CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Mo Rocca, Jessi Klein and Tom Bodett. And here again is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.
PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Thank you, Carl.
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SAGAL: In just a minute, Carl experiences a very public embarrassment after his Rhymey-2012 video goes viral.
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SAGAL: It's the Listener Limerick Challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-Wait-Wait, that's 1-888-924-8924. Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news.
Tom, a man named Bob Worsley is running for the State Senate in Arizona. He's a wealthy man running for office for the first time. That's not unusual. What makes him different is where he got his money. He founded what company?
TOM BODETT: He's not the pet rocks guy is he?
SAGAL: He's not.
BODETT: No, no. Drug baron? No, because that wouldn't really be a company. It's a different kind of organization.
SAGAL: Yeah, that's true.
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BODETT: I think I need a hint.
SAGAL: You've heard of it. He's the guy to thank for the life-sized Chewbacca you bought on your last Delta flight.
BODETT: Oh my god. I've got probably three of them on my desk because I always, like, fold a page over, says I actually could use an alarm clock that's a pill dispenser.
SAGAL: Yeah. And it's called?
BODETT: The Skymall.
SAGAL: The Skymall.
BODETT: Skymall.
SAGAL: He's the founder of Skymall.
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SAGAL: Yes, Mr. Worsley threw his personal fire escape hood into the ring.
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SAGAL: Against Russell Pearce. Mr. Pearce was recalled from the Arizona State Senate and wants to win his seat back. But he's in trouble because Mr. Worsley was the founder of Skymall and has all the resources of that catalogue behind him.
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SAGAL: He can attack with replica swords from both "Harry Potter" and the "Lord of the Rings" movies
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SAGAL: And if Pearce tries anything in return, Worsley can fend him off with the Keep Your Distance Bug Vacuum.
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JESSI KLEIN: Oh, I really want that actually.
SAGAL: You do? There you go.
BODETT: No, it's great.
KLEIN: Seriously.
BODETT: It's great.
KLEIN: I do want that.
BODETT: No, I got it.
KLEIN: Do you have it?
MO ROCCA: A vacuum? How do you keep your distance with a vacuum?
KLEIN: It's got a long tube.
SAGAL: You know, bzzzzz, without having to get near the icky bug.
ROCCA: I hate to be morbid but do you think when Bob Worsley takes his last breath, he'll say I'm going to that big mall in the sky?
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SAGAL: It's possible.
KLEIN: Or do you think his tombstone will be...
BODETT: Inevitable I would think.
KLEIN: ...zombies coming out the ground thing?
BODETT: Oh, I wanted that. I want that so bad.
KLEIN: Yeah.
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SAGAL: Now he's self-funded. We don't know how much money Worsley has to spend on the race because he's hidden his campaign funds in a giant fake rock in his front yard.
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SAGAL: Mo, New Jersey was singled out this week as the state that is the least what?
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ROCCA: Oh. Well I'm very pro-New Jersey, so I'm not going down this path.
SAGAL: Have you ever been to New Jersey?
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ROCCA: Yes, I've been all over New Jersey. It's a wonderful state. It has the most diners in America.
SAGAL: That's true.
ROCCA: It has the most diners. And it has the most scientists and engineers per capita.
SAGAL: That's also true.
KLEIN: For the listeners at home, there's someone from New Jersey with a gun to Mo's head.
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KLEIN: He has not been harmed though.
ROCCA: OK, I'm not going to say it's the least fit. I'm not going to say it's the least polite. And I'm not going to say it's the least polluted. Is it any of those things?
SAGAL: It is none of those things, but it something that we were very surprised by, given New Jersey's reputation.
ROCCA: OK, something, the reputation.
SAGAL: Specifically New Jersey. I'll give...
ROCCA: It's the least hot tubby.
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BODETT: You have to limit this to 65 guesses.
ROCCA: Because I'm thinking of Snooki.
SAGAL: The least hot tubby?
ROCCA: Well, because I'm thinking of Snooki, who is not from New Jersey.
SAGAL: No.
ROCCA: She's an interloper.
BODETT: Breathe, Mo. Take this opportunity.
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SAGAL: I was just waiting for your stream of consciousness to dry out.
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SAGAL: We are assuming whoever decided this must have accepted a bribe to say it.
ROCCA: It's the least corrupt.
SAGAL: That's what they said.
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SAGAL: New Jersey.
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KLEIN: Very good.
SAGAL: Surprisingly.
BODETT: Of what?
SAGAL: Of all the states.
BODETT: Of all the states?
SAGAL: Yes. The words New Jersey and corruption go together like Chris Christie and endless pasta bowls.
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BODETT: I mean it's like less corrupt than North Dakota?
SAGAL: Yeah.
ROCCA: It's the least corrupt of all states that begin with "New."
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ROCCA: It's less corrupt than New York. No, I'm kidding. OK, sorry. But anyway, let's continue taking.
SAGAL: But anyway, they got the highest - the Center for Public Integrity gave the "Snooki State" as it's now, I think, officially called, its highest grade for fighting corruption. The survey looks at things like transparency and accountability in government, anti-corruption measures. And New Jersey scored the highest.
Reached for comment, the various criminal gangs who run the state expressed shame and said they'd strive to do better.
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SAGAL: Now, keep in mind, if you look at this, the reason they're so good at fighting corruption is because there's so much of it there to fight. It's like giving an arsonist an award for best fires.
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ROCCA: I think it's wonderful news.
SAGAL: That's great. It's good news for New Jersey. Congratulations.
ROCCA: Aren't you from there?
SAGAL: I am.
ROCCA: Why are you - are you a self-loathing New Jerseyan? Because you haven't identified...
SAGAL: No, no, no, no, no.
ROCCA: OK.
SAGAL: I'm not a self-loathing New Jerseyan. I'm a New Jersey loathing New Jerseyan.
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SAGAL: It's different. I'm fine. The problem is not me, is what I'm saying.
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ROCCA: Thomas Edison is from there, for god's sake.
SAGAL: He is.
ROCCA: Well he's not from there; he was born in Ohio, but anyway.
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