National and World News from NPR

Transcript

CARL KASELL, HOST:

From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell, and here is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Hey, we want to remind everybody to check out the first ever WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME! TV special airing Friday night, December 23rd at 8:00/7:00 Central on BBC America. We have invited some special guests across the pond and help us review our favorite stories of 2011.

Watch the show Friday night on BBC America, then tune into the radio show on Saturday and Sunday to hear us play all the bits too racy for cable. That's BBC America's WAIT WAIT TV special next Friday, December 23rd, 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now on to our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have sixty seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?

CARL KASELL, HOST:

Maz Jobrani has the lead, Peter. He has three points. Paula Poundstone and Jessi Klein are tied for second. They both have two points.

SAGAL: Okay. Well, we have flipped a coin to break the tie. Paula has elected to go second. Jessi, you're up first.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, Panel, who will be Time's Person of the Year in 2012? Paula Poundstone?

PAULA POUNDSTONE: I think it's going to be Pat from Sheboygan because if all goes right, she's going to give us health and wealth.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Jessi Klein?

Historical fiction invites us to experience the exotic and the unknown while confirming our common humanity. I do not believe that human nature has changed much over the centuries, and it is possible to identify with the emotions, passions, and fears of men and women long dead.

2011 was a good year to be a reader of science fiction and fantasy, although lately every year has been a good year: Not only are the books getting more popular — thank you, Game of Thrones — they're getting more interesting, evolving and morphing in weird, fascinating ways.

They're also interbreeding with other genres to produce wild new hybrid forms, like historical science fiction romances and hard-boiled fantasy detective novels. They're commenting on current events and swapping DNA with literary novels.

When I was a kid, I assumed that in the future things would get better and better until we were all driving flying cars and playing badminton with space aliens on top of 500-story buildings. Frankly, I kind of counted on this happening. But now I don't assume that we'll just keep going up anymore.