Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

We hold our own Olympic Games with our favorite guests

February 21, 2026

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • Chef Roy Choi discussed his early life selling homemade kimchi from the back of his family's station wagon and shared that the movie *Ratatouille* remains the gold standard for chef-related media. 
  • The segment featured a game where Roy Choi incorrectly answered the question about the most expensive truck ever made, which initially featured seats upholstered with whale foreskin leather. 
  • The episode included a game where panelists proposed future jobs in the age of AI, with the correct answer being the 'car tender' role suggested by Tom Papa, and featured Allie the Piper discussing how Metallica publicly supported her bagpipe cover of their music. 

Segments

Podcast Introduction and Sponsor Reads
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is titled ‘We hold our own Olympic Games with our favorite guests’ and features guests like Roy Choi and Cynthia Nixon.
  • Summary: The show opens with sponsor messages from Warby Parker and an explanation of how podcast subscriptions work. The official introduction names Nageen Farsad as the host filling in for Peter Sagal, accompanied by Bill Curtis.
Interview with Roy Choi
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(00:01:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Roy Choi’s mother sold homemade kimchi from the back of their cars, initiating his lifelong involvement in the food business.
  • Summary: Choi recounted selling kimchi jars at stoplights starting around age five, comparing it to selling pozole or menudo. He believes opening his food truck, Kogi Taco, was a spiritual necessity following a period of failure and amnesia regarding other opportunities. Roy Choi currently operates four food trucks and three restaurants.
Game: Food Trucks Meet These Trucks
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(00:08:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Roy Choi correctly identified that an early edition of the $7 million Darts Prombron Black Diamond luxury truck featured seats upholstered with whale foreskin leather.
  • Summary: Roy Choi played a game testing his knowledge of various trucks, winning the round by correctly identifying the controversial luxury feature in the custom armored SUV. He missed the question about which historical figure ran after fire trucks during games, which was baseball Hall of Famer Rube Waddell.
Panel Game: Jobs of the Future
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(00:15:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The correct potential future job among the panelist suggestions was the ‘car tender,’ a human who rides along in self-driving Lyft vehicles.
  • Summary: The game challenged the listener to identify a real potential job created by AI advancements, with options including universal carnies and venting specialists (GYA). The correct answer was Tom Papa’s suggestion of a car tender, a role meant to provide companionship and service in robo-taxis.
Interview with Allie the Piper
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(00:21:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Allie the Piper started playing bagpipes at age 12 to ‘ruin her brother’s life’ and later won the world championships with the US youth competitive bagpipe band.
  • Summary: She became famous on TikTok during the pandemic by posting bagpipe covers of rock songs, including Metallica, despite initially trying to remain anonymous. Metallica publicly supported her work in the comments against a critical fan.
Game: Bagpiper Meet Piping Bag
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(00:28:03)
  • Key Takeaway: One of the unusual custom cakes bakers have attempted to create from a flash drive image was one that literally read, ‘happy birthday, the picture is on the flash drive.’
  • Summary: Allie the Piper played a game about unusual cakes, correctly identifying that a cake toilet that actually flushed was made for a plumbing company’s anniversary. She missed the question about a Louisiana woman who apologized to a police officer via cake after trying to bite him.
Interview with Cynthia Nixon
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(00:41:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Cynthia Nixon felt slightly guilty that Sex and the City created unrealistic expectations for women regarding dating life and wearing high heels constantly in New York City.
  • Summary: Nixon described the logistical challenge of performing in two separate Broadway shows simultaneously by running between theaters two blocks apart. She noted that Sex and the City became a cultural phenomenon, even appearing on the cover of Time magazine.
Game: You’re a New York Nixon
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(00:46:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The Knicks attempted to recruit LeBron James by having Edie Falco and James Gandolfini film a secret Sopranos scene for him, and a pivotal playoff game tension was broken by an ’epic fart’ in the locker room.
  • Summary: Cynthia Nixon played a game about the New York Knicks, correctly identifying that owner James Dolan uses facial recognition to find suing lawyers. She missed the question about the Times Square renaming attempt but correctly guessed the locker room tension breaker was a fart.
Show Wrap-up and Credits
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(00:51:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode concluded with the announcement that the next show would feature Cynthia Nixon discussing what being a Miranda truly means.
  • Summary: The hosts thanked the guests, panelists, and production team, including executive producer Mike Danforth and scorekeeper Alzo Slade. The show is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions.