OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Our next two contestants will play one of our favorite games. Let's meet Bronson Taylor. Bronson, you describe yourself as an actor with a degree in bartending.
BRONSON TAYLOR: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Your opponent is Chris Stover, who is a writer for a national morning news show.
CHRIS STOVER: It's true.
EISENBERG: Bronson, would you rather spend two hours in a congressional meeting or two hours at a bad teen movie?
TAYLOR: Bad teen movie.
EISENBERG: Yeah?
TAYLOR: It's not even a thought. Yeah.
EISENBERG: Do you have a favorite bad teen movie?
TAYLOR: Oh, I mean, "American Pie" is classic.
EISENBERG: All Right. That's good.
TAYLOR: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Yeah, I like it. Chris, would you rather spend two hours at a bad teen movie or a congressional meeting?
STOVER: I love Congress.
EISENBERG: Great.
STOVER: But I would say teen movie.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
STOVER: Teen movie.
EISENBERG: All Right, this is why nothing can get done in this country.
STOVER: Exactly.
EISENBERG: You realize that.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: So this is a game called This, That or the Other. It's a very simple premise. We're going to give you a name, and you have to tell us which of three categories it belongs to. Jonathan Coulton, what are our categories?
JONATHAN COULTON: Well, in honor of "Hamilton," a musical, that combines rap and American history, today's categories are the real names of famous rappers, delegates to the first Continental Congress in 1774.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Or because we have to have a third category, fictional preppy villains from 1980s teen movies.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: So just buzz in when you know the answer. If you get it wrong, your opponent can steal. And the winner will earn a ticket to our final round. You ready?
TAYLOR: Yeah.
STOVER: Yeah.
COULTON: OK. Here we go. Peyton Randolph.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: Delegate.
COULTON: Yeah, that was very fast.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Did you know that?
EISENBERG: Yeah.
STOVER: It sounded vaguely familiar.
COULTON: It sounded delegatey.
STOVER: You know, yeah, yeah.
EISENBERG: Sounded vaguely familiar. That's pretty good.
STOVER: You know, I studied the signatures.
EISENBERG: The signatures. Got it.
COULTON: Did a quick cram before you came on the show. What if they ask me about the delegates of Continental Congress?
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Stan Gable.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: Rapper.
COULTON: No. I'm sorry. That's incorrect. Bronson, do you want to hazard a guess?
TAYLOR: Villain.
COULTON: You are correct.
TAYLOR: Yeah.
COULTON: It is an '80s villain.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Now, do you know who it is or you just guessed?
TAYLOR: I just guessed.
COULTON: Yeah, OK.
TAYLOR: Yeah.
COULTON: Thanks for being honest.
TAYLOR: Yeah.
COULTON: Stan Gable was the leader of the Greek Council in "Revenge Of The Nerds."
TAYLOR: Oh.
COULTON: Ben Haggerty.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: Delegate.
COULTON: No, I'm sorry. It's not a delegate. It sounds like a delegate, but it's not. Bronson, do you know who it is?
TAYLOR: Rapper?
COULTON: It is a rapper. Do you know which one?
TAYLOR: No.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Macklemore. It's Macklemore.
TAYLOR: Oh, really?
EISENBERG: Yeah.
TAYLOR: Oh.
COULTON: That's right.
TAYLOR: Well, whatever.
COULTON: Yeah, learn something new every day.
TAYLOR: Cool.
COULTON: Carlton Ridenhour.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Bronson.
TAYLOR: Rapper.
COULTON: Yes, it is a rapper. I'm going to ask you. Do you know who it is?
TAYLOR: I do not.
COULTON: Oh, come on.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: How are you doing this? It's Chuck D.
TAYLOR: Oh, OK.
COULTON: Edmund Pendleton.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris, you seem like you know it.
STOVER: That has to be a delegate.
COULTON: It is a delegate.
STOVER: OK. Yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: That's funny. Edmund Pendleton that does sound pretty much like...
STOVER: Yeah.
COULTON: ...You can see that in a signature. Aubrey Graham.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: I think that's a rapper.
COULTON: It is.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Do you know which one it is?
STOVER: If I had multiple choice I could pick.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: I don't have multiple choice on this piece of paper.
EISENBERG: You don't.
STOVER: I don't want to guess.
COULTON: You know him by his middle name, which is Drake.
STOVER: Oh.
COULTON: Mick McAllister.
(SOUNDBITE)
COULTON: Bronson.
TAYLOR: Villain?
COULTON: Yes, absolutely. Now, do you know which?
TAYLOR: Absolutely not, no.
COULTON: No.
TAYLOR: No.
COULTON: No idea.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: It's Michael J. Fox's rival in "Teen Wolf."
TAYLOR: Oh.
COULTON: Joseph Galloway.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: Delegate.
COULTON: Yeah, delegate.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: You have an ear for the names of delegates, Chris. That is a skill that I don't think you ever would've been able to...
STOVER: Never knew I had it.
COULTON: ...Apply anywhere else.
STOVER: Yeah.
COULTON: Except here. All Right, this is your last clue, Calvin Broadus.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Chris.
STOVER: I'm going to say villain. Apparently not.
COULTON: Oh, everybody's so disappointed in you, Chris.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: It's not a villain. Bronson, do you want to hazard a guess?
TAYLOR: Rapper.
COULTON: Yes, it is a rapper. It is Snoop Dogg.
TAYLOR: I knew his name was Calvin. I didn't know what the last name was.
COULTON: So you kind of knew that one?
TAYLOR: Kind of sort of.
COULTON: OK, well, that's great. Technically, you don't need that for the points.
TAYLOR: Not at all, yeah.
COULTON: Yeah. Puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?
ART CHUNG: Bronson, congratulations. You're moving on to the final round.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: ASK ME ANOTHER is coming to Los Angeles. We will be there May 11 at the Ace Hotel. So Angelinos, to find out how to be a contestant or join our live audience just go to AMAtickets.org. Coming up, if you can believe it, we tricked Jonathan Coulton and Leslie Odom Jr. into using their rare talents to shake it off, so hold on tight. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and you're listening to ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.
(APPLAUSE)
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