Wait! Wait! Don't tell me!

 

To me, American's National Public Radio (NPR) is to radio what HBO is to television. A godsend. NPR is jam packed to the gunnels with funny, intelligent, insightful and interesting shows.

 One of the best is the weekly news quiz, Wait! Wait! Don't tell me! I can't tell whether it's because they find the funniest people in the world to guest on their show… or whether it's because if you go on Wait! Wait! they give you a funny pill. Whatever it is… every single guest who comes on this Chicago based show turns out to be hilarious. One of my favourites was with the US Secretary of Energy Dr Steven Chu who was a hoot, and really, how often can you say that about the person in charge of the grid.

It's American, and the news and figures are American but if, like me, you find American politics in part frightening, brilliant, funny and ridiculous - then you'll like this show. The show is hosted by playwright and actor Peter Sagal, has Carl Kassell as the scorekeeper and has a range of clever panelists - most of them regular.

There are a number of games played, all around current news items, and listeners who have nominated themselves can either participate or are the recipient of a prize if the guest gets the questions right. The prize is Carl Kassell's voice on their answerphone. How cool is that.

Just go ahead and treat yourself to a free download from their site or iTunes.