OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
And we have our next two contestants up here, chomping at the bit. Let's welcome Shannon Sun-Higginson and Jeremy Lin.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Shannon, I enjoy your job as a documentary filmmaker. What are you working on right now?
SHANNON SUN-HIGGINSON: I am working on a film about women and gaming, but it's video games, so it's the wrong type of nerd.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)
EISENBERG: It's just a different shade of nerd, a different shade of nerd.
SUN-HIGGINSON: Fifty shades of nerd, yeah.
EISENBERG: So it's women and gaming, women and video games.
SUN-HIGGINSON: Yes.
EISENBERG: Very cool. Jeremy Lin, a pleasure to have you. I'm sure you have a lot of fun, having the same name as another Jeremy Lin.
JEREMY LIN: It's been quite a ride.
EISENBERG: Have you benefited from it in any way? People bought you drinks?
LIN: You know, sadly, no.
(LAUGHTER)
LIN: Although there is one guy at the library who consistently looks at my ID and tells me "no way."
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: I like that. That's a little inside library joke. That's my favorite part.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Jonathan, what's our next game?
JONATHAN COULTON: Well, if you have listened to ASK ME ANOTHER before, then this game will probably sound familiar to you. It is one of my favorites. It's called This, That, or the Other. We will name an item and all you have to do is tell us which of three categories that item belongs to. Today's categories are grains, world currencies or Pokemon characters.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: For those of you who don't know, Pokemon is an incredibly popular video games series franchise from Japan that involves collecting and training tiny pocket monsters, and it is very weird. According to the internet, there are 649 different Pokemon species. We're going to alternate questions between contestants, so there is no need to buzz in. Just tell us, is it a grain, a world currency or a Pokemon character?
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Are you ready?
LIN: Sure.
SUN-HIGGINSON: Sure.
COULTON: Jeremy, Dinar?
LIN: That's a currency.
COULTON: You are right.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Shannon, sorghum?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Sorghum. A grain?
COULTON: It is a grain.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Jeremy, Squirtle?
(LAUGHTER)
LIN: That's a Pokemon character.
COULTON: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: It would be a terrible name for a currency.
EISENBERG: That's the worst currency ever.
COULTON: It'd just be weird.
EISENBERG: How much? Seven Squirtles? Insane.
COULTON: Shannon, corina?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Currency.
COULTON: It is a currency, you're right.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: I'm just warning you, we're lulling you into a false sense of security right now. Jeremy, teff?
LIN: That's a grain.
COULTON: Yes, it is.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Shannon, Meowth?
(LAUGHTER)
SUN-HIGGINSON: I think that's a Pokemon.
COULTON: Yes, you are right.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: I'd love to be like "No, that's a grain, Meowth."
COULTON: Yeah, Meowth.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Jeremy, birr?
LIN: I'm going to go with currency.
COULTON: Yes, it is an Ethiopian currency.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Shannon, Charmander?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Pokemon.
COULTON: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: It sounds like you have some experience with Pokemon. Is that right?
SUN-HIGGINSON: I think he has a fire tail.
COULTON: You're right, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)
COULTON: Uh-oh.
EISENBERG: It's the char part, right, of the Charmander?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Yeah, char.
EISENBERG: It's a lizard with a - yeah, they're very literal, these names.
COULTON: Yeah, yeah. Jeremy, amaranth?
LIN: That is a grain.
COULTON: Yes, it is.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: You have a lot...
COULTON: A couple of smarty pants over here.
EISENBERG: Yeah, he knows a lot about grains. Are you into grains? Is that sort of something you're into?
LIN: You know, at my old co-op that I used, they were really big into heritage grains.
EISENBERG: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Oh, I didn't know these were artisanal.
COULTON: Yeah, right.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: The grains we're speaking of.
LIN: People were into amaranth before it was cool.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Okay, Shannon, kip?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Can you please spell that?
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Very easily, K-I-P.
SUN-HIGGINSON: Currency.
COULTON: Yes, it is.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: I trust you were almost led astray by the fact the Mudkip is the name of a Pokemon.
(LAUGHTER)
SUN-HIGGINSON: Obviously.
COULTON: Okay, Jeremy, ariary ariary?
LIN: I'm sorry?
(LAUGHTER)
LIN: I'm going to go with Pokemon character.
COULTON: No. It's a currency.
LIN: Is it?
COULTON: A very cute currency who fights.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: No, it is a currency in Madagascar. Okay, Shannon, fonio?
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Fonio.
SUN-HIGGINSON: I guess a grain.
COULTON: It is a grain. Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
SUN-HIGGINSON: What?
EISENBERG: Jeremy, but that grain, like, went out in the 80s, right? Like nobody's into that anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: I find that if I say the words as if they are cute, it tends to mislead people.
(LAUGHTER)
SUN-HIGGINSON: Little Fonio.
COULTON: Jeremy, Mewtwo?
LIN: Pokemon character.
COULTON: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Some kind of a cat, apparently. Shannon, quetzal?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Currency.
COULTON: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Every one of your guesses, you're so skeptical.
SUN-HIGGINSON: I'm really lucky.
EISENBERG: It's great.
COULTON: Jeremy, ringgit?
LIN: Currency.
COULTON: Yeah, wow.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Okay, Shannon, Arbok?
SUN-HIGGINSON: Pokemon.
COULTON: Wow.
EISENBERG: Wow.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Shannon, you did it. You are our winner of this round.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: You will be moving on to our Ask Me One More final round at the end of the show.
Jeremy, we learned so much from you. Thank you so much for being a contestant. Another hand for both of our contestants.
(APPLAUSE)
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.