Guess The Newsmaker

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Last year with Paula Poundstone, Maz Jobrani and Faith Salie, we decided to bring back an old game.

BILL KURTIS, BYLINE: Was it rounders, marbles, kick the can, conkers, memblety peg, huckle buckle beanstalk?

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: No, actually, Bill. Although they all sounds like great fun. Let's let Carl explain.

KURTIS: Guess the News Maker.

SAGAL: So it's time to welcome to our show one Ricardo Baca. Ricardo, welcome to WAIT WAIT ...DON'T TELL ME.

RICARDO BACA: Hey, thanks a lot.

SAGAL: Now, panelists, Mr. Baca here, Ricardo, has a new job. As far as we know he is the first person to hold this job anywhere ever. Your job - guess what that job is. You'll each get a chance to ask a yes or no question. The first panelist to guess who it is wins a point. Paula, ask your question.

PAULA POUNDSTONE: Hi, Mr. Baca. Does it involve computers?

BACA: Somewhat.

SAGAL: Maz?

MAZ JOBRANI: Do you have to go to an office every day?

BACA: No.

SAGAL: No. So he's out in the field, OK? Faith.

FAITH SALIE: Ricardo, are you dealing with a formerly illegal substance?

BACA: (Laughter) Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yes, he is dealing with a formerly illegal substance.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: What could it be? Now it moves on to Paula

POUNDSTONE: How was that an intuitive guess?

(LAUGHTER)

POUNDSTONE: There's absolutely nothing that was said that led to such a guess.

JOBRANI: Are you like an FBI profiler something?

POUNDSTONE: All right, Mr. Baca. Have you had relations with Faith Salie?

(LAUGHTER)

POUNDSTONE: All right. So he's out in the field. Are you a pot harvester?

BACA: I am not.

SAGAL: I'm going to throw you guys a hint. Mr. Baca's calling us from his home in Colorado.

POUNDSTONE: Oh, mountains.

(LAUGHTER)

JOBRANI: Well, the weed thing was a good place to go.

POUNDSTONE: Yeah - no, mountains were forbidden a while ago.

SAGAL: OK.

SAGAL: Paula asked if he was was a pot harvester.

JOBRANI: Oh, a pot reviewer?

BACA: No.

SAGAL: Oh, nut you are awfully close. What we're going to do is we're going to say Maz got it because although Mr. Baca is not a pot reviewer, they'll be working for him because Mr. Baca is the first ever pot editor for the Denver Post...

JOBRANI: Wow.

SALIE: Congratulations.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: ...as far as we know. So the point goes to Maz. Ricardo, so you are - you're going to be in charge of the new section, I think it's online for the Denver Post, that will cover the new legal marijuana market in Colorado.

BACA: It is, yeah, we're creating a blog out here covering the culture of cannabis.

SAGAL: The culture of cannabis. How did you get this job? How do you apply to be the pot editor?

BACA: Exactly right. Well, I started a music festival for the paper and then I started a music blog. And both of those things have done fairly well. So I think they thought of me when this position came up.

SAGAL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: They went down to your music festival, they took a whiff. They're like, this is the guy.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: We're assuming pot editors must be constantly paranoid they're going to get fired.

BACA: Well, I do work for a newspaper.

SAGAL: That's true. So you're going to be hiring marijuana critics, right?

BACA: I am, yeah. I'm in the process of getting some reports back from them. I assign them each a strain or an edible or a soda and I'm starting to get those back.

POUNDSTONE: What do you mean, or a soda?

(LAUGHTER)

BACA: Oh, the market is huge. You can get pot infused olive oil and sodas. It's crazy, they have everything.

SAGAL: I'm assuming that as the pot editor you're going to have to be, you know, partaking yourself to do your job correctly, right?

BACA: You know, I don't necessarily need to but...

POUNDSTONE: Oh, go ahead.

SAGAL: It's legal.

(LAUGHTER)

SALIE: Are you going to have deadlines?

BACA: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, many, many deadlines.

SALIE: OK.

POUNDSTONE: Yeah, how's that going to work?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Well, Ricardo Baca, we're delighted to talk to you. Good luck in your new job.

SALIE: Congrats.

SAGAL: Ricardo Baca is the new online pot editor for the Denver Post. Thank you so much for being with us.

JOBRANI: Nice.

SAGAL: Now if after hearing that conversation with the Denver Post's pot editor you are suddenly planning a trip to Colorado, don't forget you can also see WAIT, WAIT next week July 10 at Red Rocks outside Denver.

KURTIS: And, you know what they say, Peter - what happens at Red Rocks can even be seen through the thick clouds of pot smoke.

SAGAL: Bill and I will both be there somewhere down there doing a jam quiz no doubt along with Paula Poundstone, Tom Bodett and Brian Babylon. For tickets and more information, check out our website waitwait.npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.