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Panel Questions

BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. We're playing this week with Helen Hong, Josh Gondelman and Adam Felber. And here again is your host, a man having a cubicle installed at his home just to feel normal again, Peter Sagal.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Bill. In just a minute, Bill feeds his Grhymlin (ph) after midnight. It's our Listener Limerick Challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924.

All right, panel, here are some more questions for you from this week's news. Helen, we got some bad news for Kimberly Guilfoyle, among other people. It turns out that doing what increases the possibility of spreading COVID?

HELEN HONG: Yelling.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yes, exactly right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Apparently talking loudly helps spread COVID particles. So that group of ladies next to at brunch who keeps screaming, oh, my God, seriously, have gone from annoying to deadly.

HONG: (Laughter).

SAGAL: According to a professor at the University of Colorado, quote, "every route of viral transmission would go down if we talked less or talked less loudly in public spaces." That, by the way, is great news for people who want to ghost someone. Sorry. I'm just talking less these days for safety.

ADAM FELBER: I'm trying to protect you, baby. That's what it is.

SAGAL: Yes. But if this goes on, it will change culture. You know, like warrior chieftains giving speeches before battles will have to mutter, just don't let them take our freedom - OK? - everybody, OK? And secret service agents leaping in front of assassins will have to whisper, no.

(LAUGHTER)

JOSH GONDELMAN: Campaign speeches - like, today, we're going to take Wisconsin, and then tomorrow, the whole United States.

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: Well, I'll try that new Girl Scout cookie and go, yay.

FELBER: (Laughter).

GONDELMAN: I feel like every song would sound depressing, right? Just Bon Jovi, like, oh, we're halfway there.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Helen, there is a new scam to watch out for, I'm sorry to say. Several U.S. states have issued official warnings advising people not to be fooled by what for sale online?

HONG: Soup that you can throw.

SAGAL: (Laughter) No.

HONG: Give me a hint, please.

SAGAL: It's a fakeradoodle (ph).

HONG: A fakeradoodle - a dog?

SAGAL: Yes, puppies.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

HONG: What?

SAGAL: Here's how it works. People offer adorable puppies for sale online. They trick you into sending them money for the puppy, but there is no puppy. And with lots of people seeking animal companions during lockdown, the number of puppy scams is up by almost 50% last year.

HONG: I have noticed this because I have an - I am an avid Craigslister (ph). And there are a ton of puppy listings on Craigslist. And they are...

FELBER: They're not real stop buying them.

HONG: Oh, my God. I thought I had 10 puppies on their way.

FELBER: They do pull that scam over the phone, too, Peter, when you call them. They're like, oh, yeah, I'll have them say hello to you right now. Uh, woof.

(LAUGHTER)

GONDELMAN: I can't wait until the sting, where whoever's there trying, you know, trying to bust them is like, show me the puppies, and I'll show you the money. And they're like, show me the money, and I'll show you the puppies. And it's just a standoff.

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: I can't think of a worse scam. This is so heartbreaking. You have your heart set on an adorable puppy. You, like, scrounge together all this money. You hand over the money, and you're like, I can't wait until I get my puppy. And then there's no puppy.

(LAUGHTER)

GONDELMAN: It does seem to target the world's loneliest people, right? Like, the only sadder scam would be like, instead of fake puppies, it's fake body pillows and extra large wine glasses.

HONG: Shut up, Josh. Shut up.

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: I don't like where this is going, Josh. Take it back.

FELBER: You hit a nerve there, Josh.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Adam, a new study finds that in the distant future, what may die out entirely?

FELBER: Pagers.

SAGAL: No. I'll give you a...

FELBER: Can I have a hint?

SAGAL: I'll give you a hint. Of course, the doctor was a woman. That's the only possibility.

FELBER: Men.

SAGAL: Yes, men.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This study...

FELBER: I'm OK with that.

SAGAL: Yeah, nobody is going to object at this point. The study says that X chromosomes, which when paired make a person female, and Y chromosomes, which insist on explaining to you which chromosomes are which, used to have the same number of genes in them. But Y's numbers of genes have been getting smaller. And in 4.5 million years, there may be no men left at all.

HONG: Wow. Well, after meeting Kellee, I'm like, yeah, who needs them?

SAGAL: It's true. I can't think of a reason.

FELBER: So that's 4.5 million years away.

SAGAL: Yeah, if current trends continue.

FELBER: So it's going to be awesome to be a man in, like, 4 million years.

GONDELMAN: (Laughter) You'll be in demand.

SAGAL: Exactly.

FELBER: Oh, totally.

SAGAL: People in the future will have to say oh, you know, boys were be boys.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S RAINING MEN")

WEATHER GIRLS: (Singing) It's raining men. Hallelujah, it's raining men, amen. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.