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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning everyone, and happy December 29th. Welcome to our annual Brian Lehrer Show end-of-year news quiz, were you paying attention in 2021? If you think you were, just call us up. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We don't take these on Twitter, you got to call on the phone, 212-433-9692. Here's the way it works. Call in if you want to play, obviously, and if you get two in a row right, you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show mug with a package of all-organic Raaka hot chocolate, same thing as our thank-you gifts for the membership drive that we're doing today.

We will be happy to send you a Brian Lehrer Show mug, our original New York City skyline mug, and that all-organic Raaka Winter Spice hot chocolate for getting just two in a row right, if you were paying attention in 2021. Call in right now, 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692 if you want to play. We have local news questions, national and world news questions, COVID science questions, arts and entertainment questions and a few miscellaneous things along the way, and we have those prizes. With us as our special guest quiz leader this hour is none other than Kai Wright, host of the WNYC podcast and Sunday night call-in show, The United States of Anxiety. Hi, Kai. Happy New Year.

Kai Wright: Hey, Brian. Happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: Thanks for playing with us today. Thanks for coming out to play.

Kai Wright: I am very excited to be here.

Brian Lehrer: While the calls are coming in and we're getting people set up, let me ask you about a couple of recent things you did on US of A. One was that you had A.O. Scott, The New York Times movie critic, reviewing the year in arts and culture. What a bizarre and challenging year for anyone in the arts. What were some takeaways?

Kai Wright: Well, one of the big takeaways for him was just the bizarre nature of his job, as you pointed out. The idea that we are all performers now. He had this fascinating idea about the way in which we spend so much of our lives on screen and so much of our lives are performing the act of our lives. There's this whole meta thing he got into, that it made it difficult to look at where is the line between the art that is being presented to us, the life that we are living.

He pointed in particular to two films that really stood out to me. One was Passing, the Netflix movie that is, of course, all about the weirdness between artifice and reality when it comes to race and gender. Then, also, Bo Burnham’s Inside, that performed all of our bizarre internal-external lives on the internet over the last two years. It was a fun and weird conversation, where he had to wrestle with the very premise of his job.

Brian Lehrer: One more that looks back at the year, you had a conversation about those we've lost in 2021 with artist Gregory Porter. That was just last Sunday. Had Desmond Tutu already died when you did that segment?

Kai Wright: He hadn't, but the list is long and growing. It feels like every year at the end of the year, we do start to get these big name deaths. Also, Gregory, who is himself a Grammy Award-winning jazz and gospel artist, he lost his brother to COVID. He actually in 2020 died. His brother was a bit of a local celebrity, his brother Lloyd Porter. People who live in Central Brooklyn, who live in Bed-Stuy in particular may know his name. Was somebody who was a small-business owner there, had built an enormous amount of community. Was that kind of block mayor we all have on our block that's in everybody's business, but in a good way.

When he passed, it was early in COVID, and there was this big rupture for the community and for Gregory, who was on the West Coast and was unable to mourn in person like so many people have had to do. He told us the story of just how he managed, how he processed that through music, and how watching his brother's community in Bed-Stuy virtually mourn him, gave him this new perspective on his brother watching them because people would walk past a camera they had set up outside his house and talk to themselves, they thought, but they were actually talking to Gregory. He could hear them. He got this new intimate perspective on his brother. It was a beautiful conversation and a beautiful reflection.

Brian Lehrer: Well, keep up the great work on United States of Anxiety-

Kai Wright: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: -every Sunday night, listeners, as I told you before, our other live calling show here on the station besides mine and Alison's. We have Kai Wright doing it on Sunday nights at six o'clock with The United States of Anxiety here on WNYC. Let's do some news quiz. You ready, Kai?

Kai Wright: Let's do it.

Brian Lehrer: Beth, on the Lower East Side, you're on WNYC. Hi, Beth. Happy New Year.

Beth: Oh, Happy New Year to you too, Brian and Kai.

Brian Lehrer: Kai, you want to hit her with the first question you have in front of you?

Kai Wright: Okay, question one, Beth. Here you go. During the January 6 insurrection, a mob attacked the United States Capitol, setting out to disrupt a joint session of Congress. That joint session of Congress was assembled to do what?

Beth: They were assembled to count the electors.

Kai Wright: That's correct.

Brian Lehrer: That is right.

Beth: [crosstalk] to certify the election of Joe Biden.

Brian Lehrer: That is right. That was not an obvious question, even though, obviously, we know the insurrection took place as Congress was getting ready to certify the election. You got the specific right, to count the electoral votes. To register the electoral votes from each state, that would then formalize Joe Biden's victory. All right, one more and you win a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka hot chocolate. Kai, what do you got for her?

Kai Wright: Okay, here it goes. A bit of a follow-up, Beth. What is the name of the Fox News host that sent this text message during the January 6th riot to Mark Meadows? Here's the message, "Mark, the President needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy." What Fox News host said that?

Beth: Laura Ingraham.

Kai Wright: Beth, you're on a roll.

[sound effect]

Beth: [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: Yay, Beth, for knowing electoral votes-

Beth: Yay.

Brian Lehrer: -and Laura Ingraham. You win a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka hot chocolate to go with it. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air and send that stuff out. By the way, you win bragging rights, if you have any New Year's Eve party in person or virtual, as a Brian Lehrer Show 2021 news scholar. Alex, in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Alex.

Alex: Hey, how's it going?

Brian Lehrer: Good. Kai, next question.

Kai Wright: Okay, Alex, here we go. In February, the Senate confirmed this person as transportation secretary, making him the first openly gay cabinet secretary in US history. Can you name him?

Brian Lehrer: Transportation secretary.

Alex: Pete Buttigieg.

Kai Wright: Say it again.

Alex: Pete Buttigieg.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, Pete Buttigieg is correct. All right, one more to go for a mug and some hot chocolate, Kai.

Kai Wright: Does Alex get extra points for saying Pete Buttigieg's name correctly, after all of these years and months of everybody saying [crosstalk]?

Brian Lehrer: We'll give him one and a quarter correct. He only have to get three quarters of the next answer right. How about that?

Kai Wright: Okay. After the GOP removed Liz Cheney as conference chair, this House representative from New York's 21st congressional district replaced her as the third-ranking Republican in the House. Who is that?

Brian Lehrer: An upstate New Yorker.

Alex: Is it Elise Stefanik?

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Play that sounder.

[sound effect]

Alex: Cool.

Brian Lehrer: I love how you slowly let it out. You had it the whole time.

Alex: I couldn't remember if I was getting the name right.

Brian Lehrer: I'd say you pronounced Buttigieg right and Stefanik, maybe right, maybe right. I thought it was Stefanik, but you might be right and I might be wrong. We'll call it three quarters of a correct pronunciation, which adds up to two. Would you say Buttigieg for us just one more time?

Alex: Buttigieg. Oh, now I can't say it. Pete Buttigieg.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] It's that E-G. It's not judge, like the one that sits on the bench. Very good, Alex, hang on. We're going to get your mailing address and we'll send you a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some hot chocolate. We're going to go next to Jeff in Broomfield, New Jersey. Jeff, you're on WNYC. Happy New Year.

Jeff: Happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: Kai, hit him.

Kai Wright: Okay, here we go. After a string of incidents at the White House, one of the Biden family's dogs was rehomed. What was his name?

Brian Lehrer: That should've been the word of the year, by the way, rehomed.

Kai Wright: I thought so too.

Jeff: Major.

Kai Wright: Correct.

Brian Lehrer: It was Major. That's right.

Kai Wright: Look at you. Can you tell us more about Major?

Jeff: He's a German Shepherd.

Kai Wright: Wow.

Brian Lehrer: How about that? How old is he? You think you're so smart.

Jeff: [laughs] No idea.

Brian Lehrer: I only know because I have it in front of me. He's three years old. Do you remember why? This is not an official quiz question, but, listeners, do you remember? Why was he rehomed?

Jeff: I believe he's a biter.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. He was nipping at the Secret Service agents' heels, literally. All right.

Kai Wright: I feel like you get all kinds of extra credit for all those answers, but this is an extra credit question now. What is the name of the Biden family's new puppy who they got after rehoming Major?

Brian Lehrer: Let me just say, the rules for extra credit questions are, if you get this one right, it does count as your second, and you win the mug and the hot chocolate. If you get it wrong, you get a pass and you still get to go on to a next real question. That new puppy for the Bidens?

Jeff: Commander.

Brian Lehrer: Wow, you know your Biden canines. Where's that sounder?

[sound effect]

Kai Wright: Why are you so well-read on the Biden canines? Is this a particular interest? You always know the White House dogs?

Jeff: I am a pet person. Although we don't have any dogs, we have three cats.

Brian Lehrer: That is great. I don't think if I had a dog I would call him Commander, but what the heck. Joe is the Commander in Chief.

Kai Wright: Yes, come on, Brian. Major, Commander.

Brian Lehrer: He gets to have that. Jeff, hang on. We're going to take your address and send you some hot chocolate and a Brian Lehrer Show mug. Let's go next to Patrick, calling from Johnson City, Tennessee. Hey, Patrick, what's the weather like in Johnson City today?

Patrick: It's raining a lot.

Brian Lehrer: Raining a lot.

Kai Wright: Also in New York.

Brian Lehrer: As bad as it is here, just probably a little bit warmer, right?

Patrick: Yes. I'm on my way back to Jersey City, so I won't get to experience it all.

Brian Lehrer: Be safe out there on those roads. Kai, you got a question for Patrick en route?

Kai Wright: Here we go. Name the former Obama-era SCOTUS nominee who became the current Attorney General under the Biden administration?

Patrick: Merrick Garland.

Kai Wright: Indeed.

Brian Lehrer: I think that was our easiest question.

Kai Wright: I think so, but it's set up for you.

Brian Lehrer: You got to have some easy ones in there along with questions about multiple Biden dog names.

Kai Wright: All right, that's going to set you up for this one that would have been hard for me. In June, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a long-awaited report on what "clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security." What is that?

Brian Lehrer: This one is a little hard for being a little obtuse. Let me repeat the exact language. It came from the director of National Intelligence in June of this year. It was a long-awaited report and it was on the topic of things that "clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security." I'll give you one hint if you need it.

Patrick: I'll take that hint.

Brian Lehrer: They may or may not exist.

Patrick: UFOs?

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Kai Wright: Yes.

[sound effect]

Brian Lehrer: I guess, technically, what I said isn't right because UFOs exist. There's something there that's unidentified. The implication of UFOs is it's little green men from a galaxy far, far away.

Patrick: Yes. Free your mind, they exist.

[laughter]

Kai Wright: Available reporting, largely inconclusive was the conclusion. [laughs] This was a very useful report.

Patrick: Yes, I remember there was a letdown when they issued that report.

Brian Lehrer: All right, Patrick, good job. Hang on, we're going to take your address and send a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka hot chocolate, either to Johnson City, Tennessee or to Jersey City, the address of your choice. Let's go from that exotic faraway place to Chris in Flatbush. Hi, Chris, you're on WNYC. Happy New Year.

Chris: Hey, what's up? Happy New Year, Brian. Happy New Year, guys. This is great.

Brian Lehrer: Happy New Year, Chris.

Kai Wright: You're up.

Brian Lehrer: We have an audio question for him, don't we?

Kai Wright: I think we do. Here we go. In April, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had this to say about a guilty verdict in what trial?

Keith Ellison: I would not call today's verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration. But it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice.

Kai Wright: Who was on trial and for what?

Chris: That was towards the George Floyd's Chauvin case.

Kai Wright: Does he have to clarify, Brian, or will we take it?

Brian Lehrer: I think we'll take it.

Chris: At Chauvin's guilty verdict.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. The police officer who was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd. All right, one more and you win a mug. Kai, go ahead.

Kai Wright: In January, followers of the subreddit r/WallStreetBets effectively brought Wall Street to its knees by forcing the short squeeze of what stock?

Chris: This is perfect. It's GameStop, baby.

[sound effect]

Brian Lehrer: It's GameStop, baby. Chris, were you one of those people? Are you a Redditor who's playing the market in this new way?

Chris: I'm going to tell you one thing, I'm the only person to have lost money on GameStop [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: I wish we had time to hear that story.

Kai Wright: I really do.

Brian Lehrer: But we don't, so hang on. It won't make up for whatever you lost on GameStop, but there's a little bit of value to the Brian Lehrer Show mug and the Raaka hot chocolate that you won.

Kai Wright: You know what? Send your story to anxiety@wnyc.org. Email it to me. I would love to hear it.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, cool. Kai, you'll have to let me know if you get it. It's interesting. Chris, hang on. We're going to take a break. We'll continue with Kai Wright and our end-of-year news quiz. 212-433-WNYC. Were you paying attention in 2021?

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC with our end-of-year news quiz, were you paying attention in 2021? Get two in a row right and you will win one of those Brian Lehrer Show mugs with that packet of Raaka hot chocolate. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, if you want to play. My guest quiz leader for this hour is none other than WNYC's Kai Wright. By the way, folks, On the Media host, Brooke Gladstone, will be along as the quiz leader in our number two, another thing to look forward to. Kai, let's just jump right back in here. You ready to talk to another contestant?

Kai Wright: Let's do it.

Brian Lehrer: Lanelle, in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lanelle. Happy New Year.

Lanelle: Happy New Year, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Kai?

Kai Wright: Okay, Lanelle. Brian, are we going to the locals or are we sticking to the nationals?

Brian Lehrer: Yes, we did some national news questions. I guess we can be transparent about this. We did national news questions in the first segment. We're doing local news questions from 2021 here in the second segment. Kai, go ahead.

Kai Wright: All right, you got a little hint there, Lanelle. This past year, City primary elections used a new form of voting, which allowed voters to pick more than one candidate. What's this system of voting called?

Lanelle: Ranked-choice voting.

Kai Wright: That's right.

Brian Lehrer: That was an easy one.

Kai Wright: An easy one. Though, a factoid about it that I didn't know until I did, is that 49 of the 52 contests, the candidate in the lead after the first round went on to win. I didn't know that.

Brian Lehrer: I guess that makes sense.

Kai Wright: It does.

Brian Lehrer: If you get the most first-place votes, you're in a better position, you've got the inside track once they count up all the second and third-place votes, because, probably, a lot of people who get a lot of first-place votes also do get a lot of second-choice and third-choice votes. All right, one more to go, Lanelle.

Kai Wright: We'll count on our reporter Brigid Bergin to tell us all about it later this year. A follow-up to that, really. This former City official previously served as the commissioner of Sanitation and COVID-19 Food Czar among other roles before placing second to Eric Adams in the Democratic primary for mayor?

Brian Lehrer: Harder. Can you do it, Lanelle?

Lanelle: Garcia. What's her first name? Kathryn Garcia.

Kai Wright: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Play that sounder

[sound effect]

I would have given you for Garcia because, yes, it was Garcia. How many times did we say on the show, are you voting for Adams? Are you voting for Garcia? Are you voting for Wiley? Didn't always say those first names. Great. Lanelle, hang on, we're going to take your name and address and send you a mug and some hot chocolate. Let's go to David in Manhattan. David, you're on WNYC. Happy New Year.

David: Happy New Year.

Kai Wright: Hey, David.

Brian Lehrer: I hear that sound, are you backing up in your car or something like that? All right, it's okay.

David: Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Whatever that sound was, I thought I heard the unmistakable sound of backing up in your car or your truck. Go ahead, Kai, you got a question for him.

Kai Wright: Okay. Former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa currently has how many cats living in his 320 square foot studio apartment?

Brian Lehrer: Or at least what he said during the campaign.

Kai Wright: According to Curtis Sliwa.

Brian Lehrer: He made a quantitative cat claim, let's say. Kai, continue.

Kai Wright: It's multiple choice. Is it eight, is it 12, or is it 16?

David: 16 came into my head, so that's what I'm going to go with.

Kai Wright: You're correct.

Brian Lehrer: 16 came into Curtis Sliwa's head, too. That's right. Kai, you have a tidbit there about that?

Kai Wright: He changes the litter three times a day, is what Curtis Sliwa tells us.

Brian Lehrer: Changed the litter for 16 cats three times a day and he still had time to campaign. That's amazing.

Kai Wright: Yes, I know. Okay, here we go. Quickfire. You're going to name some names really quick. Quickfire. Can you name New York City's winners in the 2021 general election for mayor, comptroller and public advocate?

Brian Lehrer: You got to get all three of these.

Kai Wright: Who won mayor, who won comptroller, and who won public advocate? Go.

David: Let's see. Mayor, Eric Adams.

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

David: Public advocate--

Brian Lehrer: He's the incumbent, still in office running for governor.

David: Let's see, public advocate--

Brian Lehrer: Oh, three, two, one.

David: It's a female.

Brian Lehrer: No, male. Sorry. Answer was Jumaane Williams and the winning candidate for comptroller was Brad Lander. David, sorry, you don't win a mug and some hot chocolate, but Happy New Year, anyway. Bard, in Nutley, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Bard.

Bard: Happy New Year to everybody. I'm a two-time repeating champion, so don't let me mess this up, please.

Kai Wright: Oh, okay.

Brian Lehrer: It is up to you, though, Bard. This is up to you, not up to me.

Bard: I know.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead, Kai. It's your responsibility.

Kai Wright: You're in New Jersey, Bard, you said?

Bard: Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm an expert.

Kai Wright: Well, I've just picked a good question for you.

Bard: I got it.

Kai Wright: The R32 subway cars-- This isn't a New Jersey question, but I'm going to bill it nonetheless. R32 subway cars known as "Brightliners" for their shiny stainless steel exterior are being retired. Who was president when they were introduced?

Bard: I'm going to say LBJ.

Kai Wright: Good job, Bard.

Brian Lehrer: Halfway to being a-- Did you say you were a two-time previous winner?

Bard: Yes, and I really want that mug.

Brian Lehrer: Halfway to having your third annual New Year's Eve party bragging rights as a Brian Lehrer Show news and history scholar. Kai, go ahead.

Kai Wright: That was 1964, by the way, is when they started out on the Q line.

Brian Lehrer: Different, by the way, from another train that I think I digress, started out in 1964. I would have to go and double-check this, but my memory says they introduced those flushing line once upon a time, sort of bluish-purple trains for the 1964 World's Fair on the seven in that same year. Anyway, there you go. These retiring R32s are still being run on subways on Sundays on selected lines through January 9th, if you want to say goodbye, so I've read.

Kai Wright: There you go. Okay, Bard, here we go. This group of essential workers won a hard-fought labor victory this year after the City Council passed to build that would, among other things, set a minimum wage and require restaurants to make their bathrooms available. What's the group of workers, and you get a bonus point if you can name their union?

Bard: I can't name the union.

Kai Wright: Did you follow that?

Bard: Yes. Do I get a lifeline or multiple choice or?

Brian Lehrer: We'll look for a little clue. I'll just go over the question again because it may become self-evident when you hear all the pieces of it. This is a group of essential workers, normally label that, essential workers, and they won this hard-fought labor victory because the City Council passed a bill that would set a minimum wage. They're in a job that often doesn't pay a minimum wage, that did not previously have to under the law. The big clue is in the part of the question that says, it will require restaurants to make their bathrooms available.

Bard: Okay, so I go with the fast-food industry employees.

Brian Lehrer: A little more specific.

Bard: People who work for fast-food restaurants.

Brian Lehrer: I don't think we can give it to you.

Kai Wright: I don't think we can give them.

Bard: Oh, yes, you can.

Brian Lehrer: Sorry, Bard. Hey, listen, two victories out of three attempts still ain't bad. That's better than any of the sports teams I follow.

Kai Wright: It's a hard question. I gave you too hard because you bragged.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Try again next year. Let's give that same question to the next caller in line, who is Dan in the East Village. Hi, Dan, you're on WNYC. Did you hear that question?

Dan: I did, and I know the answer.

Kai Wright: Okay.

Dan: That's the food delivery people.

Kai Wright: Correct.

Brian Lehrer: Do you know, for extra credit, which means, if you get this right, you win the mug right away, but if you get it wrong, because it's a bonus question, you still get to go on to one more, the actual name of the union?

Dan: Oh, geez. Give me a hint, if you would?

Brian Lehrer: No.

Dan: All right. I guess I can't. No.

Brian Lehrer: Not a bonus question.

Dan: Okay.

Brian Lehrer: Kai, you want to say it?

Kai Wright: It's Los Deliveristas Unidos.

Brian Lehrer: I guess I could have given you a hint that it's a Spanish language thing.

Dan: Nice defender.

Brian Lehrer: Probably you wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Still you get an opportunity to play for the mug and the hot chocolate with one more. Kai, go.

Kai Wright: Follow-up along these lines, along the same lines, this group of workers, this is a new group of workers, won a labor victory after engaging in a multi-week hunger strike near the steps of City Hall. Here's a victory speech from their union leader in early November.

Union Leader: These jobs mean that our brothers and sisters will no longer have a lifetime of debt.

[applause]

Kai Wright: What do these workers do for a living?

Dan: Taxi drivers with the--

Brian Lehrer: With the what?

Dan: What do they call that, the front of their plight?

Kai Wright: With medallions.

Dan: I'm sorry. Medallion, thank you. I'm sorry. Taxi driver medallion.

[sound effect]

Brian Lehrer: Hey, I did it in the right key.

Dan: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Dan, hung on, we're going to take your name and address, your last name, as well as your address, and we're going to send you a mug and some hot chocolate. Way to go. What a story this year, the yellow cab drivers. You and I, Kai, could talk about this all day, but this had been going on for years. How many times that we talk about their plight with the mayor on this show on Ask The Mayor segments, and the plight so much caused by the city in a number of ways, including allowing Uber and those companies to flood the market and change what appeared to be the market for the medallion prices that the city had set. Finally, it took that hunger strike. It took a hunger strike.

Kai Wright: Two weeks of hunger-striking, 46 days of picketing. I'd say it was a remarkable story.

Brian Lehrer: Let's go on to, let's see, I think Derek in Astoria has been holding the longest now. Hi, Derek. Happy New Year.

Derek: Hi, Brian. Happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: Kai, hit Derek with a question.

Kai Wright: Okay, Derek. Can you name your own new borough president? Then you get a bonus point if you can name one other.

Derek: Oh, dear. I'm actually in [unintelligible 00:29:53] Michigan system borough president anymore.

Kai Wright: Oh, no, I'm sorry. I thought I heard you were in Astoria. I thought you were still in Astoria.

Derek: I moved.

Brian Lehrer: Give you a clue.

Derek: I still listen to you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: I'm really honored. He did get the job. This is one clue, it's a he, and he got the job in an interim basis when his predecessor, Melinda Katz, became the District Attorney for Queens. Then he got elected in his own right in November.

Derek: It sounds familiar. I do remember going through this. I want to say-- no, it's not. It's just a guess.

Kai Wright: We'll take a guess.

Brian Lehrer: Sorry, Derek, but keep listening from Michigan. Thank you so much for your ears. We really appreciate it. Let's see, our next caller up would've been from--

Kai Wright: I feel bad for Derek. That's my fault. I thought he said Astoria. It's not fair he wasn't there.

Brian Lehrer: He lived there a long time. If you moved out of Brooklyn to Michigan tomorrow, Kai, do you think you would know who the borough president--

Kai Wright: Antonio Reynoso.

Brian Lehrer: There you go. Michael, in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Michael.

Michael: Hey, how are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. We're not going to make you answer the Queens Borough President question. It's Donovan Richards. Did you know it?

Michael: I did not. No.

Brian Lehrer: All right. What do you have for Michael next?

Kai Wright: Okay, Michael, here we go. This state assemblyman was one of the first to call out Governor Cuomo for bullying behavior this year when he received a phone call from the governor saying he would "destroy him" if this assemblyman did not stop speaking out about out how the governor handled nursing home deaths at the start of the pandemic. You got that. It's the state assemblyman, who was the first person to call former governor Cuomo out for being a bully. It's because he had called him and bullied him, he says, saying he would destroy him over leaking news about the nursing home deaths.

Michael: Wow. That's a tough one.

Brian Lehrer: Assemblyman from Queens.

Michael: Oh, okay. Also Queens.

Brian Lehrer: I'll give you one other clue. He was the first Korean American ever elected to the New York State Legislature.

Michael: I don't have it. Sorry.

Brian Lehrer: Sorry, Michael. Happy New Year, anyway. These local news questions are turning out to be harder than the national ones.

Kai Wright: Yes, it turns out.

Brian Lehrer: It says something about something. Maybe we should talk to Brooke about this next hour because people don't always get as engaged with state-level politics, like that question, or county-level politics, like the previous question, yet they are so important to how things come out from government to our lives.

Kai Wright: Brian, so much has happened this year. I feel like if we were given this quiz, maybe however many months ago, I think the answer was-- well, no, we can't give the answer, but I think that answer may have been on the tip of a lot more people's tongues, but so much has happened since then.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, that's absolutely right. All right, let's see. Spencer, in Berkeley Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Spencer.

Spencer: Good morning.

Brian Lehrer: Let's see if you can handle a New York City question or two because these are the next two up. Kai, go ahead.

Spencer: Fingers crossed.

Kai Wright: Do we still need to try to get an answer to who the state assembly member was?

Brian Lehrer: Let's make it a bonus question because I didn't say the name.

Kai Wright: Okay, yes.

Brian Lehrer: Spencer, if you happen to know that, you can get a point for that, but no penalty if you don't. That New York state assemblyman from Queens who called out Cuomo for bullying, which was pretty significant in the domino effect that led to Cuomo's resignation?

Spencer: I would be literally grasping straws. Is the last name Yuh, because if it's not, I have no idea?

Brian Lehrer: No.

Kai Wright: It's not.

Brian Lehrer: Maybe you're thinking of Yuh-Line Niou from the Lower East Side, but it was assemblyman Ron Kim. No harm, no foul. Go on to the next question, Kai, please.

Kai Wright: This New York City politician is returning to the City Council after serving as Manhattan Borough President.

Spencer: Oh.

Brian Lehrer: We're in the weeds here. We're in the New York City weeds. You know what? Since you're calling from New Jersey, I'm going to go back to a couple of national news questions-

Kai Wright: That's fair, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: -that we had left over from the previous segment.

Spencer: I appreciate your pity.

Brian Lehrer: Here's one. In what month, this is not obvious either, but in what month did President Biden say all adults were first eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine? In other words, when he expanded it from certain ones of a certain age or with certain underlying conditions, to say all adults were eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine this year. What month?

Spencer: Was it June?

Brian Lehrer: It was not June. Spencer, thanks anyway. Happy New Year. Let's try one more person before we go to our next break. Samantha in Brooklyn Heights. Happy New Year, Samantha.

Samantha: Happy New Year, Brian and Kai.

Brian Lehrer: We have reached that point where you now get your choice of answering either of the two questions that are sitting out on the table. What month did President Biden say all adults were eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, or the current Manhattan Borough President who was about to go back to City Council?

Samantha: Gosh, I can't think of the current Manhattan Borough President. I know the Brooklyn Borough President. I remember I got my shot on March 30th. I'm 35, so I was in the regular group. I'm going to say March.

Kai Wright: Very close.

Brian Lehrer: So close, but it was April. It was April 19th, two weeks earlier than his administration's goal of May 1st. Maybe you were in a profession that allowed you to get it, Samantha. Kai, before we go to the break, and we've got another hour of news quiz to go, those were innocent times. When the question was, when is everybody going to be able to get it? Then, who ever thought we'd be here with so much available vaccine on the table and so many people refusing?

Kai Wright: It's just hard to wrap your mind around it. Again, just to think about that, it was just April. It was just April. It seems like it was years ago with so much that has happened, where we thought once we have this vaccine, everything's going to start heading back to normal. As we can recall, President Biden at the time was saying, this was the idea, was to get everybody by July 4th, life was going to be back. We were going to have to have our barbecues and life was going to be up and running as we always were. That was the goal. Here we are for New Year's.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Tell us what you got coming up on The United States of Anxiety this Sunday night. Then, listeners, we've got the second half of the news quiz coming up with Brooke Gladstone from On the Media, joining us as our special guest quiz leader next. Kai, plug away for Sunday night. Are you going live for this first Sunday of January, or do you have some best stuff?

Kai Wright: We won't be live, but we are new. We have a conversation with playwright Lynn Nottage. I sit down with her. We had a wonderful conversation about-- she's got three shows on stage this year, and she's always dealing with these difficult, hard, unpleasant questions in her show, and yet she has all this optimism. It felt like a really good conversation to start the year, to hear from somebody who is an unexpected optimist and is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. It was a wonderful conversation and I'm excited to share it on Sunday.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Kai Wright and Lynn Nottage Sunday night at 6:00 here on WNYC. Kai, thanks for sitting in with us and giving our listeners some easy questions, some tough questions.

Kai Wright: It was fun, Brian, and a Happy New Year to you and to everybody.

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Our end-of-year news quiz continues.

[music]

It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. Good morning again, and happy December 29th as we continue our annual Brian Lehrer Show end-of-the-year news quiz, were you paying attention in 2021? Here's the way it works, if you need a reminder. Call in if you want to play. You get two in a row right, you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show mug with a package of all-organic Raaka hot chocolate, same thing as our thank-you gift for the membership drive today.

Call in right now at 212-433-WNYC. That's our on-air line to take the quiz. 212-433-9692 if you want to play. We have local news questions, national and world news questions, COVID science questions, arts and entertainment questions, and a few miscellaneous things along the way. Again, get two in a row right and you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show New York City skyline mug with a package of all-organic Raaka Hot Chocolate. With us as our special guest quiz leader this hour is none other than Brooke Gladstone, Host and Managing Editor of WNYC's On the Media. Hey, Brooke. Happy New Year.

Brooke Gladstone: Hey, Brian. I was thinking about what you said in the first hour, why is it people were so much better with the national news than with the local news? Of course, Kai is right that there's just this [unintelligible 00:40:26], this avalanche of news coming at everybody. I think that it's also proof-positive that there is a lack of local coverage, not just here, but everywhere. It takes a backseat. Yet, yes, your observation, it's where the rubber meets the road. In some places, there's no one covering city council meetings at all. Then, also, our attention is very much divided.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. It's one of the things that we've covered on the show this year as a media story, and one of the things that I know you've covered on On the Media, the decline of local news around the country. We had a segment with McKay Coppins from The Atlantic just recently.

Brooke Gladstone: He's spectacular about that.

Brian Lehrer: He put his finger on one company, in particular, a finance sector company really, that's been buying up local newspapers around the country.

Brooke Gladstone: Alden.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. Alden Capital, I think it's called.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: Not to run them so much as to dismantle them and take whatever money exists out of them eventually, at least.

Brooke Gladstone: They treat these companies like lemons. You squeeze them out in a juicer and then you toss away whatever's left.

Brian Lehrer: All right. On that [unintelligible 00:41:43] note, are you ready to try to give away some mugs?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. It's going to be a lot easier for people I think because we're talking pop culture, and even though that is also very fragmented, I think there are more places where we would come together on these. You just tell me when to start.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, okay. You start as soon as I say, "Hello," to our next contestant, who's been waiting the longest on the line. That is Brian in Jackson Heights, Queens. Hi, Brian. You're on WNYC. Happy New Year.

Brian: Happy New Year, Brian. Happy New Year, Brooke.

Brian Lehrer: Brooke, hit him.

Brooke Gladstone: Happy New Year. Okay. I am going to read a line from a review of a TV show or movie that came out this year named the T.V. Show.

Brian: Okay.

Brooke Gladstone: While some call this Netflix show, "An allegory for the destruction of capitalism," one critic observed that, "Its pretense of contemporary social relevance is just a thin veneer to justify the unrelenting carnage that is the show's most conspicuous feature." Unrelenting carnage is [crosstalk]--

Brian: It's got to be--

Brian Lehrer: What?

Brian: Sorry, I cut you off.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Brian: It's got to be Squid Game.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes, yes, yes. Have you watched it? I have not.

Brian: Neither have I. No, too much carnage.

Brooke Gladstone: [laughs] Precisely.

Brian Lehrer: We have a trifecta of people who have actually not watched Squid Games, but we had [crosstalk]--

Brian: [inaudible 00:43:11] [crosstalk] the idea.

Brian Lehrer: One more in a row right and you will win a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka Hot Chocolate to go with it. Brooke, the question sites another New York Times review. Doesn't it?

Brooke Gladstone: It does. I'm just wondering if Brian is so up on pop culture, whether or not all I need to do is call this show the polar opposite of Squid Game.

Brian Lehrer: You don't mean me. You mean caller Brian?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes, caller Brian. I will read the Times review.

Brian: Okay. Yes, I need a little [inaudible 00:43:45] [crosstalk].

Brooke Gladstone: I just made it harder on purpose but no, here it is.

Brian: [chuckles] You did, yes.

Brooke Gladstone: Another Times review, "In its relentless positivity and commitment to making its audience comfortable," stop me at any point.

Brian: [inaudible 00:43:57] [crosstalk].

[laughter]

Brooke Gladstone: Exactly. I got halfway through the quote. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: You almost didn't need the question. It is the moral opposite of Squid Games in that respect for sure. Brian, hang on [crosstalk]--

Brooke Gladstone: The Times called it the dad pants of sitcoms.

Brian Lehrer: Congratulations, Brian in Jackson Heights. We're going to take your address off the air and we'll send you a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka Hot Chocolate to go with it. We're going to go next to [unintelligible 00:44:26] in Sun City Center, Florida. [Unintelligible 00:44:30], I'm jealous just saying the name of where you are. Happy New Year.

Speaker 1: Hi, Brian and everyone. Yes, I'm from Sun City Center, Florida. I moved from New Jersey to Florida three years ago, but still a grateful listener.

Brian Lehrer: I'm so happy. Brooke, what have you got for her?

Brooke Gladstone: Sure. New Yorker writer Naomi Fry opened her glowing review of this HBO show, this limited series, "Welcome to Upstairs, Downstairs Aloha state edition."

Brian Lehrer: One of my favorites of the year, personally.

Brooke Gladstone: I can give you a hint, or do you want to mull it over?

Brian Lehrer: As we're asking a person from Florida a Hawaii-based question.

Speaker 1: No, I have to admit, I'm clueless.

Brooke Gladstone: Okay. I'm going to say because you're clueless-- Do you mind, Brian, if I change things?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, please. Robust, yes, go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: The show, which is based in Hawaii, is named after a flower.

Brian Lehrer: It's hard if you don't know it. There are a lot of flowers under the sun.

Speaker 1: No, I think I’m not getting it.

Brian Lehrer: Not getting it? Oh, okay. Sorry, [unintelligible 00:45:53]. Please, call us again.

Brooke Gladstone: How about if it takes place [crosstalk]-

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: -at a resort in Hawaii? Is that too much?

Brian Lehrer: Last hint?

Speaker 1: No.

Brooke Gladstone: Oh, okay. You just don't know it. That's all right.

Brian Lehrer: Sorry about that, [unintelligible 00:46:09]. Thank you for continuing to listen.

Brooke Gladstone: It's called White Lotus and it was created by Mike White. Oh, I should have saved the question, right? I'll do that next time.

Brian Lehrer: That's all right. We have enough. Did you watch that one? Neither of us watched Squid Games this year.

Brooke Gladstone: I watched the White Lotus, yes.

Brian Lehrer: It had everything, right?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: It had soap opera-y family stuff going on. It had-

Brooke Gladstone: Murder.

Brian Lehrer: - funny stuff going on,-

Brooke Gladstone: Great cast.

Brian Lehrer: - at least, death, amazing cast. It also had almost the biggest point you could make about the human condition in 2021, without giving it away, that you could make, as it unfolded toward the end. All right, John at the Jersey Shore, you’re on WNYC. Hi, John. Happy New Year.

John: Happy New Year, Brian. Long time, multi-time, but first time ever on with Brooke. I'm so excited.

[laughter]

Brian Lehrer: Brooke, go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: Me too. This original series was considered groundbreaking to some people for its frank discussions about sexuality and the exploration of female friendships. Critics, however, panned the reboot, some choice lines from recent reviews, "The whole production feels as if it's sped red, how to be an anti-racist. Each central character gets a friend or a colleague of color as a sounding board. I can help but wonder where's the sex?" What's the show?

John: Wow.

Brooke Gladstone: This original series was from quite a while ago. It was an old series that came back with three out of the four main characters.

Brian Lehrer: It had a WNYC tote bag in it.

John: That doesn't help me. Didn't they reboot one day at a time?

Brooke Gladstone: They did, but sex was never implied in the title.

John: It certainly wasn't. [chuckles] Okay, sorry.

Brian Lehrer: That was the last clue.

John: Oh my God. Did they reboot Sex and the City?

Brian Lehrer: Yes, they did.

Brooke Gladstone: Tada.

Brian Lehrer: Well, that's one [inaudible 00:48:27] [crosstalk] right.

John: Can I just say? Listen, I got the wrong Kim question right and I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm so bad at TV." That's what I'm getting.

Brian Lehrer: You know who the assemblyman from Queens is, but you don't know Sex and the City. That's the kind of [crosstalk]--

Brooke Gladstone: We also [crosstalk]--

John: I do because I listen to you, Brian. I know [crosstalk]--

Brian Lehrer: That's the kind of news junkie who calls into our news quiz. All right, that's one in a row right. Let's see if we can [crosstalk]--

Brooke Gladstone: The thing is that he didn't say the name of the reboot.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, he did. Oh, the name of the reboot. Oh because it's not actually called Sex and the City?

Brooke Gladstone: Right. Am I being overly legalistic here?

John: Oh my God.

Brian Lehrer: You are being accurate as a media critic should be, but I'm going to give him the yes on knowing that it was a reboot of Sex in the City.

John: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: I imagine since you weren't aware that you don't know that the title of the reboot was And Just Like That. Next question, Brooke. One more.

Brooke Gladstone: This show starred former Titanic lead as criminology detective with a pension for Cheese Whiz, Rolling Rock Beer, and solving murders. Everybody loved this show.

John: Is this a female lead?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

John: The person you just described is a woman? Okay. I think it's Mayor of Easttown.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: You've already won the mug and the hot chocolate. Who is that woman star you were thinking of? Can you name her?

John: It's Kate Winslet.

Brian Lehrer: It is Kate Winslet.

John: Well, I don't know how I know that because I didn't watch that either, but I pay attention when-- I don't know, when they're talking about this stuff on the show that follows yours.

[laughter]

Brian Lehrer: All Of It with Alison Stewart. Great place to get your arts and culture conversation. John, congratulations, you win a Brian Lehrer Show mug with some hot chocolate to go with it. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air so we can send that to you. Brooke and I will continue with our news quiz coming up after this break. Brian Lehrer on WNYC.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC with our 2021 annual end-of-year news quiz. Were you paying attention in 2021 along with our On the Media host and managing editor Brooke Gladstone. Hello again, Brooke.

Brooke Gladstone: Hello, Brian. I was just texting with my great executive producer, Katya Rogers. I was wondering whether I was just being too soft with the clues and she said that I needed to be more ruthless like you. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: Like me. Ruthless is my middle name. My mother's name is Ruth, so she called me ruthless because I don't -- Anyway. Rocky in Inwood, you're on WNYC with the too soft-touch Brooke Gladstone and ruthless old me. Hi, Rocky. Happy New Year.

Rocky: Hey, Brian. Hi, Brooke. Happy New Year.

Brooke Gladstone: Happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: We're going to do a set of COVID science questions now. Right, Brooke?

Brooke Gladstone: Oh, okay. Absolutely. We're skipping down to that. Got it. All right.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have that first one in front of you, or should I do it?

Brooke Gladstone: I do indeed. I got it.

Brian Lehrer: Okay, go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: This is the biological structure of SARS-CoV-2 and some other viruses that allows the virus to penetrate host cells and cause infections. What is this structure within the SARS-CoV-2 virus?

Rocky: Is it the spike proteins?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. You didn't even need the hint.

Brian Lehrer: Absolutely. That's right. We had a hint already to go here, which is that it's what gives the coronavirus its crown. Corona means crown. It's a crown because it's got those spikes, and those are the spike proteins. All right, one more, and you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show mug with the Raaka Hot Chocolate. Brooke?

Brooke Gladstone: Okay. This is a tough one. What is the most vaccinated country, Rocky?

Brian Lehrer: I have this in front of me. I would not have known it.

Brooke Gladstone: I would not have known it either.

Rocky: The most vaccinated country.

Brooke Gladstone: I feel like this one is super hard. I'm going to give a clue.

Brian Lehrer: It's hard because it's only like 193 countries in the UN.

Brooke Gladstone: I'm going to give a clue.

Brian Lehrer: Good. [inaudible 00:53:16] [crosstalk]

Brooke: [laughs] It's a Gulf state.

Brian Lehrer: That narrows it down to just a handful. Rocky, which Gulf state is the most vaccinated country in the world? Three, two, guess one.

Rocky: I'm going to guess Saudi Arabia.

Brian Lehrer: It's a good guess, but wrong. Rocky, thanks for giving it a shot. Turns out to be the United Arab Emirates, which is 93% fully vaccinated. Brooke, I'm seeing that Brunei comes in at 85%, Cuba at 83%. Let's start with our next caller, Arnold in Manhattan.

Brooke Gladstone: You skipped where the US came in.

Brian Lehrer: I know. I'm going to give Arnold this as a bonus question.

Brooke Gladstone: Oh, okay.

Brian Lehrer: Arnold, Hi, first of all, happy New Year.

Arnold: Happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: You start with a bonus question because it's part and parcel of the previous question, which means no harm, no foul if you don't get it right, but if you do get it right, it counts as your first right answer. The question is, let's say within two places, where does the United States rank in terms of the most vaccinated countries?

Arnold: Where does it rank?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. So, we're not first, we're not second.

Brooke Gladstone: In the top 100.

Brian Lehrer: We are in the top 100.

Arnold: 12?

Brian Lehrer: No, we are 51st. Can you believe it?

Arnold: Oh, wow.

Brian Lehrer: With 62% of Americans vaccinated. All right, Brooke, that was a no harm, no foul bonus question. Give Arnold his first real question.

Brooke Gladstone: Okay. Arnold, which disease was targeted by the very first vaccine?

Arnold: Oh, smallpox.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. They started treating people in very unusual ways, like initially blowing scabs up patients' noses, but nevertheless, had some impact.

Brian Lehrer: All right, that's one right. One more and you win a mug and some hot chocolate. Brooke, what's the next question?

Brooke Gladstone: The WHO skipped two letters in the Greek alphabet in naming Omicron. Can you name one or both of the letters? Can you tell us why it was skipped?

Arnold: I can just take a guess, gamma.

Brooke Gladstone: No, because that happens much earlier in the alphabet.

Brian Lehrer: Arnold, thank you for trying, not gamma. Let's give Caleb in Mashpee, Massachusetts this is a bonus question, a no harm, no foul shot at the question that was left on the table from the last caller. Hi, Caleb, thanks for calling in.

Caleb: Hey, Brian. I'm already a winner because I am on the phone with Brooke, and that just made my week.

Brian Lehrer: I feel the same way.

[laughter]

Brian Lehrer: Did you hear the previous question? Just get one of them.

Caleb: I did indeed and I believe that they skipped 'Nu' because it sounded like a 'Nu' variant and that would be very confusing for you guys on the radio.

Brian Lehrer: That's exactly right. You know I have a tiny little media story Brooke, which is that on Thanksgiving night when this variant was being identified in South Africa, but they hadn't named it yet at the World Health Organization, I read a news article that said they're going to name this 'Nu' variant soon, and the name because looking at the progression of the Greek alphabet, the name is going to be Nu, N-U. I said to somebody I was talking to you that night, "Oh, they're going to name that variant, and it's going to be called 'Nu,'" and then the next day it broke and it was called Omicron, but so much for logic going to the next -- That's one right.

One more and you win a mug and some hot chocolate. Brooke, go.

Brooke Gladstone: What's the difference between quarantine and isolation?

Caleb: Well, I know that you're supposed to isolate after you've been exposed and you're supposed to quarantine after you have tested positive.

Brian Lehrer: I think that's wrong.

Brooke Gladstone: That's the opposite.

Brian Lehrer: It is the opposite. Caleb, thanks for trying. Thanks for playing. Happy New Year. I'm glad you got on with Brooke. It's a thrill for me too, but yes, isolation is for those testing positive for COVID. Quarantine is for those who've merely been exposed and are waiting to see if they're going to test positive. Without going into the details, the guidance for isolation is a little stricter than the guidance for quarantine. By the way, Brooke, going back to that question about the Greek letters, do you know that in addition to 'Nu', they also skipped one more to get to Omicron, which was the letter 'Xi'. Pronounced 'Xi'.

Brooke Gladstone: In Chinese but not in Greek.

Brian Lehrer: Well, that's right, because it's X-I. I think in Greek, they say Xi or Csi, but because it's X-I, they were afraid that people would confuse it with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. I guess, they had enough of people calling it the China virus.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. [chuckles] They're just sounds but they take on so much meaning and it fluctuates. That's the problem there. When I was learning ancient Greek, I remember different pronunciations for these letters. I didn't learn it very well. It was back in college. I was a theater major, so I barely passed but I still remember the letters and I remember learning them differently. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

Brian Lehrer: Bryan in Hackettstown, you're up. Hi, Bryan.

Bryan: Hey, happy New Year.

Brian Lehrer: Happy New Year to you. Brooke, go to the next question.

Brooke Gladstone: There are a lot of Brian's.

Brian Lehrer: I know. [inaudible 00:59:50] [crosstalk].

Brooke Gladstone: Bryan, how old do you need to be [crosstalk]--

Brian Lehrer: We should get a host named Johnson or something, right? The most common name in America, would that expand our audience? "Oh, that guy's got the same name as me. I'm going to listen to his show."

Brooke Gladstone: Well, there was a Johnson on the station once, Soterios Johnson.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. How old do you need to be to get a COVID vaccine in the US?

Bryan: I believe it's down to age five now.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: That is one in a row right. One more and you win a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka Hot Chocolate to put in it. Brooke?

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, this is a grim multiple choice. How many people have died from COVID-19 globally to date? Is the number closer to 1 million, 3 million, 5 million, or 10 million?

Bryan: Last I heard, I believe it's 5 million.

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: That is right.

Brooke Gladstone: 5.4 million.

[sounder]

Brooke Gladstone: In 2021, I'm reading here, almost 3.5 million, just in 2021.

Brian Lehrer: Paying attention to the unfortunately grim statistics is Bryan in Hackettstown. Bryan, you win a Brian Lehrer Show-- Do you spell it with an I or a Y by the way?

Bryan: Unfortunately, I'm team Y.

Brooke Gladstone: [laughs] Nothing to apologize for.

Bryan: I just [inaudible 01:01:28] [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: You're going to get a mug with a proper spelling of your name on it we are happy to say. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air. Thank you for playing. Our news quiz continues. Brian Lehrer on WNYC.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. With the final 10 minutes of our annual end-of-year news quiz. Were you paying attention in 2021? Get two in a row right and you will win one of those Brian Lehrer Show in New York City skyline mugs with the Raaka winter spice hot chocolate. Our lines are full, we're going to get through as many of you as we can at 212-433-WNYC with our On the Media host and managing editor Brooke Gladstone riding along one more time. Brooke, we're going to do the music poetry and pop culture set here next, right?

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, we're going to hop right to that, and I know we don't have much time, so bring in the next person.

Brian Lehrer: Here we go to Kat in Belleville, who's been hanging on the longest. Hi, Kat. Thanks for your patience. Happy New Year.

Kat: Happy New Year, Brian and Brooke. I'm so excited to be here.

Brian Lehrer: Brooke, go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: Here we go. This year, the social media platform TikTok helped launch the careers of many musicians. Here's an example of one song that took the platform by storm at the beginning of the year, it went on to break several massive records, including being the first song in Spotify history to hit 80 million streams in seven days. Here's a viral snippet of that song.

[music]

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, can you name the artist or the song?

Kat: No. Could I have a hint?

Brooke Gladstone: Brian?

Brian Lehrer: You're the softy with the hints.

Brooke Gladstone: Okay. All right. See, I wouldn't have known this either so it's hard for me to give a hint, but she says that she drives alone past your street.

Kat: Brooke, I think I got it. Is it Olivia Rodrigo?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: Way to go. Why? Do you see her driving along right down your street in Belleville there right now? Okay, that's one. One more [crosstalk]--

Brooke Gladstone: I don't know how you connected that but I'm very impressed. [laughs] We'll go on to two. On September 20th, 2021, this Korean K-pop sensation opened the United Nations General Assembly drawing more than a million viewers on YouTube. The Washington Post reported that that number usually hovers only around 50,000. Here's a clip of that performance.

[music]

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, can you name the band?

Brian Lehrer: I don't think we're in Kat's wheelhouse with these questions but it's the Korean K-pop band that opened the general assembly here in the city. Do you know?

Kat: Brian, [inaudible 01:05:02] left turn into my wheelhouse, I have to tell you. BTS.

[sounder]

Brooke Gladstone: All right.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, how about that. You had to reach for Olivia Rodrigo, but you knew BTS. That is awesome. Kat, hang on, we're going to get your address and we're going to send you a Brian Lehrer Show mug and the Raaka Hot Chocolate to go with us. Let's see who's been hanging on the next longest. It looks like Santiago in Brooklyn. Hey, Santiago. Happy New Year.

Santiago: Thanks, Brian. Happy New Year. Happy New Year, Brooke.

Brooke Gladstone: Happy New Year. Here we go. Brian ran a series of iconic albums that turned 50 this year. Brian, do you want to go ahead and read this?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, sure. We had the very special honor of having the son of two very famous musicians to talk about one such album. Although his dad got all the credit for the song, his mom deserved some too as we discussed. Let's take a listen to who the guest was.

Speaker 2: The truth is, if you look at the footage of them recording, she's making decisions, he's asking for [unintelligible 01:06:13] after every take. She really did produce one of the most successful albums of all time, and I don't think people recognize her as a great record producer, but she technically is.

Brian Lehrer: Santiago, can you name either the famous song that we were talking about or the famous artist couple?

Santiago: I'm not sure. Can I have a hint?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, no.

Brooke Gladstone: Should I?

Brian Lehrer: Sure, I just did, but go ahead.

Brooke Gladstone: Oh, you just did?

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead. It was subtle. Do you have one?

Brooke Gladstone: No, actually, everything I do is going to give away too much.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, no.

Brooke Gladstone: Santiago, that's your hint.

Santiago: Oh, I'm not sure. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for trying. It was John Lennon and Yoko Ono. That's why I kept saying "Oh, no." [laughs]

Brooke Gladstone: Oh, that's what you did. Oh, come on.

Brian Lehrer: But okay, I had to try something. Catherine in Yonkers, you're on WNYC. You're ready?

Catherine: I am, Brian. Happy New Year to you and your haranguer in chief.

Brooke Gladstone: [laughs] You're going to know this one. I just know it. All right, Joni Mitchell's Blue came out in 1971. Here's a quick clip of the title track.

[music]

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, there's one other song on that album with a color in its name. Do you know what it is?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I know it, but that's a hard question.

Catherine: Oh, I'm afraid I'm going to have to embarrass myself on the best radio station in the world.

Brooke Gladstone: You're not embarrassing yourself. Do you want to give it a thought?

Catherine: I don't know it. This is not my wheelhouse [inaudible 01:08:14] [crosstalk], of course.

Brian Lehrer: Catherine, thank you for trying. Hang on. Let's give one more person a try. Sarah in Clinton Hill, you a Joni Mitchell fan by any chance?

Sarah: A little bit.

Brian Lehrer: Did you hear the question?

Brooke Gladstone: Did you hear the question?

Sarah: Yes, I did.

Brooke Gladstone: Okay. Obviously, there's a song called Blue. There's another song on the album with a color in its name. Do you think you can remember what that is?

Sarah: Little Green?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: Absolutely right. A very heavy, emotional song, but go ahead, Brooke. Yes, what do you want to say?

Brooke Gladstone: Did you want to play that [unintelligible 01:09:01]? No, not yet. All right, at the end.

Brian Lehrer: No, that's one right.

Brooke Gladstone: Can I ask the bonus question?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, sure.

Brooke Gladstone: Okay, what famous recording artist used the color blue in a wonderful song, a famous and wonderful song after devoting a weekend submerged in the album Blue. What I'm going to say folk artist used the color blue in the title of and I will say his song after devoting a weekend.

Sarah: Is it Bob Dylan?

Brooke Gladstone: Yes. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: Play that sounder.

[sounder]

Brooke Gladstone: Journalist and historian [inaudible 01:09:48] [crosstalk] Ron Rosenbaum, so that Dylan told him that he'd written Tangled Up In Blue after spending a weekend listening to Blue.

Brian Lehrer: Sarah, hang on. We're going to take your address and we will send you a Brian Lehrer Show mug and some Raaka winter spice hot chocolate to go with it. Thanks, everybody, for playing. We have news geeks, almost by definition, who listen to the show. We had a whole lot of winners. We're giving away a whole lot of mugs, a whole lot of hot chocolate, listeners, thanks, everybody who played. My apologies to those of you who are on hold who we couldn't get to. Brooke, do you want to just give me 15 seconds on what's coming up on OTM this Sunday or this weekend?

Brooke Gladstone: Well, we did some original reporting actually on January 6th about the people who participated in the insurrection and we're going back over that material and other material looking back on the day and the coverage from our own particular perspective. I think it's going to be great.

Brian Lehrer: Sounds good, Brooke. Brooke Gladstone, host and managing editor of WNYC's-

Brooke Gladstone: This was a blast.

Brian Lehrer: -On the Media. This was so much fun, Brooke. Thank you and you're so good at it. Thank you for joining us.

Brooke Gladstone: Thank you for inviting me.

Brian Lehrer: Even your ruthless self. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. That's our annual news quiz for 2021's edition. Stay tuned because we have the news coming up and then it's All Of It with Allison Stewart, including New York Times food columnist, Melissa Clark, discussing getting kids involved in cooking and what it means to spend time together in the kitchen. That and more with Allison right after the latest news here on WNYC.

 

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