This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with guest host Tom Papa, judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Vicki Peterson and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Helen Hong, and Dulcé Sloan. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

Who’s Alzo This Time

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To The Salad Bar, A Presidential Spat, and The Next Pumpkin Spice

Panel Questions

Armpit of Despair

Bluff The Listener

Our panelists tell us three stories about something new in funerals, only one of which is true

Not My Job: Vicki Peterson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of The Bangles, answers our questions about mummies

Vicki Peterson co-founded the Bangles with her sister and some friends in high school, and went on to become one of the biggest acts of the 80s. She’s now writing and performing with her husband, John Cowsill. But, can she answer our three questions about mummies?

Panel Questions

Jungle Gym, Haute Happy Meal

Limericks

Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Work Doh, Sweet Workout Bro, and Barnyard Couture

Lightning Fill In The Blank

All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions

Our panelists predict, what’ll be the big surprise at the World Cup final?

If the Spanish Men’s National Team pulls off a World Cup victory on Sunday, the Spanish football federation would make history as the first to bring home successive World Cup championships on the men’s and women’s side in the history of the tournament.

The women’s team won the 2023 World Cup and will enter next year’s tournament in Brazil as defending champions. While the men’s team has been a perennial contender, appearing in 17 out of 23 World Cup tournaments, they last won the Trophy back in 2010.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup has had a much shorter history than its male counterpart; having started in 1991 compared to 1930 for the men. During that time, it has only had five different champions: the United States, Germany, Norway, Japan and Spain.

Only two of those teams, Germany and Spain, have also won the men’s World Cup.

The Spanish System

Spain has a robust men’s soccer league system, led by the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, more commonly known as La Liga. Its teams are consistently among the top-ranked in Europe.

Real Madrid, based in the capitol, is one of the world’s most successful soccer clubs. FC Barcelona is the third-most valuable soccer club in the world, and Argentina’s Lionel Messi broke Brazilian legend Pelé’s record for most goals scored for a single club for the Catalonian team. Trips to Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, have reached near-pilgrimage status for diehard soccer fans.

Spain’s players and officials celebrate with the trophy after winning the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup final football match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney on August 20, 2023.

Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images

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Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images

Spanish women’s soccer has lagged far behind, with both a league and a national team system plagued by poor coaching, underinvestment and abuse.

In 2015, the entire Women’s World Cup squad successfully called for the removal of coach Ignacio Quereda, whose leadership of the team since 1988 led many female players to accuse the Royal Spanish Football Federation of indifference to the women’s team. Even before the 2015 tournament, some longtime national team players said they refused to return to international duty as long as Quereda kept coaching.

In a 2021 documentary, “Romper el silencio,” players alleged Quereda sexually harassed and verbally abused them.

Universal Studios Hollywood has long been slated to have the biggest theme park opening of 2026 with its new high-speed coaster, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. But with no officially announced opening date, questions have started to intensify and rumors have begun to swirl as to what may be causing the park to go radio silent on what is expected to be its centerpiece attraction.

According to Universal, there is no need for concern.

Yet speculation has zeroed in on the potential noise of the coaster as being a problem for residents of the nearby of Toluca Lake. Rumors were fueled Friday by Fox 11 Los Angeles reporting, via a since-deleted post on social media network X that Hollywood Drift’s opening had been delayed at least until the end of year due to neighborhood complaints. Videos of audible screams of riders on the coaster have gone viral in recent weeks.

A spokesperson for Universal said reports that the coaster’s opening is postponed until the end of 2026 are “not accurate” and disputed the notion that the coaster has been delayed. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, the spokesperson said, is still on target to open before the end of summer.

“We expect to announce an opening date soon,” read an official statement from the company. “The information online is incorrect.”

The summer season lasts through the end of September. The park begins its popular fall Halloween Horror Nights on Sept. 3. Tickets for the latter are currently on sale, and Universal is promising access to Hollywood Drift for those who purchase its line-skipping express pass, which starts at $259.

Sources familiar with the coaster’s operations have also disputed the notion that noise is a cause for the coaster having not yet opened, instead pointing to more routine mechanical issues that have arisen during its test and adjustment phase. One theme park insider, however, stressed that when Hollywood Drift does open, it will likely be considered a “top-5, or top-10 coaster, in the world.”

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is unique in that it is a 72 mph ride with vehicles created to rotate 360 degrees through multiple inversions. Designed to mimic the feel of stunt cars, its four-seated vehicles will twist and turn through banks in the track in an effort to create a drifting sensation.

Universal’s own website earlier this summer posted June 26 as an opening date, and while that was once the targeted launch, the date was quickly removed from the site. Universal began hosting media for walkthroughs of the coaster in May.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been in the works for than a decade. Built essentially on a cliff between the park’s upper and lower lots, the ride’s existence is a feat of engineering, and Universal has described it as among the most intense attractions in its global park portfolio.

Before land was moved, Universal began a series of tests to track how noise would travel through the surrounding neighborhood. Universal placed speakers on the old special effects and stunt buildings to see how ride screams traveled down the hill.

Ultimately, the tracks would be complemented with multiple sound walls and shields, the latter clear structures designed to block coaster rumbles and audience screams. And because the cars can rotate 360 degrees, Universal can in theory direct rider yells away from the studio below and the neighborhood nearby. The actual track has been filled with pea gravel, designed to minimize noise from any reverberations.

“It’s incredibly quiet,” said Jon Corfino, the lead creative at Universal Studios Hollywood. “We were able to do that by putting materials inside portions of the track to deaden the sound. I’m not sure we would have needed it, but it was important to do the right thing. It’s pea gravel and rocks. It’s quieter than I ever thought it was going to be.”

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift isn’t the only notable coaster slated to open in Southern California this year. Buena Park’s Knott’s Berry Farm initially intended to launch its reimagined Montezooma’s Revenge, now known as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress, on Monday. Late last night, the park indefinitely delayed its public unveiling, with a spokesperson citing additional fine-tuning that surfaced during its final days of testing.

The delay is not expected to be a prolonged one.

“We appreciate everyone’s understanding and look forward to welcoming media and guests in the coming days when we can showcase the attraction exactly as intended,” read a statement from the park. Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress has been in development for the past four years.