WWDTM: Kali Reis

24:02I, you know, it's not a big surprise I got into acting. It wasn't something that I grew up with. I want to be an actor, but I used to have these, like, I love to, like, just people watch and observe. So I used to have this character that I used to get my mom's stuff, like her jewelry and everything. And I used to have this, I'm from Rhode Island. We have a very heavy accent, but there's some more than others. I used to have this character called Mary. And I used to come off her run like, how you doing, darling? I love to see it. I used to do this whole thing. And it wasn't so far-fetched. So it really wasn't, I could immerse myself in this imaginary world anytime by myself, which should be studied.

24:37I probably should. I think people as a child. I don't know why my mom didn't have me go to a therapist. Speaking of your accent, I read that in True Detective Night Country, you play an Alaskan native. But what I read, and you can tell me if it's true or not, is that your native Rhode Island accent would come out frequently enough that they figured they'd better write that into your character so that it would be explicable if all of a sudden you're like you're like looking at a corpse or something and you're like oh that's wicked gross yeah they uh i love isa the director she decided to make my character part of it because i was you know working with the dialect coach to keep my quote-unquote accent at bay i didn't want to sound like peter griffin making you know an investigation you know what i mean so i just i think you just sold the next hit series for HBO, by the way.

25:26Hopefully with you in the lead. Go on. It was weird how your character always had a cup of Dunkin' in her hand. So, in everything you've starred in so far, from True Detective to this new movie, Mercy, you always play people who seem like they could and would kick your ass at any moment. So, do you ever want to get cast in a different kind of part, like a romantic lead in a Hallmark movie? Presumably a badass. I would love to. I want to dabble in some comedy. I would love to do some comedy. I love a challenge. I love something that maybe I'm not as strong at yet. I would love to take whatever is meant for me.

26:02I don't want to just stick to the... I mean, I can't help if the badassery just shines through. It does. It kind of does. I'm sorry. How about... Let me pitch something to you. How about a Hallmark movie where you come back to your hometown, leaving the big city, and you find the guy who broke your heart 20 years before, and it turns out he's a jerk and you beat the crap out of me. I'm sorry. That's happened. It's fine. That's another show for HBO. We're all lining up projects for you. Well, that'll be a documentary. Well, Kaylee Reese, it is a pleasure to talk to you. And we have asked you here, as we do with everyone, to play a game.

26:44And in your case, we're calling it The Future Is Here. And by here, we mean Las Vegas because that's where every year the Consumer Electronics Show happens. It just wrapped this year. It's the annual convention where tech companies show off their newest innovations, hopefully to the public that will love them. So we're going to ask you three questions about the CES, Consumer Electronics Show, past and present. If you get two right, you'll want to prize one of our listeners. Bill, who is Kaylee Reese playing for? Christopher Wolf of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All right. Hey, go birds! Hey, go birds!

27:19Here's your first question. At the 2017 CES, Intel made waves when they introduced their newest VR headset, which they handed out to members of the media, along with what? A, a nurse with an IV so they wouldn't have to stop playing and, you know, eat. B, protective gear for when they banged into each other while playing the games. Or C, barf bags. C. You're right. You knew it. And you're right, yeah. If you've, the demo program that they tried out included jumping off helicopters, traveling to Vietnam, flying high with a drone, and in some cases, apparently projectile vomiting. All right, good.

28:02You did that really well. Now, there are always robots being demoed at CES, but in 2020, the most exciting new robot had one purpose. What was it? A, to open your car door from the inside, if you lock your keys in the car, B, to look up people's names that you have forgotten at a party, or C, to bring you a roll of toilet paper if you run out while you are in the bathroom. I'm going to go with C because I hope that exists. It does. It's your right. A tech company partnered with Charmin to create a new robot which you operate with your smartphone from the toilet. I need that. We all do. But here's the thing.

28:42So you have the wherewithal, the foresight to set up the robot in its little niche, wherever it is, with a roll of toilet paper on it, all set to go. Why don't you just put the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom? All right. Because sometimes stepchildren forget to put it in the bathroom, and then you're stuck there with no toilet paper. I'm just going to say, I haven't seen all your projects as a performer, but I've never seen you more vulnerable than you were in that moment. I just gave you like an audition of my vulnerability. I know, man. I am ready to cast you in your latest project about a vulnerable, sensitive woman who's caught in a bathroom with no toilet paper.

29:24That's going to be my first short. Absolutely. We are planning a career here. Okay, last question. You are doing this pretty much about as well as you have done everything else you have ever attempted. At this year's CES, one manufacturer introduced a new device with which you can enjoy music. What is it? A, a large case with two built-in stereo speakers known as an iBoombox. B, a lollipop that plays music inside your head when you suck on it. Or C, a robot bassist complete with genuine bassist scent. What was B again? B was a lollipop that plays music inside your head while you suck on it. I'm going to go with B because that sounds kind of cool You're right again I mean Your competence extends to everything When you put lollipop star That is what it is called in your mouth It vibrates against your teeth which connects to your face bones Which connects to your ear bones And it comes in three flavors Or rather songs Bill How did Kaylee Reese do on our quiz?

30:30Well if I don't get it right She's going to come down and beat the living hell out of me Fortunately, I don't have to because she is perfect. Three in a row. There you go. I mean, honestly, Kaylee Reese is an Emmy-nominated actress and member of the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame. You can see her in the new movie Mercy that is out next week. Kaylee Reese, what a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you. Thank you. In just a minute, Bill pays tribute to some grateful gams in our listener limerick challenge. Call 1-888-WIT-WIT to join us on the air.

31:08We'll be back in a minute with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. This week on NPR's ThruLine, why America might not exist without the mosquito. She deserves to have her nice proboscis between Washington and Jefferson on Mount Rushmore. Listen for stories from across 250 years of American history on America in Pursuit. Every Tuesday in the ThruLine feed, on the NPR app, or wherever you get podcasts. Genomics pioneer Robert Greene says many parents want their healthy newborns' DNA screened for diseases that may or may not show up later in life. There is an argument that knowledge is power, and many families would like to know everything, whether it's treatable or not.

31:53The debate over revealing the secrets in baby's DNA. Listen to the TED Radio Hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

32:06From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Luke Burbank, Rachel Koster, and Hari Kondabolu. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Stegel Thank you, Bill In just a minute, we get to the rhymiest part of our show It's called the Listener Limerick Challenge If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT That's 1-888-924-8924 Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news Hari, scientists have known for years that unlike all other animals And this is true, of course Wombat poop is cube-shaped You all knew that, right?

32:51But a new study finally tells us why that is. What's the reason? They're robots. They're not robots. They're wombats. They're a wonderful Australian marsupial. I guess they have the stinkiest inboxes in the animal kingdom. They're trying to repel predators with... What arrives in your inbox? Your inbox. Mail. which is a kind of paper. Kind of correspondence. It's a way to communicate with the other wombats. Yes, if they're communicating with other wombats with their square poop. You got it. Yes. That's insane. Some species like us communicate by email or text. Some do it via poop cubes. Here's the amazing part.

33:42All the wombat messages begin. I hope this poop cube finds you well. If I was pooping square, I'd leave that behind for my roommates to find to send a very powerful message. I've got something extremely cool going on in my body. Yeah. So wombats tend to be loners. They avoid each other in the wild, but they like to poop in common areas, and they do it to let the other wombats who are around know that they're there and more or less who they are. It's sort of like very stinky, hello, my name is Badges, right? And the reason they poop in cubes is so these very important messages to other wombats do not roll away.

34:24Isn't that amazing? And it's also so the wombats can use them as dice afterwards. Trust me, you do not want to play wombat Yahtzee. Luke, new editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss, has been remaking CBS News. And in just a few months... I've heard. Yes. And in just a few months, she's already lost a million viewers. So, to make the newscast more fun and relatable, they have announced a new weekly feature in which anchor Tony DeCoppel will do what on air? Drink Jack Daniel's whiskey. That's right. CBS News is testing a segment with their new anchor called Whiskey Fridays with Tony DeCoppel. I know it's hard to believe, but as Walter Cronkite might say, if he were working at CBS News today, that's the way it is.

35:12So it's great drinking segment instead of throwing to commercial they'll throw up to commercial And as you said a picture of the set shows an anchor desk in the middle of what looks like of a homey bar With a Jack Daniels sign prominently displayed and if you're wondering how this whole idea is being received Jack Daniels the company put out a statement saying they had nothing to do with it Oh, my God. That's true. Imagine if your behavior is so embarrassing that Jack Daniels doesn't want anything to do with it. Another W for the Tiffany Network. Exactly. Now, Mr. DeCopal, who is on board with a new program, he posted to Twitter this week, quote, you may not agree with everything you hear on our broadcast, but we trust you to hear it, unquote.

35:59So I guess it's awesome. Wait, you're going to listen up. Yeah. And you're going to like it. So I guess we can deduce it's also Whiskey Tuesdays with Tony Dinko. Wait, so he's just saying that you might not agree with what we're saying, but you're going to hear it? The average age of a CBS viewer is like 98. Like, I don't know if they're going to hear it. It's true. Respectfully.

36:25Forgot where I was for a second. Yeah.

36:33Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in 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 and leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can come see us most weeks right here at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, and you can also catch us on the road. And if you live in Chicago and want to come hang out with our panelists without me constantly interrupting them, come check out our special Comedy Grab Bag live stand-up show. March 11th at the Den Theater in Wicker Park. Adam Burke will be hosting along with Alzo Slade, Joel, Nicole Johnson, and more.

37:05For tickets and more information for all of our live events, go to nprpresents.org. And while you're at it, head over to nprshop.org and check out our new merch. Grab one of our new wait-wait tees and sweatshirts, and we can be twinsies. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, my name is Ken, and I'm from Champaign, Illinois. Hey, Ken, how are things down to Champaign? A little chilly, a little windy, but not too bad. Not too bad. And what do you do there? Well, when I'm not chasing after my four-year-old or working from home, I play a lot of board games. Really? You're one of those board game geeks that I know and admire so much.

37:40I'm probably a little bit past that. The collection's sitting around 2 ,100 items. 2 ,100 different board games? I guess I should ask, what is your favorite? It doesn't quite work like that.

37:57Peter, you've embarrassed yourself again. I really have. So, wait a minute. So, how does it work? Well, okay. What movie would you watch with your kids? And is that the same movie you'd watch with your wife? Well, yes. Parts of the Caribbean, parts of the Caribbean. Yeah. Well, welcome to the show, Ken. Bill Curtis is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly in two of the limericks, you will be a winner. Ready to apply? I think so. Okay, here is your first limerick. With Bob Weir's guitar in support, the Grateful Dead gladly held court.

38:37And with his style of dress, his legs would impress because he cut off his jeans really... Short. Yes, short. When Grateful Dead founding guitarist Bob Weir transitioned to the actual dead last week. Oh.

38:58You realize they were asking for it from the beginning. Fans around the world paid tribute to him, observing a moment of silence that was, in honor of his music, 16 minutes long. But people didn't celebrate just his music. They also celebrated his iconic short shorts. They were such a part of his identity that deadheads, this is true, do not call cut off jeans Daisy Dukes. They call them Bobby shorts. The rest of us might call them uncomfortably shorts So he would just play with his butt cheeks hanging out? Pretty much Wow The whole point of those concerts is to trip on drugs Not your pant leg That's true So it's important to keep them tight to the body That's absolutely true Alright, here is your next limerick Not all princes can dance at our ball And some short kings might just start a brawl To enter our club, you can't be a wee cub.

39:57You must be at least six feet tall. Yes, a nightclub in London is only letting men enter if they are over six feet tall.

40:14As to why they're doing that and what happens inside, how am I supposed to know? We're all just grabbing some off shelves. bumping into stuff here bill let me climb on your shoulders i have an idea the event it's it's it's these one-off events they've already sold out it's called land of the giants you know what make this really funny if these guys line up to get in they get in and the ceiling of the club is like at five foot ten and all the guys trying to pick up the girls are coming to her like hey ow i mean what's your ow name here is your last limerick my green buddha gets prayers and respect.

40:55You see weird ears, but I didn't check. You say he's an ogre with bad swampy odors. Turns out, I've been praying to... Shrek. Shrek, yes. A woman in the Philippines worshipped a green figurine for four years, believing it was a statue of the Buddha.

41:18Only to finally discover it was actually a little figurine of Shrek now I know you're laughing how could this be but if you knew what it looked like it would make more sense to you first picture Shrek that's what it looked like according to one article about this woman's mistake quote with its round shape and gentle expression she believed it to be a depiction of Buddha and treated it with great reverence is it really that much of a mistake Shrek is also a source of enlightenment. What is the sound of one donkey farting? I have to say I feel for her. As a girl dating in New York City, I've also worshipped the wrong nasty guy for a really long time.

42:04And I regret it too. Yeah. We're not going to judge.

42:11Bill, how did Ken do in our quiz? He did. Perfect. Way to go, Ken. Congratulations. You've won our game. Thank you. Take care. Thank you. Bye-bye. Have a good one.

42:30On NPR's Wild Card Podcast, comedian Tig Notaro. It always makes me laugh when people say she had her sense of humor to the end. And I always thought it would be so funny to put in my obituary that I lost my sense of humor in the end. Like, watch or listen to that wildcard conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard. I'm Jesse Thorne. On Bullseye, I will talk with Regina Hall about her part in the smash hit movie One Battle After Another and about her time at Columbia University Bartending School, which apparently exists. The class was at Columbia University. That's Bullseye. Find us in the NPR app at MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

43:17Now on to our final game, Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as they can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores? Rachel and Luke each have two, Hari has three. All right, Hari is in first place. The other two are tied for second. So I will arbitrarily pick you, Luke, to go first. Here we go. The clock will start when they begin your first question, fill-in-the-blank. On Wednesday, the White House said it would stop processing blank applications from over 50 countries. Immigration.

43:47Close enough. Visa. On Thursday, 17 players were charged with a scheme to shave points during college blank games. Basketball. Right. This week, Russia launched another massive aerial assault on blank. Ukraine. Right. According to a new poll, over half of Americans think that blank officers are making cities less safe. Ice. Right. After naming his new mega yacht Izanami, billionaire Larry Ellison is renaming it because blank. That name was already taken. No, because people pointed out that it spells I am a Nazi backwards. On Wednesday, the IOC began a lottery to win tickets to the 2028 Summer Games in blank.

44:23Los Angeles. Right. This week, IOC officials said they'd definitely be ready for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, despite reports that the ice hockey rink had blank. Melted. No, a hole in it. Olympics officials in Italy said the country will be 100 % ready to host the Winter Games, despite the test event at the hockey arena being delayed thanks to a hole in the ice. they should model their prep on the TV show Heated Rivalry, where the only holes are off the ice.

44:54We were all curious about how that sentence was going to end. Bill, how did Luke do in our quiz? He had five right, ten more points, settled at twelve, puts him in the lead. Alright, very good, Luke. For now. Rachel. You're up next. I'm ready. Here we go. On Thursday, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell the protests in blank. Minneapolis. Right. On Sunday, the DOJ said they'd opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair blank. I don't know. Jerome Powell. Sorry about that. It's okay. On Wednesday, Microsoft agreed to pay higher electricity bills in cities where they build blanks.

45:32AI, yeah. Data centers, that's right. This week, a bear in California who was finally removed from a crawl space by wildlife officials immediately blanked. Poops. No. Sorry. Moved into a neighbor's crawl space. On Monday, luxury retailer Blank filed for bankruptcy protection. Right. That you know. On Sunday, Hamnet and one battle after another were the big winners at the 2026 Blank Awards. This week, a man who had collected a jar full of valuable U.S. coins was shocked when his partner blanked. Just took them. No. No, one brought them to the store and exchanged them all for a couple of dollars.

46:13No. The man's partner took the jar full of old coins, some he'd collected years ago and that were worth$1 ,000 each, and brought them to the store, you know, to get rid of all that loose change, get paper money. Although lucky for him, and this is true, she did save, among all the coins, the Chuck E. Cheese tokens that were in there. Smart. The man was disappointed to lose such a valuable coin collection, but the woman is making up for it by mailing him an apology note every day using those old stamps he had lying around. Bill, how did Rachel do in our quiz? Four right. Eight more points. Ten puts her in second place.

46:47All right. How many then does Hardy Cundibolu need to win? Five to win. All right. Here we go. Harry, this is for the game. On Tuesday, Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to appear before the House Oversight Committee investigating the blank files. Epstein. Amid the ongoing government crackdown, several European countries urged their citizens to leave blank. Leave their homes. No, leave Iran. On Wednesday, an outage of Blank's cellular network left tens of thousands without service. Verizon? Yes. This week, a TV station in Japan regularly interrupted a horror movie to broadcast Blank. Godzilla. No, they interrupted the movie to broadcast a monk who offered a prayer every time the evil ghost killed someone.

47:28Don't want people to worry. After a four-year hiatus, K-pop giants Blank announced a world tour. BTS? Right. This week, blank rates fell to their lowest level in three years. Interest? Close enough. Mortgage rates. This week, a man developed a new invention that you affixed to your car's back bumper that allows the cars behind you to blank. Go to hell. No. Nor does it suggest that they do that. No, it allows the people in the cars behind you to watch TikToks while they are all stuck in traffic with you. It's called honk to swipe. It's a tablet attached to the back of your car that lets people watch TikTok and scroll to the next video by honking their horn.

48:08The tablet, of course, is mounted high on the car above the trunk, so it won't be ruined when people inevitably rear-end your car because they are watching TikTok. Bill, did Harry do well enough to win? Well, he did well. He got four right, eight more points for 11, but that means Luke is our champion today. Congratulations.

48:29Coming up, our panelists predict, now that we're going back to the moon, what are we going to find there? But first, let me tell you all, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godica writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shana Donald. Thanks to the staff and crew at the Studebaker Theater. BJ Liedemann composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Drobos, and Lillian King. Special thanks this week to Mohanad Elshehi and Monica Hickey.

48:58Peter Gwynn will defend Gwynnland at all costs. Our visual host is Emma Choi Technical direction is from Lorna White Our CFO is Colin Miller Our production manager is Robert Newhouse Our senior producer is Ian Chilag And the executive producer of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me Is Mike Danforth And before we leave you This week we lost our former senior producer Murad Abid Known to us and all his many friends at NPR News As Rod Rod led our show in the early years From when it was a struggling show and just a few stations to a mainstay of public radio. Most importantly, by taking us from recording in a studio each week to in front of a live audience, which is why, in my opinion, we are all still here.

49:42So we owe Rod a tremendous debt, and if you enjoy our show, you do too. Now, panel, when we go to the moon again, what are we going to find? Luke Burbeck. A platoon of Scandinavian swimmers. Rachel Koska. It's already seeing someone. We waited too long.

50:04And Hari Kondabolu. Jimmy Hoffa. And if any of that happens, panel, we'll ask you about it on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Thank you, Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Rachel Koster, Hari Kondabolu, and Luke Burbank. Thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Segal. We'll see you next week.

50:28This is NPR.