What DC landmark "looks a little bit like a missile?" During our Washington road show, a group of intrepid AMA producers interviewed tourists at famous memorials and monuments. Based on clips from those interviews, our contestants try to guess the landmark.
Heard On Chris Hadfield: Ground Control To Major Trivia
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OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
In our next game, we'll explore Washington, D.C.'s National Mall. How great could it really be? It doesn't even have a Forever 21. But first, let's check in with our contestants. Heather, you are a huge traveler. You have been to every continent except for South America and Antarctica. You were recently in New Zealand.
HEATHER HURLEY: Yes.
EISENBERG: And you made the whole group go for ice cream every day.
HURLEY: I did because ice cream is a priority to me, even in a country where there are amazing things to see. And New Zealand is full of amazing things.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
HURLEY: But I'm from Wisconsin originally, and it's in the contract. You've got to put priority on your dairy. And so I made sure every afternoon that we stopped and got ice cream.
EISENBERG: How is the ice cream in the various cities in New Zealand?
HURLEY: Like all ice cream, it is delicious.
EISENBERG: It's perfect.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Well done. Paul, you have a hard rule against Christmas music before Thanksgiving.
PAUL NICHOLSEN: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Thank you.
NICHOLSEN: Yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Thank you for that.
NICHOLSEN: Support.
EISENBERG: But you bent your own rule for your own wedding in September.
NICHOLSEN: Yeah, which was a mistake.
EISENBERG: It was a mistake?
NICHOLSEN: Yeah. It was a bad idea. I...
JONATHAN COULTON: The wedding or the song choice?
(LAUGHTER)
NICHOLSEN: Well, my husband's right over there, so we'll just say the song choice.
(LAUGHTER)
NICHOLSEN: I was out of the hall when "All I Want For Christmas Is You," the best song, came on. And so I ran into the hall and did a flying leap into the room and cracked my head on the door jamb. So my wedding ended with me getting a couple stitches in the emergency room.
(LAUGHTER)
NICHOLSEN: Plus side, the wedding was at a firehouse, so all the bartenders were hot, hunky firemen EMTs.
(APPLAUSE)
NICHOLSEN: So silver lining.
EISENBERG: Indeed. So we arrived in D.C. a little early, so we saw some sights and prepared an audio quiz for you called The Tourists' Guide To Washington, D.C. We're going to play a clip of a real tourist describing a famous D.C. location.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: You just have to ring in and tell me where they are. Now, Heather, you won the last game. So you win this, and you're in the final round. Paul, you need to win this or you're going to spend the rest of your weekend reading angry online reviews of D.C. attractions, such as this one for the Hirshhorn Museum - more like Craphorn. One star.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Here's your first clip.
NELSON KIM: Hi. My name is Nelson Kim (ph). I'm from Brazil. I'm standing in front of one of the most well-known symbols of this capital. Somehow it looks a little bit like a missile. (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Heather.
HURLEY: Washington Monument.
EISENBERG: That is correct. Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: He had another description of how it looked like, but we had to cut it out.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: This next tourist is from really far away.
GEORGIE KEMPTON: My name is Georgie Kempton (ph), and I am from Sydney, Australia. Every person on the face of the planet has seen photos of this memorial and of the key part of this memorial. But even so, you do still kind of feel dwarfed because the person who the statue is of is a giant.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Paul.
NICHOLSEN: The Lincoln Memorial.
EISENBERG: You got it. That is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: We headed indoors for our next clip.
VINNIE TORTORELLA: My name is Vinnie Tortorella (ph), and I'm from a little town called Sugar Land, Texas. Seems to be a lot of books all over the place. Over to my left, there's a Gutenberg Bible, which is the first one ever printed with a printing press. So the place would have to be pretty special for that to be in it.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Paul.
NICHOLSEN: Library of Congress.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: All right, hotshot. How about the building?
NICHOLSEN: That would probably be the Jefferson Building.
EISENBERG: All right. Yes, indeed.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Next up, we talked to two kids. First you're going to hear Claire Reman (ph) - she's 10 years old - and then her brother, Colin (ph), who is 8, visiting from Seattle. And they are looking at a rare non-human statue.
CLAIRE REMAN: It's Fala, and Fala was the president's dog. And Colin says that this is the only presidential statue with a dog in it.
COLIN REMAN: I think it must have been bronze because Fala doesn't look green.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Smart kid. Heather.
HURLEY: FDR Memorial.
EISENBERG: That is correct. Yes, indeed.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: With Fala the Scottish terrier. Let's hear your next clip.
SHEVITSOV VIATNER: Hello. My name is Shevitsov Viatner (ph), and I'm from Poland. I'm here for business and sightseeing at the same time. Well, you know, like everything in the U.S., it's bigger than I expected it to be (laughter). A big, white building, but you have a lot of big, white buildings in Washington, D.C. OK, on the building, it says, equal justice under law.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Heather.
HURLEY: The Supreme Court.
EISENBERG: Yes, indeed. The Supreme Court.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: I thought it was interesting to know that there is a basketball court in the Supreme Court building known as the highest court in the land.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: On to your next destination.
ELLIE BEAVER: I'm Ellie Beaver (ph), and I'm from Boca Raton, Fla. I'm standing in front of a huge building, white and looks like a giant boob.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Paul.
NICHOLSEN: The Jefferson Memorial, Jefferson Monument.
EISENBERG: I'm sorry. That is incorrect.
NICHOLSEN: Couldn't hear.
EISENBERG: Heather, can you steal?
HURLEY: Is it the U.S. Capitol?
EISENBERG: It is the U.S. Capitol. Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: What he said was a huge building, white, and it looks like a giant boob.
NICHOLSEN: Oh, then I did hear correctly.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Here's your last clue. Finally, this is Jason McKnight (ph) from Detroit, who found himself in D.C. unexpectedly.
JASON MCKNIGHT: Yeah, I'm in D.C. because my truck broke down. (Laughter) We are here where one of the greatest civil rights leader ever - well, his favorite speech is "I Have A Dream."
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Paul.
NICHOLSEN: Martin Luther King Memorial.
EISENBERG: That is correct. Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: All right. Puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?
ART CHUNG: It was a close game. But congratulations, Heather, you won both games and are moving on to the final round.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
EISENBERG: Coming up, we'll find out who will face off against Heather in our final round. And we'll talk to astronaut Chris Hadfield and ask him to give us one good reason he decided to come back to Earth. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and this is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.