Goodfellas

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Welcome back to ASK ME ANOTHER, NPR and WNYC's hour of trivia, puzzles and word games. I'm Ophira Eisenberg and joining me is our house musician, Jonathan Coulton, and our puzzle guru, John Chaneski. Our next contestant is on the line. Hi, you're on ASK ME ANOTHER.

ELANA PEREL: Hi, this is Elana Perel calling from Novato, Calif.

EISENBERG: That doesn't sound - you made that up. That's not a real place.

PEREL: Not to be confused with Nevada.

EISENBERG: Not to - Nevada, Calif. That is when you really know someone did not go to a good school.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Here's a question for you.

PEREL: Yes.

EISENBERG: Are you at all involved with the Mafia?

PEREL: The Jewish Mafia, if that's a thing.

EISENBERG: Sure, yeah. I like the way you're going with this, yep.

PEREL: No, but I'm convinced it exists.

EISENBERG: Is there a specific reason why you're convinced it exists?

PEREL: My dad seems to know everyone.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: There's a fine line between an organized family and just a lot of family.

PEREL: Oh, yeah. Like, that guy's related to this guy. I went to school with him. Like, oh, OK, cool.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) I ask you because this game is called Goodfellas.

PEREL: Oh, wow.

EISENBERG: But it's not exactly a mob game. All the answers in this game are real people who, although they were never in the mob, they could be considered Goodfellas because they have the word good in their name.

PEREL: This will be good.

EISENBERG: For example, if I said this civil rights leader never cased a joint but he did hear a lot of cases as the U.S. Supreme Court's first African-American justice, that would be of course...

PEREL: Thurgood Marshall.

EISENBERG: Yeah, all right, yeah. Let's play.

PEREL: OK.

EISENBERG: Instead of sleeping with the fishes, this world-famous primatologist has been sleeping with the chimps in Tanzania.

PEREL: Jane Goodall.

EISENBERG: Yes, correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: This actor played the Don of the Conner household on the sitcom "Roseanne" and is the voice of a real monster.

PEREL: John Goodman.

EISENBERG: John Goodman.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Talk about wise guys, this Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer has written about a lot of wise guys, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

PEREL: Oh, I'm completely blanking.

EISENBERG: I would give you a hint, but I have no idea how to do that.

(LAUGHTER)

JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: She's a - her mob name would be, like, Doris Three Names 'cause she's got three names.

PEREL: Oh, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

EISENBERG: Yes, exactly.

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COULTON: Doris Three Names.

EISENBERG: Doris Three Names. She played a woman whose husband was literally going to the mattresses with three wives in the HBO series "Big Love."

PEREL: Oh, Ginnifer Goodwin.

EISENBERG: Ginnifer Goodwin, that is correct as well.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: This is your last question. Bada-bing (ph), he invented vulcanized rubber. Bada-boom (ph) he had nothing to do with the major tire company named in his honor.

PEREL: Someone Goodyear.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Charlie - they call me Charlie blimp - Charlie the blimp.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Charlie the blimp. Yeah, we're giving that to you because there's no reason to know that person's first name.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREL: No.

EISENBERG: Well done, Elana.

PEREL: Thank you.

EISENBERG: You've basically got them all correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: We are going to send you a limited edition ASK ME ANOTHER Rubik's cube.

PEREL: Oh.

EISENBERG: I know, congratulations.

PEREL: Thanks.

EISENBERG: Look forward to receiving that.

(APPLAUSE)

PEREL: I will attempt to solve it.

EISENBERG: If you think you're a real wise guy or gal, then let's see if you have what it takes to join the puzzle family. Send us an email at askmeanother@npr.org and we'll send you a contestant quiz to see if you can be on our show.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.