# Carl Kasell's Voice on a home answering machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428 "2007-04-10T02:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/1 "2007-04-10T02:28:56Z")
Has anyone here ever actually heard [Carl Kassel’s voice on a home answering machine?](http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/) I think if I did, I’d be almost as delighted as if I had won myself. I can’t wait to go back to Chicago someday. Screw _Oprah_, I want to go to _Wait, wait_. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/2 "2007-04-10T02:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=Twiddle] Has anyone here ever actually heard [Carl Kassel’s voice on a home answering machine?](http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/) I think if I did, I’d be almost as delighted as if I had won myself. I can’t wait to go back to Chicago someday. Screw _Oprah_, I want to go to _Wait, wait_. [/QUOTE] They’ve got [samples](http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/features/messages.html) of some of the recordings on the web site. Funny stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/3 "2007-04-10T03:38:40Z")
You know that they do live appearances out of town, so you don’t need to go to Chicago to watch a taping. (For example, they’re going to be in Ann Arbor on May 17.) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/4 "2007-04-10T03:44:50Z")
Trust the SDMB to turn up the only four people who actually listen to this show. Me, I’d rather have Roy Blount Jr.'s voice on my machine. Maybe if I sent him a bottle of bourbon… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/5 "2007-04-10T03:49:21Z")
Definitely not the only ones. See [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408982) thread for instance. ---
**Author:** ![jakeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@jakeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeline)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/6 "2007-04-10T03:52:44Z")
Make it seven. My dad, **Asimovian** , and I all love Wait, Wait. 😃 However, I’d prefer Paula’s voice on my answering phone. She is consistently hilarious and brilliant. However, the funniest thing I’ve EVER heard on the show was Mo Rocca’s [bluff the listener story](http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35&prgDate=03-24-2007&view=storyview) about Morgan Fairchild from a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/7 "2007-04-10T04:00:37Z")
Keep upping those numbers. Thanks for the link - I didn’t know he was recording FUN stuff… now I’ll have to try to get on the show too. (But, yeah, I’d prefer Paula!) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/8 "2007-04-10T04:23:16Z")
Actually, the luckiest person was the one Penn Jillette was playing for. Jillette _lost_ and he offered to get _any_ of his Hollywood friends to do it for the gal. Can you imagine _that?_ (Though I would love to hear Karl Kasell say, “And if the attorney general is listening, your wife wants you to bring home a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk.”) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/9 "2007-04-10T05:37:45Z")
I saw them in Monterey, so you can bump it by four (my wife, my daughter and her boyfriend too.) I’ve got the Wait Wait mug! My question is: what message could I put on that would be worthy of Carl Kassell’s voice? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/10 "2007-04-10T05:45:28Z")
Add another one. Both _Wait Wait_ and _Whad’Ya Know?_. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/11 "2007-04-10T05:54:00Z")
Oh, I love that show! It’s right up there with [Says You!](http://www.wgbh.org/radio/saysyou/) ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/12 "2007-04-10T06:22:25Z")
I enjoy _Wait, Wait_, but it’s no where near as funny as the BBC Radio 4 _News Quiz_ ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/13 "2007-04-10T06:53:22Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Trust the SDMB to turn up the only four people who actually listen to this show. Me, I’d rather have Roy Blount Jr.'s voice on my machine. Maybe if I sent him a bottle of bourbon… [/QUOTE] It’s worse than you think… regular panelist Adam Felber is a personal friend of mine. I even appeared on his radio show back at Tufts University a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/14 "2007-04-10T07:48:23Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] I saw them in Monterey, so you can bump it by four (my wife, my daughter and her boyfriend too.) I’ve got the Wait Wait mug! [/QUOTE] I’ve got the Carl Kasell, International Newsman of Mystery car air freshener. A friend went to a taping in Seattle a few years ago and got it for me. And then I went to a taping in Chicago last May. It was about what you’d expect, Peter and Carl at podia stage left, the panellists (Roxanne Roberts, P. J. O’Rourke and Adam Felber) at a table stage right. They go pretty much straight through the show (some stuff will be edited out, so it runs a bit long), do some re-takes of bits that didn’t get recorded correctly, and then a short Q & A. It was great fun. **ETF** , nice to find another _Says You!_ fan. I’ve been to that one a few times, as well. Sent in some questions, but he hasn’t used any yet. So, **scotandrsn** , what’s with Adam and Wisconsin, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/15 "2007-04-10T11:21:51Z")
Two more here. I got my wife listening to the show by taking her to a live taping in Orlando. When we move back to Chicago, I think I’m going to make _Wait, Wait_ as regular a Thursday night thing as I can. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/16 "2007-04-10T12:59:10Z")
Add another one to the list. Paula cracks me up every time, and whoever did the mouse-voice thing last season…oh, my, I shouldn’t listen while driving! And right now I’m reading two of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s books just because of his appearance a few weeks back…his story about the kids writing to him about Pluto was great! ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/17 "2007-04-10T13:07:14Z")
Me too me too!!! Wait Wait and Whaddya Know were the first podcasts I added to my mp3 player (which I bought primarily for NPR podcasts). ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/18 "2007-04-10T13:24:17Z")
I saw a taping of _Wait, wait_ once. I’m sure there’s an old thread I started about it. They were taping in Towson, MD. It was pretty fun, and interesting to see how the show was put together. After the show, they had to retape a couple bits, and would ask the audience to laugh even though we’d already heard the jokes before. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/19 "2007-04-10T13:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] So, **scotandrsn** , what’s with Adam and Wisconsin, anyway? [/QUOTE] I don’t drive on the weekends as much as I used to, so I haven’t heard the show for a couple of years (hey, I didn’t say he was a _close_ personal friend), so I’m afraid I don’t get the reference. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428/20 "2007-04-10T14:11:34Z")
Lately, Carl Kassel’s voice has degenerated to the point he is barely understandable. I dislike it intensely when I end up having to listen to him during _All Things Considered_’s news headline segments. At some point, in radio, when you cannot ennunciate clearly, you should quit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carl-kasells-voice-on-a-home-answering-machine/399428.md?page=2)