Ask Me Another

Sundays Noon - 1 p.m.
  • Hosted by Ophira Eisenberg, Jonathan Coulton

Exciting puzzles, word games, and trivia played in front of an audience.

Ways to Connect

Check-In: Video Games

By editor • Nov 20, 2020

Jonathan Coulton's been playing The Last Of Us Part II, which puts players in a post-apocalyptic world of isolation and disease. It must be nice to be able to escape reality like that.

Heard on Rachel Bloom: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Sane Current Guest.

Rachel Bloom: I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are

By editor • Nov 20, 2020

Before Rachel Bloom's interview on NPR's Ask Me Another even started, the show's house musician Jonathan Coulton stopped to express his admiration of her "songwriting talent that makes me angry and jealous."

"You know that somebody's good when you kind of can't stand it," Coulton said.

Bloom made her name by creating hilarious songs, like her breakout hit "**** Me, Ray Bradbury" and "The Sexy Getting Ready Song" from her CW musical comedy series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Sheepless In Seattle

By editor • Nov 20, 2020

Late Night with Seth Meyers' Karen Chee and illustrator Jonny Sun play a game about romantic movies and animals. Try playing at home by developing a crush on that anthropomorphic fox from Zootopia!

Heard on Rachel Bloom: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Sane Current Guest.

Sarah Paulson: Ratched & Run

By editor • Nov 13, 2020

Sarah Paulson is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor, known for appearances across screens big and small. She's played 11 separate characters in the anthology series American Horror Story (so far), and stars in films like Ocean's 8, Carol, and Glass.

Sarah Silverman: Forty-Hour Waking-Week

By editor • Nov 13, 2020

When quarantine first began, comedian Sarah Silverman knew how she would pass the time.

"I just had this instinct to go to Gamestop and buy a console," she told Ophira Eisenberg and Jonathan Coulton on NPR's Ask Me Another. Her goal, she explained, was to fill her waking hours with Call of Duty and sleep as much as possible. "A lot of people have a forty-hour work-week, I had a forty-hour waking-week."

Is That A Kit-Kat?

By editor • Nov 13, 2020

Sarah Silverman plays a lightning-round style game where she's given a Kit-Kat flavor and has to say whether it's real or fake. Break me off a piece of that... Swedish Meatball?

Heard on Sarah Silverman, Sarah Paulson, Rickey Thompson & Denzel Dion: Influencers

Check-In: Guided Meditation

By editor • Oct 30, 2020

It's a stressful week/month/year. Bestselling author Sharon Salzberg leads Ophira and Jonathan in a short guided meditation.

Heard on: Chelsea Handler & Sharon Salzberg: Guided Meditation.

The Evolution of Chelsea Handler

By editor • Oct 30, 2020

Comedian Chelsea Handler is surrounded by books. Literally. When she joined NPR's Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg for an interview on Zoom, Handler was in a room packed with stacks and stacks of books.

Fact Bag

By editor • Oct 30, 2020

French beaches. Zoom's namesake. These are the mysteries contained within that stupefying sack, that confounding container, that tantalizing tote known as Fact Bag. Can Ophira Eisenberg, Jonathan Coulton, Mike Albo and Amanda Duarte guess the answers before time runs out?

Heard on: Chelsea Handler & Sharon Salzberg: Guided Meditation.

Heidi Schreck: Kids Read The Constitution

By editor • Oct 23, 2020

Heidi Schreck's play, What the Constitution Means to Me, is based on a prize-winning speech she gave as a 15-year-old at American Legion halls across America. Since its 2019 Broadway debut, it's been attended by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A taping of the performance is now available on Amazon, directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood).

Elvish Presley

By editor • Oct 23, 2020

Daily Show correspondents Ronny Chieng and Michael Kosta go on an epic quest in this music parody game where musician Jonathan Coulton performs Elvis songs re-written to be about characters from The Lord of the Rings.

Heard on, The Daily Show & What The Constitution Means To Me: Kids In America.

Press X To Save The Princess

By editor • Oct 23, 2020

The Konami code won't save The Daily Show's Ronny Chieng and Michael Kosta as they take on a true/false quiz about video games.

Heard on, The Daily Show & What The Constitution Means To Me: Kids In America.

Fact Bag

By editor • Oct 9, 2020

Just when you thought the show was over, Fact Bag appears with a new, random question for Ophira Eisenberg and Jonathan Coulton to puzzle over. What was the first message sent over the internet?

Heard on: Zachary Quinto: Spock-tober.

Zachary Quinto: Mr. Spock And The Boys In The Band

By editor • Oct 9, 2020

Zachary Quinto is known for playing characters who keep things close to the vest. On the hit NBC show Heroes, he played the insidious serial killer Sylar, and on the AMC series NOS4A2, he plays Charlie Manx, an immortal creature who feeds on the souls of children. As Mr. Spock in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, he was tasked with maintaining the legacy of Leonard Nimoy's stoic character. Quinto and Nimoy worked together on the film and developed a close friendship.

We Will Roxygen You

By editor • Oct 9, 2020

Musician Jonathan Coulton sings songs by Freddie MERCURY with lyrics changed to be about elements on the periodic table. Friendtestants Cecil Baldwin and Kate Jones compete to find out who is Queen of the Noble Gases.

Heard on: Zachary Quinto: Spock-tober.

A Very Brady Trivia Sequel

By editor • Sep 18, 2020

A few weeks ago comedian John Early answered trivia questions about the Brady Bunch. So when cartoonist Keith Knight and his sister Tracy also requested a Brady Bunch game, the research was already done.

Heard on RZA & Busy Philipps & 'Woke' Creator Keith Knight & A Lizard.

Cartoons On The Radio

By editor • Sep 18, 2020

Keith Knight knows cartoons better than anybody, and where better to have a quiz about a strictly visual medium than on the radio? Keith and his sister Tracy have to guess what comic strip a line of dialogue is from.

Heard on RZA & Busy Philipps & 'Woke' Creator Keith Knight & A Lizard.

Bug Me Do

By editor • Sep 18, 2020

Jonathan Coulton performs Beatles songs re-written to be about bugs, and Busy Philipps and Shantira Jackson have to figure out what he's singing about. And before you write in, "A Day in the Lice" and "Let It Bee" didn't make the cut.

Heard on RZA & Busy Philipps & 'Woke' Creator Keith Knight & A Lizard.

Hilary Swank

By editor • Sep 11, 2020

Hilary Swank is known for her dramatic, Academy Award-winning roles in Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby — but her current dream role is to take the lead in an action movie.

"I don't want to be the girl in the bikini in James Bond. I want to be Jane Bond," she told NPR's Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg.

Sleep No More

By editor • Sep 11, 2020

In this music parody game, Jonathan Coulton sings lyrics about adult sleeping aids, set to classic children's lullabies. Jo Firestone and Manolo Moreno (Dr. Gameshow) have to guess what he's singing about.

Heard on: Hilary Swank, Andy Richter & Yvette Nicole Brown: 'Away' We Go.

The Birds And The Bees

By editor • Sep 11, 2020

Jo Firestone and Manolo Moreno of the podcast Dr. Gameshow get "the talk" in this true/false game about animal mating habits.

Heard on: Hilary Swank, Andy Richter & Yvette Nicole Brown: 'Away' We Go.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

By editor • Aug 21, 2020

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been gracing our TV and movie screens since the early 90s, with roles in A River Runs Through It and Angels in the Outfield, eventually gaining attention as a teen for his role on 3rd Rock from the Sun. He rounded out the 90s with a role in the iconic teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, before taking a break from acting to attend Columbia University.

Must Love Dogs

By editor • Aug 21, 2020

Tinder goes wild in a game where Tony Shalhoub and Luke Kirby try to guess the animal based on imagined online dating profiles.

Heard on Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Tony Shalhoub: 10 Things I Hate About Zoom.

Are You Not Edutained?

By editor • Aug 21, 2020

Tony Shalhoub and Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) go back to school in a game involving audio clips from vintage educational films. Luke and Ophira discover they have a lot in common.

Heard on Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Tony Shalhoub: 10 Things I Hate About Zoom.

League Of Super Pests

By editor • Aug 7, 2020

Comedian Tawny Newsome and actor Jack Quaid (Star Trek: Lower Decks) try to guess the pest based on the description of a made-up superhero.

Heard on Nicole Byer, Sasheer Zamata And 'Star Trek: Lower Decks': Starships And Friendships.

John Early

By editor • Aug 7, 2020

John Early grew up in Nashville, TN, but came to New York City as a teenager to attend NYU, where he studied acting. John quickly became a mainstay in New York's alt comedy scene, hosting shows at the Cake Shop, the Bell House, and Ars Nova.

Meatless Loaf

By editor • Aug 7, 2020

Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid join house musician Jonathan Coulton in a game where Meatloaf songs are rewritten to be about vegetarian meat substitutes.

Heard on Nicole Byer, Sasheer Zamata And 'Star Trek: Lower Decks': Starships And Friendships.

HAIM: Women In Trivia Pt. III

By editor • Jul 24, 2020

HAIM is the pop-rock band made up of sisters Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (guitar and vocals), and Alana Haim (guitar, keyboard, and vocals). Growing up in a musical household, the Haim sisters learned how to play instruments when they were young, eventually forming a family cover band with their parents called Rockinhaim. In 2007, the sisters formed HAIM, mostly playing smaller gigs around the Valley. After Danielle got recruited to play guitar on tour with Jenny Lewis and Julian Casablancas, the sisters got more serious about the band.

Teacher's Pet

By editor • Jul 24, 2020

Comedians Greta Titelman and Benito Skinner answer questions asked by fictional teachers from TV shows and movies.

Heard on HAIM & Benito Skinner: Delis And Star Charts

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Zodiac Buds

By editor • Jul 24, 2020

Comedians Greta Titelman (Los Espookys) and Benito Skinner (@bennydrama7 on Instagram) try to guess which celebrities have something in common... and share the same Zodiac sign!

Heard on HAIM & Benito Skinner: Delis And Star Charts

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