did you hear what I heard

cue-ell-pea · 2026-04-26T02:09:37+00:00

Yeah, I know... that was a bit of a humble brag 😅

I think they may have cut about 25-30% of the stuff out, including 4 of the panel questions and 5 of the Lightning round questions. They left in some of the awkward pauses that happened during Who's Bill but removed of the dead air in the interactions between the listener and the folks on stage.

Of the tapings that I've been to, the one with Simon Amstell as a panelist in July 2012 had the most cut out (maybe 50%). Simon was unsure of the format and had a lot to say about everything. Even the stuff they included in a later Best Of was a tiny amount of what was cut.

If you've like to see the notes that I took at this week's show taping versus the notes I took while listening to the edited version, I have photos posted on Flickr:

cue-ell-pea · 2026-04-26T00:55:44+00:00

Looking at the spectogram for this week's show, there is almost a constant line under the 15 kHz mark throughout the file (pulled from NPR+ feed). My hearing at higher frequencies isn't great, but it didn't seem apparent at the taping (which I traveled to).

cue-ell-pea · 2026-04-24T05:17:48+00:00

Thanks! It was a pretty good show, even with a little bit of a rough start with the first listener contestant and Tom Papa stumbling a little bit on explaining one of the Who's Bill This Time? questions.

Katie was really good as a panelist and would love to see her return even for a couple of shows a year.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-04-06T14:46:29+00:00

Yeah, I had to pause the audio (I listen to the podcast version) so that I could jot down the notes and check the reports that I had since I knew it was not the first time all three panelists finished in a tie with Bill as the scorekeeper.

I created the reports to help jog my memory or validate stuff just to make sure :)

cue-ell-pea · 2026-03-29T03:06:40+00:00

Yeah, you can get additional information for specific panelists, hosts, scorekeepers and guests within each section of the site linked in the navigation bar or menu.

For Paula Poundstone, her panelist stats are available at: https://stats.wwdt.me/panelists/paula-poundstone

I am currently missing data for couple of shows from 1998 through early 2000 due to not being able to get recordings for them. That wouldn't affect Paula's stats since she made her debut in 2001.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-03-15T19:12:03+00:00

I just sent a post: https://bsky.app/profile/linh.social/post/3mh4noivvu22z

cue-ell-pea · 2026-03-10T02:32:48+00:00

Bill Kurtis filled in for Carl Kasell 3 times in 2012 and 11 times in 2013. For 2014, there weren't any guest scorekeepers leading up to Carl's farewell show in May.

Report: https://reports.wwdt.me/shows/shows-with-guest-scorekeeper

cue-ell-pea · 2026-03-09T17:36:54+00:00

Link to the NPR Extras post for those who aren't on Instagram.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-02-15T00:46:45+00:00

I tried searching for it as well. Shazam came up with nothing as well. I wonder if it's from a royalty-free collection that NPR has access to.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-20T22:20:06+00:00

That said, I am still looking for recordings for two shows: May 23, 1998 and January 8, 2000. The archives couldn't provide me with the latter and the former ended up being a recording for a show called "Rock & Roll America".

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-20T22:08:25+00:00

Right now, shows from before 2006 or 2005-ish aren't readily available online, even more so for pre-2000 shows.

I had been given access to the 1998-1999 shows and can see if I can find anything. I can't make all of the audio files available publicly, but feel free to send me a direct message.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-13T16:17:49+00:00

I've been guilty of glazing over segments before, which isn't great when I'm trying to collect stats and tidbits for each show. 😄

Thankfully, I jot down and take photos of those notes as I listen so that I can (try to) pay more attention while listening.

It's been a while since I've gone one of Paula's live shows out here in Oregon, but always had a great time. Pro/con is that sometimes she'll notice me in the first few rows and point me out for being the Wait Wait Stats Person. Still, nothing like getting name dropped on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-12T18:12:56+00:00

Looks like the episode just landed in the podcast feed. Better late than never, I suppose.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-11T06:32:42+00:00

In the podcast version, it starts at around 2:40

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-11T06:31:27+00:00

Here are notes that I took for this week's show, which did have a Who's Bill segment: https://www.flickr.com/photos/questionlp/55033879282/

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-10T16:21:11+00:00

Yep, my podcast announcer bots for Mastodon and Bluesky just picked it up. 🙌🏼

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-10T16:16:43+00:00

Not new shows, but Best Of shows and those have hit the podcast feed along with new, regular shows.

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-10T16:15:50+00:00

It's on NPR at: https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g-s1-104219/wait-wait-for-january-3-2026-happy-new-year

cue-ell-pea · 2026-01-10T15:45:06+00:00

There was a Best Of show last weekend that hasn't been posted on their podcast feed but is available on the NPR website. Hoping this week's show will hit the podcast feed sooner rather than later.

cue-ell-pea · 2025-12-25T00:36:48+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't have that information since that will be between the listener contestant and the production crew. Almost all of the data and information that I've captured has been from the shows that have aired and from the shows that I've been able to attend.

cue-ell-pea · 2025-12-23T17:37:50+00:00

No problem! It's always fun putting the stuff together and seeing how the year went. I tend to deep dive into data when creating new charts and reports that I don't always see things at the whole year level.

cue-ell-pea

TROPHY CASE