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Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly news radio panel show produced by WBEZ and National Public Radio (NPR) in Chicago, Illinois. On the program, panelists and contestants are quizzed in humorous ways about that week's news. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations. The show averages about six million weekly listeners on air and via podcast.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! premiered in 1998 and was recorded in front of a live audience in the Chase Auditorium beneath Chicago's Chase Tower on Thursday nights. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, episodes were recorded remotely beginning March 2020, mainly from panelists' homes, with sound effects added for broadcast. Live audience recordings resumed in August 2021. In June 2022, the show moved to the Studebaker Theater in Chicago's Fine Arts Building. Episodes are periodically recorded on tour in venues across the United States.
The show is hosted by playwright and actor Peter Sagal. When the program had its debut in January 1998, Dan Coffey of Ask Dr. Science was the original host, but a revamping of the show led to his replacement in May of that year. The show has also been guest-hosted by Tom Bodett, Luke Burbank, Adam Felber, Peter Grosz, Tom Papa, Mike Pesca, Richard Sher, Bill Radke, Susan Stamberg, Robert Siegel, Brian Unger, Drew Carey, Tom Hanks, Helen Hong, Jessi Klein, Maz Jobrani, Negin Farsad, Alzo Slade, Josh Gondelman, Karen Chee, and Dulcé Sloan.
The announcer, also serving as judge and scorekeeper, has been Bill Kurtis from 2014 until 2026, though Chioke I'Anson, Lakshmi Singh, Andy Richter Helen Hong, Ayesha Rascoe, Joshua Johnson, Tim Meadows, Alzo Slade and Rhymefest have substituted. Carl Kasell preceded Kurtis, who often filled in for him.
Wait Wait... listeners also participate by telephoning or sending emails to nominate themselves as contestants, or as of January 9, 2024, followers of the show's official Instagram account can click a link in the bio which will take them to a form to fill out and register to be a contestant. The producers select several listeners for each show and call them to appear on the program, playing various games featuring questions based on the week's news. Before October 21, 2017, the usual prize for winning any game was to have Kasell (named "Scorekeeper Emeritus" following his retirement) record a greeting on the contestant's home answering machine or voice mail system; after Kasell died in 2018, the prize was changed to have a host or panelist of the contestant's choice record a greeting.
In addition to the regular panelists listed below, the show also occasionally features one-off guest panelists.
Regular
Past panelists
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Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly news radio panel show produced by WBEZ and National Public Radio (NPR) in Chicago, Illinois. On the program, panelists and contestants are quizzed in humorous ways about that week's news. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations. The show averages about six million weekly listeners on air and via podcast.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! premiered in 1998 and was recorded in front of a live audience in the Chase Auditorium beneath Chicago's Chase Tower on Thursday nights. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, episodes were recorded remotely beginning March 2020, mainly from panelists' homes, with sound effects added for broadcast. Live audience recordings resumed in August 2021. In June 2022, the show moved to the Studebaker Theater in Chicago's Fine Arts Building. Episodes are periodically recorded on tour in venues across the United States.
The show is hosted by playwright and actor Peter Sagal. When the program had its debut in January 1998, Dan Coffey of Ask Dr. Science was the original host, but a revamping of the show led to his replacement in May of that year. The show has also been guest-hosted by Tom Bodett, Luke Burbank, Adam Felber, Peter Grosz, Tom Papa, Mike Pesca, Richard Sher, Bill Radke, Susan Stamberg, Robert Siegel, Brian Unger, Drew Carey, Tom Hanks, Helen Hong, Jessi Klein, Maz Jobrani, Negin Farsad, Alzo Slade, Josh Gondelman, Karen Chee, and Dulcé Sloan.
The announcer, also serving as judge and scorekeeper, has been Bill Kurtis from 2014 until 2026, though Chioke I'Anson, Lakshmi Singh, Andy Richter Helen Hong, Ayesha Rascoe, Joshua Johnson, Tim Meadows, Alzo Slade and Rhymefest have substituted. Carl Kasell preceded Kurtis, who often filled in for him.
Wait Wait... listeners also participate by telephoning or sending emails to nominate themselves as contestants, or as of January 9, 2024, followers of the show's official Instagram account can click a link in the bio which will take them to a form to fill out and register to be a contestant. The producers select several listeners for each show and call them to appear on the program, playing various games featuring questions based on the week's news. Before October 21, 2017, the usual prize for winning any game was to have Kasell (named "Scorekeeper Emeritus" following his retirement) record a greeting on the contestant's home answering machine or voice mail system; after Kasell died in 2018, the prize was changed to have a host or panelist of the contestant's choice record a greeting.
In addition to the regular panelists listed below, the show also occasionally features one-off guest panelists.
Regular
Past panelists