WWDTM: GWAR, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Gad, Kara Jackson, and Amber Maykut
47:14 Share

This message comes from ShipBob. Running a global e-commerce business, you have a lot on your plate. ShipBob can pick, pack, and ship your orders from their global fulfillment network, so you get time back to grow your business. Go to ShipBob.com for a free quote.

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. Invite me to your Memorial Day picnic. I'll eat your deviled eggs no matter how long they've been out in the sun. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theatre and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. So good to see you all. Um...

I am going to be honest with you all. The year's not even half over, and we are already exhausted. So inspired by the hit TV show, The White Lotus, we're going to take a week off. We're going to an exotic retreat, and we're going to work on our wellness. Oh, no. There's been a murder. Who could have seen this coming?

While we try to get to the bottom of this, we've got some soothing treatments for you, selected from the finest naturally derived radio segments. First up, actor Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf, the snowman in Frozen, among many other roles. He joined us in January to talk about his new memoir. And congratulations on the book, which I devoured this week. Was it a little intimidating to write a memoir at the age of 43?

Well, it was just sitting there and typing all the words was intimidating because I had to come up with them. And, you know, as it started to expand, it just felt like, okay, this may be a story worth telling. And then a publisher paid me and I was like, okay, it is. Yeah, that'll do it. Now, the question I often ask people like you who've done so many different things is what do you most recognize for? And you say in the book,

that you wish you had used a different voice for Olaf the snowman because whenever you're talking in public, children hear you and go insane. - Yeah, it was a stupid decision.

I will get recognized in grocery stores just being like, hi, is the milk over there? It can be something as innocuous as that. And all of a sudden, three children will just give me an exorcist care. So I regret that now. But at the same time, I'm grateful that so many people...

love the voice of Olaf, which is me. The other thing that I'm weirdly recognized for is Bearclaw from New Girl, which makes no sense. There you go. Yeah, okay, there's some people. So I myself have never watched the show. Why is that surprising? Who is Bearclaw? That's my question as well. I did two episodes of that show, and what's so funny is...

People went nuts for Bearclaw. He was this guy who like, I and after Jess played by Zooey Deschanel. And I was actually with Zooey's real life husband, Jonathan yesterday. And he looked at me and he goes, Bearclaw and Jess should have ended up together.

Which is a very weird take. Yeah, from her actual husband, yeah. Yeah, there's like a small community, including her own husband, who just really loved Bearclaw. Wow. Can I ask a question about Olaf? Yes. So I have a six-year-old daughter. So your voice is like in my apartment all the time. LAUGHTER

You're great. This feels like less of a question and more like a threat. Like, what kind of relationship do you have with the parents of the children that go nuts?

One that's very volatile. Like this thing that's happening right now. You know what's funny is I've now been on the other side of it where my girls are obsessed with Wicked right now. Sure. And I'm having to listen to Ariana Grande's Popular over and over and over again or Cynthia Erivo's song. So I...

I'm with you, I'm struggling and I know these people and so I'm texting them.

And I'm like, can we please just put a moratorium on this? It's a great job, but I can no longer listen to these songs on a loop. Wow. It's like a Twilight Zone episode thing where it happens to you, man. It took so much empathy for you to give that detailed answer instead of just saying, as I would have, Nagin, let it go. Yeah.

He has more dignity than that, Josh. He has more dignity than that. He's the superior Josh G. You did tell the story in the book of one person who did not recognize you, which was the director David O. Russell.

Oh, God, yeah. So David O. Russell, this is such a crazy story. David O. Russell, brilliant director. We were at the same Mommy and Me program, because we're both mommies. And we were...

We were outside and it was after he had just been nominated for one of the many films he was nominated for. And he looks at me and I said, I said, congratulations on your nomination. He goes, oh, thank you. What do you do? And I said, oh, I'm, I'm an actor. And he says, well, what, what do you do? What, what do you act? And I said, oh,

Well, you know, your ear, I do this, I do that. He didn't recognize any of them. And I said, you know, your kid may know me from something called Frozen. And he goes, what's that? Animated movie that sort of, you know, everywhere. But and he goes, oh, what are you doing it? And I said, I'm a snowman. And it was funny.

Do it. He said, what? He said, do it. And I said, do the snowman? He goes, yeah. And I looked at him, this Academy Award winning director, and I said, hi, I'm Olaf. And he looked at me and he goes,

And I have not been in a David O. Russell film. Really? So there you go. Yeah. Should have done a song, dude. That would have done it. But then afterwards he goes, oh, you're Bearclaw. I got to ask one thing. The book does cover some of your struggle.

And one story I loved is when you applied as a young man when you were living in Florida to work at Disney. There were two rides that I always wanted to be the sort of host of. One was this ride called The Great Movie Ride. And then the other was The Jungle Cruise. Right. And so I said, you know, I really think that I would be an amazing skipper on The Jungle Cruise. And this person looks at me and goes...

Well, yeah, I don't know about that, but we do have openings on our janitorial staff. And then years later, I told this story at something called the Disney Legends Award. And the head of the parks came up to me and said, would you like to be a skipper for a day on the Jungle Cruise? So I got to live out my dream. Really? And I was a skipper for a day.

But when David O. Russell got in that boat... Game over. Amazing. Well, Josh Gad, it is a pleasure to talk to you after seeing you do so many amazing things over the years. But we have asked you here to play a game we're calling... Josh Gad, meet Posh Lads. Oh, boy. So we've decided to ask you about Posh Lads, those fancy boys produced by British universities and boarding schools...

Bill, who is Josh playing for? Larry Anderson of Denver, Colorado. All right. Here we go.

Here's your first question. In 1805, posh lad and poet Lord Byron attended Cambridge University, but Cambridge wouldn't let him bring his dog with him as dogs were banned. So, Lord Byron, that scamp did what? Was it A, he kept a bear in his dorm room instead because nothing in the rules said he couldn't do that? B, he built a doghouse 50 feet away just off school grounds with a tunnel connecting it to Cambridge.

his room or see he submitted a fake application that got his dog hired as a professor.

I think it's the bear thing, because that's just crazy to come up with. Well, you think it's the bear? Well, you're right. It was the bear. He used to walk the bear around campus on a chain. All right, Josh, your next question. The famously elite Eaton College has a longstanding tradition called the Eaton Wall Game. It's a sort of combination of soccer and rugby, and it's played against this big brick wall. Yes, I've played it. You have? No, I lied to you. I am a champion.

There's an annual game between the fanciest King scholars and the rest of the school. It's a big deal. Even though which of these is true? A, the last time anyone scored a goal in the game was in 1909. B, the wall completely encloses the playing field so none of the spectators can actually see anything. Or C, the game is played with a 95-year-old ball that deflates if you kick it.

I'm gonna go with C. You're gonna go with C that is played with a 95 year old ball. No, the answer is actually A. No one has scored a goal in this game for more than a hundred years. Here's your last question. If you get this, you win. Here we go. Eaton was founded in the year 1440. So obviously a lot has changed over the years. For example, in the 17th century, what was a rule imposed in all Etonians?

A, before exams, the headmaster inspected each boy to ensure his upper lip was sufficiently stiff. B, students were forbidden from even learning the cleaning staff's first names. Or C, for their health, all students were required to smoke before breakfast. I'm thinking it's B.

Wait, what is your audience screaming? The audience is screaming C. The audience is screaming C. All right, well, my friend in Denver, if the audience gets this wrong, it's on them, not me. C. You're all right. It was C. Yes!

We did it! They smoked tobacco. They were forced to smoke tobacco for their health. It probably protected them. Oh, I love you guys. Thank you for bailing me out. Bill, how did Josh Gad do in our quiz? Well, how can you get a bigger winner? Congratulations, Josh. I don't know.

Josh Gad's new memoir is in Gad. We trust Josh Gad. Thank you so much for joining us on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. What a joy to talk to you and what a pleasure to talk to you. Stay safe. When we come back, the taxidermist of the stars and a woman affectionately known as Big Gretch. That's when we return with more Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

This message comes from Warby Parker. Prescription eyewear that's expertly crafted and unexpectedly affordable. Glasses designed in-house from premium materials starting at just $95, including prescription lenses. Stop by a Warby Parker store near you.

This message comes from Lisa. Lisa meticulously designed their mattresses for exceptional comfort and support. Visit Lisa.com for 30% off mattresses and a free sleep bundle, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.

This message comes from Lisa. Lisa meticulously designed their mattresses for exceptional comfort and support. Visit Lisa.com for 30% off mattresses and a free sleep bundle, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.

This message comes from Midi Health. If you're a woman over 40 dealing with hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, or brain fog, you don't have to accept it as just another part of aging. The clinicians at Midi Health understand what you're experiencing and know how to help. Midi Health provides specialized care for paramenopause and menopause covered by insurance. Book your visit today at joinmidi.com. That's joinmidi.com.

From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. Here's your host at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. So...

Thank you all so much. So right now, all of us at Wait Wait are off in a spa somewhere looking at custom reports on our biometrics and nodding along as if we understand them. All I know is my heart chakra is outperforming the Tao. Our therapy for you, though, is some delightful conversations we've had in the past few months. One of the more interesting was in February with Amber Maycutt.

She's known in the media by an unusual title, which Peter asked her about when she joined us. We saw that you were called taxidermist to the stars. What exactly does that mean? How did you earn that title? I guess that a lot of celebrities have bought stuff for me or commissioned work for me or I go to their houses and fix their taxidermy and hang it up for them. Can you describe without breaking any confidences what the kind of work you've done for some of these people?

Let's see, so for Drew Barrymore I did some framed butterflies to hang on the wall. And then for Amy Sedaris I did a pheasant. And then for Adam Jones, he's the guitarist of Tool, I did a ram head with four horns.

on it and a goat head for the band Slayer. I'm sure the goat heads are very popular with the whole heavy metal genre, right? They all need the goat heads. Yeah, definitely. Could you, I mean, I think people should understand this, that when we're talking about your taxidermy, for the most part, we're not talking about what they're thinking of, which is like, I don't know, a deer head, you know, mounted above a bar or in a cabin somewhere. Could you describe your work and what makes it special? Sure. A lot of

is called anthropomorphic taxidermy. So it's kind of giving life a human characteristics or activities to the taxidermy. So behind me here, I have like a raccoon cowboy. So it's a raccoon wearing a cowboy hat and a red bandana around his neck, and he's doing finger guns with his paws. And that was actually for Justin Long and Kate Bosworth. It's shipping to LA.

And then the one next to it is actually a squirrel riding a horse, waving a cowboy hat. Cowboy theme happening here. And that one's for Maura Tierney, who's an actress from the show ER. Yes, yes. I have so many questions. Yeah. Let's just focus on Justin Long's raccoon with the cowboy hat and the finger guns. Yes.

So that one is probably one of my best sellers that went viral online. I made one once and then I put it online in my online shop that people could just click and buy it. So you came up with it. Where did that come from? Were you like thinking about raccoons and going, you know what would make them even better?

Oh, geez. I don't know. I write down things in the middle of the night sometimes that make no sense at all. So who knows? Is there like, do taxidermists have like their own aesthetic? Like what makes a great taxidermy? Yeah, a mount. A good mount. A good mount. Thank you. So taxidermy is, if you see like the mannequin behind me on the one side. So this is a Himalayan goat on one side that's mounted with the skin on it already. Yeah.

And the one on the other side is just a mannequin with just a form. So it's an anatomically correct mannequin to that specimen. How do you get anatomically correct models of animals? Or do you make them? So there's taxidermy supply companies, dozens of them in the U.S., where you can order your deer mannequin or skunk mannequin. And then you basically, it's kind of tailoring in reverse. You whittle down your mannequin or build up your mannequin to custom fit it to your skin.

And then you use glass eyes that are also anatomically correct to the specimen, to the millimeter, a wire for the tail. And then you do, you know, you kind of clay for musculature and sculptural work and sew it up, do your hair and makeup, do airbrushing, painting. So there's a lot, it's a lot of sculpture. Yeah. This is how I get ready in the morning too. Yeah.

You're just basically a polyurethane core. Tons of molds. I mean, obviously you're so deeply invested in this. I have a problem with stuffed animals because whenever I look away, I assume they're moving their heads to stare at me.

And I turn and I look back and they're immediately still again. I find it discomforting to be near all those completely still animals. It's creepy. Thanks for having me on then. Oh, you're welcome. It was an act of courage on my part.

Well, Amber Maycott, we have invited you here to play a game we're calling They're Alive. So as we have been discussing, you specialize in putting deceased animals recreated in people's homes. So we thought we'd ask you about three instances of live animals getting in there. Get two out of three right. You will win our prize for one of our listeners. Are you ready to play? Sure. All right. Chioki, who is Amber Maycott playing for? Larry Gold of Minneapolis, Minnesota. All right.

Minnesotans here. Here's your first question. An Australian family was surprised when a koala got into their house, especially because it took them a little while to notice it. Where was it? A, on their couch next to a throw pillow with a koala printed on it. B, hanging on their Christmas tree as if pretending to be an ornament. Or C, sitting on top of their ceiling fan until that is they turned the ceiling fan on.

No. I'm going to go with A. You're going to go with A, that it was on their couch next to a koala throw pillow. And they were like, oh, I guess we have two koalas. Oh, you pick it up because you're choosing B, hanging on their Christmas tree? I guess so. That's right. Oh, wow. Nice. Nice.

It was like hanging on the Christmas tree. They like trees. It makes sense, all right? Good. All right. Next question. Some people actually welcome wild animals into their homes, including some surprising people. Like which of these? A, Britain's King Charles, who not only lets red squirrels into his Scottish estate, but leaves jackets hanging on chairs with nuts in the pockets for them to find. B, Jamie Foxx, who has a deal with local animal control for them to bring any captured foxes, naturally.

to his house or see Peyton Manning who learned to imitate six different mating calls so he could attract animals to his patio? I'll go with A. You can go with A. Britain's King Charles, you're right. Yeah. He loves those red squirrels. He says, sometimes when I leave my jackets on a chair with nuts in the pockets, I see them with their tails sticking out as they hunt for nuts. They're incredibly special creatures.

All right. Last question. You're doing very well. It's not just houses that can have trouble with wildlife. A high school in Little Rock had a bat infestation but dealt with it quickly and decisively. Just by doing what? A, changing their mascot from the running rebels to the fighting bats. B, enrolling the bats as students, which allowed them access to state funds to get rid of the bats. Or C, just ceding control of the school to the bats and making all classes remote for a while.

C. Yes, exactly right. It took them about four days to clear out the bats and clean up everything and bring the students back. Joki, how did Amber do in our quiz? Amber got three taxidermy finger guns. She is a winner. Well done.

Amber Maycutt is a taxidermist to the stars and the founder of Brooklyn Taxidermy. You can see her work at brooklyntaxidermy.com. I recommend it highly. Amber, well, thank you so much for being on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Take care. Bye-bye. In April, we all traveled to Detroit to speak to Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who had just published a book with a title inspired by her nickname, Big Gretch.

I asked her how she came to embrace that handle. So I'm named after both my grandmothers, Gretchen and Esther. And Grandma Gretchen always said, never let anyone call you Gretch. Your name is Gretchen. Gretch sounds like wretch. It's not pretty. So I've always had this aversion to being called Gretch.

And I don't know many women that want big in front of their nickname. So big Gretsch, when it first came to be during the pandemic, I was not sure what to make of it. And a woman who worked with me, Shakila Myers, who's from Detroit, said...

You don't understand. This is a compliment. This is like the people of Detroit just gave you the key to the city. Right. They love you. This is a nice thing. So now it's my favorite nickname, Big Reg. If there's not, if there might be somebody in the audience who's not as au courant with Detroit hip hop as you and I, that came from a, but it was bestowed upon you by a rapper, a Detroit rapper named G-Mac, right? Yeah.

So he made it into a song. It started in the city of Detroit, but he made Big Gretch into a song, and that's really what blew it up. Right. And for people who don't know it, I'm not going to attempt to perform it, but the chorus is, throw the buffs on her face, because that's Big Gretch. We ain't about to stress, we got Big Gretch. You can find her in the press under Big Gretch. Fresh in a new dress, yeah, that's Big Gretch.

And you said you weren't going to perform. It's almost like G-Mac Cash is here with us. It really is. Sticking with nicknames for a second, you mention in the book that you've had other nicknames before Big Gretch, one of which was Gravity Gretcheth. Yes. And could you tell us how you got that particular nickname?

Well, I'm a very accident-prone person. I'm a klutz. I run into things. I fall down. I mean, I was practicing in my state of the state last year, and I ran into one of the podiums. I had a huge bruise. It just happens all the time. But when I was in middle school, I went to church camp, and for some reason it was out in Virginia, or West Virginia of all places, and

And I was running to a base and the other girl tagged me but pushed me really hard. And I went right into the cement and knocked out my front teeth. And so I came back from church camp in a wheelchair because I got 30 stitches in my knee. Both my hands were cut up. My face was cut up. And I was missing my teeth. And my father just looked at me and said...

Gravity Gretchen. And what did you do to anger God thusly? It's a good question. I felt most bad about my dad because he just paid for braces to fix the gap between those front teeth. But now I think I've got to figure out how I angered God. Something for the next book. Yeah.

Since we brought it up, I have to ask you about another time you fell down or at least were found on the ground in high school. Which again, I think is a unique story among America's governors. I was wondering if you could share that. Well, I'll just say this. No dogs were shot in my book. That's true.

Yeah, so when I was in high school, I ran with a fast crowd. And it was the 80s. There was not a whole lot of parental oversight and a lot of access to alcohol. And I drank a lot before a football game. And I passed out between two cars. And my principal found me. And I tell this story because that was really when I kind of got it together. Yeah.

became the best, you know, the most improved student that year and went to Michigan State and, you know, ended up... Thank you. Go Green. Ended up, you know, on the dean's list. And then I went to law school and graduated magna cum laude. But I think it was...

I think it was that moment that really, it was devastating and I was punished. But it really inspired me to get my act together. Right. I get that. But in the telling of that story, which as you say is inspirational both in terms of its effect on your life and I think hopefully to the many young people who might read the book, there was a detail that you left out just now. Which is when the principal found you. Yeah. Didn't you like... Oh, I threw up on him. Oh, God.

I'm going to tell you, this all sounds like Big Gretch Bay. It really does. It really does. Continuing, this is great because one of the interesting things about your life is that we can tell it via nicknames. Another famous one, of course, you can find it on merch, That Woman from Michigan. Thank you.

Which was bestowed upon you by President Trump, or as I guess we should call him, President Trump 1.0. It must be exciting. Are you hoping for a new nickname in the second term? I mean, we'll see. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to, you know, see how it goes. All right. But, you know, the T-shirt printers are ready in case it comes up with something. The Michigan's Etsy community is ready to roll. Thank you.

Governor Whitmer, it is an absolute thrill to be able to talk to you here in Detroit. As we have with so many important people, we have invited you here to play a game that this time we are calling... Check out these not-so-Great Lakes. So Michigan, as I'm sure you know, is the Great Lakes state. Oh, we are? Yeah. So we thought...

We thought we'd ask you about some not-so-great lakes, that is, much, much smaller bodies of water. Answer two out of three questions about tiny lakes correctly, and you will win our prize. One of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose for our show. Bill, who is Governor Whitmer playing for? Jeff Kruger of Livonia, Michigan. Are you ready to do this? I'm ready. Here's your first question. One of the smallest bodies of water you can find is, of course, a hot tub.

And if you happen to have a hot tub outside of your house in Monrovia, California in the 1990s, you had to watch out for what? A, a brand new STD that evolved in the heated water called Jacuzzi Ria. B, Samson the Hot Tub Bear, a 500-pound black bear who loved ending his day in somebody's hot tub. Or C, a business called Peeping Tim's Aerial Hot Tub Helicopter Tours. Samson the Hot Tub and Bear. You're right. Yeah.

You just knew. I just had a feeling. You just had a feeling because of your knowledge of hot tubs, your knowledge of bears, both, neither. All of the above. All of the above, yes. All right, that was very good, Governor. Here's your next question. Puddles.

harmless little bodies of water, but they can cause problems from time to time, as in when which of these happened? A, a Japanese government official got in trouble for making a subordinate give him a piggyback ride over a puddle. B, a single puddle caused a massive traffic jam in Texas when a Cybertruck rolled through it and shorted out. Or C, a Florida billionaire got caught trying to get a tax break by calling a puddle on his property an endangered wetland. LAUGHTER

I mean, it's, I think it's A. You think it's A, the Japanese government official? You're right. Oh. You're right. This happened back in 2016, and there was this big typhoon that damaged, and the minister in charge of, like, emergency relief showed up, and there was a big puddle, and he says he forgot to bring his overshoes, so he had a subordinate pick him up and carry him through the puddle.

which did not go over well with the Japanese public. I'm going to have to apologize. All right, that's very good. You have one more. Let's see if you can be perfect here. The largest public swimming pool ever, we think, was the Fleishacker Public Pool in San Francisco. It was so enormous during its heyday that what once happened? A, it was taken over by a pod of gray whales...

B, it had to close twice a day for low tide. Or C, they had to put lifeguards out to patrol the pool in rowboats. C. That's right. Wow. It was an enormous pool, now closed, now gone. Those with seawater piped in from the ocean next door, they say, could accommodate 10,000 people at once. Bill, how did Governor Whitmer do on our quiz? She's perfect. Yes. Yeah.

Gretchen Whitmer is the governor of Michigan. Her new book, True Gretch, is available now. It's a hoot and a half. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, thank you so much for joining us. And wait, wait, don't tell me. Give it up for your governor, ladies and gentlemen. When we come back, two of the humans behind the heavy metal aliens of GWAR and a singer-songwriter with a very special connection to me. That's when we come back with more of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR.

This message comes from Amazon Business. With smart business buying, get everything you need to grow in one familiar place. From office supplies to IT essentials and maintenance tools. Ready to bring your visions to life? Learn how at AmazonBusiness.com.

This message comes from Max. From the creator of Succession, don't miss the new HBO original film, Mountainhead. Starring Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Corey Michael Smith, and Rami Youssef. Four rival tech billionaires gather for their annual mountain retreat. But when one of their AI platforms sparks a global crisis, their boys' weekend spirals into chaos. Stream Mountainhead now, exclusively on Max.

This is Renee Montgomery, host of Montgomery & Company, your home for sports, culture, and family business. Every week, I bring my experience as a two-time WNBA champion and a love for the culture into exciting interviews and captivating conversations with people moving the needle. Listen to Montgomery & Company on WABE, part of the NPR Podcast Network.

From 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 Theatre in the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. Thank you.

So by this time, at the exotic spa where we're spending the week, we've had the massages, the yoga, the meditation, and frankly, none of us are feeling any better. That's it. I'm going to find a way to relax even if it kills me. Well, you work on that, Bill. Here are two more treatments for our audience in the form of music therapy, by which we mean interviews with musicians. We went to Richmond, Virginia in February to celebrate what the city was most famous for,

the legendary shock rock band, G.O.R. We were joined by Mike Bishop and Mike Dirks, who did something they almost never do. They got up on stage without their elaborate costumes and makeup. So I started by asking them to describe their band. It's a theatrical shock rock, shock heavy metal band that is very performative on stage. And we are a theatrical show that involves a lot of...

costuming and set pieces and phony executions and... Oh, that old saw. Quite literally. They use a saw sometimes. We're also from outer space, though. We have a more narrative. We're a band of extraterrestrial war gods that has been banished to the planet Earth for all the crimes they committed in outer space. And you two were right there in the beginning. And when you joined the band, did you pick your own characters?

I inherited mine. I am Balzac, the Jaws of Death. Balzac, the Jaws of Death. And I was the third Jaws of Death. There had been a couple incarnations because the first few shows that Gore played, they were...

It was just a collective of whoever, whatever artists and musicians they could grab from VCU and the surrounding areas to throw on these costumes and do a show. Yeah. I love how folksy that sounds. You know, like, my father is Mr. Balzac. Call me Balzac. But his grandfather was a jaw to death and his grandfather before me. And Bishop, who are you on stage? So originally, I was Beefcake the Mighty, who was the bass player on stage.

Beefcake has some fans here. Yeah, and now I am the singer following the passing of the original lead singer, Dave Brockie, who everybody knows and loves. I came back, and now I play the Berserker Blothar. The Berserker Blothar. And for people who haven't seen it,

These costumes you wear are not just I mean like like the guys from kiss for example are just amateurs Enormous headpieces and huge full-body costumes that often have shall we say over-the-top anatomy? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This is not your first time in NPR because Famously guar did a tiny desk concert and

By the way, I recommend everybody watch this. When you walked into NPR headquarters in the full guar regalia, what was the reaction from our colleagues there? It was enthusiastic. No, they made us go around the whole studios. Yeah, they were kind of using us to scare their co-workers. Wait a minute, what do you mean? It'd be like, hey, Scott Simon, could you step out of the office just for a second? Yeah, yeah.

Sylvia. And you, guar is very popular in Richmond, of course, and you even have a guar bar. We do. People have been to it.

For fans. And, Dierks, you work there sometimes, right? I do. I bartend and I'm one of the managers there. Right. And do people ever come in? I presume they're GWAR fans. Do they recognize you? We'll get people in there all the time. I'll be bartending and people will come up and ask me, like, so do the guys in GWAR ever hang out here? And I'm always like, not very often. No. No.

Well, Mike Dirks and Mike Bishop, we have invited you here to play a game we're calling... You guys are GWAR. Meet JAGWAR. That's right. We're going to ask you about JAGWARS. Answer two out of three questions about JAGWARS of various kinds. You'll win a prize for one of our listeners. Choki, who are Mike and Mike playing for? Sharon Lowry of Richmond, Virginia. All right. One down, lady. Thank you.

If you win, maybe she'll come by the bar to thank you. All right, here we go. Now, the Jacksonville Jaguars are an NFL team that's had some good seasons, but they have also been very unlucky, including one year when their punter suffered a unique injury. What was it? A, he bet somebody he could punt a 35-pound kettlebell and broke all his toes.

B, he accidentally chopped himself in the leg with the inspirational axe kept in the locker room. Or C, he joined the team's cheerleaders for a kick line and ruptured his groin on the first kick.

C sounds weird. Yeah. The kicker joining a kick line? But I know that they have strict rules against fraternization between the players. So I'm thinking it's the he broke his toes. Broke his toes. So let me get this right. Dierks, you're picking he broke his toes trying to punt a kettlebell. And Bishop, you're choosing he got in the kick line with a chew link. Yeah.

It was actually the other one. The coach kept an axe and a stump in the locker room to inspire his team to, quote, keep chopping.

What does that have to do with Jaguars? And one day, the pumper did. All right, that's okay, guys. You still have two more chances. Here is your next question. The Jacksonville Jaguars mascot is Jackson DeVille. It's a person in a skin-tight suit and a big jaguar head. And he has been so innovative in the mascot arts that he has actually inspired a rule change for all of the Jaguars.

For all mascots across the NFL, what is that rule change? A, no mascot may ever mime intimate acts with the other team's mascot. B, all mascots must be drug tested before each half. Or C, no mascot may get closer than six feet to the field of play, especially not if they are carrying a life-size dummy of the opponent's quarterback that they intend to stomp on midfield.

Well, it sounds like a very Gwar answer, so having the rubber dummy of the opposing quarterback. Yeah, it could be inspired by Gwar. Maybe it was. That's the real answer, of course. The rule arose from an incident in a game against the Steelers in 1998.

Okay, let's start talking about real jaguars. According to the scientists who work at a wildlife reserve in Guatemala, the best way to attract one of the big cats that can do it without fail is to do what? A, turn on music by Kenny G, which the jaguars find irresistible. B, wear lots of obsession by Calvin Klein, which draws them like flies. Or C, dress like Jackson DeVille, the Jacksonville Jaguars mascot.

I bet it's Kenny G, man. Oh, wow. The audience is saying... Bee. The audience is shouting Bee. Session. Session by Calvin Klein. Cats don't have the super sensitive smell like dogs. Well, they've got that thing where they go... Like that. All right, all right. We're trusting these people are obviously more intelligent than us. So you're going to go for Bee? Bee, yeah. Yes, that's right. Congratulations, everyone. Thank you.

So, Chioki, how did Dirks and Bishop do in our quiz? The scum dogs of the universe do not know defeat. Well done.

This message comes from NPR sponsor, Tools and Weapons, the podcast hosted by Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith. Across three exclusive conversations on the company's 50th anniversary, Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella

Share the stories, dreams, and drive that fueled the digital revolution and explain why it may be at its most exciting point yet. For these and more conversations with other thought leaders, search Tools and Weapons wherever you listen to podcasts.

With a major shift in our politics underway in this country, 1A is drilling down on what's at stake for you and our democracy. In our weekly series, If You Can Keep It, we put these changes into focus and answer your questions about the impact of the Trump administration on the U.S. Join us every Monday for If You Can Keep It on the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU.

Finally, in October of last year, we hosted the singer-songwriter Kara Jackson, a former Illinois and then national youth poet laureate. And we, of course, focused in on her most important formative experience, being coached at T-Ball by none other than Peter Sagal. Now, I have left off what I think of as one of the most important items on your resume.

Which is that you were one of the starting players on the Angels, an eight-year-old girl's t-ball team in Oak Park, which I coached. Yeah. So...

A little nervous about the answer. What do you remember about Coach Sagal on the Angels and being on the Angels? You know, I was pretty good at t-ball. I've got to say, I was just really tall. Yeah. I feel like some people struggled. Like, there were some people where it was like they were shorter, so they had to, like, you know, lower the t. Yeah. But the taller kids, they would make it bigger, and everyone would be like, back up. Like...

There really is no better feeling, I imagine, than coming to bat with the tee and all the other players. I feel like I'm still chasing that high, honestly. Right? So you moved from tee ball to poetry and were named the Chicago Youth Poet Laureate

while you were still in high school, do you remember any of those early poems? Well, unfortunately for me, a part of the Youth Poet Laureate program in the city, every poet laureate is responsible for writing a chapbook, so like a mini book of poems. So I have, you know, a living archive of all the poems I wrote at that time. Right. Do you ever go back and look at them, and how do you feel about them?

I think it's been a minute since I've looked back at them, but I think I have mixed emotions. Sometimes it's cringy just because I think that having a living record of things you thought as a teenager would just be cringy probably for everyone here. It gets people canceled. You know, it's also like a chance for me. I'm trying to do better the older I get to also...

treat my younger self with care and appreciate what I was doing at that age because I think you take for granted a lot.

Yeah, my advice would be go to that young girl you once were and give her a snack and a juice box because it always worked. After the game snacks. Oh, the best part of T-ball. I can see we're never going to get off that topic. You then became, and I remember hearing about this and being very impressed, the National Youth Poet Laureate. And what kind of, I mean, that sounds like a serious post. What kind of obligations, duties, ceremony, or otherwise come with it?

Yeah, so when I became the Youth Poet Laureate, I was the third one. So I think the program was still kind of establishing itself in terms of what it entails as a role. I think it was still kind of, you know, becoming a real tangible thing. Yeah, sure. So you were the third one, and there have been plenty since then. Yeah. So do you look at the...

The new ones, like, man, y'all got it good. You know, like, how college athletes are getting paid a lot more money now. I don't know. I really think I only look at the new ones with admiration because they're younger than me. Either way, I think I would never trade places with someone who's, like, 19. Like, no matter what I'm going through. Yeah.

And you're 25 right now. Yeah. Okay. Almost 25. In a couple weeks. You're not 25 yet? You're at that age? She's like, yeah, back in the day when I was just 19. 24 and a half. Let's talk about your music. So you have a song about the various losers you've dated. It's called Head Blues.

It's pretty scathing. And I'm wondering, what has that done for your social life? I don't know. Because I think that I am really associated with like-minded people. So I think it maybe only enhanced it. I feel like...

for people who needed that song, they really leaned into it. And it's been fun to travel and perform that one in front of many different audiences. I had to perform at the US Ambassador in London, and I did that song for the US Ambassador.

And she was really cool with it. I feel like she, you know, maybe related, possibly. And the response was positive? Yeah. Yeah, well, there you are. The ambassador was like, right on, right on. He said, yeah, girl. Get them, Glo.

Well, Kara Jackson, it is great to talk to you, and we've invited you here to play a game we're calling... It's a, yes, fun party. So, you wrote a song called No Fun Party. Yes. So, based on that, we thought we'd ask you about some really fun parties. Answer two to three questions correctly, you'll win our prize. One of our listeners, the voice of anyone they might choose for their voicemail. Bill, who is Kara Jackson playing for? Maureen Tarr of Natick, Massachusetts. There you are. All right, ready to play? Okay.

Okay, yeah. First question. The former executive of a company called Tyco was sent to prison back in the day for stealing money from his company to fund his lavish lifestyle, including a 2002 birthday party for his wife, which included which of these? A, each guest getting a new Mercedes-Benz in a giant bag as they departed.

B, an ice sculpture of Michelangelo's David that dispensed vodka from his little David. Or C, a musical background of instrumental versions of U2 songs played during the cocktail hour by U2. I feel like maybe it's B? It is B. So if you think about it, it's sort of like a spigot, right? The ice sculpture. Anyway...

Here is your next question. A British woman named Ivy Smalls celebrated her 105th birthday back in 2016. She only had one request for the party. What was it? A, life-size blown-up photos of all her enemies that she had outlived. That's what I would want. That's my kind. That's what I would want. That's next to me. B, hunky firefighters with tattoos. Or C, pot brownies.

- Hmm, the first one speaks to me the most, so I'm gonna go with A. - Life-size photos of all the people she'd outlived. No, it was actually hunky firefighters with tattoos. - Really? - Yeah, that's what she wanted. All right, here's your last question. Get this right, you win. Colleges are known, of course, for huge parties, and in 2017, one house party at a college in Maryland became such a rager that what happened? A, NBA scouts showed up just to recruit from the beer pong games.

B, when the cops came to bust up their party, their breathalyzers all went off just from the air inside the house. Or C, the party became so big it could be seen from space. Yeah, I'm going to go with B. Sorry in advance to this person. You're right again. The air was so thick with alcohol that the breathalyzers on their belts started beeping.

Bill, how did Kara Jackson do in our quiz? Two out of three, Kara. You are the poet laureate who won the game. Congratulations. Kara Jackson is an award-winning poet and the celebrated singer-songwriter behind Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? and Speaking from Personal Experience. She's a contact hitter who can hit with power to all fields. Kara Jackson, thank you so much for joining us on Baby, Don't Tell Me. That's it for our Wellness Retreat edition.

Wait, wait, don't tell me. It's a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, Benevolent Overlord. Philip Godeka writes our limericks. Our public address announcer is Paul Friedman. Our tour manager is Shana Donald. B.J. Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Dornboss, and Lillian King. Special thanks to Monica Hickey. Our jolly good fellow is Hannah Anderson. The hot stones in our massage, those are Peter Gwynn. Our vibe curator 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 Chilog. 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, our special guests, of course, Bill Curtis. And thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Sagal, and we'll be back next week, revivified with a new sense of well-being. This is NPR.

This message comes from Capital One. With the Spark Cash Plus card, you earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase for your business. Find out more at CapitalOne.com slash Spark Cash Plus. Terms apply.

This message comes from ShipBob. Whether your customers buy on your e-commerce website, in retail stores, or through online marketplaces, ShipBob is the omni-channel fulfillment partner to handle all your orders. Meet your customers wherever they shop and ship orders fast with a single fulfillment partner. Go to ShipBob.com for a free quote today.

This message comes from BetterHelp. June is Men's Mental Health Month, and every year, 6 million men in the U.S. suffer from depression. If you're feeling overwhelmed, the strongest thing you can do is ask for help, and BetterHelp can make it easy.

Take a short online quiz and connect from home with a qualified therapist. Visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash NPR.