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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. In our spring membership drive, trying to reach our goal of 1,000 donors by seven o'clock tonight, so Anna Quindlen will give us $25,000. She's made us that offer. Thank you for being one of those donors, if you can. You know our philosophy on the show during membership drives. If we need to do the whole pledge week thing, let's have some fun with it.
Once again, this drive, we're doing a 10-question quiz every day. Get two in a row right, and win a Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat or a Brian Lehrer Show mug. It'll be your choice. Who wants to play? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. One of the ways we're going to have some fun is that each quiz during this drive will have a topic derived from a different public radio show's name.
Today it's The New Yorker Radio Hour. We've got questions about New Yorkers, questions about radio, and questions about hours, which are actually going to be questions about famous New York clocks. Quiz questions are very loosely based on the title, The New Yorker Radio Hour. Tomorrow, it'll be the title of a different public radio show. Who wants to play? Who knows what you'll get? Get two in a row right, and you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat or a Brian Lehrer Show mug. Your choice. 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. Andy in Manhattan, you're up first. Hi, Andy. You're on WNYC. Ready to play?
Andy: Yes. Good morning.
Brian Lehrer: Good morning. All right. Question 1 in this 10-question quiz. New York City is home to a lot of New Yorkers. Can you name its most populous borough?
Andy: Brooklyn.
Brian Lehrer: Brooklyn is right. Most populous borough with 2.5 million people, according to the last census, counting for nearly 31% of the total New York City population. All right, Question number 2, for the hat or the mug. New York City is home to what is regarded as the first modern cocktail. Yes, the first modern cocktail is a New Yorker. Can you name it?
Andy: A martini?
Brian Lehrer: Ooh, I'm sorry, Andy. Nice try. The answer was, it had a very New York name, the Manhattan. That's true, the Manhattan. Without vermouth, it would be an old-fashioned whiskey cocktail, but somebody added vermouth a long time ago. According to Britannica, emerging in the 1860s to 1870s, the Manhattan was regarded as the first modern cocktail due to the inclusion of that vermouth. There you go. Who knew? I didn't know. We looked that up. Nick in Brooklyn, you're ready to play?
Nick: Yes, sir.
Brian Lehrer: All right. We've got Brooklyn and Manhattan covered with the first two questions. Question 3, and this next question about New Yorkers might be from one of those other boroughs or might be from one of the same. The question is, which New York City neighborhood is the most linguistically diverse? Jackson Heights, Washington Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Kingsbridge Heights, or Arden Heights on Staten Island? Which New York City neighborhood is the most linguistically diverse? We've got one in each borough there.
Nick: I'm just guessing randomly. Jackson Heights?
Brian Lehrer: Jackson Heights is right. According to New York 1, which did a story on this, there are more than 160 languages spoken, making it the most diverse neighborhood in the city linguistically. In 2023, more than 60% of the community was foreign-born. By the way, there is also a place called Staten Island Heights we discovered while researching this, but it happens to be in Antarctica. [chuckles] You can go to Arden Heights in Staten Island and some other heights they have, but Staten Island Heights is in Antarctica.
Okay, for the hat of the mug. Question number 4 in this 10-question quiz. New York City is home to a lot of pizza and home to the first pizzeria in the United States. Yes, pizza is a New Yorker, at least in the US context. Can you name that first pizzeria in the United States? It's still there. Still here.
Nick: Lombardi's?
Brian Lehrer: Lombardi's is right. I didn't even have to give you the legendary football coach hint, so cue the trumpets.
[Trumpets sound]
Nick: Cool.
Brian Lehrer: Boy, those trumpets were many.
Nick: I get a new mug. My kid broke my mug, Brian, so I'll get a new mug.
Brian Lehrer: You put it in a safe place. Nick, hang on, we'll take your address, all right? Nick on line 2 there. Get his address, and we're going to go on to Thomas in Summit, New Jersey. Thomas, you're on WNYC. Ready to play?
Thomas: I'm ready.
Brian Lehrer: All right. Question number 5. There's a debate on when a transplant to the city becomes a New Yorker, right? Out of the following famous people, only one was not born in New York. Which one? All the rest were born in New York. Which one was not born in New York? Maria Callas, Walt Whitman, Patti Smith, or Michael Jordan. Which one was not born in New York?
Thomas: Michael Jordan?
Brian Lehrer: You know, that's what I would have guessed, before I was told that the answer was Patti Smith. That's kind of counterintuitive because we think of her as an iconic New Yorker, but she was actually born in Chicago, and mostly grew up in New Jersey. Thomas, thanks for giving it a shot. Let's see. How about Hillary in Brooklyn? Hillary, ready to play?
Hillary: Oh, sure.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, we're up to Question 6.
Hillary: Wait, do I turn my radio off or?
Brian Lehrer: Yes. Turn your radio off so that you don't hear yourself 10 seconds later on the delay. Why do we have a delay? Because if Hillary in Brooklyn says a bad word that the FCC would get us in trouble for saying, we can cut it out before it goes over the actual airways. All right. Remember the theme of this quiz. The theme is every day during the drive are going to be based on different public radio show names. Today, it's New Yorker Radio Hour. We've done those ones about who's a New Yorker, what's a New Yorker, New Yorker history, now we get to a couple of radio questions.
Question 6. A well-known New York radio station celebrates its 100th birthday this summer. Monday, July 8th, to be precise. What radio station is that?
Hillary: Oh, gosh. WNYC?
Brian Lehrer: It is WNYC. They will even be lighting up the Empire State Building in the station's colors of red and white that night, July 8th.
Hillary: Wow.
Brian Lehrer: Stay tuned for announcements. I'll be hosting a special that night, and we'll be doing other centennial programs, so that's right. Okay, Question number 7. One more radio question in honor of the name New Yorker Radio Hour. The host of a well known-- Sorry. Just last week, another well-known New York radio station canceled a very well-known New Yorker's talk show. Tell us either the name of that well-known New York radio station or the name of that well-known New Yorker who got canned.
Hillary: Oh, no. I have no idea. Was the station-- I don't know, can it be 1010 WINS, Z100?
Brian Lehrer: It wasn't 1010 WINS or Z100. Sorry, Hillary. Thanks for trying. It was WABC which canceled Rudy Giuliani's radio show.
Hillary: Oh, of course.
Brian Lehrer: As reported by The New York Times, WABC cancels Giuliani's radio show over false election claims. The station's owner, John Catsimatidis, a republican billionaire, said he suspended the former mayor for persisting in talking about the legitimacy of the 2020 election on the air. Okay. That's Question number 7. Oh, we have one more radio question. Gabriel in Washington Heights, ready to play?
Gabriel: Brian, I'm in Washington Heights and not Georgia this time. [crosstalk]
Brian Lehrer: Oh, you're that Gabriel. Glad you're back in town for a little while. Let's see. I skipped over by accident what was supposed to be Question number 7. Now it's Question number 8, but that's just my own internal bookkeeping. The host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, since these questions are in honor of that title, is David Remnick. He also holds another prominent job. What is David Remnick's other job when he's not being the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour?
Gabriel: David Remnick is also the-- Isn't he also the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker?
Brian Lehrer: He is the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker. That's right. For the mug or the T-shirt, our last two questions pick up on the hour in New Yorker Radio Hour. They're specifically going to be about famous New York clocks. The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, a skyscraper in Fort Greene, topped with four giant clocks on each side. That Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, people who are around there know it. True or False? The four-sided clock tower is taller than London's Big Ben.
Gabriel: I'm going to say that it is-- Oh, man. I don't know. This seems like a tricky question, but--
Brian Lehrer: You have a 50/50 chance.
Gabriel: I'm going to say it's taller. I'm going to say it's taller.
Brian Lehrer: You're going to say it is taller. It is true. That is right. Gabriel, who usually calls in from Georgia, but is now in Washington Heights, you win a Brian Lehrer Show mug or hat. Which one you want?
Gabriel: Oh, let me ask you a question. What kind of hat are we talking about? Is it the blue one?
Brian Lehrer: Yes, it's that blue one, like a chambray blue.
Gabriel: Brian, please hit me with the mug.
Brian Lehrer: We're hitting Gabriel with the mug. Take Gabriel's address off the air. Since we only have one question left, Nikki in Harlem gets the privilege of if you get one in a row right, you can win a hat or a mug. Hi, Nikki. Ready to play?
Nikki: Yes, I am.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. Again, it's a clock question. For more than 20 years, Metronome, the 62-foot-wide, 15-digit electric clock that faces Union Square in Manhattan has been one of the city's most prominent and baffling public art projects. It used to measure the time in 24-hour cycles, but that changed in September of 2020. What does the Metronome, that big clock at Union Square measure now?
Nikki: Oh, Lord. The debt?
Brian Lehrer: The what? The debt? That's a good guess. There is that Debt Clock, which I believe is at 42nd and 6th. Nikki, nice try. The answer in brief is it's a countdown to climate change, or specifically to what the makers of that art project consider the countdown to the end of a critical window for action to prevent the most irreversible catastrophic effects of global warming.
We gave away some hats and some mugs. Thanks, everybody, for playing our 10-question quiz. We'll have another 10-question quiz tomorrow based on the title of another public radio show, Brian Lehrer and WNYC. Much more to come today.
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