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JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: This is NPR's ASK ME ANOTHER. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.
OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Thanks, Jonathan. We're playing games with chefs Sohla El-Waylly and Stella Parks. Are you ready for another one?
SOHLA EL-WAYLLY: Oh, yes.
STELLA PARKS: Bring it.
EISENBERG: So this time you are going to be competing.
PARKS: Sohla and I don't have a good track record competing against each other.
EL-WAYLLY: No.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: How so?
PARKS: We just end up drinking and complimenting each other.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's good.
EL-WAYLLY: Yeah. You know, that's a great friendship. Just get really drunk and talk about how great you are.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
PARKS: A few drinks in we're, like, contemplating body piercings together. It's - you know?
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: So before the show, we asked you, what would you like to play a game about that isn't food-related? And you both came up with a lot of different topics. We took some of these things that you told us and combined them into a game we call Category Is. And here's how it works. We're going to start to list a bunch of things that all have something in common, and as soon as you think you know what it is, just yell out the answer.
PARKS: OK.
EISENBERG: And, of course, all of these things have something to do with your interests, which may include video games, "The Office," Bjork, dogs, tarot cards, Marvel, interior design, horror movies or Japanese onomatopoeia. All right. Stella, here's your first clue. What do these things have in common? The world.
PARKS: OK.
EISENBERG: The moon.
PARKS: Tarot.
EISENBERG: Yes. Well done. Well done.
COULTON: That was amazing. Two items in. All right, Sohla, here's one for you. What do these people have in common?
EL-WAYLLY: OK.
COULTON: James Rhodes, Sam Wilson, Hope van Dyne, Clint Barton, Carol Danvers, T'Challa.
EL-WAYLLY: Are they all Avengers?
COULTON: That's correct. They are the real names of Marvel superheroes.
EL-WAYLLY: Oh, God, that made me so nervous.
COULTON: Yeah, I could tell you were very nervous.
EISENBERG: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: All right, Stella, this is for you. Stand up. Shh shh.
PARKS: Bjork lyrics?
EISENBERG: Yes.
COULTON: Wow.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: This is amazing to watch.
EL-WAYLLY: Wow, you're impressive.
EISENBERG: That is right. Stand up is from "Army Of Me." Shh shh is from - Stella, you could do this for me. Do you remember the name - you know what that's from?
PARKS: "It's Oh So Quiet."
EISENBERG: "It's Oh So Quiet." (Laughter).
COULTON: All right. This is the last one. Sohla, what do these people have in common? Tree Gelbman, Sally Hardesty, Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Sidney Prescott, Ellen Ripley.
EL-WAYLLY: Are they horror movie related?
COULTON: They are. Yes, that is correct.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Those are all horror movie characters. They are all characters who survive until the end, making them members of what is known as the final girl trope. Right?
EISENBERG: I mean, seriously, you like horror movies? Like right now, you could watch a horror movie. You're OK with that?
EL-WAYLLY: I only watch horror movies. I like to be scared. I watch a little bit of horror movie every night before bed...
(LAUGHTER)
EL-WAYLLY: ...'Cause it helps me sleep at night. So instead of worrying about...
EISENBERG: That's hilarious.
EL-WAYLLY: Well, I don't have to worry about real things. I have nightmares about fake things, which I think is better than the anxiety of looming deadlines and stuff.
COULTON: Oh, that's a great point, because when you wake up, you can be like, there's no clown coming to kill me. That's not a real thing.
EL-WAYLLY: Yeah. yeah.
EISENBERG: But wait a second. Is there not a world where there's no nightmares? What about that? (Laughter).
EL-WAYLLY: I haven't figured that out yet. Well, have you seen "The Boy"?
EISENBERG: No.
COULTON: No. What's that?
EL-WAYLLY: Well I don't want to spoil it, but there's like a - it ends up being like there's a secret person living in the walls. And we just moved into this apartment that has two windows that don't go anywhere. When I'm stressed, I like to fantasize that there's a secret person living there who's going to murder me, and then it calms me down.
PARKS: Amazing.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Whatever helps you sleep, Sohla, that's all I care about - whatever helps you sleep.
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EISENBERG: This is amazing. Thank you so much for being part of these games. Sohla El-Waylly's new web series with the History Channel is called "Ancient Recipes With Sohla." And Stella Parks is the author of the bestselling cookbook "BraveTart." Thank you so much for joining us.
EL-WAYLLY: Yeah, thanks for having us. It was a lot of fun.
PARKS: Thanks for having us.
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