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Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me Host Peter Sagal

NPR

Peter Sagal says whatever he's doing, he wishes he was doing something else.

He tells WMUK's Erin Williams that when he was a playwright, he heard about "this radio show" in the late 90's and decided that would fun to do. Now after 16 years on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, Sagal says it would be great to "sit in my darkened basement and wrestle with my muse... so I'm always sort of looking for the next thing."

The next stop for Peter Sagal is Kalamazoo where Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me comes on March 20th. The show will be recorded at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium

"There will never be an end to the stupidity provided by the news and the people who make the news."

When asked how he keeps the show fresh every week, Sagal says he has two great advantages. One is the source material, "There will never be an end to the stupidity provided by the news and the people who make the news." He says it also helps to work  with funny, talented people. Sagal says the part of the show's appeal is its unpredictable nature. 

Credit NRP
Carl Kasell (left) and Peter Sagal at Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me recording in Elkhart, Indiana

Sagal says when the show started in Chicago it was recorded in a studio without a live audience. It was only after doing a few "road shows" for stations that they realized the show should be done in front of an audience every week. Shows in Chicago are recorded in Chase Auditorium. The show does still go on the road, including March 20th in Kalamazoo. 

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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