We hold our own Olympic Games with our favorite guests

Here's a reminder for our listeners, now what you're hearing right now is technically called a podcast, a term derived from the Latin root pod cattere, which means to ignore everyone around you. That means instead of searching us out whenever you get the notion to listen, you just follow us wherever you get your shows and every new episode will show up in your feed. No searching required, stride into the future with us without having to do anything by hitting the follow button wherever you get your podcast. From NPR and WBEC Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, don't tell me the NPR news quiz. I'm the man who does quadruple axles with my voice. Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre in the Fine Arts, Bill Lincoln Chicago Eleanor Filigan for Peter Segal, Nagin Farsad. Thank you, Bill, and thanks everyone. The Olympics are almost over, which means you no longer have to pretend you understand anything about curling. Our skip got the rock over the hog line, and now we're sweeping the bond's peel. If you say so, Bill, and while you put your ice brooms into storage for another four years, we're going to take a trip back to sunny Southern California. We visited in November an interviewed chef, cookbook author, and master of the Food Truck Roy Choi. No, I'm no expert, but I think any truck could be a food truck if you leave it up left over isn't it? That's definitely not true, Bill, but Peter did start by asking Roy if people expect him to show up everywhere with hot food ready to serve. They don't expect me to show up, but on the freeway when we're driving them, they expect this to throw on food. Do they really? They expect the food to be ready. Yeah. I was about to make a joke. Because it's almost like a reptilian or instinctual thing they see it. They start to salivate like Pavlov's dogs. Absolutely. I was about to make a joke about like them wanting you to throw them a taco at 80 miles an hour, but that I remembered this is LA. They want you to throw them a taco at five miles an hour. Five miles an hour. They're lucky. Right. Exactly. So you grew up in LA. Yes, LA boy. We understand that you were like been involved in the food industry from an early age. Is it true your mom kind of got you involved in the business? For example, I heard that your mother was one of those green women who made her own kimchi and sold it out of the back of a car. Yeah. So food was something that was ingrained and surrounded me my whole life. As an immigrant family and kid, a lot of us grow up within restaurants or stores, markets. And it's just something that kind of blends with your life. You don't know where it starts and where it ends. And for my life specifically, early on, my mom used to make the kimchi in the house. Yeah. Very much like you would see mothers right now making pozole or manudo. Sure. Putting it in big eglues and then putting it out on the corner and selling them in styrofoam cups. Yeah. It was the same thing we were doing, but in kimchi jars. So we had a big 1976 Thunderbird and a 1970s station wagon. So there was a lot of room to store, a lot of kimchi. These trunks were huge. And so she would stuff all of them and we would go around. We would hit up people at a stoplight. Really? It was like a drive-by, but with kimchi. We would just roll up on the, and I was the one, I was in Shaka and I would roll down my window and then we would just talk to the person at the stoplight and say you want to buy some kimchi. Really? Yeah. How? Yes. How? She was ready in a roll at any time she had, she, how old were you when you were doing this? Starting when I was like five. Okay. Because you could sit in front seats back then. Oh, sure. Yeah, I know. That's why most of us were killed. Yes. We were the only ones that were killed. It was left. Yes, exactly. So, so you're five years old. Yes. And were you able to discern who might be interested in the kimchi at five, or was just like everybody? Yeah. You know, street sales is all about like a, not the con, but it's about, it's like a three-car month that you know everybody is a customer or a potential customer and it's your job to make them a customer. To convert them into sales. Yeah, but we had something really great. So, it was pushing something on them, but that you knew that they were going to enjoy. And if they didn't have to lie to them. And if they didn't enjoy it, how are they going to find you? Exactly. Yes, officer. It was a five-year-old boy in an enormous station wagon selling the kimchi. Exactly. A big moment in your career is you got fired from this big restaurant and then you, as history now, celebrates opened a food truck. What was the inspiration for it? You know what I really want in my moment of getting fired? But, I think that, you know, because I've had time now to reflect and look back and I truly believe it was something spiritual that happened. It happened. I do, you know. It wasn't like you were walking down the street with some bulgogi, some guy was walking down the street with a taco. You hit each other. You know. It sold as a round. You got my bulgogi. That would have been really nice if it happened that way, but unfortunately I had to go through all of these trials and tribulations and from that came the soul of this cogitaco. But I think that I had to fail. I had to have this amnesia and have no other opportunities out there. Now you have how many food trucks out there you're operating and how many restaurants? Can you even keep count? Not that many. Not that many. Not that many. We only have four trucks. We're a company that looks bigger than we are. Right. Yeah. And we have, I have three restaurants. I got two more things for you before we play. Sure. First of all, we live in an age where like all of a sudden everybody's interested in the lives of chefs, right? TV shows. You actually were a consultant on a movie called Chef that your friend John is really weird. Yeah. I know. Thank you. And which basically for people who haven't seen it, the character played by the director and writer John Feverow basically recapitulates your life sort of kind of, sort of kind of. What do you think of? What do you think of these shows that you like, I mean do you watch the bear for example and say, oh my god, that's exactly what it is. No, no, no, no. Yeah, like do you watch Ratatouille and go, that's exactly what it is. Ratatouille is still the gold sandwich. It really is. It really is. That's the way it evolved. All the movies TV about chefs and restaurants, that's the one that's still the one that no one has taught you. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. I just realized that's why you have the big hat. Exactly. I got one more thing, this is a point of personal privilege. I found out just recently that you are responsible for my very favorite recipe ever, which happens to be the New York Times cooking app. And that is instant ramen with American cheese. Yes. So now that I have it, I'm going to ask you, what exactly is American cheese? Do you know? It says it's from the land of process. That's true. From the region of process, yeah, it's a terroir in America. Actually, it sounds like a stoner food, and it really does feel like something you would make in the depths, but it's actually what parents feed their kids if you're Korean. Right. Any Korean people. Yeah, it's true. Do you grow up eating that? Your parents get better. I feel like my parents were like, this is unhealthy, but that would be like a treat. Would be ramen. Yeah, it's our treat. Yeah. Because our whole life is healthy. Yeah. Yeah. It's the inverse of like growing up in America, like everything we eat are shoots and roots and vegetables and pickles and fermented things and dried fish and all these things. And so the ramen with the cheese was like our lucky charms. Lucky charms. Well, you're just saying this, I'm saying this to people here, and hopefully it will make the broadcast. You got to try this. Yes. It's amazing. Well, Roy Choi, it is a pleasure to talk to you. We have invited you here to play a game we're calling food trucks, meet these new trucks. So you invented the modern food truck as we have discussed, so we're going to ask you three questions about other kinds of trucks. Get two out of three right. You'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of anyone from our show, they might choose. Also, who is Roy Choi playing for? Ryan Santos of Hanford, California. All right. Ready? Here's your first question. Now the most expensive truck ever made was the Darts Prombron Black Diamond. That is a $7 million custom-built armored SUV made for the most discerning billionaire. One of the early editions of this incredibly high-end luxury truck featured what luxury feature? Was it a built-in parachute in case you ever happen to drive off a cliff? The seats upholstered with leather made from the four skins of whales, or see an entertainment system that included a small stage for live performances. It's got to be, it's got to be, it's got to be be. You're going to choose be as your final answer? That's right, it's be, it's whale, foreskin, leather. Although. They they change that after the outcry next question next question everybody loves fire trucks We all love fire trucks sometimes to excess like in which of like which of these people a baseball hall of Famer Rubo Adele who used to run off the field during games to follow a fire truck if it happened to go by the stadium The president Louise LaCole of Uruguay who insisted on using a fire truck as his presidential limo or see Mark Zuckerberg Who likes to drive a custom-made full-size working replica of the play school fire truck he had as a child Baseball you're gonna go with B the president of Uruguay. No, it was actually the baseball player This is the guy from the early days of baseball early to the 20th century He's a great player but everybody knew that if a fire truck went by the stadium He would just disappear and run after All right, this is not a problem. You got one right with one to go if you get this you'll win Here we go every now and then as we all know a truck on our highways might spill its cargo and cause some pretty serious problems As in which of these cases was it a a truck in Kentucky that spilled its entire load of pancake syrup after colliding with the buttermilk pike overpass Be a truck in Idaho that's built 20 million bees on the highway Causing the driver to run for his life or see a truck an argon that's built 7,000 pounds of live eels We got to go see you're gonna go see you're right, but they're all true those all happened The game is fixed the game is fixed sadly in your favor though And by the way the eels in that truck an argon the one you like not just eels, but slime eels Also, how did chef Roy do in our quiz he cooked up a win he did There you go Chef Roy choice newest book is the choice of cooking Roy choice. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm way way Don't tell me give it up for chef Roy When we come back one of our panelists wins the gold medal for lying to you And the world's most popular bagpiper tells us how she met Metallica. That's when we return with more of wait Wait, don't tell me from NPR From NPR and WB easy Chicago. This is wait, wait, don't tell me the NPR news quiz I'm Bill Curtis and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago The Geen Farsad Thank you everyone the Olympics the Olympics are almost over which means Bill can finally stop caring around that huge torch The Olympic flame represents the eternal spirit of competition and cooperation among nations plus It's great for lighting my cigars He's also synched my eyebrows a couple of times but never mind stick around for this bluff the listener game from a recent show featuring Tom Papa Karen Chi and me. Hi, you're on way. Wait, don't tell me. Hi. This is Ian. What are you calling in from Grand Rapids, Michigan? I love Grand Rapids What do you do there? I am a student at Calvin University. What are you studying environmental health and conservation? Oh, that's very cool What what year are you in I'm a freshman. You're a freshman. Okay. Well, hopefully there will still be some left for you to conserve by the time you graduate Keep keep the faith. Well Ian. Welcome to the show. You're gonna play our game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction Also, what is Ian's topic jobs of the future? They say that AI is gonna take all of our jobs Well, we're always gonna need artists and crafts people to feed to the robots Our panelists are going to tell you about another new job for real human beings Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win the weight waiter of your choice and your foe smell Are you ready to play or ready? All right. First off, let's hear from Karen Chi As AI quickly encroaches on our daily lives and leaves people jobless There's one career that is surprisingly very secure the amusement park carny In fact, you'll probably start seeing them everywhere. AI is replacing waiters cashiers and sales people But marketing experts know that there's just something magnetic about a carny that sketchy guy who definitely doesn't want to be working at the carnival But also was maybe born there So they predict all kinds of businesses will now have Designated carny's who will attract consumers and make them feel great about their experiences Festival director Stanley Walsh says part of why people love attending carnivals is because they feel so great compared to the staffers who clearly regret every decision of their lives Another advantage an element of danger with a carny standing there even using the self-checkout at places like Target will have that I might die on this tilt a world. I feel like that keeps you young Carny's soon to be everywhere to provide that Creepy exhilarating feeling while you deal with the machines your next job of the future. It comes from Tom Papa As people worry about AI replacing us David Risher the CEO of Lyft Assured us that our jobs won't be going away. They'll just be changing as an example when Lyft starts using Robotaxies to drive people around that doesn't mean a job will be eliminated He floated the idea of a car tender a human who isn't driving but sits in the car along with you Because as we all know the main reason to book a ride share is for the sharing part How many times have you been in a car and thought man? I wish I was on that crowded bus right now Risher added that the car tender could help with your luggage make you drinks and answer questions as the local guy Because who hasn't been in a ride share with a creepy driver and thought I wish this guy was talking to me more And also trying to give me some of his alcohol Risher also said people will one day add their own self-driving vehicles to Lyft's ride hailing network Imagine this future your car could go out and pick people up as you hail a ride from someone else's car That will come with a stranger who doesn't own a car, but has a drinking problem. He'd like to share There's nothing to worry about In the future your ride share driver will become your ride share car tender Your last profession preview comes from the game for a song When you call a 1-800 number your main goal as a human being is to say agent agent At increasing volume levels and with an expanding sense of existential dread When the agent finally comes on the phone you yell at them At one point you stop and say I'm so sorry to get upset. I realize you're just a messenger and then you continue yelling This yelling is a time-honored capitalist tradition But what happens when AI takes over the job of the agent? Where does the yelling go? The boutique staffing agency tech force is prepared for this very moment They believe a new spate of human jobs will open up in the field of getting yelled at or GYA for short These venting specialists as they're called don't fix your problem But they do let you yammer on about it while making empty threats about leaving a bad review and or saying stuff like I swear to God I'm changing my cell phone carrier The agency is also hoping to expand operations to offer an in-person combat experience Where you can just punch a representative of your internet service provider right in the gut All right Let's say you lose your job To AI if so you might be able to get one of these jobs of the future was it from Caron she the universal carney bringing that aura to every kind of consumer interaction from Tom Papa the car tender since humans will no longer be needed to drive the cars or From Nagin Farsad the venting specialist the person whose job it is will be to get yelled at by people Frustrated by the AI which of these is a real potential job of the future Everyone loves self-driving cars. I think you're gonna go with Tom poppies. You're gonna go with Tom's choice of the car tender. All right. Well We we actually spoke to somebody who was not yet lost his job to an AI to bring you the real story I don't know how you stock a car for a full service bartender seems like the nightmare. Yeah, that was Rift Richards a bartender at do or dive and bedstie Brooklyn talking about the potential of having car tenders In your ride shares sometimes soon. Congratulations Ian. You got it right You've heard the point for Tom. You've won our prize The voice of your choice and your voice mill. Thank you so much for playing. Thanks for having me on take care. Bye. Bye To everything to them if backfibing was an Olympic sport our next game would never leave the podium. Ali the Piper first picked up the bagpipes when she was a kid, but really blew up when she started posting covers of songs by Iron Maiden and Metallica on TikTok. Peter started by asking what drew her to the instrument in the first place. It's actually a nice story. I wanted to ruin my brother's life before he went to college. My stepdad legally adopted me when I was 12 and I got a hyphenated last name which carried Duncan with it. That was my new one and I wanted to learn more about my family's heritage and the history I was adopted into. And so I took to good old YouTube and you can imagine what every single Scottish history video on YouTube sounds like. Yes. And so I heard the bagpipes for the first time and I couldn't figure out how they worked just by looking at them. I just became really obsessed with how they worked. It was the first time I'd seen an instrument so unique. They called to me, if you will. I was reading about the bagpipe and it seems like it's such a hard instrument to play that it takes months of practice when you start before you can even play a tune. That's actually very true. I played for almost a year on a practice version of the instrument before I started playing the full loud bagpipe. But that's why everybody thinks they sound so bad. It's because it's beginners at full volume all the time. Wow. You know you walk around, you just see Sony, he will practicing the bagpipes at full volume. Yeah. What did your neighbors say? They all boomed. No, fortunately when you play indoors in just ruin your family's lives, your neighbors can't hear you too much outside. So I tried to do a lot of my practicing indoors and then I would just more so go outside when I had things polished to play. And then you became, and I love this, you became part of and a champion in the youth competitive bagpipe circuit. What a dark world. It really is something. I hear about youth competitive, the global youth competitive bagpipe circuit and all I want to know is what were the parties like? Well, there actually weren't a lot of, there was one competitive youth bagpipe band here in the United States and I was in it. But we went over to Scotland and there were the rest of them. Yeah. And do you, when you compete, do yell things like, we blow, you suck. We had the T-shirts. We didn't yell that though. You did. Oh my God. I want to see the dance mom equivalent of like a bagpipe parent like, come on my day. Like, you got a, I was just, I was actually thinking like, you're the American team, the one American team, you show up to do this competition with all these Scottish teams. This is like a great karate kid-like movie, right? I mean, underdogs from America co-op, I hope. Did you kick their asses or whatever the bagpipe equivalent of ask kicking asses? We won the World Championships. Hey. You are sick. You are sick. You are sick. So, but, and that was great and quite impressive, but you became famous, your road to where you are now, let's say, started, if I'm right during the pandemic, when you started putting out videos on TikTok and elsewhere of you playing the bagpipes, and they went immediately viral. Do you remember like the first one and what your reaction was? Yeah. Well, it all happened by accident. I had all of my gigs canceled because of COVID. It happened to a lot of musicians and it was really dark time for a lot of people. So, I wanted to take to an app or an online platform where none of my friends were so that I could kind of post anonymously, but have some kind of encouragement or, you know, people to encourage me to keep doing it. So, I posted on TikTok because none of my friends were there. And it backfired immediately because I posted one video and that one video got 150,000 views that day, which means that my attempt set not being perceived. You have, you have, you have utterly failed in remaining anonymous. We will, we will admit that. You did not know that there was this thirst out there for good bagpiping. The people need what they need. That's right. Now, I don't know what the first song was, but you became really well known for doing bagpipe covers or bagpipe versions of songs you would not associate with the bagpipe, including like Enter Sandman by Metallica, is that right? Yeah, I became really, really invested in transcribing guitar solos for the pipes. Sure. The big thing. So, taking all of those big, shredded guitar solos that are just classic and we love them and either really, really blowing people's minds or ruining these songs for people forever. I posted a medley of a few of their songs because I'm the Metallica fan, too. Of course. And I posted that on TikTok and kind of went about my day. And then a hate comment came in and it said, "Bagpipes do not belong in Metallica. James would not approve." And this commenter emphasized to seriousness with an angry emoji. Oh, well then. I know. He was passionate. And so I left it alone and I let five minutes elapsed and then Metallica was there in the comments. Wendy, you did well. I love it. From me, it means the hate commenter. They said that this guy doesn't speak for us. They told me to keep doing what I'm doing. And we chatted a little bit in the comments. And then this comments here decided to go after them. No. Seriously? He turned on Metallica? Oh, one guy versus Metallica and he did not live to tell the tale. No, I was about to say. You don't do that. Well, Ali, it is a pleasure to talk to you. We've asked you here to play a game we're calling "Bagpiper meet piping bags." So you are a master of the bagpipes, as we have discussed. So we're going to ask you about people who use piping bags. That is cake decorators. Answer. Answer three questions about unusual cakes who will win our prize for one of our listeners, Bill, who is Ali the Piper playing for. Drew Menning of Denver, Colorado. All right, you ready to do this, Ali? I'll let you down, Drew. Okay. First question, the show Cake Box featured some amazingly realistic cakes over the years that it ran, including which of these. A, a cake tailor swift that can sing four of her biggest hits. B, a cake toilet that actually flushed. Or C, a street legal, Maserati sports car cake. Hmm, the flushing. We're going with B. It's the toilet. Yes, of course it is. The actual flushing cake toilet was made to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of a local plumbing company. All right, that's very good. Here's your next question. People often order custom cakes to send a message, right? Like a Louisiana woman who did what in 2017. A, instead of leaving her money to any of her children, she just left them a cake saying eat it. B, she sent a cake to the cop. She had tried to bite with the message, sorry, I tried to bite you. Or C, she told her husband, she wanted the divorce by smashing him in the face with their wedding cake, which she had kept in the freezer for that purpose for 12 years. I'm about to have to go with A. I'm afraid it was, I'm sorry, I tried to bite you. The woman, and the woman had been, she was a college student, she had been over served at a wine tasting. And she felt really bad about what she did when a police officer tried to arrest her for public intoxication. All right, here's your last question. This is okay because if you get this right, you will win. Sometimes people who order custom cakes give the baker a flash drive containing the image they want on the cake. Now, uh-oh. That method doesn't always work like when which of these actually happened. A, the baker just drew a frosting picture of the flash drive on the cake. B, the baker took a photograph of the flash drive and printed that onto the cake. Or see, the baker decorated the cake with the words "Happy Birthday, the picture is on the flash drive." They're all really good. All right, let's go with, let's go with C. This one's for Drew. That's right, but in fact, all of them were. Oh! All of those happened. When people made the mistake of trying to give the baker what they wanted on a flash drive, I do not recommend that. Bill, how did Allie the Piper do on our quiz? Allie, when you get two out of three, you have one. So you're now our favorite Piper. Congratulations! Allie the Piper's new album, The Session, is out now and you can see her on tour starting in just a little while. More information is at piperallie.com. Allie the Piper, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Wade Wade-John Tommy. Give it up for Allie the Piper, right there! When we come back, some brand new, never aired before, questions for our panelists. Plus, Cynthia Nixon tells us what being a Miranda really means. That's when we come back with more "Way-Way Don't Tell Me" from NPR. From NPR and W.E.C. Chicago, this is "Way-Way Don't Tell Me The NPR News Quiz." I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Nagin, Farsad. Thanks, Bill! We're hosting our own little Olympic closing ceremonies this week, and when it's done, we'll go back to mainlining the secret lives of Mormon wives. The girl that you to a bubble is drama. But before that happens, here are some of our favorite moments with the panel from the past year. Jaya, according to the Wall Street Journal, the hot new thing that kids want to eat is what? T.H.C. gummies. Well, that might solve my son's boredom problem. No, not that. Not vegetables. No, not. Well, sometimes they're like seaweed wrappers. Sushi? Sushi! Yes! According to the Wall Street Journal, young kids everywhere are obsessed with sushi. It's replacing pizza and nuggets, that sort of thing at birthday parties, and becoming a staple weeknight dinner, right? Taking your kids out to a sushi restaurant, though, it's ridiculous. It's like my dad always told me, "We have perfectly good mercury poisoning here at home." What rich children are they interviewing for this? It is the Wall Street Journal. I mean, maybe, yeah. Some people think that kids love sushi because, quote, "It gives them a sense of maturity. It's an adult food, so maybe it makes them feel grown up." That explains why my son likes to have his son in Machi with juice boxes filled with scotch. It is true, though, that my son, five-year-old aforementioned, other than desserts, he eats french fries, hot dogs, pizza, and salmon Machi. Brood? That's it? German Machi. Yep, salmon rolls. I was about to call child services until he said the last. Okay. Well, yeah. But how did he get it to begin with? You'd given him everything there was to eat? Pretty much. I have tried everything. He turned down every single food until he got to the salmon Machi? Yeah. I'm suspect of this story. But no, seriously, I was like saying to my wife, he doesn't like borscht. What are we going to do? Yeah. Well, that will be difficult in the years coming. Yeah. [laughter] [laughter] [cheers and applause] Josh of the AI Giant Anthropic has been experimenting with AI-powered vending machines. Oh, yeah. These vending machines can order their own inventory. They can set their own prices, interact with customers, all without human intervention. And they recently gave one to the Wall Street Journal just to try it out. And within days providing vending goods to the Wall Street Journal staff, it did what? Oh, it was hemorrhaging money. It ordered a PlayStation and gave it away. You're right. Yeah. But that's not all. Let me tell you what it did. The AI vending machine gave away nearly all of its inventory for free, restocked itself with dog treats, purchased a PlayStation 5 for, quote, "marketing purposes gave the PlayStation 5 away for free," ordered a live fish as a mascot for the newsroom, offered to restock itself with pepper spray, stun guns, cigarettes, and underwear, became convinced the year was 1962, and it was in the basement of Moscow State University, but managed shevets, wine, message, and employee. There was a stack of cash waiting for her on the side of the machine. And, ultimately, the end of the experiment lost $2,000. And yet, Roomba is the company that's going out of business. I know. So all that happened, but to our knowledge, not one bag of Doritos got caught, and that spirally dispensered thing. So, success. That sounds like a delightful machine. When you first started, I'm like, 'cause I don't like the idea of AI at all. I think it's going to sell us back. Without knowing that, I could have anticipated. But when I hear that, I'm like, yes, I want one of those. It's just delightful. Just because you want somebody to give you stun guns and pepper spray. It's just all the things. How could one machine make all those mistakes? That's so great. Now, that's true, though. That is the most human AI has ever been, right? Yes. Because I've never heard of a machine screwing up in the ways that that feels very personal. Yeah, it does. He's vending machine to someone I could really talk to and get to know. Well, actually, because that's the thing. Because the way it works isn't as operate by itself. You get to interact with it through its chatbot, right? And the reporter spent days doing their absolute damnedest to mess around with it, making all these bizarre requests. And it lost its freaking mind. And Thropic says, oh, this is great. We're so grateful that you, reporters of the Wall Street Journal, will able to demonstrate the flaws in our system. We'll make sure the next version of our AI vending machine can defend itself. It will have guns. And now it's time for a new game that we are calling, it's not you, it's me. This week, The New York Times published a list of the 52 best breakup lines used by, or in many cases, on their readers who submitted them. We're going to ask you about them in a quick quiz. Get yours right, you get a point. You're all ready to play? Okay, Paula, this one is for you. One woman said she got dumped after she watched a movie with her boyfriend of five years. Which of these was it? Was it A, Wall E, after which he said, those robots are in love. We're not. Or was it B, the sixth sense, after which he said, you know how he sees dead people? I think we should see other people. Oh, I would say B. You're going to say B, the sixth sense. No, it was actually Wall E. Wow. Yeah, she compared themselves unfavorably to the robot relationship, yes. Wow. Hari won for you. A woman named Barbara said her Icelandic boyfriend broke up with her by saying which of these? Was it A, we're just like Bjork's brain. We don't make any sense. Or B, if you mispronounce the Volcano AF Klaju Kut, one more time, we are done. Both those things are incredible. Yes. I wanted to be A so badly, so I'm going to say A. No, it was actually B. It was AF Klaju Kut. Once more, that's AF Klaju Kut. Was that spelled? I have no idea. Josh, this one's for you. A woman named Lynn said she knew her boyfriend was going to break up with her when she looked at his computer just by happenstance. And so what, was it A, he was making a hinge profile for her or B on his calendar for the upcoming Friday he'd written, "Break up with Lynn." I'm going to go with B. Yes, you're right. Break up with Lynn. Well, that's it for our first edition of It's Not You, It's Me. We urge people not to have healthy relationships so we can do it again. Finally, Cynthia Nixon created one of the most iconic characters of all time when she played Miranda on Sex and the City. And obviously, yes, I am a Miranda. Then Nixon did it all over again in the sequel show and just like that. But before any of that, she made Broadway history by being the first person to star in two separate shows that were being performed in two different theaters. At the same time. Well, Star would be generous, because obviously my roles were confined in some way. Otherwise, I would not be able to have done the first act of one, the second act of the other, and then the third act of the first one again. I just wanted to know how this logistically works. You did the first act, you appeared in the first act of a Hurley Burley, right? Yes. I would walk off stage and run out the theater door and how far was it to the next day? I would not run, I would change my clothes, and I would go, I would walk two blocks away, and I would walk through the Edison Hotel, and then I would wait, and then I would go on at the real thing, and then I would kill a lot more time, and then I would take my curtain call, and then I would change again, go back to Hurley Burley, and then I would wait until the very last scene, which was what, with William Hurt and I, in the very last scene of Hurley Burley, which would be, I think, after 11 o'clock at that point. We, of course, will ask you about Sex and the City, so it's amazing to me that it was this long ago. 1998 was when Sex and the City went on the air, and when you were cast as Miranda, did you have any idea what kind of phenomenon it would become? No, I mean, we knew there was nothing like it on television, but also HBO at that point, the sopranos hadn't happened, they did not do original programming really, but by the second season, they put us on the cover of Time Magazine with a slogan that said, "Who needs a husband?" And by that point, we weren't just entertainment, we, like, had fully entered the zeitgeist. There are so many women, including I believe some here, grew up with Sex and the City, giving them the idea of the kind of life they should aspire to as an independent woman in the City. And my question to you is, how do you feel about that? Well, you know, women are often coming up to me and saying, "I moved here because of your show, and I do feel a little guilty." It's, you know, people have also said that all the unrealistic things that happen. on a show. The most unrealistic was that there were that many attractive single men, just you know, anywhere you walk. And I do sometimes feel a little responsible that women who watch and love the show think that actually they're really supposed to be wearing high heels 24 hours a day. Casey, didn't you say that you grew up watching Sex in the City? Yes, I grew up watching Sex in the City, and then I moved to the City, so thank you for that. How has your real life in New York City measured up to premium cable? It's honestly, I recently watched that episode where Miranda has chlamydia, right? And let me say it's measured up, no I'm kidding. Wait a minute, when people say, well I'm more of a Miranda, that's what they mean. That's the result you get back. We absolutely have to talk to you about the other HBO show you've been doing, which is The Gilded Age, takes place in Victorian era in New York, also known as No Sex in the City. You talked about the high heels of all your characters were wearing in Sex in the City, so what's more fun, the costumes in Sex in the City or the costumes in The Gilded Age? Oh my, I mean the corsets are formidable. I'm not gonna you know, speaking of shoes, a number of us do, you know, we have our little lace-up boots, but a few of us wear them, particularly a few of us have a certain age. Yeah, there's a lot of people in uggs and a lot of people in clogs. You mean to tell me if like the camera were to pan down to like an eighties feet and we saw underneath the skirt, there'd be like uggs? Every time I arrive on set to shoot a scene, that is my first question. Can you see my feet? Well, Cynthia Nixon, it is a joy to talk to you and we have asked you here to play a game that this time we're calling. You're a New York Nixon. Meet the New York Knicks. Oh, no. Oh, yes. You grew up in New York still live there, so you should be able to handle three questions about New York's most beloved and/or most disappointing basketball team. The New York Knicks answered two or three questions and you will win our prize for one of our listeners, Bill, who is Cynthia Nixon playing for. James Lee of Seattle, Washington. All right, here. Ready? Well, I'm judging from your reaction that you were not perhaps the most avid basketball fan. I am not, although I will tell you a fun fact that you know Miranda dated Dr. Robert Blair Underwood, who was the sports doctor fictionally for the Knicks. Right. So means like you were practically in the locker room. Okay. Here is your first question. When LeBron James was leaving Cleveland, the Knicks pulled out all the stops to try to convince LeBron James to come to New York and play. They even did what? A, they had Times Square officially renamed LeBron Giams Square. Be they sent the actual Broadway cast of Phantom of the Opera to his house in Cleveland to perform for him or see they had Edie Falco and James Gandalfini film a new secret ending to the sopranos just for him. What was the middle one? The middle one was sending the entire Broadway cast of Phantom of the Opera to his house to welcome him. Would he, would he care? Would he care? I'm going to go with the first one. I'm going to go with renaming Times Square. You're going to LeBron Giams Square. I don't blame you. I find this hard to believe too, but they had Edie Falco and James Gandalfini film the scene. Oh my god. Yeah. It is Tony. I hope this is still available somewhere. I have not been able to find it, but it has Tony and Carmelo Soprano trying to find LeBron a nice apartment. And yet he went to Miami. Who knew? Okay. You two more chances. Okay. James Dolan is the owner of the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden where they play. He's an innovator in sports entertainment. For example, he uses facial recognition technology at Madison Square Garden to do what? A, identify attractive audience members and make sure they're seated court side where the cameras can see them. B, make sure any couple is legally married to each other before showing them on the kiss cam. He was a pioneer in that, maybe. Or C, find any of the many lawyers suing him and prevent them from entering the building. Oh, number three. That's right. The answer was C. James Dolan gets sued a lot. Okay. A New York Times reporter credited what event with loosening the tension in the locker room before a pivotal playoff game against their rivals, the Pacers, last year. Was it A, quote, an epic fart in the locker room? B, the coach giving all the players popsicles or C, the entire team joining in a karaoke performance of Katie Perry's Roar. I say Roar. I think since it's so classy that that Roar is what she calls a fart. Is that what you're encouraging me? I believe that's what I believe that's what they call farts in the guild. Did somebody roar? All right. I don't think it's the popsicles. Why would that matter? Let's go with the fart. It was, of course, an epic fart. Excellent. The New York Times reporter refused to reveal who was responsible for the quote epic fart that broke the tension and led the team to a big win. But it is true that Jalen Brunson walked down to the court looking 15 pounds like Bill, how did the legendary Cynthia Nixon do in our quiz? A win, two out of three, the fart wins. Cynthia Nixon is a Grammy, Tony, and Emmy winning performer who you can see on HBO's The Gilded Age, which is streaming right now. Cynthia Nixon, what an absolute joy to talk to you. Thank you so much for being with us. It's a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Take care, Cynthia. Bye-bye. That's it for our own personal Olympics. We'll be back next week, but first, let me tell you that Wait-Way Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Gautica writes, "Our Limericks, our public address and answer is Paul Friedman. B.J. Letterman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornboss and Lillian King. Special thanks to Monica Hickey, Peter Gwynne won bronze and just confessed to cheating on us. Our visuals host is Emma Choi. Technical, direction, Lorna White. Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse, our senior producers Ian Chilag. The executive producer of Wait-Way Don't Tell Me is Mike Danforth. Thanks to everyone you heard, all our panelists, all our guests, our guest scorekeeper Alzo Slade, and of course Bill Curtis. And thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Negine Farsad and we'll see you next week. This is NPR.