WWDTM: Live at Tanglewood with Paul Giamatti!

20:34And now the game we call Not My Job. Paul Giamatti is a movie star for all of us. He doesn't play spies or superheroes, but he plays mostly every man. He's built a career playing people struggling with everything from existential regret to writer's block to being dyed completely blue. And every time we see his performances on screen or on TV, we say to ourselves, yeah, that's me. That's my life because I, too, have been dyed completely blue. His latest project is a heartbreaking episode of the science fiction anthology Black Mirror. We are delighted he joins us here at Tanglewood. Paul Giamatti, welcome to Wait Waits on Time.

21:12Thank you very much. Welcome. Real pleasure. Thank you.

21:19Usually when I talk to actors with extremely long and varied careers like you, I ask what role you're most often known for. But in your case, I wanted to ask something slightly different, which is, based on all the roles you've played, what kind of assumptions do people make about you as a real person? Oh, I mean, the wine thing. Everybody assumes I know all about wine. I don't know crap about wine. There you go. Okay. Is there like a paradigmatic Paul Giamatti role? There's a role that they say, we've got to get Paul Giamatti for this. He's perfect. Jeez, I don't know. I mean, it used to be I would get a script and I'd open it and I'd be reading it and I would come to a character where they say kind of a disheveled man sort of shuffles into the room.

22:06Or something. An angry voice is heard off camera. Yelling in the bathroom or something. And I was like, this is my part, okay. Get out the highlighter right there. Here we go. Yep, and so it's, yeah, it was generally, you know, there's an angry middle management type who steps in. Just as soon as you see the line, what the hell are you doing? Exactly. That's the highlight. That's it. Exactly, exactly. Wow. You started out in theater, you started in Yale, and like a lot of actors, you worked your way up. One of your first TV roles, I was told, was Man in Sleeping Bad. Correct. NYPD Blue. That's right.

22:41Right. Well, it was one of the first roles I had on television or anything. I'd been doing some legit theater. Well, of course. And then I took a day off to go play Man in Sleeping Bags. Yeah. What did they have you do as Man in Sleeping Bag? Not witness the crime is what I did. Really? Yeah. They came to question us about who witnessed the crime. And I said, not me, man. And that was it. Really? I was in the sleeping bag. and they were, Dennis Franz was going, who saw anything that happened? I said, not me, man. And were you down on the ground looking up at him? Yep, I was down, exactly. I was looking up at Dennis Franz.

23:20I went, not me, man. It's amazing. So many years later, you can still remember your lines. Yeah.

23:30Since I brought it up, I have to mention the movie Big Fat Liar in which you were, in fact, died completely blue. Correct. Can you explain for those who didn't see that movie, why were you dyed completely blue? I stole an idea from a kid for a screenplay. I play a big movie producer. Yeah. And I steal the kid's idea and the kid gets revenge on me in various ways, but one way is dumping a bunch of blue dye in my swimming pool. Right. And so then I go for a swim and I get dyed blue. Right. Yeah. Listen, man, you know, I made decent money. Yeah. You know, listen, you know, I mean, what was I going to do?

24:06Say no? Yeah, I know. And did you lie there? And did you lie there as they were spray painting you blue for two hours? Oh, two hours. Saying, I am a graduate of Yale School of Drama. Absolutely. Absolutely. I tell you, interesting little thing about that. They spray you with tattoo ink like that. It was blue tattoo ink. And every night the guy had to, or somebody had to rub it off of me. It stayed on my feet for about six months. We couldn't get it off my feet. So my feet were blue for about six months. Just a little bit of trivia. There you are. And did your friends and family just sort of understand this?

24:45Yes, they did. Yes, very understanding people. It wasn't like you went home and your wife was like, Paul, do you have gangrene? Yes, I do. You have, and I'm among them in a larger sense, You have a very devoted fan base. And in fact, they have created the Wax Paul Now movement. Are you aware of this? Yes, I'm aware of it. Yeah. I think it's a thing of the past. I think that train has left the station. I don't think I'm getting a wax statue at Madame Tussauds. So that idea was that the people, they actually created a movement to get you, Paul Giamatti, star of Stage and Scream, your own wax figurine at Madame Tussauds.

25:24Yes, they tried to, and it didn't work. Yeah. So, yeah. Did you get... I don't know how you qualify. That's my question. Yeah. What's the qualification for getting a wax statue? I don't know. Right. If I can't get one, who the hell can get one? I mean, that's... True. For Christ's sake. I mean, I mean, my God. Right?

25:44No, that would have been... That would have been... That would have been retirement time. Yeah. That would have been like, I'm done. That's good. Yeah. I don't need any more honors than that. Well, Paul Giamatti... Yes. Well, Paul Giamatti, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling. Holdovers? Fun. Leftovers? Yum. So you just started a movie called The Holdovers, which was great, but it made us think of Leftovers. A lot of people liked it. Nice. Good. Great. And that movie made us think of Leftovers, which of course made us think of Tupperware. Answer two or three questions about the iconic food containers, and you will win our prize for one of our contestants, the voice of anyone they choose for their voicemail.

26:22Bill, who is Paul Giamatti playing for? Barbara Jack Litch from Salisbury, Connecticut. All right. Here's your first question. Ready to go? Yeah. Here's your first question. Okay. Everybody loves Tupperware, including your fellow celebrities, like legendary singer Patti LaBelle. We know this because she recently told an interviewer what? A, that Elton John stole her Tupperware and never gave it back. B, that her concert rider includes eight quart-sized Tupperware containers so she can take home leftovers. Or C, that she keeps the cremains of her three late husbands in them so they can, quote, stay fresh.

27:02Mmm, cremains. Oh, boy. Cremains sounds like something you can eat. Yeah, it does. Enjoy cremains. From your dressing room. Mmm, soft serve. I guess I'm going with that one. I guess I'm going with cremains. No, it was Elton John. Oh! Wow. Yes, but you mentioned that she has a big heart. She did. Back in the 60s, when she was pretty big, but Elton John was just a starving young piano player, he came to her house. Not only did she feed him, she gave him leftovers to take home in Tupperware, and she says, 50 years later, never got it back. That's amazing. That's awesome. All right, you have two more chances.

27:41Here's your next question. Tupperware isn't just for leftover food. a Tupperware container was used at one point for storing which of these? A, Queen Elizabeth's collection of favorite earrings, B, Albert Einstein's brain, or C, two pounds of plutonium left over from making the first atomic bomb. That seems absurd to me. Yes, yes. The plutonium one, that would just melt the plastic. Even Tupperware couldn't do that. Even Tupperware couldn't handle that. Einstein's brain was stolen by a couple of guys, right? Yeah. And they drove around with it in the trunk of their car, I think. I'm going to actually guess it's that one.

28:19Einstein's brain, you're right. So what happened was, Einstein's brain was removed from his body after he died by the doctor who did the autopsy. There was no law against it then. But when he did drive across the country in an attempt to return it to Einstein's descendants, he did put it in a Tupperware. Amazing. So this is the last question. Earl Tupper, the guy who invented Tupperware. Wow, really? Yeah. Wow. He was a prolific inventor. He also came up with which of these ideas? A, a fish-powered boat. B, a combination belt buckle and photo frame. What? No, that's not interesting. Or C, the jet ski.

29:03Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. This is hard. I want to go with fish-powered boat, because I think that's kind of cool. Your choice is fish-powered boat? He actually came up with the idea for all of them. Wow! That's great. Good question. Wow. He left a notebook behind with all these ideas, including all the ones I mentioned. And yes, one of them was a motorcycle for the water that looks just like a jet ski. He never patented it, but he did come up with it. Wow. There you are. He's like Leonardo da Vinci. He really was in many ways. Wow. Bill, how did Paul Giamatti do in our grade? Two out of three.

29:43That's a win, Paul. Yes! You're the champ. They're celebrating in Salisbury. They are. They're going nuts in Salisbury. Setting things on fire. Pushing cards over. Paul Giamatti is an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner. You can soon see in Downton Abbey, the grand finale coming to theaters on September 12th or the episode Eulogy of Black Mirror available right now. Paul Giamatti, thank you so much for joining us here. Paul Giamatti, everybody.

30:20In just a minute, Bill pulls out his axe and shreds for you in our Listener Limbric Challenge called 1-888-Wait-Wait to join us on the air. We'll be back in a minute with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

30:40From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We're playing this week with Joyelle, Nicole Johnson, Tom Bodin, and Mo Rocca. And here again is your host at Tanglewood in Western Massachusetts, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, everybody. in just a minute Bill addresses our limerick game by its full name the listener limerichard challenge if you'd like to play give us a call 1-888-wait-wait that's 1-888-924-8924 but now panel I have some more questions for you from the week's news Tom there's a new trend of places that offer multiple TV showing sports pool, foosball tables arcade games and other amenities all just to lure men into doing what?

31:37Oh, I know this. Seeing a doctor. Exactly right. According to researchers, men live shorter lives than women on average, primarily because they refuse to go to the doctor. It makes sense. Medicine is for softies. Live hard, die young. Men. Since staying alive is apparently not enough of an incentive to get men to come see the doctor. Some men's medical clinics are trying to lure them in with things like sports on TV and table games. Fellas, get your checkup maxing on as your closest bro MD. The waiting room is full of leather and brushed steel and the axe throwing parlor is attached to the ER.

32:22Man, so, I mean, if you're in one of those little robes with no butt in it, you know, and you're sitting on the leather furniture, I mean, this This is starting to sound like a... Wait, what is it? A robe with no butt? You know, the little gowns they give you. The hospital gowns that don't tie in the back. Picture it on Jason Kelsey. I'm just picturing this sports bar with everybody in those. Wearing that, yeah. Lean over to take a shot at the pool table and everybody looks away. Yeah. That's not my fantasy. Now, it's not just that. Because men are apparently so helpless when it comes to the doctor.

32:58This is all true that there is a men's clinic in Cleveland that has a staff of eight, quote, Joes. That's what they're called, Joes. And they help patients with everything from scheduling appointments and finding pharmacies to even reminding the clients of things like Mother's Day and anniversaries. They're Joes? I thought it would be the opposite. Like it would be a Hooters type situation. Like in a little nurse outfits and being like, well, Joes from Mo, but Hooters for... Yeah, depending. Thank you. That's very considerate. I see you, Mo. They would have a selection. Yeah. Joyelle, Burning Man organizers are vowing to rebuild after a devastating dust storm this last week destroyed the dedicated dome there on the playa that is used for what?

33:48Orgies! Yes! The orgy dome is no more at Burning Man. Now, it's never right to make fun of people suffering from a weather tragedy they didn't deserve unless it involves an orgy dome. Now, the orgy dome isn't just a diaphragm marketed to millennials. It is a specific place set up at Burning Man every year where orgies are held, and this week a 50-mile-per-hour dust storm tore through the site and completely destroyed the tent. Maybe God is real after all. Yeah. The Burning Man staff says that they will rebuild the Orgy Dome because luckily that part of the FEMA budget wasn't cut.

34:44Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank, but first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you want to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can see us most weeks here at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, or you can catch us on the road. We'll be at the fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis on September 18th and Honolulu, Hawaii, can you believe it, on October 9th and 10th. For tickets and information to all of our live shows, go to nprpresents.org. And if you're really desperate for us, you can find even more of us on TikTok at waitwaitnpr.

35:17Hi, you're on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hey, this is Mish from Philadelphia. Hey, Mish, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm fine. In my mind, every cool person in Philadelphia is named something like Meech. Yeah, you're not wrong. Yeah, and what do you do there? I do a whole bunch of stuff, but right now my primary job is I work at a little store that sells board games and card games. Oh, I love board game stores. They're the best. They are the best, yeah. Do you have a favorite? Oh, I thought you might ask me that, and I totally should have prepared for that question. All right, hang on. This sometimes helps jog your memory here.

35:53is there a game you hate the most, and is it Monopoly? Yes. Yes, yes, absolutely. Well, Mish, welcome to the show. Bill Curtis is going to perform for you three news-related limericks with a last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly on two of the limericks, you'll be a winner. You ready to go? Absolutely. Here's your first limerick. My sport doesn't need ball or bat, or even an exercise mat. I strengthen my core, chasing birds out of doors. I run on all fours like a... Cat? Like a cat, yes. The hot new trend in fitness is running around in nature on all fours like a cat.

36:34I guess this is why everybody was reading that book, All Fours, this last summer. It must be an exercise manual. The movement is known as quadrobics, and practitioners say it can increase your fitness, help you lose weight, even give you rock-hard abs. so I no longer feel weird about commenting under every cat video, wow, how can I look this hot? Here is your next limerick. This hotel sounds like one big band camp because the outlets serve more than a lamp. Let's go to the bar to check out a guitar because each room has its own Marshall. I'm going to need to hear that one again. Sure, let's hear it again.

37:18This hotel sounds like one big band camp, because the outlets serve more than a lamp. Let's go to the bar to check out a guitar, because each room has its own Marshall.

37:34I can't hear you. I appreciate the effort, though.

37:40Is it stamp? No, it rhymes with camp and lamp. It has to do with guitars and Marshall's... Oh, an amp! An amp! Yes! When you check into a Ruby hotel, that's a European hotel chain soon coming to America, guests can select an electric guitar from the collection in the lobby, bring it up to their room, plug it into the amp that every room is provided with, and shred away. Fun for you! not so for the person in the next room who will start banging in the adjoining wall yelling could you please have loud gross sex instead can you imagine how many times you'd have to hear stairway to heaven oh my god all right here is your last limerick in japan we're protecting our teens all the doom scrollers and gossip queens two hours at home you can be on your phone anymore and we're taking your screen yes if you want to look at your phone less and you need encouragement just move to the town of taiwake in japan where they just passed a law meant to limit everyone's screen time to just two hours a day Ooh.

39:04It's going to be great for people to have this law, one way or another. Either your screen time goes down or your step count goes up when you try to get out of city limits just to get the latest on Real Housewives of Atlanta. Now, this ban would not affect just phones, but also laptops, which is crazy because laptops aren't screens. Laptops are TV, and TV is books.

39:30Bill, how did Mish do in our quiz? They got all three winners Congratulations Mish Thank you very much Thank you so much for calling and playing Take care It's hard, it's true To be without you I don't complain It's just insane It's hard, it's true To be without you Yeah

39:59Now, on to our final game, lightning fill-in-the-blank. Each player will have 60 seconds now 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? Mo has one. Joy-El has two. And look at the big man. Tom has four. Whoa, how is that possible? I don't know. Catch that. Mo, then Joy-El, then Tom. So that means, Mo, we start with you. The clock will start when I begin your first question, fill-in-the-blank. On Monday, the White House followed through on threats to level a 50 % tariff rate on goods from blank. India. Right.

40:32On Sunday, the U.S. government announced they had acquired a 10 % stake in computer company blank. Intel. Right. This week, Russia launched a new air attack on blank. Key. Right. On Tuesday, the FDA approved updated blank vaccines just for select groups. COVID. Right. This week, 73-year-old Bill Belichick and his 26-year-old girlfriend filed a trademark for the phrase blank. Oh, it's the trademark, not robbing the cradle. It's a trademark. Sugar Daddy. No. Oh, you're going to hate yourself. Ready? Gold Digger. Oh. Sugar Daddy is a synonym for Gold Digger. It's a trademark. According to a new study, 60 % of teachers admit to using blank for lesson planning.

41:22AI. Right. On Wednesday, paleontologists announced the discovery of a new armored blank. Dinosaur vehicle? Yes. No, just dinosaur. Dinosaur. Dinosaur. This week, a 75-year-old realtor at a concert in the Hamptons was arrested after she allegedly blanked just to get a free t-shirt thrown to the crowd. She stole it from a child. Yes. Who she did what to? She hit the child. I'll give it to you. She bit the child. Yeah, yeah. Yes. During a t-shirt toss at the Main Beach Concert Series in the Hamptons, one very high-end real estate agent got so excited that she allegedly punched and kicked her way through the crowd and then bit the arm of a seven-year-old in order to claim the shirt.

42:07It finally answers the question, what do you get for the woman who has everything? Flesh. There's a reason they're called brokers. Exactly. Bill, how did Mo do on our quiz? He's coming on strong. Seven more points. He's got 14 and 15, a total for the lead. All right. Joelle, you're up next. Here we go. Fill in the blank. In Israel, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets, demanding an end to the war in blank. Palestine? I'll give it to you, Gaza. This week, prosecutors failed to secure an indictment against a man who threw a blank at a federal agent in D.C. A sandwich. A sandwich.

42:47According to the new data, blank is making oceans significantly more acidic. Shark poop. No, climate change. On Wednesday, NASA said that a building-sized asteroid would miss the Earth but might hit the blank.

43:06Moon. Yeah, that's right, moon. Following years of constant construction noise, Mark Zuckerberg is finally making amends with his neighbors by blanking. Giving them billions of dollars. No, he's not going to do that, but he will give them all noise-canceling headphones. So Zuckerberg has spent over$100 million Buying up 11 homes together To make a residential compound In Palo Alto, California Including the excavation of her 7 ,000 square feet Of underground rooms So after 9 years of constant construction Finally he listened to his beleaguered neighbors And made it up to them by giving them Noise-canceling headphones And the first month of the subscription You need to make them work is free He's a charmer He really is How'd I do, Bill?

43:53Well, you're in the game. Three right, six more points. You have a total of eight, which is number two. All right. All right. So how many then does Tom need to win, Bill? Six to win, Thomas. Here we go. On Monday, President Trump signed an order purportedly making it illegal to burn blank. The flag. Right. Right. On Tuesday, Denmark called a meeting with a U.S. envoy over reports that the administration was running covert influence operations in blank. Greenland. Right. This week, Lucasfilm announced that filming had begun in the new blank movie. Oh, the Star Wars. Yes. Following clashes with RFK Jr., the recently installed head of the blank was fired.

44:39CDC. Right. This week, Duolingo issued an apology after the app repeatedly taught users to say the phrase blank in German.

44:54Go yourself. No. It taught them how to say the phrase, quote, I like the Harry Potter books, but I don't like the author, unquote. Hey. According to a new study, getting better blank increases happiness in young people. Getting better sleep. Yes, getting better sleep. On Thursday, private space company blank launched 30 more satellites into orbit. That would be SpaceX. This week, a golfer competing in the BMW Championship hit his ball just next to the hole but still managed to score under par thanks to blank. A passing bird. No. A fly that landed on the ball and made it fall in the hole. The video, which you can see, is amazing.

45:41It zooms in very close. The ball comes to a stop right in the lip of the hole. then a tiny fly lands on one side of the ball crawls over to the other and it's added weight on that side tips it into the hole it's amazing and this counts because rule does not say you can't have a fly as a helper that should be like a shrine it really should be Bill, did Tom do well enough to win? you got six right? what a winner, number one congratulations Tom thank you very much Coming up, our panelists will reveal what did the old man from the Cracker Barrel logo do with his week off? Wait, wait, don't tell me.

46:27This is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions' Doug Berman, the benevolent overlord. Philip Gotteke writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shana Donald. Thanks to the staff and crew in Tanglewood and everyone here at NEPM. B.J. Liederman, composer of theme. Our program is produced. By Jennifer Mills, Miles Grumbos, and Lillian King. Special thanks to Mohanid Elshekhi and Monica Hickey. The director of the Ritzman Family Singers is Peter Gwynn. Emma Choi is our vibe curator. Technical direction is from Lorna White.

46:58Our CFO is Colin Miller. Our production manager is Robert Newhouse. Our senior producer is Ian Chillock. And the executive producer, wait, wait, don't tell me, that's Michael Danforth. Now, panel, what will we find out that the old guy in the Cracker Barrel logo did with his free time this week? Tom Bodette. needing to work that cramp out of his leg from sitting in that chair all those years he had to do the berkshires for a week-long yoga camp at kripalu joyelle nicole johnson he submitted a formal apology to the naacp and mo rocca he went and got a covid shot he'll last another week before he gets canned again well depending if that happens panel we're going to ask you about Wait, wait, don't tell me.

47:42Thank you, Bill Curtis. Thanks also to Joel McCall Johnson. Thanks to our fabulous audience of the Berkshires at Tanglewood. And thanks to all of you for listening wherever you might be. I'm Peter Sagan. We'll see you next week.

48:07This is NPR. Support for NPR and the following message come from Jarl and Pamela Moan, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen.