Wait Wait goes wild on spring break

Strait of Hormuz.

“They feel emboldened. This war that started with a call to replace the regime. Well, one”

Haminahe was replaced by another Haminahe.

The road ahead in Iran. This week, on Sources and Methods, the National Security Podcast for MenPR. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. For MenPR and nobody be easy Chicago. This is Wait Wait. Don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm the seven-time winner of the Fort Lodderdale Wet Blazer Contest. Bill Tervents. And here is your host at the Stutivaker Theatre in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago

with an eye-peaters. Say, "Go, thank you, Bill." Thanks, everybody. It is spring break. And just like we did in college, everyone on our show is taking the opportunity to stay home and catch up on our homework. Speak for yourself, Dweeb. I'm in a karaoke bar in Cabo. Absolutely lit onto Kila.

Singing "Chappel Row" at the top of my lung. Okay, fine. Well, Bill is having fun. The rest of us are reviewing our notes from the past year or so. Delaware, Lindo, may not have won an Oscar for his role in the movie centers, but I'm sure he was just as happy to join us back in January to talk about his amazing career.

Thank you. I'm such a big fan of yours. I feel like I've seen you in movies in TV for a very long time. But I don't really associate you with one role, and I was wondering,

“do other people recognize you mostly for one thing or another?”

One thing or another. Meaning different audience members have different references for me, based on what they've seen me do. There is not one part in particular.

That said, it has always occurred to me watching you in all kinds of different things

that your characters have a certain quality that they all share. And I actually heard you tell a story you were on stage quite recently with your good friend, Denzel Washington. And you told a story about how early on in your career you were approached by a guy on a bicycle, I think it was like you were getting far.

And that guy seemed to nail it, so I was wondering if you could tell that story to us. So it's okay to curse on this show, right? I think people get a sense. Go right ahead. We have beeps. So I was parking my car on Park Avenue.

This is many, many, many, many years ago in New York City. And a bicycle mess in your past me, young African American gentleman. He stopped back.

“His bike up came to me and said, hey man, you got actor, right?”

And I said, yeah, brother, yes I am. And he said, you know what I, you know what I did about you in the movies, man? And I said, what a brother. He said, no, nobody have a f*** with you in the movies, bro. And that, am I right? Guys, yes.

And I've explained Denzel. For me, I interpreted that as him having a certain kind of respect for whatever it is he had seen me do. Yeah. As we have mentioned, you and Denzel know each other for years.

And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place.

And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place.

And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place.

And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place. And we have a lot of people who are in the same place.

And we have a lot of people who are in the same place.

So when I first made a little bit of money as an actor,

the thing that gave me the most joy was to be able to send money to my mom. As proof. Thank you. As proof that not only was I gayfully employed, but I was sufficiently gayfully employed that I could send her some money.

And I would like to adopt you. [ Laughter ] Your mother, if I'm not mistaken, was a Jamaican immigrant to Great Britain. It's correct. First of all.

So I'm assuming like all immigrant mothers, she wanted you to make a nice living. Like become a doctor, a lawyer, something respectable. I might have been a poor woman. Apparently, you know, when I was two and a half,

I set up when I grew up, I want to be a doctor.

And my mom never let me forget that.

Right? [ Laughter ] You promised me. And what's amazing, another story I learned about you, is that you caught the acting bug at the age of five.

I did. I did. You've done your homework. Yeah, as a result of being in the Nativity plant, in my elementary, my primary school, that is correct. Yes.

“With character in the Nativity chain, did you plug?”

The Black King, bro. [ Laughter ] [ Laughter ] [ Laughter ] I want to talk about sinners, which is an amazing film

one of the biggest movies of last year, which will hopefully reap a lot of awards. This is a movie, again, filled with music. Brilliant music. Brilliant music.

And you play a musician. Yeah.

A singer and piano player.

Did you have to learn? Was that talent you brought to the table? When you walked on set? No, I received a lot of instruction. I had one, two, three brilliant musicians,

a New Orleans bass musicians who worked with me on my relationship to the keyboard. Right. And I also had instruction on the heart of the harmonica. So I had a lot of instruction.

Yeah. Do you still play, now that the movie is all wrapped into the past? No. I have God bless him. The producers gave me the one of the keyboards. I've been so busy, frankly.

I haven't had a chance to get back to it. I don't know, man, if you don't practice, you may not. Absolutely. Yeah, I know. It's true.

I want to ask you this before we move to our game, which is, we understand that one of your legacies as your youth in Britain is that you were a big fan of soccer. I am. Man you, right?

All day long. All day long. You're a pretty prominent guy. Has the team honored you? Have they had you there?

I mean, they have a lot of fans. Man, they have not and give them a call. I will. Only I know.

“Are you then very excited for the upcoming World Cup?”

I am. Yeah. I've been to the AM. Yeah. Very, very much.

So I'm not sure. I don't have tickets yet. Anybody in the audience who has influence, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really excited.

I'm really excited. Yeah. It's a sad thing. When you someone like you has to ask us. Yeah, right.

Do you have any divided loyalty? You grew up in England. You live here. Is where your career has been? Are you going to be written?

You know, you're written? Actually, that's a really good question. And I would say the answer. Do I have divided loyalty? I would say I'd like to see the English team do well.

I'd like to see the American team do well. So I guess I've got my feet in both sides of the fence there. Okay. You're going to be torn if it comes down to those two teams. It will not.

Yeah, I was not to say it now. No way. It's not going to happen, man. No, it's not. I'm hardly a fan.

Even I know that is not going to happen. Not going to happen. No. Well, Delroy Lindo, it is a pleasure to talk to you. And we have invited you here today to play a game.

And we are calling it, "Cinners meet the saints." So you star in the movie "Cinners" as said. So we thought we'd ask you today three questions about saints. Specifically, the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. Which, if you're not a fan in this last season,

2025 improved on the prior years, five and 12 record, by going 6 and 11. So if you answer two or three questions correctly, you will win our prize. One of our listeners, the voice of anyone from our show,

they might like on their voice mail. Bill, who is the great Delroy Lindo playing for? Kevin Harman of Detroit, Michigan.

Here's your first question.

The saints have been playing in the NFL since 1967, and for the first few decades, they weren't very good. After a one and 15 season in 1980,

“disappointed fans in New Orleans started calling them what?”

A, the New Orleans A, B, the New Orleans. The New Orleans Taints. We'll see the Houston Saints. I'm going to say the New Orleans Taints. I wish it were, but it was the New Orleans Aints.

I'm afraid. They took the S off, New Orleans Aints. They ate very good. Here's your next question.

The Saints are credited with an innovation in pro football. What was it?

“A, they were the first team to hire a choreographer for their end-to-zone dancers.”

B, they were the first team to have a fan in the stands

where a paper bag over his head from embarrassment, or C, they were the first team to make uniform pants tighter to increase fan appeal. I'm not allowed to ask for the right answer from somebody in the audience. You are welcome to pull the audience, but the audience is yelling B.

I'm going with D also. That is B, yes. The man. First to put a bag on his head out of embarrassment while watching a football game was named Mike Dilbert.

He was a Saints fan and sometimes broadcaster. He was the first to do it, but hundreds soon followed. Here's your last question. You get this right. You win it all for one of our listeners.

The Saints, at one point, seemed to have a rather unlikely fan who wasn't A, Pope Francis, who regularly accidentally tagged the team

while trying to tweet about the other kind of Saints.

B, a very popular, burlesque dancer in Nola,

“who changed her name to the nude or leans saint.”

Or C, a man who remained loyal to the team despite proposing to three different women on the jumbo tron on three different occasions and getting rejected by all of them. The Pope. The Pope is right.

Yes, Pope Francis. Without man, he voted to the Catholic Saints, but not very good at Twitter. He kept tagging the new or leans saints whenever he would praise the Saints of the Catholic Church.

Bill, how did Delroy Lindo do in our quiz? Two out of three is a winner, which proves, don't have to fill one. [ Applause ] [ Music ]

When we come back, Paula Poundstone gets called out by our celebrity guest and we are joined by the People's Princess himself. That's when we return with more of what we don't tell me from NPR. [ Music ] From NPR and WBEs, he should go, this is weight weight.

Don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Curtis and here is your host at these two to make her theater and the fine arts building in Chicago. Peters, say go. Thank you, Bell.

Thanks everybody. So, like I said, we are on spring break, and we are spending the time reviewing our past work, just in case anybody gives us a pop quiz on it. If that happens, I'll just sit next to you

and copy your answers. No. [ Laughter ] I hope you get tested on our conversation with Ray Seehorn, the star of Better Call Saul, and Pluribus,

because I have practically got it memorized anyway. What can I say? I'm a fan. So, much so, in fact, Peter Esker, if it was true that in Better Call Saul,

she went from being a supporting player to a star because creator Vince Gilligan liked her so much. Well, I mean, I don't know all of the inner workings of it. I do know that they told me after the fact that they weren't sure how long I would be there if I would just end up being,

you know, the one that got away to Jimmy or some, you know, mythological thing that he wished he had risen to. I do think they enjoyed my performance, but I also think they realized it was a very good storytelling tool. Right.

You could have just admitted the sucking up, but that also was a lovely story. Better Call Saul, people who don't know, was this prequel to Breaking Bad, and your character Kim Wexler is not in Breaking Bad,

so like every other fan of Better Call Saul,

“I was terrified every episode that you were going to get killed, right?”

I was was I. Well, that was the question. Because I wondered, was it like in the sopranos where like every actor famously would open the script that week, wondering if like that was their number could come up?

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I don't think of the Game of Thrones people haven't even worked. Yeah, sure. But yeah, you will be patched my good friend Patrick Fabian,

and I would just, the first couple of seasons I would say,

we would get our scripts and just call each other, flipping through and just go, I'm not doing it! [laughter] And he didn't tell me that he knew he was going to die in that last season.

I got surprised reading the script, and we all had bought in Patrick, and I lived together for most of the seasons of shooting, and I ran upstairs and was like, "I can't believe you kept us from me." And he didn't even kept it from his wife who watched it.

Really? I didn't. What the air it was like, what? Yeah. This isn't my situation, or it doesn't sound like kids,

but I can't imagine being in a marriage where you're like, "How does she react when she sees that?"

[laughter]

“Because watching to see if there's like an unconscious grin.”

Did you just giggle? [laughter]

We have to talk about clubists, which I love,

and I'm just so excited, and every episode comes. One of the things-- Thank you. I hear Paula won't watch it. Yeah.

It's not that I won't watch it. [laughter] Listen, I love race you weren't to deaf, and I would watch anything. I would watch a cleaning product commercial with you,

but I don't know how to do streaming or any kind of paid television. So I watched a better call, saw, so many times, that I know so much more about it than what any of you are saying, because I watched it on DVD.

[laughter] So if it doesn't come out on DVD, or there's not like a puppet show version of it, I don't. [laughter]

I'm going to buy you an Apple TV, and then paint it to look like a VCR. [laughter] Oh, it could also come out on VHS. Oh, Ray, because I have a V--

I still have a VCR.

“I was just with Vince this morning doing an interview,”

and I told him I was coming out. He says hi, he also loves this show. And literally said Paula, he's going to find out if there's a way for us to make the HHS tapes of the show. Oh, thank you.

[laughter] And it isn't being a huge fan of yours. I respect you immensely because you spent a lot of times in the trenches in theater and doing what work you could. And I wondered if you knew at this juncture

what your first listed credit

on IMDB.com is. What does IMDB say? IMDB says your first credit as a professional actor was playing the tutorial sorceress in the magic the gathering video game.

[laughter] That was a very early job, yes. Yes. Yes. And in the original game, in the original light,

it was software that you of the game of the car game. But it came with a tutorial, and on the back of the box, it would be like a teeny tiny window on your screen. It would be the tutorial about how to navigate through the game.

And me and an actually read you, we were playing sorcerer and sorceress.

“And it was so low budget that they didn't have shoes,”

but they wanted us to look like we were wearing kind of gladiator sorcerer boots or whatever. So we're just wearing tube socks with electrical tape in Chris Cross fashion. Wow.

[laughter] Yes, so if you look carefully at gladiator, that's what Russell Crowe was. That was great. On YouTube, you can watch the whole thing as I did.

If you are a race, you aren't complete us. It's out there for you. [laughter] Well, raceyhorn, it is such a joy to talk to you, and we have, in fact, asked you here to play a game.

We are calling it this time. It's Chris Cross. Carol. [laughter] So as everybody on earth, in pluribus knows,

your character's name is Carol. So we thought given the season, we'd ask you about Christmas Carols. Answer two or three questions. You want our prize, one of our listeners,

the voice of anyone. They might choose giving holiday greetings on their voice man. So Bill, who is raceyhorn playing for? Alex Johnson of Seattle. Washington.

All right. First question. Just this year, a famous person tried to put their own trademark on a new Christmas Carol. Was it a Tyra Banks song Santa Smyse?

Bead Wayne, the Rock Johnson's, can you smell what Santa is cooking? [laughter] Or see, Rick Astlies,

I'm never gonna give you gifts.

[laughter] Okay. I'm going with it. You're going with a Tyra Banks song. Yes.

Santa Smyse, you're right. [bell dings] Wow. [laughter] Name.

[applause] Name by the Washington Post is one of the five worst Christmas carols of the year. So, all right. That was very good.

An instinctual. Very good. All right. Next question. In 1953, a child singer named Gaila Peevy recorded and released a song

called "I Want a Hip-A Potomus For Christmas." Big hit. What was the result? A, the response to the song was so negative, so eventually became a nun and took a vow of silence.

[laughter] B, stuffed hippos were going in the black market for $5,000 in today's money, or C, somebody actually gave her a hippo. I think C. You're right.

It was C. Yes. [applause] There's a huge hit. [applause] She sang in the Ed Sullivan Show and somebody gave her a hippo,

and she eventually donated said hippo to the Oklahoma City Zoo. Okay. You're being perfect to us as you have been in all things. Here's your last question. John Denver put out a Christmas album once, Rocky Mountain Christmas,

which included which of these less than Mary Christmas songs. A, please daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas. [laughter] B, my gift for you is my love parentheses,

[laughter] Or C, poisoned by the mistletoe. [laughter] Wow. Oh, oh.

Oh, my egg. You're doing it with egg. Again, please daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas. You're right again. [laughter]

That is. She's got any impressive. Yeah. I told many people that are Caroling should ask that John Denver song. [laughter]

You should get a drink.

“I think it'll bring some issues to the forefront.”

I think it's good. I think honesty is what we need. Bill, how did Ray C, horned to her quiz? She was perfect. She got him all right. Ray C, horned is nominated for a Golden Globe

for her performance in Plorobus.

I am betting the first of many session on the motion.

We can see that on Apple TV now. It's amazing. Don't need a word about it. Watch it. Ray C, horned.

Thank you so much for being with us on Whitway. Don't tell me. We're such big hands. Thank you. This is a dream come true.

Thank you. It was for the show. Any second round of your vote show. Take care, bud. Love you, rag.

[music playing] [music playing] [music playing]

“Everybody loves it when their friends do well, right?”

Which is why we were so happy when our friend Andy Richter had an amazing run on the most recent season of Dancing With The Stars. And we were even happier, but Andy joined us live on stage in Phoenix in December. We were delighted to see our friend Andy Richter on this season of Dancing With The Stars in which he inspired a whole lot of supporters online to call themselves "Thank you."

Sandies? He and his dance partner Emma Slater lasted far longer than most expected into the competition with Andy being dubbed by the judges "The People's Princess." We are delighted her highness could join us here on stage in Phoenix. Andy Richter, welcome back to Whitway, Don't Tell me. Thank you, thank you.

So, and I should say, it wasn't the judges. It wasn't the judges. It was just somebody online started calling me "The People's Princess." Okay. Yeah, which is incredibly flattering.

Yeah, I'm really hoping for a TR effort Chris. Why not? So, I have to ask, do you dance with the stars have been around for a while?

Did you always want it to be on it?

No, quite the opposite. It always seemed like a terrifying prospect. And then I didn't work very much for a little while. And it seemed kind of a good idea. Did you seek them out, did they call me?

No, no, I got it. It was way back in April.

“I got an email from my agent saying, "They've offered you this."”

And I've told this before. My first instinct was, "Say no and don't tell my wife that they asked." Right. Because, you know, and then a minute later, I felt like, "I have to do this."

And so I said, "Yes." And then, as it got closer, I just thought, "Oh, I've made a terrible mistake." Tell me about your dance experience and expertise before this all began. I'll just tell it to you in an anecdote

that my wife reminded me of when I said yes to dancing with the stars. For our wedding, my only requirement for our dance was that the song would be the shortest one possible. Right. Because I just, I wasn't comfortable.

I mean, I can dance. So, what was the song with the song? The song was like the boot up tone from Microsoft Windows. Yeah, it was just, it was my ringtone. Yeah.

And so, what was the preparation? So, like, you show up, I've been to the gym. I've been doing my cardio. Yeah. You start dancing.

You start being taught a routine. Do you get assigned a partner in your case? Yes, Emma. I was lucky enough to get emissed later who is an angel and really an amazingly talented person.

An amazing choreographer. She understood me. Right. Because I don't enjoy being pushed. Right.

You know, like, at the hard line kind of thing, I just say, "If this, goodbye." So, I need to be treated. And also, she's very fun. And she also, the part of her genius,

was that she said, "Oh, and by the way, every day we're going to make two or three TikToks." And I, very quickly, she would point and say, "Look how many views this guy." And I'd be like, "One point three million."

Right. Like, "That's what."

And this is that number has never been connected

to me other than for taxation purposes. I watched a lot of your dances. And I'm saying this with complete love and respect as speaking as a man, that for good reason has not danced in public for 25 years.

But it kind of seemed like your job was to stand still and watch with amazement while your partner did amazing dance moves sort of around you. I won't get it. I won't get it.

I won't get it. I won't get it. Don't let him do you like that. But, yeah. But, but, but, and he was the charming part.

Yeah. As you watched her. Yeah, yeah. No, no. You make it sound like, I mean, if you weren't tired.

Yeah. I moved from one point to the other.

“And there was footwork that I had to remember.”

Really? Yeah. Yes. Yes. I learned to chacha, a fox trot.

You know, I pulled off a fox trot. Yeah. And it's thank you. Thank you. And by the end, too, I was with each new week's dance.

I would learn it in one rehearsal. It was like, I want to have the ability to do that. Yeah. I can remember. Wow.

Yeah. There's like, thank you. I tried to emulate the real dancers. Because I would do the dance that we were doing that week. And think, I really nailed that one.

Yeah. I really got it. And then we would look, because we'd record it on our phones. And I'd look at it on the phone. I'm like, look at that old man stomping around.

Waiting at arms. Yeah.

“I would try to, I tried, you know, in different times,”

to sort of emulate the sort of more sort of fluid movements. And it's, you know, I was a rhino in a gazelle context. Yes.

I'm never going to be a gazelle.

There you go. The people's princess, well, Andy Richter, it is always such a pleasure to have you on our show. And as always, we'd like you to play a game that this time, we are calling, got a date.

So giving you performance on dancing with the stars, we thought we'd ask you about somebody who was really good at dancing. Gene Kelly. Answer two or three questions about the legendary song and dance man. And you will win a prize for one of our listeners.

Also, who is Andy Richter playing for this time? Ferma and Barry Kittness of Prescott, Arizona. Nice. Not far from local. All right.

Ready? Here's your first question. Gene Kelly went from being a dance instructor in Pittsburgh to one of the biggest movie stars of all time. What was among his many secrets of success? A) custom made motorized tap shoes.

B) pants that were one size to small to accentuate his butt. Or C) whatever the music you heard watching him on screen on set.

He was always dancing to the same song home on the range.

I think it's the butt pants. You're right. You never seen him. You know that's true. Not only did he have his pants made a little tight.

He would sometimes make sure his male co-stars pants were a little loose. Okay. Kelly went on after his own career on screen to be a director. He directed the movie "Hello Dolly"

and the star of that film Michael Crawford said that he got the part after Kelly said which of these to him. Was it A? You remind me of a young me before I knew how to dance. B) We can shoot somebody with talent from the waist down and edit it in.

Or C) We're looking for an attractive idiot.

“My wife thinks you're attractive and I think you're an idiot.”

Boy. I think maybe the third one. The third one. Yeah, about the wife. You're right.

You know this business. You know these people. That's exactly what he said. And he has kind of an attractive idiot in the film. So it works out.

All right. Last question you can be perfect here. Jean Kelly and his wife hosted these massive parties for his famous friends in Beverly Hills. And a mainstay of those parties was what? Kelly's toe tap and punch, which was just as it turned out.

Green alcohol and red food coloring.

Be Kelly challenging any guest there for the first time to a dance off.

Or see a cutthroat version of charades that could last for 24 hours straight. It's got to be the charade. It is the charade, man. The man has been doing his Hollywood parties. 24 hours.

Or the charade. Or the charade. Sometimes it was called it was known as the game. Yeah. We're going to play the game.

Wow. Yeah. True story. Also, how did Andy Richter do in our quiz? He danced his way to a perfect score.

Three out of three. You did? Thank you. There you go. Andy Richter was the people's princess on this year's run of dancing with the stars.

He is the host of the three questions with Andy Richter podcast. Which airs Mondays on the serious XM app or wherever you might get your podcast. Please give it up to our friend Andy Richter. Thank you. Andy Richter.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When we come back, our panelists go all out to earn their meet your pay checks and John M. Shoot, the director of the Wicked Movies explains how it really isn't easy being green.

That's when we come back with more weight weight don't tell me from NPO. From NPR and WBEs, he should talk. This is weight weight don't tell me the NPR news quiz.

Peter Segel. Thank you, Bell. So we are not the only ones enjoying a deserved spring break. So are our panelists.

“Do you know how hard it is to appear regularly on a quiz about the world?”

Sometimes for years and still never seen to know the answers to the questions?

Here's some proof. Joyow. Joyow, the consumer electronics show was this week. That's the big show where all the tech people bring out their cool new tech products for people. And one new gadget caught our attention.

It's called the eye polish. It's the name of the device. What is the eye polish? The eye polish. It doesn't polish things.

It takes the place of a kind of polish. Like for bald men's heads? No. No one cares about that. Maybe like you'd be saying to your boyfriend.

Hold on before we go out. Let me download my French manicure. It's for nail? Yes, it's digital nail polish. So eye polish, the product is digital press on nails.

You never have to paint them.

They display up to 300 colors just with the push of a button. So pretty. Exactly. Basically little digital screens, little digital panels. The shape like fingernails that light up and whatever color you choose.

And someone who bites my nails and I do. I think it would really help it. If every time I did it, I was electrocuted. It's just, you know, when you hear about like that's the product that's catching people's eyes. And that's the great thing that's coming out of the world of technology.

It's hard to believe that the international world rules-based order is on its way out. It's just, it's like, if you read that in the paper, like if that was the headline,

“it just seems like, how can we even be thinking about that?”

Yeah, so everything else is going on. We'll be living in this dystopian or wellian house gate. Yes. But we will have like light brights on our fingernails. Exactly.

What's the paper? The panel is this week. We read a term in the news that was new to us. And you each get one guess at what it means. What are clanker balls, Petergrams?

Clanker balls? Those things in the offices that you clank and they knock into each other. That's the first thing I thought. That's the first thing I thought. Why?

What are the other implications? Joyo, what do you think clanker balls means? The type of party's Trump's going to have in the ballroom? Rachel, where'd your mind go with it? I don't want to say right away.

But clanker is AI. Usually a term for AI. You said right? And like, close. Okay.

Yeah, no, you're close. But that's not. I'll tell you. There. Oh, can I guess again?

Is it the things that go on the back of a truck? Those are, that's also a really good guess. But those are truck nuts. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, sorry.

Good night. Chuck nuts with a Z. So, okay. Clanker balls are balls that hang above a road before a low bridge to war and trucks that are going to crash.

So if any of you guessed that, you're right. But you're also boring. Like Peter. Did something happen this week?

“I think what happened this week is that the weight weight don't tell me why”

writers are like, oh my god, you guys have your root of Clanker balls. I think that's what happened this week. I'm confused though. They're hanging from the bridge that they're like right in front of the bridge. Yeah, so they're like a block before some amount of space before the bridge.

So then you, they're called Clanker balls because they're engineered to let out a loud clank when something crashes into them. Which differs from the sound you hear when something crashes into regular balls. Crying. Yeah.

There's no exit after the Clanker balls. They just let you know you're about to die. I think you're about to experience a world of pain. No, I guess there's like enough room for you to break and then turn around or whatever. Sounds like standard highway behavior.

Yeah. Oops. But to your point Rachel earlier, like a while back on this show, we actually talked about how Clanker is a derogatory slurre term for robots, which would suggest another meaning for Clanker balls.

And if you think the idea of those Clanker balls as absurd,

you've never taken a look under R2D2.

And my right ladies. So we'll say Clanker would a hard R?

Paula, a question for you. It is spring cleaning season, but this week real simple magazine warn that when you're decluttering, you should not be tempted to declutter. What? Well, money.

[ Laughter ] Yeah, do you have a hint from me, Peter?

“I do. I mean, you need to get this around because you've run out at home.”

You can't ask someone to hand you some under the stall divider. Oh, toilet paper. Do we not get rid of all toilet paper? Get rid of your toilet paper, apparently enough people are doing that, that real simple had to tell you not to.

That's absurd. Why would anyone get rid of toilet paper? Exactly. I mean, if it's used, that's different. [ Laughter ] That's ridiculous.

Apparently this is a problem enough. They declared you should not get rid of your toilet paper. This is true now. It's always been true. That's why an ancient Egypt, when someone died,

they would wrap that person in their leftovers. [ Laughter ] It sounds like something that Costco's pushing. Really? Ah, yeah.

Do people get to an age where they don't use toilet paper anymore? [ Laughter ] I mean, I mean, I'd say, like, oh, my deathbed. I might roll over to somebody and say, you can get rid of that toilet paper now. [ Laughter ]

[ Music ]

Finally, I grew up on movie musicals, a form that died out years ago

when everyone realized that in real life, people don't just burst into song. So I was grateful to talk to John M. Chu, director of "In the Heights" and the two wicked movies who might have single-handedly revived the genre. But he didn't grow up singing in dancing. Instead, he worked in his family's legend there.

He Chinese restaurant in the Bay Area. Fifty-six years later, my dad's still there. He's 82. He's called Chef Chuse. And he's there all the time. He loves to work. And he loves to eat.

Wow, yeah. And were you ever tempted to go into that business? Never. Not once. Not even a little bit. I would, you know, the restaurant being raised in a restaurant. It's great because it's a house of stories.

Everyone's telling stories to my dad, my dad's telling stories to them about me. And it's the people in that restaurant because it wasn't in Palo Alto and Silicon Valley. That people from Adobe gave me software to edit with. Gave me cameras, gave me computers, so it was a very beautiful story. Wow.

“Yeah, that's what I meant that you were identified pretty early as somebody with a flare.”

Yeah, so you went to film school and you made a short film which got a lot of attention. And I was able to find the trailer for it online. Oh, man. And it's called when the kids are away, right? Yes.

And if I understood correctly because it's just the trailer, the idea is little kid, leaves her school with all his friends leaving for school, leaving their house wife, mothers, they're all sort of traditional housewives. And as soon as they're gone, the housewives break up into these fabulous big choreographed musical numbers.

Yes. What they do when the kids are away. And I watch this and I'm like, oh my god, it was true. But the twist of the, the twist of the movie is at the end. I'm just going to ruin it for people with it.

The end because you'll never find it.

The end of it is that this kid gets found and he starts to share his moves. He thinks he's in trouble, but he shares his moves. And he actually introduces new moves to them. And we find out that he's actually little Michael Jackson. And that's the passing on of the old musical to the new musical because from then on,

he knows how to do that. Wow. I'm just thinking. It's very deep. Yeah.

It was very deep. You were a dancer. You studied tap dance for a long time, right? I did. I mean, I was forced to tap with my sister because my mom didn't, I was in the car.

Would you take all of her sisters to different dance things? So I did tap with my sister. I didn't want any other people in our class. So me and my sister did our local talent show or school talent show every year. Wow.

Were you any good? If by tapping well, you mean like glitter and gloves. And I did this one. Me and my shadow with my sister. And we got in a fight right before we're doing in front of our school.

And my mom brought in the wood panels. And my my sister and I are fighting. And so she's she's really shy. And I don't sing along with her. So she had to sing in number of whole our whole school by herself.

And I'm in this big black unitarred as her shadow. And so I have a little bit of doubts. Really? I actually still feel very guilty about that.

And she's never seen any movie you've ever done because she's still mad.

So you grew up on musicals.

“And so you must have been excited when you got to direct the movie version of”

Probably the biggest musical in the last 20 years, right? Wicked? Yeah, I was like I saw I saw wicked before was ever on Broadway. When it was at San Francisco because we had season tickets.

I was at USC at the time. She said come watch. Stephen Schwartz is new musical. So I got to watch it sort of as patient zero before anyone knew anything about it. I just I just have to ask the personal reasons when you were watching wicked.

Were there any middle aged man in the audience? Yeah.

So I have to ask you about this, especially with the first installment.

Wicked. There were so many marketing tie-ins. There was a wicked branded crox. Wicked mac and cheese cups. Wicked Barbies.

Wicked Stanley cups. And wicked builder bears. I'm assuming you own all of them. Yep. Yep.

Now I know who sponsors this show.

“Would you have a favorite eye out of those that they threw at you?”

Listen, the swiffer is pretty cool when you go to Target and you see the helpful part and the link. I mean, it's not a broomstick. It's like, you know, it's close enough. Wicked swiffer is what it makes sense. It's like, no.

That's a good way to get your kid to claim the house. Yeah. I'm not a fool. I'm a fool. I'm a fool.

I got one more question. So I watched before Wicked some years ago, you made not one but two movies with Justin Bieber.

And I'm watching the second one.

I had to. It's one that's leaving Netflix soon. And here's the thing. You designed the concert in addition to filming the movie of the concert. And including, which I thought was intensely cool, Justin's entrance into the concert.

And which he is, he flies in for shadowing the alphabet. Right? With these enormous wings. And I was wondering, speaking to you as a creative genius, if you have any idea that how I can improve my entrance. Because I just kind of walk out.

You need the blazers. Yes. And you need your wings. You know, his wings were made of all the, all his things that he actually knows how to do. It's built of all the things that have carried him.

You know, again, a very deep, guys. Wow. So my wings, all the things that got me here would be standardized tests and anti-depressants. I could see it. John, it is a pleasure to talk to you.

We have invited you here today to play a game we're calling. Wicked goods. Since you directed Wicked for good, we thought we'd ask you about a famously wicked, good place. Boston Massachusetts.

“We're, by the way, now that I think of it, Wicked Swiffer sounds like something they'd say.”

Wicked Swiffer. Anyway, answer two to three questions correctly. You'll win our prize phone of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose in their voice mail. Bill, who is John Chu playing for? Joe Robbins of Seattle, Washington.

All right. You ready to do this? All right. Go, Joe. I got you.

Okay, man. There we go. There we go. Just a first question. Scientists have tried to study what makes people from Boston become people from Boston.

And one actual study discovered which of these findings. A, Bostonian skulls are 5% thicker than the average Americans. How do they fit? 15% of Boston toddlers drink coffee. Or see all Boston's school districts have a unit on how to climb light poles.

Oh, my God.

“The one that is like crazy enough, but not too crazy would be the coffee bee.”

You're right, John. That's what? Yes. Yes. Here we go.

The next question. Boston sports fans are known for their enthusiasm.

During the parade to celebrate the new England Patriots first Super Bowl win in

2002. What happened? A, the crowd started chanting Yankees suck. Even though they play baseball, B, three fans were arrested for trying to throw beer bottles right into the hood of Bill Belicex sweatshirt.

Or C, fans crowd served Tom Brady all the way from his duckboat to a nearby bar. I'm going to go A. You're right. That's what they did. That's what I would do.

That's easy fun. Yeah, and he sucks. I got to say it. I saw it on TV. It was wicked, Swiffer.

Here's your next question. Earlier this month, Boston's WBZ news. I team launched an investigative report after a man had something he'd been saving to pass on to his kids. Ripped away from him.

Heartlessly. What did that man lose? Ripped away. Ripped away from him. I'm just going to go with my, what I think it's just the most logical I'll go see.

That's what it was.

“He accumulated 93,000 rewards points of Duncan.”

He was hoarding him to hand out to his children.

This is only legacy. And then Duncan changed the rules and they vanished. Isn't that sad? He had it, actually. Well, if we had a great partnership with Duncan for, for, uh, we'd get for good.

We'd get these little munchkin tins. It was great. Swiffered has to exist. Of course. Munchkins.

Yeah, that's right there.

“Can you talk to them about this guy's points?”

I think we should talk to them. Come on. Come on. Don't know if you're out there. Help this guy out.

Bill, how did John Chew do in our quiz? Three right answers is wickedly good. You look awesome. Look at Awesome. Look at Awesome.

John M. Chew is the award-winning director of the Wicked Movies.

You can stream wicked for good. Now John M. Chew. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I cry like a baby. Take care.

“That's it for our own Spring Break Edition.”

We'll be back next week. Tanned and nursing a hangover. But first, wait wait. Don't tell me he's a production of NPR and WB easy. Chicago and association with urgent haircut productions.

Doug Burman, benevolment overlord. Phillip Cagotica writes our lyrics. Our public address and answer is Paul Friedman. BJ leaderman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dormboss, and Lily and King.

Special thanks to Monica Hickey. Peter Grain is the only body will do shots off of. Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Technical directors from Warner White or CFO. Our production manager is Robert Nus.

Our senior producers in Sherlock and the executive producer. Wait wait don't tell me. This is Mike Danford. Thanks to everybody you heard on our show this week. All our panelists, our guests, our guests, scorekeeper,

Alzo Slade and of course, Phil Curtis. Thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Segal. See you next week. This is NPR.