Paula Poundstone is many things—a comedian, an author, a podcast host, a regular panelist on "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me"—but she's not someone who intentionally loses a game.
"Yes, I'm trying to win," she said of her frequent appearances—and losses—on "Wait Wait."
"A lot of people think I throw the match intentionally. I don't."
Poundstone is on a national tour with her stand-up comedy, and she's coming to the Bing Crosby Theater on Dec. 5.
She spoke by video call with SPR's Owen Henderson ahead of her appearance in Spokane.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OH: What keeps you touring and still putting together new specials after your years in the business?
PP: Well, it's the greatest job in the world. I certainly can't live without a job. You know, I'm the luckiest person in the world to get to do this.
Every now and then, a little stiff from flying, but other than that, it's just the best. I get to stand in front of people and talk about just things that are on my mind and hear people laughing. Wow.
OH: You know, you get to do that amazing job and you're also providing comic entertainment through your podcast, “Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone.” And I have to say, it covers quite the breadth of material. Looking back at some of the recent episodes, that subject matter ranges from listener advice to whether nonviolent resistance works to what makes a good word. What are some of the things you've been most surprised to cover and to learn?
PP: Well, those were great. The ones that you just mentioned were both authors of books, and they were surprisingly great books. When somebody has written a book and they're coming on the show and so I need to read the book, a lot of times I listen to it because I can do that while I sift litter boxes. These were fantastic books.
And you mentioned whether nonviolent protest works. The answer is yes. And I think it outflanks violent protest, something like three quarters to a quarter. So it's definitely the way for us to go.
You know, I think one of my favorite interviews of all time was with a plumber because I don't have a very good memory.
Things just don't stay with me very much. But what I remember from the plumber, and that was certainly within the first year of the podcast that's been on about seven years now, Kleenex, don't go in the toilet. I never knew that.
And also, if you pour hot water down your toilet or your drain at least once a month, it can really help keep the plumber away. These are helpful things to know. When I first thought of making a podcast, my idea was if you're moving out of your parents' home, what do you need to know to function? That's sort of the backstory to the podcast.
It was never the name of it. We never said that publicly, but that really was sort of where I started from. It's very practical. It's helpful to adults.
You look like you're about 10, by the way.
OH: I get that a lot.
PP: You must get carded at the grocery store. I mean, you must get carded if you put a Twix up on the counter. You look awfully young.
OH: As a 24-year-old who's not so far away from living in his parents' house, I have to wonder, what are things that you're still learning as someone who's a little further away from entry into adulthood? What are the things that you're still curious about? What are the things that you're still finding out about life through this podcast?
PP: Well, a lot of things. I mean, I've learned a lot of things sort of politically, and I'm neither a historian nor a scholar. I was a terrible student, and I sort of try to make up for that now.
But I've learned a lot of things about, for example, the Constitution, which is a good idea.
We do also have Craft Corner with Toni Anita Hull. I learned how to make slime. That's a good thing just to have in your back pocket, not the slime, but how to make the slime. And it was really oddly satisfying to create.
OH: As you continue to learn about the different authors and experts you interview, how does that then inform your comedy and the live show that you do?
PP: A lot of times I'll just tell the producer the topic I'm interested in, and then she then finds somebody to deliver that information, an expert.
And by the way, we have had miscommunications. I asked her to find someone to talk about Charles Schultz, the creator and illustrator of the beloved Peanuts.
And in some later email exchange, she says to me, “Well, I've got someone from Charles Schwab. What did you want to talk to them about?”
And I'm like, “Boy, I don't remember asking for anyone from Charles Schwab.”
But my great Peanuts interview came this close to being a Charles Schwab interview, which might also be helpful in its own right and interesting.
OH: As a local public radio host, I do feel obligated to ask about your repeat appearances on “Wait Wait.” Tell me a little bit about what it's like to build a rapport with a host like Peter Segal or with some of your other repeat panelists over the course of literal years that you're making these intermittent appearances on the show.
PP: For listeners who don't know, "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" is an NPR program. It's a weekly news quiz show.
I believe I hold the record for losses. And that's why it's always really great to talk about this, because I like to answer a question that I receive quite frequently.
Yes, I'm trying to win. A lot of people think I throw the match intentionally. I don't.
Peter has been the host since I arrived at the show 23, 24 years ago.
It has always been my back of the mind goal to knock Peter off his horse. I have not yet achieved that. But he's very fun to talk to.
By the way, he does an amazing job hosting that show. Every now and then he takes a vacation or something and they have a guest host. And the guest hosts always do a fine job.
But man, you should see them afterwards. They're shaken, they're sweaty, they're feverish. It's really hard to do.
Peter makes it look really easy. So people think you can just step in and it's no big deal. But in fact, it's very hard to do. He does a great job of it.
OH: Peter mostly is the one interviewing the weekly special guest. But the panelists will often chime in. Who are some of your favorite guests you've gotten to interact with through “Wait, Wait”?
PP: We had Barack Obama before he threw his hat in the ring to run for president. Now, a lot of times the Not My Job guest is on the phone, but sometimes they come down to the theater and it's always very exciting when they do. And so Barack Obama came to the theater.
He was so funny, of course, and charming and smart. And that was the time when America barely knew him. He was a community organizer and a senator from Illinois.
He was not a national figure. And all of us on “Wait Wait,” after we were done, we all looked at each other and said, he's going to be president because he was just so compelling. I mean, what really matters, obviously, are policies.
But everything about him was perfect for that job from the get go. He's also really handsome. That's not bad either.
OH: Paula Poundstone, I have enjoyed this conversation immensely. Thank you so much for your time. Well, thank you.
PP: Good luck. Stay strong. Stay safe.
Editor's note: In a previous iteration of this story, the day of Poundstone's show was incorrectly identified. We regret the error.
The Bing Crosby Theater is one of SPR's financial supporters, but this did not affect the decision to pursue this interview or its editorial direction.
