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22:46So I just love my heart. I broke the rules. You broke the rules. Absolutely. You're reaching out. You were not trained, although your voice is astonishing and reminds me of like the great singers of all time, but you were not trained as a singer. In fact, I read that you said you did a singing competition as a kid and the judge said you sounded like a divorced 40-year-old.

23:14She did, yeah. I mean, bless her. That was definitely meant to be a compliment, but I... Was it? I mean, they were like, oh, you're so worldly. You've been around. I think he was trying to say that I had, like, I've always had a very deep voice. Right. I was quite young. I've grown into it now, I think. Right. I was odd. And I am odd. I think it worked out for the better. Right. Okay, yeah. Actually, that's kind of interesting. Do you think yourself as an odd person? Less and less. Or rather, I just own it now. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that was like a back then especially I was a 13 year old girl who was only interested in seeing songs from the great American songbook in Iceland Yeah Because your music is so redolent of like classic American song I was delighted to listen to a duet you did with Barbara Streisand Our audience is like whoa, really?

24:12I am also like whoa, really? It's shocking So I'm assuming just given your background and your training and your interest you knew who Barbara Streisand was I thought my manager was pranking me really So far-sought I thought I was like huh, this is a funny joke like you got me But it was true. And how did you find how did you find the great Barbara? I I mean, I I feel like I've never not known Barbara I have to ask you about your creative director who is your identical twin sister which is delightful have you must have been tempted to try the thing that everybody assumes identical twins do all the time which is swap in for each other like maybe you're tired maybe you've done the concert maybe you don't want to go meet the fans as you're obligated to do can you send out her and she'll do it well they all know who she is and they all want to meet her too Doesn't help Doesn't help then it's like even when I go out on my own.

25:14It's like where's where's you? Yeah, so Yeah, that hasn't we did swap one time what happened what was the occasion? It's a secret Oh

25:28So wait a minute It's a secret you can't tell me does that mean like there's somebody who thought they had a date with you But it was really union or there's a music video in which we think we're watching you, but it's really union

25:41No, that's not it. No to those two, but it's something else really good. I don't think I can Google each day. Are we talking to Yunia right now? I don't have her doing press yet. No. That might become necessary when you get to the next level. I know, we could do a US and Europe tour at the same time. Exactly. Is there a way, if we were in a situation where we didn't know if we were talking to you or your twin sister, Yunya, is there a way to tell you apart? Like, there's something about her that's very different than you? Well, I sing.

26:22Well, I guess you could force me to sing. Really? You have a degree in international relations, so you could probably ask her about some foreign policy, and she'd be able to answer, and I would kind of stare at you blankly, I think. You would just start singing. Well, Leve, we are so delighted to talk to you, and we have asked you here today to play a game, and we're calling it, Why Is It Still So Light Out? Your new record coming out soon is called A Matter of Time. So we thought we'd ask you about a controversial matter of time, Daylight Savings Time. Answer two to three questions correctly, you will win our prize for one of our listeners.

27:02My daylight savings knowledge is we don't really do that. Okay. All right. It's a light out in Iceland during summer because the sun just doesn't set. It just doesn't. All right. Bill, who is Leve playing for? Brandon Green of Seattle, Washington. All right. You ready to go? Here's your first question. The idea of daylight savings time was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin. He told the French that they could save money on candles in the evening if they just got up earlier in the morning. But the idea didn't catch on in France for a few reasons, including what? A, it was defeated by the French candle lobby.

27:43B, the French wanted it to get dark early for easier sneaking to their mistress's homes. Or C, Ben Franklin was just kidding.

27:56I'll go with D. You're going to go with B. You're going to with B, that they wanted to sneak over to see their mistresses. Yes. I don't, I don't, yes, yes. Okay. I'm afraid it was C, Ben Franklin was just kidding. It was a joke. Who would ever do a silly thing like that? Get up earlier than you had to. Come on now. All right, you still have two chances. This is not a problem. Here's your next question. Daylight Savings Time was introduced in America during World War I, but it wasn't very popular, as is evidenced by what happening after the war. A, Timex introduced their daylight savings-proof clock, which couldn't be turned back or forward.

28:36B, the state of Connecticut made it a crime to turn your clocks back. Or C, a bill introduced in Congress that would have imposed a national bedtime of 8 p.m. I'm going to go with B again. And this time you're right. It was. the state of Connecticut, made it illegal, if you were caught in Connecticut with a clock showing anything but Eastern Standard Time, you could spend 10 days in jail. All right, you have one last question, and I'm optimistic because it's about your home. Iceland does not have daylight savings time, as I'm sure you know, and the reason is in that in 1994, two astronomers from the University of Iceland convinced the government to abolish it.

29:22What was their primary argument? A, the ancient Vikings who founded the nation believed sleeping late was an affront to Odin. B, it was bad for Icelandic horses who got agitated when all of their meals suddenly came an hour earlier. Or C, it is just so annoying.

29:45between B and C yes we take our horses very seriously I'm aware so I could see conveniencing their food schedules I could see that being an issue but also it being just so annoying is also very Icelandic so I've said I want to say I'm going to say C you're right again Leven

30:13Bill, how did Leve do in our quiz? Well, she's a winner, of course. She's from a long way from here. Congratulations. There you go. Congratulations.

30:27Leve, I've got to say, I've enjoyed listening to your music all week. It was even more fun to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us. Leve is a Grammy Award winner who's about to start touring behind her new album, A Matter of Time. That drops August 22nd. Leve, thank you so much for being on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. What a pleasure. Good luck with the tour. Bye. Bye-bye.

30:52When we come back, the man who made Superman fly again and the nicest person ever to earn an Olympic medal for stabbing people. That's when we return with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

31:08From NPR and WBEZ 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 downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagan. Thanks, Bill. So we are here to help if you are still trying to make conversation with your visiting in-laws. Let's say somebody has gone off on politics and the room falls into an awkward silence. You can say, hey, everybody. Remember when writer-director James Gunn was on Wait, Wait? Wasn't that great? And it was. Here's proof from back in July when I asked him about his early influences.

31:54That is everything I grew up with. Comic books, you know, punk rock music, and zombie movies. Yeah, all the things I love. When did you start making your own things, your own comics and films? I started writing and drawing my own comics probably when I was nine years old and then started making movies with my brothers at about 11 or 12 years old. And what were some of those first movies? Do you remember? Do you have them? I do. I have some of them. There's one with Playmobil figures that I stop motion animated, but it was very bloody. So they're just, you know, cutting each other up and getting bloody.

32:30Then I had another one in which it was a zombie movie in which one of my brothers became a zombie and ate the other one. That was also very bloody. And then I had another one where one brother killed another brother. That was very, there was a theme. And the folks didn't take it to therapy? They didn't. Did your brothers ever complain? Like, James, we know you're the creative genius in the family, but could we do something other than kill each other, or were they into it? My one brother has a ketchup phobia. I won't say who's the one. But this is true. He cannot be around ketchup, because I made him lie on the cold linole floor in cold ketchup for too long.

33:10And if he's around ketchup, he freaks out. Really? Well, I want to talk about Superman, and I love it all, and I have this theory why it's so good. and that's because you take the emotions of all these characters really seriously but you're not afraid of admitting that like superheroes can be really silly so for example your new movie superman starts immediately superman falls in the sky hits the ground and we see right away that the underwear is back on the outside yeah okay i was so excited I love the bottoms. I love his bottoms. His trunks. It leaves something to the imagination. Yeah. Superman's wholesome.

33:54I don't want to see his junk. Yeah. And so, and so, and then this next thing that happens is he falls to the ground and he is rescued by Crypto the Superdog, who is this fabulous mutt who is wearing a red Superman cape. And you're like, okay, one thing I know about this Superman movie, there will be no brooding. I mean, listen, I love all of that crazy stuff that was in the comic books that I grew up with. Flying dogs and giant monsters and robots and sorcery. And that's just part of the fun of it all for me. I want to ask about the dog. Everybody loves the dog. The dog is a CGI creation that's based on your own dog.

34:35Your rescue dog, Ozu. Ozu, that's right. And so does Ozu know that he is now an international movie star? Ozu doesn't know anything. He barely knows where he was two seconds ago. Even for a dog, he's not very smart. But he's very smart. Are you asking if... He also, he attacks himself every time he sees himself. No, really? Yeah, he hates crypto. He hates crypto. Every time crypto's on screen, he attacks the screen. Oh, wow. He's a maniac. But I will say the one thing that's really been cool is last week, interest in adopting dogs went up over 500%. Yes, I saw that. I wouldn't get too carried away with this idea that people are adopting dogs.

35:24Wait till they find out that their dogs won't wear a cape. We're having too much fun, but we have work to do. James Gunn, it is such a joy to talk to you. And we have asked you here to play a game we're calling... James Gunn, meet the T-shirt gun. Superman, classically faster than a speeding bullet, but can you be faster than a speeding t-shirt shot from a gun? Answer two to three questions about t-shirt guns correctly. You'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is James Gunn playing for? Ava Lewis of San Diego, California. All right, you ready for this? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, he's ready.

36:00Here's your first question. The technology behind t-shirt guns as we know them was developed during World War II as a way to fire grenades. But it wasn't until what happened that the inventors realized that this pneumatic gun had other applications. A, one of the scientists was trying to pack efficiently for a trip and stuffed his socks in the barrel of the gun. B, the inventors forgot to bring grenades when it was time to demonstrate the weapon, and they had to improvise with beer bottles and potatoes. Or C, one inventor went to clown college and later retooled all his wartime ideas for use in his act.

36:35Oh, good gosh. Okay, so I don't think it's three. So it's either A or B. I'm going to go B. You're going to go B, and you're right. You're right, James. They realized they didn't have any grenades. We had to demonstrate it for the hires up, and they found out it was just the perfect size to launch bottles and potatoes very fast and very far. In fact, it was so successful, they even used to shoot potatoes at actual planes in wartime. Boy, how humiliating would it be to be brought down by a potato? It's true. All right, let's leave the Irish army out of this.

37:13Here's your next question. That's very good. The modern-day T-shirt gum was developed by a college mascot, and it soon spread around the world. But not all mascots were equally good at using it. Like, for example, Chip, the mascot of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who once did what? A, launched a T-shirt that went into the marching band's tuba and got stuck so tightly that eventually they had to cut the tuba with a hacksaw to get it out. B, rolled up the shirts so badly that they only flew three feet before opening up and fluttering to the ground. Or C, accidentally held the t-shirt gun backwards and launched a shirt directly into his own crotch.

37:54It is bolder. I'm going to go with C. You're right again. And yes, you can watch it on YouTube, and when you do, you'll discover not only are t-shirt guns powerful, but those mascot costumes, not as padded as you might think, judging by his reaction. All right, let's see if we can make this perfect, your last question. Not everyone should use a t-shirt gun. In fact, an Oklahoma woman was arrested for using a t-shirt gun. Why? A, she was trying to rob a t-shirt store. B, she was using it to shoot cell phones and drugs over the walls of a prison to a friend inside or C, she had it tucked inside her coat and did not have a concealed t-shirt gun carry permit.

38:38Okay, this is, I don't want to let Ava down, so I'm hoping that it's B. It is, in fact, B. Wow. This is the proudest moment of my life. She sat outside the prison and shot the supplies. into the prison. Bill, how did James Gunn do in our quiz? He is a super man. Getting all three right. Good going, James. James Gunn is the director, writer, and the co-hat of DC Studios. James Gunn, what a joy to talk to you. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon, I hope. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

39:24message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can see us most weeks right here at the Studio Baker Theater in downtown Chicago, where catch us on the road. We'll be in Phoenix, Arizona on December 4th. Tickets and info are at nprpresents.org. Finally, in June, we spoke to an American athletic pioneer. Ibtihaj Mohamed was the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal, and she even helped Nike develop the world's first hijab for athletes. When she joined us in June, Peter, ask her how she became so competitive. Well, you know, I'm the middle of five kids, and I think naturally, when you grow up in a large family, things are just naturally competitive.

40:07Like we would, you know, race each other in the pool, you know, you want to get the last slice of pizza, just small things like that where I feel like you're just in like small competition. And I do feel like having an older brother who used to bully me a little bit definitely brought out this fierce competitor from an early age. Right. Yeah. And I've just, out of curiosity, has your brother ever won an Olympic medal in anything?

40:34I would love for him to hear that. You were good. You were good at a lot of sports, but you gravitated to fencing. and how did that happen to be? Happened to be driving past a high school in my hometown. I'm from Maplewood, New Jersey in the car with my mom and from the road you could see fencers in the school cafeteria and my mom was like, I don't know what it is, but they're covered, so I want you to do it.

41:04Wait a minute, she had no idea what they were doing. They were just wearing head-to-toe outfits with a mask, you're like, that's for you. We thought they were wearing helmets, so that's how little we knew about fencing at the time. But, you know, I was a kid who would eventually wear hijab, and I really struggled trying to find my space in different sports when I was just always out of uniform, in a sense. And when I started fencing, it just felt like home from the very beginning. Right. And you picked up Sabre of the three weapons. It is by far the coolest. Am I correct? Oh, the best, for sure.

41:37I don't even know what the other weapons are. Yeah, exactly. Who cares about that? Are you one of those fencers who I've seen many times who, after every successful point, just goes nuts, just like shouts and screams and victory? Or are you more of a quiet assassin type? In my mind, I'm quiet assassin, but then I watch video and I'm like, oh my God.

42:04does that ever does does that kind of competitiveness ever cross into the rest of your life you know it's uh i i feel like i have like a i don't know if it's like ocd but i have this everything has to be perfect and i really struggle when things aren't exactly the way that they're supposed to be whether i'm you know uh fencing or i don't know mowing the lawn whatever Whatever it is, I really need it to be perfect. I understand. I just imagine you just mowing the lawn and after every row... Yeehaw! I'm really into this. Really? Into the lawn mowing? I will say that my parents have the best lawn on the block.

42:44I imagine.

42:48You've earned many medals and other honors, but one of the most impressive to me is that you were one of the women immortalized as a Barbie. I'm imagining do you I have to assume you have a Barbie of yourself somewhere, right? Oh, man, I Have so many of them like I was like if I have a bunch of kids and my sisters have a bunch of kids then we need like a hundred Barbie And people from Mattel were like, I'm sorry, excuse me Well, Ibtihaj Mohamed, it is a particular pleasure to talk to you, and we have asked you here to play a game we're calling... Take a stab at this.

43:39You used to stab people professionally, so we thought we'd ask you about other people taking a stab at something, that is, trying something for the first time. Answer two or three questions correctly, you'll win our prize for one of our listeners. Bill, who is Ibtihaj Mohamed playing for? Sean Pratt of Madison, Wisconsin. All right. Ready to go? I got this, Sean. Here you go. Here's your first question. In 2019, a woman in Turkey took a stab at flying for the very first time. It didn't go great, though, because shortly after she got to the airport, she did what? A, sat down in the luggage conveyor belt thinking it would take her to the plane.

44:16B, got onto the plane and sat down in the first empty seat she saw, the co-pilots. or C drank an entire bottle of vodka in the security line when she was told she couldn't bring it on board. Well, first of all, she's crazy. That we know. Assume. She got on the conveyor belt. She sat in the cockpit. She sat in the cockpit seat or she drank an entire fifth or whatever of vodka because she couldn't bring it on the plane. I'm so stressed out for her. I'm going to go with C. You're going to go with C. That was a little strange, but okay. I'm afraid you all were wrong. You should feel terrible about yourself.

44:58It was actually, I'm speaking to them. It was A. This is going to happen. Think about it. She goes, she's never been there before. She goes to the airport. She checks her bags. They take the bag. They turn around. They put it on that conveyor belt that takes it behind the scenes to the plane. She goes, great. Thank you. She climbs over, gets on it herself.

45:23All right, you still have two more chances. Here we go. All right, here's your next question. At 18 years old, Brendan Shanahan decided to try professional hockey, and one of the first things he did was get in a fist fight against fellow hockey player Rick Vave. Why? Was it A, he'd heard of the first thing you're supposed to do in a hockey game is find the biggest guy on the rink and punch him in the nose? B, because Rick, Vave had just broken up with his older sister, or C, because four years earlier he had asked Vave for an autograph and Vave had refused. Oh. C. It was C. He had asked Vave for an autograph.

46:04Vave says, get away from me, kid. And the next thing you know, it's five years later, they're on a rink somewhere, and he gets punched in the face. All right. That C sounded so aggressive. I feel like I had to say C. I know. I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't chosen that. So you were wise. All right. One more question. If you get this right, you win. Oh my gosh. People should not be alone for the first time when they try getting high, like one woman who started texting all her friends about what? A. How crate and barrel should be called barrel and crate. B. How really good it feels to put a wet Q-tip up your nose.

46:44C about how sorry she was for thinking mean things about all of them which she proceeded to list I see it here B does the panel have anything to say yes B I just heard it in my ear let's go with B and we'll send Sean home with something you're right it's B

47:10Bill, how did Ibtihaj do on our quiz? He is a perfectionist, so she got two out of three, which is a win. Congratulations. One more for your trophy, Jase. What a thrill to talk to you. Ibtihaj Mohamad is a retired U.S. Olympic fencer, the founder of Luella by Ibtihaj, and the author of three best-selling children's books. More info about all the things that she does can be found at ibtihajmohamad.com. Ibtiash Muhammad what a joy to talk to you thank you for joining us thank you thank you bye bye that's it for our here's what you're thankful for edition 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 BJ Liederman composed our theme our program is produced by Jennifer Mills Miles Dornbos and Lillian King special thanks as always to Monica Hickey Peter Gwynn is the whipped cream on our sweet potato pie.

48:07Our vibe curator is Emma Choi. Technical directions 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 Mr. Michael Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on the show this week, all of our panelists, all our guests, of course, Bill Curtis. And thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Sagal. We'll be back next week.

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