Peter Sagal Says Comfort, Not Analysis, Is the Job of 'Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!'

Peter Sagal, host of NPR's weekly news quiz "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!", is scheduled to bring an evening of storytelling to the Southern Theatre in Columbus on June 7. Sagal is also an author and marathoner. He appeared on WOSU's "All Sides with Amy Juravich" in an episode that first aired May 27, 2026.

Much of the conversation centered on the departure of Bill Kurtis, the show's judge and scorekeeper, who retired after 12 years. Sagal said he will miss Kurtis, though he stressed that his colleague is doing fine. He recalled that Kurtis's on-air introductions began as a straightforward "legendary anchorman" line before the staff turned to puns on his name. Producer Jennifer Mills helped drive that shift, Sagal said, and the staff only learned each week's version at the read-through, where it usually drew laughs, Kurtis's included.

Kurtis followed Carl Kasell, who held the role from the show's 1998 launch until retiring in 2014. Sagal described Kasell as a longtime "Morning Edition" newscaster whose days began very early. He said the show gave Kasell a chance to appear before audiences and be funny, and that Kasell enjoyed every moment of it.

Sagal would not name Kurtis's successor. He said the program was airing a clip show that week, and that a sold-out taping at the University of Texas's Bass Auditorium in Austin the following week would be the moment to introduce the new voice. After Kurtis, he said, the show decided not to look for another classic anchorman type and chose a different direction, with someone who has "a different set of skills and different kind of charm."

Juravich noted that the news can feel bleak, citing a war with Iran, concerns about an authoritarian-leaning president and anxiety over gas prices. Asked how the show stays funny, Sagal said its role is not to explain or analyze events, or even to voice listeners' frustration, but to offer comfort and a break. Public radio listeners often treat following the news as a civic duty, he said, and would not otherwise give themselves a rest. He added that the work benefits him and his colleagues too, and that having to analyze the news constructively would have worn him down years ago.

Juravich also asked whether the end of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS gave him pause. The network cited cost-cutting, though many believe politics played a part. Sagal said it did, a little, and noted that federal funding for public radio has been eliminated. He said NPR managers have never pressured the show to moderate what it says or does, which he called a credit to them.

Sagal said that for years he answered questions about political satire by saying it does no good in changing the world, and that it shouldn't. In his view, it would be troubling if a governor, president or mayor took being mocked seriously. He pointed to Bill Clinton, who was the target of many jokes in the show's early years. When Clinton later appeared on the program, Sagal said, he told him the ribbing had not bothered him and that it was great. Clinton also did an event with Darrell Hammond, who impersonated him on "Saturday Night Live." Sagal said George H.W. Bush likewise did events with Dana Carvey, who had mocked him on the same show.