We fold our phones and get roasted by Leslie Jones

0:00On the next through line from NPR, let's listen to Josh Reddick's new walk-ups on. Whether you love it or you hate it, walk-up music has become a huge part of Major League Baseball. The need to secure the attention of the fans is relentless. I thought am I hearing things? I mean, I realize everybody's singing along. Listen to NPR's through line in the NPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR and WB Easy Chicago, this is Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me. The NPR news quiz, I'm Al Goh Slade. And even if I wasn't the official judge and scorekeeper, I'd still be judging all of you. Just for the love of the game. And here's your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sego. Thank you, Al Goh. Thank you, everybody. Thank you all so very much. I share your enthusiasm because we do have a great share for you lined up this week.

1:02But first, Labor Day has come and gone, summer is over. And we just want to say congrats to all the moms and dads out there who just got your kids back into school. Parents, you can go back to day drinking. And teachers, you can go back to night drinking. Later on, SNL great and comedian Leslie Jones will be playing our games. But first, it's your turn. If you'd like to play the numbers, one, triple, eight, weight, weight. That's one, 888, 924, 8924. That's welcome, my first listener contestant. Hi, you're on Weight, Don't Tell Me. Hi, this is Thumbway from Nashville, Tennessee. Dudley, how great. I have met a few people named Dudley in my life, but I like to all of them. What do you do there? I am a research fellow at El Loco University studying the autoimmune response and type on diabetes. Wow. Huge diabetes fans in the audience. Yeah, everything loves that one. You know, that's great.

2:02Well, Dudley, welcome to the show. Let me introduce you to our panel. First up, it's a comedian and host of the podcast, Fake the Nation. You can see in the new season of hazardous history with Henry Winkler on Hulu, it's Nagine Farsad. Hey. Hi, Nibin. Hi. Next, an actor and writer who can be seen in the acclaimed improv show, Two Square at UCB New York on September 23rd, it's Peter Gross. Hi, Dudley. Hi, Peter. And, Nate King, her debut on our panel this week, you have seen her on the Netflix as a joke festival, and she'll be headlining the New York Comedy Festival later this year. Please welcome, Serrani We're a Saker Rock. Hey. How you doing? Don't mess this up for me. Dudley, you're going to play Who's Al's O This Time? Al's O Slade is going to read you three quotations from this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain two of them, you will win our prize. Any voice from our show, you might choose for your voice mail. You ready to go?

3:03I'll do my best. Here is your first quote. It's from a review of a new gadget that was unveiled with much fanfare this week. I can't say I've ever wanted to fold my phone in half. That was the independent newspaper talking about the new foldable phone, unveiled by whom this week? Well, that'd be Apple. It would be Apple, yes, very good, Dudley. On Wednesday, Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, their new $2,000 foldable phone. Although we will remind you, any iPhone is foldable if you try hard. Yeah, all you need is $800 or $1,000 for a new one. Exactly. I mean, there are a lot of advantages to a foldable phone. For example, it makes dramatically hanging up on someone much more satisfying. Oh, yeah. You're holding out your phone out. It's unfolded. You go, I said, good day, sir. And then you slam it closed, right? Wait, so does that mean when you're taking phone calls, you have this just like heaping thing against your ear?

4:05Yeah. Right, you're holding like a place mat next to your head. You're just like this. This is a mat. You're putting like a, yeah, like you're just, it's a full laptop against your ear. Like that's awkward. But I guess, yeah, you can do a dramatic call ending. The dramatic call ending would be great if they were like, this is why we're doing it. We just found that people aren't hanging up our phones dramatically. If someone did that to me, I called them right back and asked them, did you just fold your phone? Yeah. Just fold your phone on me. You don't hear you folding your phone. It's, you know, it's a little bit like everything old is new again. Like the way that we all had flip phones, you know, like 10, not even that many years ago. Like they made us not have flip phones and now they're making us have flip phones again. It's like when there's commercials on streamers and you're like, I seem to remember television. Yes. The iPhone 20 is going to be like a crank phone. Yeah. And it'll come with its own pigeon to deliver your message. Now the other thing that Apple announced, less fanfare, but actually I think much more important is this new feature on the Apple Watch

5:10called live rewind. Basically, your watch will be constantly recording everything it hears. So if you miss something that somebody says, your watch will show you a transcript for the last 15 seconds. Oh, it's a transcript like on the watch. Exactly. So I don't just have to hear my parents say they're not proud of me. I can read it. We can read it. Yeah. Right. This is going to be so user-failing. It's surveillance and reading. So you know, like someone at Apple was like, have you ever wanted to like live with a court stenographer? How's your chance? Your next quote, Dudley, is someone responding to a new incentive to vote Republican offered by Donald Trump this week. I'm holding out for $25,000. A voter was negotiating up after Trump offered every American how much this week if they voted for Republicans. Would that be $5,000? $5,000.

6:14Oh, I see. We got some rich people who were booing that. Wait, you cheer for diabetes and you boo $5,000. As this weird midterm Republican convention that's happening in Dallas on Wednesday night, President Trump promised that if the Republicans win the midterms, he will give every American adult $5,000. Wow. That is two and a half foldable iPhones for everybody. I would only be into this if he was like, all the money that I've earned from crypto, I've been in the White House, I'm just going to give that to people for $5,000. I don't want to give him taxpayer money. Oh, no, that's not his money. He's getting away. Oh, it's not all. Okay, well, now somebody did the math, and if I thousand, if I thousand, if I hundred and twenty, yeah, the price tag for this will be $1.2 trillion. But remember, he is going to recoup that money by never actually paying any. Well, also, you know, he always already going to give us like $3,000 from doge cuts or whatever. He was going to give us like $2,500 from tariffs or whatever. I mean, he also is like $10,000 at this point.

7:18Yeah, I know. And he's like, it reminds me of like a roommate I had who like never paid a share of rent on time, but then was always somehow an abysa. Trump told me he's going to pay it, but he's just going to use car now. So, it is. Give him a second, you know. So this whole thing is very unusual. It is the first ever national party midterm convention. And they're calling this then because President Trump wanted it to happen. They're calling it the Trumpa Paloza, which doesn't sound particularly attractive, but it is better than the other choice they had for the name, Burning Vance. All right, Dudley. Your last quote is from a viral YouTube video, one of many in this genre. Never drive without video evidence. That was a caption touting an increasingly popular technology that we are putting in our cars. What is it? And I get it, can you? You can. They're named for the place that you generally put them in the car.

8:21Dash cams? Dash cams, yes. Yes, yes. 30% of American drivers now use dash cams whenever they drive, and so many people love to watch the videos that remain from them, that experts worry that dash cams are making people drive more recklessly just to go viral. All right, that's why I drove straight into that farmer's market for clicks. If you guys, apparently people love watching that video. Clay, I'm a pedestrian, so I'm sorry, you pronounced the word target wrong. Now, Uber drivers use these dash cams, of course, I'm sure you've seen it, but they turn it around to film the passengers rather than the road ahead, and they say they're doing that for everybody's safety. That's fine. But I want that to be like a roller coaster, where they take a picture of you, and then at the end, you get off and you can buy the photo right in the corner. Oh, wow, look how scared I was. I would be terrified of Uber drivers releasing dash cam footage of me,

9:25because they'd be like, this will not stop trying to talk to us. Shot up. That's so funny. I am a guy, where are you from? Really? So what did your parents do? I am the worst. Really? He's like, stop harassing me, I'm at my job. I got this carrot in the back of the car. It's the same to their kids. I like getting into a chat. I also, how did Dudley do in our quiz? Dudley's a winner, he got three out of three. Congratulations. Yeah, Dudley. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Peter, question for you. Peter, the baby boomers are all in their 60s now, and according to the Wall Street Journal, a surprising number of them are choosing to move in with whom. Oh, no, they're children? No, not their children. They're parents? Yes.

10:25What? They're parents. Old people are moving back in with their real old parents. Older people. We have an audience here of older people. Even older people. It's 60-year-olds, or yeah, that's 60-somethings, living in with like 80 and 90 somethings. Exactly, yeah. It's like, and they move in. They're like living together, usually in retirement homes. Together, it's like we living in your golden years, your glory days as a rebellious teenager. It's like, mom, can I borrow the golf cart? Where are you going? No, where? You were up until nine o'clock. Where were you? You better be back for dinner at four. This is very sweet. My son is going off to college next year, and I'm like lamenting losing him. But if I wait 50 years, like a couple of months, we'll just be back together again. I think we're roommates. The arrangement for these people saves money, right? Because they're often paying for just one apartment

11:25in their retirement home. It offers security, obviously, that comes with that kind of facility, lots of activities to do. That said, if you try to sneak your 67-year-old boyfriend into the window, because your mom doesn't approve of him, he's going to break a hymn. Yeah, that'll be in a different part of the retirement home. Exactly. You can visit him in the word, though. Yeah. Safe word, sciatica. LAUGHTER Coming up in absolutely bananas, bluff the listener game. Call on Triple-8, wait, wait, wait, wait, to play, we'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fremend the bell. I haven't seen my son since 2012. This is Deborah Tice. The disappearance of her son, Austin, is one of the biggest missing person cases in the world. What do you want from me?

12:26Why should I have the mystery? I know that my son is somewhere alive. Listen to Where is Austin Tice? From MPR's embedded and BBC Radio 4, on the MPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts. How did we get here? That's a question we have been trying to answer a lot here at NPR. We are exploring global histories on throughline. We're hearing from National Security experts on sources and methods. We're watching the markets with planet money. You can support this work across all our podcasts with NPR Plus. Find out more at plus.npr.org. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The NPR News Quiz. I'm Al Zosley. We're playing this week with Serenii, we're a Saikara. Nagin Farsad and Peter Gross. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Peter Segal. Thank you, Al Zos. Thank you everybody.

13:26Right now it's time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Druff the listener game. Call one, Triple Eight, Wait, Wait to play our game on the air. Hi, you are on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, this is Beth from Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins, I know. We're up there on the front range. What do you do there? Yes, it's beautiful. Wow, I work in human resources. That's important, you're resourcing humans. Yeah, I stay pretty busy between that and going to school for my NVA and raising three boys, so I don't have much time for anything else. Well, I'm really glad you made time for us. Thank you so much, Beth. You're going to play our game in which you must try to delve truth from fiction. Al Zos, what is Beth's topic? This is bananas. Bananas are quite possibly the world's most perfect food. They're delicious. They come with their own wrapper. And when the eggplant emoji isn't available, the banana is there for you. I'm panellously going to tell you about a banana that made the news this week in a surprising way. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win our prize, the weight waiter of your choice and your voice smell. Ready to play? I'm ready.

14:27All right, first up, let's hear it from Peter Gross. This story comes from Middlesboro, England, where 51-year-old Christopher North stormed into a bank wearing a ski mask and pointed a gun at the tellers. It was a scene right out of one of those gritty guy-richy heist movies, where you can't understand that anything anyone's saying. Except Mr. North wasn't holding a gun, he was holding a banana. According to witnesses, North pointed something wrapped in a white cloth at cash years while saying, I'm robbing the bank. I'm robbing the bank. Give me the cash. What he should have said is, I'm making a fruit salad. I'm making a fruit salad. Give me the mangoes. At North's home, police found his laptop three other bananas. And five copies of a novel North had written called The Man Who Robbed a Bank With A Banana about a guy who robs a bank with a banana after writing a book called The Man Who Robbed a Bank with a banana. Rumor has it Guy Richie is planning to buy the rights in cash. Jason Statham has North and Danny DeVito as the banana. The man who wrote a novel called The Man Who Robbed a Bank With A Banana

15:30tries to rob a bank with a banana. Your next bit of banana banter comes from Serenity We're a Sakura. While Europe endures a never-ending heat wave, one group of local monkeys are making the most of it. The wild macaques of Gibolchir have spent their summer the usual way, going, woo-woo, aah, picking please off each other. And other stuff we think monkeys do. But one monkey has changed the monkey world this week by baking the first ever loaf of banana bread. The monkey who local papers of named Carl because he looks like a Carl, stole a bullshel of bananas from a store but couldn't eat them all before they got brown. When he realized his bananas were mushy and gross, he was furious. He threw all the bananas on the ground and stomped on them. Then he angrily threw some flour he happened to have in there. Then pelted it with two seagull eggs, mixed it all up and left the mess in a ball on the floor before leaving in a huff. But thanks to the heat wave in Europe, Carl didn't come home to a banana mess.

16:32He came home to a banana bread. It's great for the monkey community and horrible for the grocery store they love stealing from. The monkey colony on Gibraltar, invents banana bread for themselves. Your last bananas comes from the Gain Farsau. Grayson Fielder is a PhD in food sciences at Cornell University. He's a serious student but got sucked into a world of food science that came out of a well-worn joke. That if you place a banana peel just so in the path of an unsuspecting protagonist, they'll slip and fall on their buttocks in dramatic and hilarious fashion. Like a true food science door, he wondered, is a banana really that slippery? So we went about testing the banana peel against other slippery fruit and turns out the mango apple and nectarine peels smoked the banana. Well these many years was it just actors making banana peels seem more slippery than they actually are?

17:32His butt cheeks bruised. He was determined to engineer a more slippery banana. In a lab creation that would make European non-GMO standards blush, he engineered the slime banana, hopefully a working title. Even peeling the banana is a challenge because the peel emanates a fine mist of goo. It's pretty gross actually. But Grayson is hoping there's a market in Hollywood for his creation and not just in the minions movies. All right. Banana's made the news. Was it which of these stories from Peter Gross, a man who wrote a novel called How to Rob a Bank with a Banana, actually attempted to rob a bank with a banana? From Serenie, was it that the monkeys of Gibraltar figured out themselves how to make banana bread from over ripe bananas or from Negine Farsada scientists actually figuring out how to make a truly slippery banana peel, which of these are the real stories we found in the news? I am leaning towards the last one.

18:37All right. You're going to choose Negine's story well to bring you the news we spoke to an authority on bananas. Honestly, bananas have good choice. But if the gun part doesn't work, you can smack them over the head with his or any. Yeah. That was Brian Batchrich is the grower and owner of Batchrich Family Farms talking about using a banana to rob a bank, which apparently is not a good idea. As you have no doubt figured out, you were fooled by I thought Negine's very convincing story of the scientific advancement. I did. She's done it to many. She's done it to many Batch. You don't need to feel. Thank you. But you didn't get a point for her. It's I want to now make you an engineered banana that texture slimy. I want to make it real for you. For everybody, it will be Christmas gift this year. Thank you so much for playing with us, Beth. Thank you. Bye-bye. Do you like it? We never had. Don't say another word. Put the money in the bag. And now the game we call not my job. From almost the beginning of her stand-up career, Leslie Jones

19:42was every comedian's favorite comedian, which is why Chris Rock personally recommended her to Saturday Night Live, where she became a huge star. She's got a new national stand-up tour coming up. And as the host of the new show, Roast My Rental on HDTV, she joins us now. Leslie Jones, welcome to Wait-wait-don't-tell me. Yes, great to see you. So I want to start with your origin story. You were a basketball star in college. And your stand-up career started when you won the funniest person on campus competition. How did that happen? At Colorado State, they have this community center that has all the hardies. And you know, where people can come shopping and stuff. And we were walking through and there was like a little billboard that said, hey, sign up for the funniest person on campus contest. And my friend was like, yo, you should do that. And I was like, what? I am not a comedian. You know, I'm, you know, Richard Pryor, you know, we'll be going with those comedians. I'm just silly. She was like, no, girl,

20:46yo, ask is funny. And I was like, all right, I went to class. She went to class and then we met back at my house. And she was like, girl, I signed you up for the contest. Really? And I was like, why would you do that? I just told you I'm not a comedian, but I wasn't really mad mad at her. And I was just like, so what am I going to do? She was like, just get up there and start talking because you stoop it. And I was like, hey, that's not how it worked. So I put like, I remember this 10 minutes set together and I performed it for all my friends. Sure. Because your friends are the hardest to make loud. So I performed it for all my friends and they laugh, but boy did they have notes. Exactly, but it was, it was, and I went up and I won the contest. And well, and here we are. So a couple of questions. How did your friend know that you were funny? You were a basketball player. Were you like making people crack up in the court? Oh, yeah,

21:48everywhere. We would go to parties like I said I had a lot of time on my hands and I was party. And I was partying at Colorado State. Like my grade point average was 1.7. Yeah, because we was poor T. Ying. Do you understand? So every party I went to, we was like just wiling out. Like we would drive to see you. Colorado University and party with the capers up. I can tell you some stories. You know, you know, I'm a member of Kappa Alpha Sai. What? Yes. I'm a Kappa Smear. Let's go. Let's go. Now sweet, now sweet, now sweet. That nobody in here has. I joined the Kappa Smear because the Kappa's was so fine. They were best dancing. We're going to stop and explain it to me. The Kappa is the fraternity that

22:49also was a member of, not necessarily at the same place at the same time, but it's a fraternity. He was a member of the Kappa sweethearts were the girls who were like they were like, well, we were the Kappa hose. I didn't say it. I didn't say it. Sweethearts. Sweet you've never heard sweethearts as a euphemism. So I want to talk about your new show, Roast My Rental. Essentially, as I understand it, you go into people's Airbnb and stuff and insults it savagely. In the way only you can. And then when their ego is completely destroyed, somebody else comes in and fixes it. Is that about it? Well, I mean, I wouldn't describe it that way, Peter. Okay. Let's be a little bit more positive. It sounds great. I go in and I lovingly get their rental sucks.

23:51Yes. The way you say death trap is so warm. Was it fun when the producers came to you and said, for a new show, we want somebody who has the comic chops to make even furniture feel bad about itself. Yeah, we thought of you. Yeah, yeah. Well, I pretty much do that anyway when I go to anyone's hotel. Really? Oh, yeah. If I don't like something in your house, I'll be like, so why do you have this in your house? I was like, what is this? Like, why is it? Okay. That's ugly. Do you like the layout that we have here? You guys are. I was so good. When I first came on, I was like, what is this? It's like a cheap jeopardy. What is this? I was like, why is the black guy by the short white guy? What is this whole setup? Can you think of like the worst thing you ever saw in one of those places for real or in the TV show?

24:56I know. It's hard to be put in the spot. It's kind of, it's kind of both, I would think, because I had one where I had a whole B hive in the wall in the master. Yeah. I've had that where I rented that out. And he literally asked me, he goes, well, the bees wasn't there before you got there was, oh, I bought the bees. I brought a whole hive into the side of the wall, which is like so high, like, oh, okay, though what there was one property we did where they had carpet in the bathroom and that is against humanity. They need to really put up the clips that of what really happened when I walked in there. Like they, they're one, the nice one. We're getting like the safe for TV version. Oh yeah, I screamed so loud. And then I started heaving and I was like, oh, wow. Because can you imagine carpeting the bath?

26:06Well, Leslie Jones, it is so much fun to talk to you and we have invited you here to play it. It is, right? Yes, she's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Make sure you guys watch the show and come see me on tour. Well, we're not done yet. We're not done yet, Leslie. We're not done yet because we have invited you here to play a game. We're calling, okay, why you gotta get the black man I said the same thing Leslie, you host roast my rental, but what about ghost my rental? So we're going to ask you about the haunted houses that pop up all over the world every Halloween, answer two out of three questions correctly. You'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone they choose on their voicemail. Also, who is Leslie Jones playing for? Twilight Alexander of Eerie Colorado. All right. Get two to three right. Multiple choice. Okay. Here we go. Okay. Here's your first question. Out of all the haunted houses, probably the most famous is the haunted

27:08mansion at Disneyland, but over the years employees there have consistently had to deal with visitors who want to do what? Is it A, throw holy water at the animatronic ghost? B, try to spread their loved ones ashes inside the attraction or C, demand a refund because quote, they're not real ghosts. You know what? I'm gonna say C because people are I can't argue with your reasoning, but in fact, it was B. People tried to spread their loved ones ashes because you know, if you've ever been on the ride, at the very end, they say we have 999 ghosts, but we always have room for one more. And I guess enough people were like, okay, how about Uncle Ted? I have him right here. All right. Next question. Shocktoberfest. It's a seasonal quote, screen park in Pennsylvania, which in 2013 offered an additional terror, if you will,

28:08to its haunted house attraction. What was it? A, a quote, recurring nightmare room where you'd be required to take a high school history test without having studied for it. B, you and every other visitor are stark naked or C an animatronic climate scientist who delivered short lectures on the effects of global warming. So it was all of them sound pretty bad. Pretty bad. So it was that I would have to say C again, the haunted house scary spooks, werewolves, freaks, vampires, and freaks. Freaks. Okay, wait, wait, okay, then wait. What was B again? B was that you and everybody, all the other visitors were all naked. Okay, I'm gonna say B. You're right. Yeah. You helped it. Yeah. Yeah. You don't sway. It's the cap of the cap of sweetheart connection. You did it for me. Yeah, it was called the naked and scared challenge. And the park owner said,

29:13quote, the whole idea is to create this vulnerability and get their defenses down, unquote. And of course, their pants. Yeah, naked and afraid. You bet. That was the theme. Last question, if you get this right, you win. Working at a haunted house is good seasonal employment. Of course, but there are risks for the workers. What happened to an employee at a haunted house in Japan, 2011? Was it a woman was convinced the employee was the ghost of her dead ex-husband and kept coming back to yell at him. Be an employee scared of visitors so much with his sudden ghostly appearance that the visitor, a black belt and karate, broke his jaw with a kick or see an employee became convinced that he was a ghost, tried to float right through a wall and broke his nose. Oh my god. Now that's just dumb ass. Right. I'm going to say, I'm going to say B. And you're right again. Yeah. That's it. I'll see how do Leslie Jones doing her quick. Leslie Jones is a winner. Two out of three. Congratulations. Yay!

30:18Leslie Jones is the host of Roast My Rental in HDTV and she's on tour soon. Please go see her. She's amazing. Leslie Jones, thank you so much for joining us on Brightwick.com. Bye. In just a minute, slither into our listener, a liberate challenge called one triple eight weight weight to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more of weight weight, don't tell me from NPR. Looking for love? One New York event promises to find you your perfect match using Palantir, though not affiliated with the actual software company. They could sue me. I could lose everything, but it would all be worth it. It's at least two people here have a spark. So no pressure. The facts, myths and dark jokes surrounding Palantir. Listen to a plan of money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. On NPR's Wildcard podcast, actress Jillian Anderson says

31:21she's looking forward to getting old. There is part of me that has always slightly fantasized about being in a home. Watch or listen to that Wildcard conversation on the NPR app, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. From NPR and WB Easy Chicago, this is Weight Weight, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm Alzo Slade. We're playing this week with Serenie, we're a Saikara, Nagin Farstad and Peter Gross. And here again is your host at the Studebricker Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Peter Sego. Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. In just a minute, we will stuff your ear holes full of rhymes in our listener, Limerick Challenge game. After hearing it, put like that, you'd still like to play. Give us a call at 1-888-8-8-8-924. Right now, I'll panel some more questions for you from the weeks news. Again, this week, the cut reported on a phenomenon plaguing friend groups across the

32:25nation. Apparently, after your gang goes out to dinner together, no one is doing what anymore. Oh, um, heroin? Doing heroin. Okay, they're eating heroin. So sorry, they're going out and they're doing. This is a trend. I mean, I'm sure this is happening to you. Go with a bunch of people. Yeah. Right? And Jack Combs, there's like eight people, you all do different things. So you say you'll put it, you'll put it at my credit card. But then something that's supposed to happen is not happening anymore. And what does that thing? Um, splitting the bill. Well, they're so they're taking, they're doing that part. Yes, but then the follow-up doesn't happen. The follow-up, which is... Ask him to use it in the sense. Like, slightly like saying to everybody that you love and appreciate them. No, it's like, it's like when you say, hey guys, don't worry about it. I'll put it in my card and

33:26then you all can. Oh, repay me. Yes. Like, then, momy. Nobody is paying you back. Oh, that is what the trend was. Wow. But also, why isn't that person just go ahead and send a text to everybody? Well, that's the thing. See, here's the thing. Apparently, that's the big recipe. This back too. Right. People are picking up Jack saying, here I am, here's my Vemma, here's my cell. And then no one is paying back. It's like a thing that has stopped happening. Repayment avoidance, according to New York magazine, is more common than ever. The message from your friends is less, I'll get the next one and more, I will never get anything ever. I'm kind of crazy where I tell people, I'm like, you can't leave the table until you vent me. Is that... And it works. Right. Is that crazy? It does it really? Well, you know how do you... How do you... How do you enforce... Yeah, I say it at the table after I put my card down. I say, I jokingly, I don't know what's getting up until you pay. You're like, I will let go of your throat when it clears. I see your money. I'll put my gun down when they get their little cha-ching. It's a problem for everybody because these are your friends, right? Of course.

34:28It's embarrassing to like have to remind someone. You want to be chill, but you also want to have money. It's like, how do you remind someone they owe you money, but in a friendly way? I say, remember, remember that great meal we had last week? I keep thinking about it because I haven't had the money to buy any food. Peter, there's new research on mosquito bites and how to make them less irritating. Experts say that to make those bites itch less, you should never scratch him. No, instead you should do what? Oh, gosh. I hate advice like this. Don't scratch an inch. Don't eat when you're hungry. It doesn't make any sense. Don't you should rub up against somebody's arm or something like that. Oh, no, it's not scratching, but it's rubbing it. I don't know. Oh, yeah. That would work out really well if everybody started doing that. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, no, I'm not being weird. I just have a mosquito bite in my throat. Yeah, hi, I'm Peter. I'll be done in a minute.

35:31Dan, don't move. Don't move. I'll be done in a minute. I just found the spot. If you move it ruins it for me. Let's see. It's not scratching. Can I have a hint? It's mind over mosquito bites. Imagine you're scratching? Exactly right. Just think about how much you want to scratch that itch. But don't scratch it. A new study shows that if you think about how itchy your bite is, but you don't scratch it, it will actually heal faster. And if you do that within 10 minutes, you'll be willing to confess to any crime at all. I thought it was going to be like, hit yourself in the toe with a hammer. You're like, oh, my toe. I forgot my mosquito bite. Oh, yeah. No, the idea is in pain management, the more you direct your metal focus on pain or irritation, the better your body becomes at reducing the inflammation in that area. It's amazing. It requires focus and self-control and someone duct-taping of admits over your hand.

36:34Coming up, it's lightning filling the blank, but first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call, leave a message at 1-triple-8, wait, wait. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can come see us most weeks right here at the Studeut Baker Theater in downtown Chicago. But you can also catch us on the road. We'll be in Omaha on September 24th and in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 22nd for tickets and information for all of our live events. Go to NPRPresents.org. Hi, everyone. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Hi, this is Michal, calling from Hadley, Massachusetts. Michal, nice to talk to you. My niece is named Michal, which is why she actually is. Wow. Which is why I was able to say your name without hesitation. I'm deeply impressed. I am too. Well, Michal, it's great to talk to you. Alzo Slade right here is going to read you three news related lemrex with a last-word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last-word or phrase correctly in two of the lemrex, you will be a winner. Ready to fly? I'm ready. Here's your first lemrex.

37:37Opera's live. There are no extra takes. Steely reptiles will get their big breaks. While the voices get real, they must slither and chill. At the Met, we're auditioning. Snake? Snake. Yes. A new production of the opera, Kosi Fontouti, is set in the 1950s carnival. And of course, you need a snake handler and a snake at a carnival. So the Met had open auditions for the role of snake. A spiring serpents lined up around the block. Lincoln Center. They're all out there practicing nervously. They're Arya. Oh, you're going to get it. You're so good. And for my monologue, this is something from snakes on a plane. I had to do an acting job with a snake once. You didn't? Yeah, high maintenance on HBO. I was in a snake episode. I believe it was even called snake. And I didn't enjoy that.

38:38I just didn't enjoy. I felt nervous about being in a room with a snake. Is there an animal you would have preferred being on set with? Like a cute puppy. Why doesn't the Met auditioning cute puppy? That's the show I want to see. You have to ask the Italian guy why he didn't write a puppy into his opera. It was Mozart. Oh, this Mozart guy sounds like a really crappy writer. Here's your next limerate. Adult humans can be cookie hogs, leaving canine companions, a gog. If you sit beg in shake, then we girls' gouts will bake. We are selling some treats just for dogs. Yes, the girls' gouts announced the first ever Girl Scout cookie for dogs. Before this, the only Girl Scout cookie for dogs was any Girl Scout cookie that fell on the ground.

39:39Nearly some of this is not the first Girl Scout cookie made with bone broth. They're called patch pals. And this is true. They are blueberry muffin flavored. You can eat them probably, right? I feel like I would try one. I will say I feel like there's probably a Jim Rat out there that heard there's bone broth in the cookies. They're about to approach in Max with some of the dogs' Scout cookies. If so, it was a joke, Brad. Too late, too good. All right, Michal, here is your last limerate. Insect robots are easy to coach. In small spaces, they calmly approach. Though I'm in a tight spot, I can still get a shot from a needle attached to a rope. Yes, a rope. Great news for disaster victims. A live cockroaches with brain implants can now help deliver life-saving aid to disaster victims by scurrying into the rubble with medication and giant needles.

40:42No, thanks, man. I'm good. I'm going to die. I'm really dying. This is true. What do you mean with brains? What does that mean? Scientists figured out a way to put an implant into the brain of a cockroach that allows a scientist with a joystick to steer the cockroach. If I saw a robotic cockroach coming at me, I think I'd be in hell. I think I was already dead. What about a dog again? Let's have a dog to go in there. I feel like my takeaway from the story is we've spent way too long talking about AI and literally no time at all talking about these brain altered cockroaches. Also, how did Michal do in our quiz? She did great three out of three. She's a champ. Congratulations, Michal. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Bye-bye. Bye. On Dear Life Kit, our team answers your listener questions with time-tested advice from past episodes.

41:48But we don't always agree. Opposite. No. That's not what we thought. What if he's the one? Oh my god. What? Listen to the latest juicy episode of Dear Life Kit on the Life Kit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. On the latest code switch, 25 years after 9-11, Americans have gotten real used to being watched by the government from doorbell cameras to AI-powered license plate readers. If you put anyone under a microscope or any community under a microscope, you're going to find reasons to harass people or to ticket them or to arrest them. Listen to code switch in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Now, onto our final game. Like me, Phil, and the blank, each of our players will have 60 seconds, as much to answer as many Phil and the blank questions as they can. Each correct answer is now worth two points. Also, can you give us the scores? Of course. Peter and Serenie are tied up at two, and the game is blazing with the lead of four points. Day one, super. Let me really have it.

42:49All right, that means Peter and Serenie are tied for second. Peter, you're going to go first. The clock will start when they begin your first question, Phil and the blank. On Tuesday, President Trump expanded his trade war with blank. Canada. Right. On Wednesday, SpaceX launched a classified mission for the US blank force. Space. Yes. This week, global blank prices rose above $100 a barrel. The oil. Yes. On Wednesday, the latest storm in the 2026 blank season made landfall in Hawaii. WNB8. No, uh, hurricane. Yes. This week, the head of a venture capital firm said that he believed that, after the apocalypse, blank will be used as currency. Skin. No. No. No. No. Pokemon card. Whoa. Gotta catch them all. This week, Malibu residents were evacuated after a giant blank opened up at Nick Cage's house. I want to say like a party that may be sinkhole. Yes, a giant sinkhole. On Tuesday, ABC denied reports that blanks late night show would end next year. Jimmy Kimmel. Right. This week in E.R. in England got over so over crowded that one patient had to have her IV back.

43:50Hung from blank. Hung from another patient's broken arm. No, close though, from a skeleton. Well, my, I didn't say if it was dead or alive, true. When a woman showed up at the hospital complaining of a severe headache, the E.R. was already so over crowded, they had to hang her IV drip from one of those model teaching skeletons they had around, it was on a stand, even worse when she asked where that skeleton came from. The doctor said, don't worry, that was just the last person that came in here with a severe headache. Also, how did Peter do in our quiz? Peter got six right for 12 more points, total of 14 and the lead. All right, so for now. For now. Serenie, you're up next. Here we go, fill in the blank on Tuesday, a former employee of Anthropic warn. There was a 10% chance that blank will soon destroy humanity. AI. Yes. On Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in the opening game of the blank season. Football. Yes. OK. Got it.

44:50NFL, according to a new report this last summer, is officially the blankest on record. Warmest. Yes, hottest on Monday, thieves managed to steal two Renoir paintings from a museum in blank. Paris. Yeah, friends. This week, Marvel Studios recommended that before seeing the new Avengers movie this fall, audience members need to watch blank. Marvel, Captain America. No, yes, and 42 hours of all the earlier Avenger and Marvel movies. OK, let me hear that ding. OK, a man in New Hampshire is facing multiple charges after he called 911 to report a fire at his own home and then blanked when firefighters arrived. Freaked out. No, stole their fire truck. What? No more in rural New Hampshire, reported a fire at his two bedroom house just before sunrise. When the firefighters showed up, he stole their truck. Listen, you may not approve of this, but find me a better way to trade a two bedroom house in rural New Hampshire for a new truck. What's there even a fire there? That was actually a fire. Oh, you got to distract the fireman when they got there, right? Right. So you can take your truck.

45:51Also, how did Serena do in our quiz? She got four right, eight more points, total of 10, which means Peter Gross is still in the lead. Oh, right. Four, nine. Four, nine. OK. You did that. So how many then does Nigine need to win? Five to tie six to win. All right. Ready? Ready Nigine, here we go, fill in the blank. On Friday, residents of New York City commemorated the anniversary of blank with seven individual moments of silence. Nine, eleven. Right. This week, whistleblower reported that blank skipped basic background checks and they're rushed to hire new officers. Pete Hexes. Ah, no, in this case, ICE. This week, health experts warned that new strains of the flu and blank were circulating. COVID. Right. According to new data, blank cases in the US are at their highest level in 30 years. Measles. Right. This week, two police officers in Washington escaped un-injured when they were sent to arrest blank. Puppies. No way, quote, really strong looking goat. On Wednesday, a man in Singapore pled guilty to scamming people out of $240 million worth of the

46:56cryptocurrency blank. Bitcoin? Yes. According to a new study, taking a 30-minute brisk walk once a day may be just as effective as getting in your 10,000 blanks. Stats. Right. This week, an art collector in Los Angeles offered $4,000 at a gallery for a sculpture of a broken vacuum only to discover blank. Did it work? No, that it was just a broken vacuum. Genitor, cleaning up the gallery, vacuum breaks, ah, leaves it in the corner where he thought it would go unnoticed, but he didn't count on one collector's very sharp and completely undecerned I. So the man offered the gallery $4,000 for the vacuum, which is crazy, it wasn't even a dyson. Alzo, didn't Nogin do well enough to win? No, but, ah, she did do well enough to tie because she got five right for 10 more points. Total of 14.

47:59In just a minute, we're going to ask our panelists to predict after that new iPhone duo, what will be the next surprisingly foldable product on the market? But first, let me tell you that, wait, wait, don't tell me, is a production of NPR and WBEC Chicago, an association with urgent hair-cut productions Doug Berman, benevolent overlord, Philip Godica writes our lemrex. Our public address and answer is Paul Friedman. Our ops manager is Jisire Vardak, thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theater. BJ Leadham and composer of the EMR program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornboss, and Lily and King. Special thanks this week to Mahanad Alshayhi and Janie Hoffman and Dom Bannis. Peter Gwynn is a really strong looking goat. Emma Choi is our vibe curator, technical direction from Lorna White. Our CFO is called the Miller Reproduction Manager. His Robert Newhouse, our senior producers Ian Chelag, and the executive producer of Wayway, don't tell me, is Mike Danforth. Now panel, what company is going to unveil a foldable product next? Serenie, we're a Sakura. Bath and Body Works are putting out the first foldable fitted sheet.

48:59Gently done. Yeah. Gently done. Gently done. No more crying over your queen size bed, okay? It's against the laws of physics. Peter Groce, Ford will announce their new Ford F-150 truck with the slogan, the F is for foldable. And again, far south. Apple is going to not only have the foldable film, but a foldable laptop, because laptops already fold, but now you can fold them three more times. And if any of that happens, we'll ask you about it on weight, weight, don't tell me. Thank you, I was so slayed. Thanks, I'm Serenie Peter Groce, you need far south. We can ask this so rainy for making a fabulous debut. Thanks to all of you for listening. On Peter's Segal, we will see you next week. This is NPR.

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