This week’s show was recorded at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Chappell Roan and panelists Meredith Scardino, Tom Papa and Brian Babylon. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

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Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for GLAAD

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Who’s Bill This Time
Doing The Worm; A Dark And Stormy Day In Court; A Young Fashioned On The Rocks

Panel Questions
An In-Flight No-No

Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell us three stories about a team losing a game in a surprising way, only one of which is true.

Not My Job: We quiz pop icon Chappell Roan on fast food
With the release of her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan became a queer icon who brings the art of drag into the world of pop music. Her hit songs include “Hot To Go!” but what does she know about to-go food?

Panel Questions
No More Room Of One’s Own; That’s Not A Knife

Limericks
Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: Browser Power; ‘Til Retirement Do Us Part; Mala Vista

Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions
Our panelists predict, now that we know about RFK Jr.’s brain worm, what will be the next worm in the news.

Since bursting onto the Hollywood scene with memorable performances in shows like “Nurse Jackie” and the critically acclaimed FX drama “Pose,” Michaela Jaé Rodriguez has shown her many dimensions.

The Golden Globe winner stars in the Apple TV comedy “Loot,” alongside Maya Rudolph, and “American Horror Story: Delicate,” with Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian; both premiered in April. Her characters, respectively a determined nonprofit director and a single mom who’s likely a part of a satanic cult, couldn’t be more different.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

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“It’s a blessing,” says Rodriguez, who in 2021 became the first transgender performer to land an Emmy nomination in a lead acting category. “I never thought that I would have two shows coming out at the same time. It’s also a little bit overwhelming. I’m not going to lie, but I’m always optimistic.”

Rodriguez, who has showcased her singing and dancing skills on “Pose” and “Loot,” also is preparing to release her first studio album later this year. She dropped an Afrobeat-infused Christmas single called “Snow Globe” in December.

“When the mic is there and I put the headphones on, I step right into Michaela Jaé, the artist,” she says. “Not Michaela Rodriguez … it’s simply just Michaela Jaé.

“I feel like she’s this kind of entity that comes over me that’s just like, ‘This is what you have to do. This is the message,’” adds Rodriguez, who got her start in a 2011 off-Broadway production of “Rent.” “I’ll show up when I’m on the stage, girl, but, like, this is [my] time to tell my story.”

Rodriguez, who’s known for always turning a look both on and off the red carpet, dreamed up her ideal Sunday for us. It includes shopping at the Grove, working on music at the studio, playing video games and going on adventures around L.A. with her mom.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

5:45 a.m.: First, skincare

It’s so ingrained in my body to get up at least by 5:45 or 6 a.m. It’s probably because when I wake up in the morning, I always go to the bathroom and set the water [temperature] so it can start getting hot. I love to put a hot towel on my face to let my skin cleanse itself and then I go into my skincare treatment, which is the best thing for me — that’s like therapy for me. I take about an hour or two to do all of that first before I even get my day started.

7 a.m.: Meditation and manifestations

After I’m done, I usually turn on some lo-fi or meditation music, and I take 20 to 30 minutes to meditate and just be thankful. I usually pray and send manifestations up to the universe so the creator can hear. I really just try to manifest and pray on the things that I want and the things that I feel like need to be changed. And while that’s all happening, my boyfriend [Stephen Gimigliano] is probably up already cooking some food because he cooks every morning.

7:30 a.m. Breakfast and tea with my boyfriend

When we’re in L.A., which is most of the time, we are health gurus. In the morning, he’ll usually cook a nice, tasty boiled egg with some salt and pepper. Then he’ll take out some broccoli that he marinated overnight and he’ll garnish it with some onions and garlic. That’s usually it because we don’t want to have a heavy breakfast.

We drink all different types of herbal teas. We’ve been having some really specific ones that are good immune boosters. We like going to Wild and Tea [in Highland Park]. They have all of the natural dried-out herbs like lavender and cloves. We make all of these teas ourselves and drink it every morning.

9 a.m.: Dance it out in my living room

After that, girl, it’s me time. I have to move. I’m always dancing in my home, so I turn on some music and I take about an hour to get all of the energy out of my body because I have a lot. It’s so liberating. It’s therapeutic. Stephen will come in sometimes and he’ll root me on, but I take that time just to really, really celebrate dance. I have a lot of space to do pirouettes, battements and twerk.

I’ve been listening to Tyla’s new album on repeat. The girl is so talented. I’ve also been listening to Doechii — she is fantastic. I’ve always been a fan of Halle and Chloe, and I’m a huge fan of my girls Flo, from London. I’m always supporting my girls, especially my girls of color. They are out here storming the industry, and I hope they keep doing that.

10:30 a.m.: Studio time

For the past couple of Sundays I’ve been going into the studio, and it’s been so freeing to me. I write music but I have really good collaborators. Their names are Sophie Hintze and Micah Gordon. We’ve been trying to build this album that I’ve been working on. We have so much fun when we’re working on music, so I’ll spend about four hours there. The album is pretty much complete, so sometimes when we’re in the studio, we just play around. New music is coming out this year! I hope people love it.

2:30 p.m. Hang out with my mom

During the week I’m quite busy, and I noticed that I don’t get to see my mom as much, so I always take time on Sundays to go over to her apartment to chill with her and the pups. I try to spend as much time as I can with her, whether we’re going out to the Grove or this cute little place called Little Beast where we get dinner, or even Soho House. Those are our places and that’s where we’ve found our tribe at.

My mom and I have great, deep conversations about the industry, about me and her, about family, just about everything. It really, really feeds my soul. I’m so thankful I still have her, along with both of my dads too, but she’s such a pillar.

4 p.m. Eat pasta at the Little Beast

The Little Beast is one of my favorite restaurants. Their menu is seasonal, but they have this really tasty drink called the hibiscus margarita and they line it with Tajin. I love ordering their Brussels sprouts because they [douse] the Brussels sprout in a tasty vinaigrette. They also garnish it with some garlic and peppers. They have a ragù as well as a rigatoni that’s tasty. I’m a pasta girl. If you didn’t see me, you’d think I was Italian, honey. That’s how much I love pasta [laughs]. They also have butter pasta that is so good, but it’s not in season anymore, which I’m a little sad about.

5:30 p.m. Play video games

On Saturdays and Sundays, I usually like to take at least two or three hours for myself to play video games. I am a video gamer to the core. I love saying this because so many people are like, “Oh my God. She’s fashion. She’s art.” And I’m like, “I’m all of that but also a nerd, so never forget it.”

I even tried to shoot my shot to Margot Robbie to try to get a role on this new “Sims” movie. I’ve been playing “The Sims” since I was like 11. I also love fighter games, so I’ll play “Mortal Kombat,” and a game called “Multiverses.” But I’m not a sports girl at all. I’ll leave that to the boys. I also love playing X-Men games and “Super Smash Bros.” It really is my safe place. I escape and it’s so fun to do.

I’m naturally a PC girl — hence me having “The Sims” as my top priority, like that is my dollhouse. That is my way of feeling like I am God and have some control over something, because we realize we don’t have any control. I’m a PC girl at heart, but I’m going to play a PS5 all day. That’s my favorite console.

8 p.m. Scroll on TikTok until I fall asleep

By the time all of this stuff is done, my body is like, “OK, we need to head back to that bathroom and start doing our skincare treatment for the night so we can be prepared for Monday” [laughs].

The nighttime routine doesn’t usually take as long as the morning routine. When I go out, I love beating my face. Just a little beat — it don’t hurt nobody. So after I come in, I use a makeup wipe and wash my face completely. Then I’ll go in with a night serum from Charlotte Tilbury and let that sit for like 15 minutes. Then I’ll use her Magic Night Cream. You’re supposed to let it sit on your face so it can saturate, and you’ll wake up with a beautiful glow.

I’ll usually try to start winding down in the bed by 8 or 8:30 p.m. After a [long] day, sometimes your body does not want to go to sleep, so I’ll be on TikTok figuring out ways to inspire the children. [laughs].

Zendaya at the 2024 Met Gala in New York City. The actress is one of many celebrities whose name has appeared this week on social media “block” lists for not speaking out publicly about the conflict in Gaza.

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Zendaya at the 2024 Met Gala in New York City. The actress is one of many celebrities whose name has appeared this week on social media “block” lists for not speaking out publicly about the conflict in Gaza.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

A collective effort on TikTok and other social media platforms to push celebrities to speak publicly about the conflict in Gaza went into overdrive this week after The Met Gala.

Creators on TikTok have earned millions of views for videos they’ve made linked to hashtags like #celebrityblocklist, #letthemeatcake and #blockout.

Many of these posts list the names of actors, musicians and other high-profile figures whom the video creators say had not yet spoken out against Israel’s attacks on the region — or hadn’t spoken out sufficiently — and therefore should be blocked.

And there’s been a special push in recent days to name those who attended the opulent, star-studded annual Met Gala on Monday.

“I made a Google Doc of every celebrity that attended the Met Gala, and now I’m going through and writing if they’ve been silent, or if they’ve been using their platform to speak up about the genocide in Gaza,” said one TikTok user in a video displaying a long list of celebrity names against a black background with the word “SILENT” in red next to to some, including Zendaya, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Andrew Scott. “Some of these celebrities have not been completely silent,” the Tiktoker continued. “Zendaya did make a post back in October on her story supporting Palestine, but has been silent since. So I went ahead and put ‘silent.’”

The Met Gala fans the flames

Calls on social media to boycott celebrity silences have been on a slow burn for months.

But the fact the New York event, with its unchecked display of privilege and wealth, took place at around the same time as thousands of Palestinians were being forced to flee Rafah at less than 24 hours notice as Israeli troops took control of the Gaza territory’s border crossing with Egypt, fanned the glowing embers into full-on flames.

“The Met Gala was a bit of a hyperbolic moment that got a lot of people’s attention,” said Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. “The celebrity boycotts had existed, but they weren’t really at the top of the social zeitgeist. But then you have a moment like the Met Gala that wasn’t really related to the conflict, but the pieces were all at play. When the attacks [in Gaza] were happening the same day, the juxtaposition just got people talking and moving.”

Even relatively minor celebrities like social media influencer Hayley Baylee — who wasn’t even a guest at the event, but had been hired as a pre-gala host to interview those invited as they headed to the party — were caught up in the backlash on TikTok.

Many creators posted negative reactions to a video Baylee posted of herself that night (which has since been taken down), saying, “Let them eat cake!” It was a nod, as she later admitted in a video apologizing for her actions, to a current trend on social media for looks inspired by Marie Antoinette, and a line from the 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst, about the ill-fated French queen.

“The world is just not peaceful or stable enough for the average person to accept and enjoy celebrities flaunting their wealth on social media,” said one user on TikTok in response both to Baylee’s faux-pas and the overall flaunting of wealth in New York that night. “Flexing on the peasants only works when the peasants aren’t watching other peasants be wiped off the face of the planet.”

The impact of blocking celebrities on the people of Gaza

The rationale behind the calls on social media to block celebrities, thereby negatively impacting their advertising revenue, is to put pressure on them to use their massive influence to try to stop the violence in Gaza.

“The hope is that it will either bring more visibility to the cause and shift the balance in getting political forces like the U.S. government to do something to mitigate the violence that’s happening in the Middle East,” said Collins. “But as rational as that logic may seem, I don’t think there are very many examples where this has actually worked.”

Collins cited the example of George Clooney’s efforts, albeit in an era before the rise of social media, to end the war in Sudan. A 2014 article in The Guardian by the Sudan-based journalist Maeve Shearlaw assessed the impact of the celebrity’s dedicated efforts over the years to bring about change: “I don’t see that it has halted, or even reduced, the genocide. The killing, displacement, sexual assaults and rape never stopped.”

On the other hand, pressure on social media has occasionally impacted the ways celebrities speak out about world events. For example, the backlash against Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for asking the public to donate to a Maui wildfire recovery fund last fall caused the pair to put more of their own significant resources into the effort. However, the amount they contributed was not disclosed.

The impact on everyone else

It remains to be seen whether the latest celebrity-blocking social media campaign will bring about positive change for the people of Gaza.

But some experts say the fact that it doesn’t directly target the issue, but rather focuses on which celebrities are remaining silent, obscures the desired goal.

“That’s not what we’re debating on and trending about and talking about and arguing about,” said Chris Morse, a communications professor at Bryant University. “It’s the fact that Celebrity A won’t tell us their stance. Isn’t that weird that they won’t do that? Let’s boycott them until they do do that.”

Indeed, some stars have seen a fall-off in followers over the past week. For example, Taylor Swift, who’s at the top of many of the block lists, lost around 300,000 followers on TikTok over the past week, according to a comparison between her current TikTok follower number and the number obtained from last week via Wayback Machine, and around 50,000 on Instagram. But that’s nothing for a star of Swift’s magnitude.

“A large celebrity has their touring, has multiple large social channels, is featured on television, is featured in the press,” said Eric Dahan, CEO of the social media marketing company Mighty Joy. “If you have north of 100 million followers and you lose three or five million, it sucks. But is that the end of the world for you? No.”

Dahan added that blocking celebrities doesn’t prevent them from appearing in targeted social media ad campaigns.

“Blocking an account doesn’t prevent you from receiving an ad, because the ad is not run through the celebrity’s account per se,” said Dahan. “And so, for example, you can block Kim Kardashian, but Hulu could run an ad targeting the Kardashians at you.”

Meanwhile, controversies involving celebrities very often bring attention to social media platforms.

“TikTok definitely benefits, right? Because the trend is happening on their format,” said Bryant University’s Morse. “We are constantly mentioning TikTok in all of the stories, and that makes people curious in order to see the trend and see what people are doing. So you got to go to TikTok, and you really got to become a member because you can’t really see too many things without actually engaging with the platform.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.

And even if the many, much-viewed videos aimed at canceling celebrities don’t help to bring about a change for the people of Gaza, there’s at least an emotional reward for those doing the canceling.

“It does provide some sense of agency,” said the University of Michigan’s Collins. “A sense that I’ve done something to influence other people to do something that perhaps maybe might make a difference. Because in the minds of those folks, it’s better than doing nothing.”