sky got upset because all her friends were inside dancing, meaning that none of them could see what a her head projected onto Mount Rushmore, which was the venue for the party. Be her arrival at the party, writing the same giant gold lion that Katy Perry wrote in her Super Bowl. Half time show, or see her grand entrance in a 20-foot

tall dress with a hydraulic lift, built into it, to raise her into the air. Well, that sounds like a

“girl obsessed with wicked. I think I'll choose to see. You were right. That's exactly right.”

All right. My Super Switch 16, my Super Switch 16 was so popular that it had several spin-off shows, including which of these. A, exiled with the parents of teens who had parties in the show, send those teens to remote countries by themselves to see if they can survive. Be my Super Depressing 30 of a people, realizing that we're totally unequipped for adulthood, or see I hate them all, interviews with the caterers, waiters, and other people who

stand up parties. Wow. They all sound fake. I'll pick, see you again. You're going to pick, see again. I hate them all. Yeah, interviews with the staff of the parties. No, I'm afraid it was a exiled. It was a whole blast of one season. They sent these entitled kids in as far as I know they all survived and came back. All right. Last question, if you get this right, you win. My Super Switch 16 has inspired other creators, including which of these. A, your friend, Trey Parker, who made a

South Park episode, we're Satan the Thro's his own Super Speed 16 party. B, choreographer, Twilithar, who created a dance show called Les in Suffrable's, or see actor Nicholas Cage, who vowed that his own kids birthday party would be better than any of those parties on the show, and subsequently had to declare bankruptcy again. It was a, right? It was a, yeah, it was a party made. And we're miles to Super Speed 16 on South

Park. He called the maker of South Park, called my Super Sweet 16, quote, "the most disgusting

and that's good enough for us. Bobby Lopez is the double egot winning songwriter and composer of

“Book of Mormon, which you can see during magical Mormon mystery week at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre”

from June 9th through June 14th, Bobby Lopez. Thank you so much for joining us on Wayway, Don't Time! Let's give it a talk to you! Thank you! Bye bye! Bye bye! In just a minute, Bill is going to ruin things for your dentists in our listener-limric challenge called "Winter of the Late Wait Wait" to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of Wayway Don't Tell me, from N. P.O.

This week on Consider This, every day Americans are feeling it more, a wartime economy.

Energy prices in March went up over 10%. Energy flows into everything else that we buy. The big picture on inflation, housing, and prices that aren't coming down. That's on Consider This, you can listen on the N. P.O. App or wherever you get your podcasts. From N. P.O.R. and W.B. E. Z. Chicago, this is "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me The N. P.O. News" quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Mo Rocka, Rocks and Roberts and the Harry Condobulu,

and here again, is your host at the Student Baker Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Peter Seymour. Thank you, Bill. Just a minute. Bill orders some lemrics for the table. It's our listener-limric challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call, one Triple Eight Wait Wait. That's 1888-1948-1924. Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news. Mo elderly people often have problems

with balance forcing them to use canes or walkers, but a research team in Japan has come up with a

“better way, simply fit the elderly with a what? With a Michelin man costume. That's right. Right?”

Isn't that a good-never question? Yeah, you would never pick in the middle of allying.

No, it's something that will help them keep their balance. I'll give you a hint. We don't know if they can wag them. Oh, to give all people tales. Yes, give old people enormous tales. So cute. It would be adorable. Researchers in Japan and engineers have developed a three-foot-long mechanical motorized tail called ARC, which automatically moves to counterbalance you when you lean over. It also makes it much easier to tell when grandma is happy.

So it's to make them like marsupials. No, not exactly. The idea is there are a lot of animals, like say monkeys or cheetahs that use tales for balance. They can counterbalance their movements and stay, you know, stay. Oh, so grandma might be swinging from a train. It's possible, you know, wait a minute, that's the ARC at two. They're working on it. To keep the wearer balanced, as you they move, the tail uses pneumatic pumps to move in reaction to the user's motions. So if you think a

walker makes you look bad, just try looking and sounding like a T-rex with IBS. So here, that is the question. How do you go to the bathroom? You know, wearing a giant tail. Oh, God, oh God, I'm here there. You're with grandpa, everything's going great. He's like, oh no, grandpa's lifting his tail. Grandpa's getting some tail. No, no, no, no. Oh, he's skating again? No, no, he's actually getting a tail. Hari, a gym in Denver is being sued by owners of condos in the building above

the gym. They say the gym has hurt their property values because of the what? The stench. Not the stench.

“The water from the shower. Not the water from shower. From the sound. Yes, specifically what sound?”

Oh, no. Oh, grunting. Grunting, yes! They say that their property values are diminished because of the constant grunting from the gym. The Denver gym, that's a gym with weight machines, treadmills, diced ham, green pepper, and cheddar cheese. Has faced constant complaints from the tenants above it since it opened two years ago. Now residents are suing the owners of the gym. They say, quote, weight lifters, groaning, yelling, and struggling to lift weights.

That last one sounds suspiciously, less like a complaint and more like a sick burn. Residents say they're unable to sleep, enjoy dinner, or work from home, unquote, because of the noise,

in that building. There's the sounds of sex. The grunting, I guess, from sex next to it would be would be bad enough, but if they were also saying, uh, one more, you got this for a run.

“Very distressing, I think. I'd move. Did you spot me?”

You have to wipe that down if you're dumb with it.

Coming up, it's lightning filming the blank, but at first it's the game where you have to

listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call it a leave a message. It won't trouble late. Wait, wait, because that's 1 8 8 8 9 2 4 8 9 2 4. You can see as most weeks here, it's due to baker theater in downtown Chicago, where you can catch us on the road. For example, we will be in Austin, Texas on June 4th, and there are still a few tickets left. With more shows being announced soon, you want to go to NPR Presents.org for tickets and information

to all of those live events. Hi, you're on the way, wait, don't tell me. Hi, this is Bill Valderas and Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, where we've been a few times, what do you do there in the capital? Well, I own a data analytics consulting firm, but my family and I are also very active with golden retriever rescue, and we have two adopted golden that we have trained to be therapy dogs,

and we spread joy throughout central Ohio. Well, that's great. I've always wondered like what

specific training to therapy dogs have? Generally speaking, I have to do two things while you

“have to have strangers tell you you're beautiful, and you have to be willing to get hugged and”

kiss by strangers a lot. So those are the single qualifications. Oh, I could be a therapy dog. You don't have enough hair. I could be a therapy hairless company. So there. All right, well, welcome to the show, Bill. Bill Kurtz is going to read you three news related lyrics with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly and two of the lyrics, you'll be a winner. You ready to play? I'm ready to play. Here we go.

Here's your first lyric. Thought all tooth decay carries much gravity. Scanty flossing is no moral deprevity. So Dennis, please chill and put down that drill. We don't need to fill every cavity. Right, the near cavity, yes. The near tons of part of this week, because your dentist said you need a cavity filled. Doesn't mean you really do. No thanks, Doc. I actually like it when drinking cold water since searing bang, stabbing. It might fall. It turns out that many dentist recommend

filling cavities that can be treated with better dental hygiene. Some say they do this because they

“can charge more for a filling, but the truth is they just love drilling into your teeth.”

It's soothing for them. Well, I don't understand, because like a cavity is a hole.

Cavity is a hole, but here's the thing. New standards for dental care say that in the very

first stages of a cavity can be reversed with better hygiene. Right, better brushing. What your dentist recommends. Again, this is true. Actually depends on when they went to dental school. So a younger dentist with the latest standards might just give you medicated toothpaste, send your home. An older dentist will grab for the drill right away and a really old dentist will just tie that old tooth to the door now. Hi, hi, hi. My, here's the problem I always have. I keep

thinking like like a like a logical person. It's always a mistake because if you have a cavity, then you have a hole in your tooth. You do. And this suggests that somehow that hole will get filled in with just like medicated toothpaste, but that doesn't seem logical given the fact you've got eroded and ammo. Right. So you're, we're really giving this a lot of thought. Well, it's not that much thought. It's like, it's a hole, a hole get bigger. Yeah, that's the thought. But the hole's going to

get bigger. So they got to fill it in. Right. Otherwise, it will, as you say, get bigger. That's right. Absolutely, huh? Here's your next limer. While Luigi and Peach are not scoffing. What an awesome box to get sent off in. As you've laid down to rest, it is one final quest. Footboard stars, ones and coins on that. Yes, coffin. Congratulations for video game fans. Getting on in years. There's a new line of super Mario Brothers themed coffins that you can buy

for yourself or a loved one. They come in bright red, green, or pink. They can be customized with

You died as you lived wasting your entire life playing video games. Your entire lives. Exactly,

true. Here's your last limerick. Highland capital. Look fuzzy and snugly. And visitors pose with them smuggly. We need people to pass, not to stop in her race. So we breathe them to make them more ugly. Yes, a British farmer, sick and tired of influencers coming onto his land to take selfies with his beautiful cows, has developed a plan to stop it. He's going to breathe the cows to make them uglier. That is a pretty clever solution. But let's ask the big question

why was he previously breeding the cows to make them hot? I don't think I could tell the difference between an attractive cow and a less attractive cow. Well, there's also ugly cows that are sexy.

Like being attracted. Like right there's sexiness and then there's just conventional good looks.

“So this could really backfire. So are you suggesting that some cows just have sexy personalities?”

Well, just like some like Benicio de Torro is not conventionally handsome, but he's that's a lot of sex appeal. Like you could end up with a really, really like groundbreaking iconoclastic sexy cow. Or, or the farmer could just build a fence. So the influencers didn't come on there. That's true. But then we wouldn't be talking about it. I know. It's true. Bill, how did Bill do in our quiz? Bill was on top of it. He got all three very good

congratulations Bill. Well done. Thank you. Thank you so much for playing. Take care. Thanks. Have a good day. Bye bye. This week on Consider This. Every day Americans are feeling it more. A wartime economy. Energy prices in March went up over 10%. Energy flows into everything else that we buy. The big picture on inflation, housing, and prices that aren't coming down.

That's on Consider This. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Now it is time for our final game. Lightning Fill in the blank. Each of our players left 60 seconds in which to answer is many fill in the blank

“questions as they can. Each correct answer now with two points. Bill, can you give us the school?”

Stand back. Mo has five. Rock 10 is two. Harry has one.

All right, Harry, you're in third place so you're up first. The clock will start when I

begin your first question. Fill in the blank. After an outbreak in a cruise ship, global health agencies are racing to track people who have come in contact with blank virus. Hot to virus. Right. This week, CDC data showed that ER visits due to blank bites have surged in second bites. I'm going to give it to you tick bites. According to new polls, blanks approval rating has dropped below 35%. Trump, right? After facing backlash over their

new $9 cup of premium coffee, the CEO of Starbucks defended the drink saying blank, cheaper than gas. No, he said. That actually might be true. No, he defended their new $9 cup of coffee by saying at least it's not a $10 cup of coffee. On Wednesday, it was announced that gold and tempo, the winner of the blank will not run in the pre-kinesstakes. It's okay, Derby. Right, on Monday, the head of FIFA defended the high price of 2026 blank tickets. World cup. Right this week,

a zoo and Armenia assured concerned residents that the escape to zebra people were seeing running loose in the streets was just blank. A ghost. No, a donkey painted black and white. Residents of the Armenian capital of Yeravam were concerned that there had been an escape at the zoo, and they saw what looked like a zebra wandering around, but the zoo knew something was up

“when all of their animals were accounted for. And everybody who calm was like, hey, I think I saw”

your zebra near my house, but it's stripes were running. Bill, how did Harry do in our quits? Good. Five, right. Ten more points. Total of 11 puts him in the lead. There you go. All right. Rocks, you are up next, Phil, on the blank. On Thursday, intelligence officials said that Iran could withstand a U.S. blockade of the blank for months. The home was straight. Right, one, Wednesday, a judge unsealed blanks purported suicide note. Jeffrey Epstein. Right, on Wednesday,

NASA released 12,000 photos from the Artemis 2 mission to the blank. To the moon, right, according to new data blank prices have risen 50% since February. I'm going to say gas. Right, this week, I'm a marine biologist in Vancouver, rescued a blue heron who got its foot stuck in blank. In a lobster. No, close in an oyster. Ah! On Thursday, NASA said that the Titan rover may have accidentally brought fungus to blank. Mars. Yes, on Sunday, game stops,

this week, a man in Wisconsin had perfect timing when he blanked while teaching ACPR class.

“Oh, is this the guy that had a heart attack? Yes. And his class saved him with his head. Yes,”

he had a heart attack while teaching a class on CPR. Very good. The man who's really gunning for that teacher of the year award is the middle of teaching a class on CPR when he started suffering a heart attack. He did recover, but then he had to have 22 more heart attacks of the other kids in class got a chance. Bill, how did Roxanne do? Very well. 7 right, 14 more, 16 total. She's in the lead. There you are. All right. How many then does Moe need to win? 6 to win.

Nothing, Moe. Here we go. This is for the game. On Wednesday, media mogul blank passed away the age of 87. Ted Turner. Right. On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily restored access to the blank pill. The abortion. Yes. Due to the increased energy demand of data centers, Pennsylvania

“authorities are considering reactivating the nuclear plant at blank. Three mile island. Right. On Wednesday,”

plank announced his presidential library would open in June. Barack Obama. Right. According to clinical trials, Moderna's new mRNA-based blank shot is more effective than the traditional one. Uh, at coronavirus. No, they're flu shot this week. The UK version of late night sketch show blank

was renewed for a second season. SNL. Right. This week, a man in Scotland was hospitalized after

he accidentally drove his car into blank. Uh, just haggis come and feels. He dropped off. It dropped off. He dropped off. He dropped off. No. Not a peat bug. Not a haggis. He drove his car into a wall. Painted to look like the entrance to a tunnel. Oh. Oh. Oh. In the most loony tunes ass accident, all of a sudden is right. The Scottish driver drove directly into a wall because it was painted to look like the entrance to a tunnel. Emergency workers took into the hospital where doctors

are working hard to get the cartoon birds to stop circling. Belle did mode you well enough to win. So close. Five. Right. Ten more points. His 15 is one short of Roxanne, who's the winner. There you go. This shows up to win. In just a minute, our panelists were predict to now that they're coming back. What would be the

surprise? Hit toy found in serial boxes. But first, let me tell you all that wait wait don't

tell me. It's a production of NPR and WBEZ, Chicago, an association with urgent haircut production's Doug Burman benevolent overlord. Final of go-to-corresor Olympics, a public address announced for his Paul Friedman. Our ops manager is just a series of Ardach. Thanks to the staff in Kuhir at the Student Record Theatre, B.J. Leader Mincomposer, our theme, our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dronboss, and Lillian King.

Special thanks to the Blithe Robertson and Monica Hickey. Peter Gwynn is visiting the Pope. Our visual host is Emma Choi, technical direction is from Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller, a production manager as Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is the in Sherlock and the executive producer. A wait wait don't tell me his mic, Dan Ford.

“Now, pal, what are we going to find in our serial boxes? How are you coming to Bolu?”

Jesus on the cross. Rocks and Roberts. A little plastic Nobel Prize because all the kids really, really want one. And Mo Rocka. Just in time for the affordability crisis, glow in the dark food stamps. And if any of that shows up, we're going to have it right here on wait wait don't tell me. Thank you Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Harry Condemal, Mo Rock and Roberts.

Thank you for your fabulous audience here. It's a beautiful dinner. Downtown Chicago and Illinois. Thanks for all of you for listening wherever you might be. I'm Peter Segel. We'll see you next week. This is NPR. This week on Consider This. Every day Americans are feeling it more, a wartime economy.

Energy prices in March went up over 10%. Energy flows into everything else that we buy. The big picture on inflation, housing and prices that aren't coming down. That's on Consider This. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.