September 25, 2024 • 11 mins
The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon!
Puzzling with us today: comedian Negin Farsad, host of "Fake The Nation"
Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses.
Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.
Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.
The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.
Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, Puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler podcast this soothing ice
pack at the end of your puzzle Beat session. I
am your host, AJ Jacobs. Today's guest is the amazing
Naghine Farsade, comedian, writer, director, voiceover artist, host of the
(00:28):
podcast Fake the Nation. Welcome Naghine.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
We are delighted, and by we I mean me and
Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Pliska.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Welcome Greg, thank you. I've crawled up here from the puzzle. Well.
This puzzle, Naghine, is inspired by your film Nerdcore.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Rising ooh okay.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Which is all about nerdcore hip hop and I'm curious
what got you into that music. What was the inspiration
for doing that film?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I just I so, yeah, So I made this movie.
It was my first ever movie and it's a documentary
and I happened to be I was writing a musical
called The Israeli Palestinian Conflict, a romantic comedy, and that
musical went on just is something that you could probably
not even perform now, but we went on years later
(01:22):
to do to do that show at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival and whatnot. And the guy who wrote the music.
The wonderful Gobby Altar is also in a nerd core
hip hop band, and he was in the band of
mc front a lot, Who's this incredible nerd core rapper
And I just thought I had never heard of this
(01:43):
entire movement. I thought it was so interesting, and I said,
someone should make a documentary about that. And I had
a great time, and uh yeah, and I also had
to witness the magic the gathering that was also part
of it.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
So perfect for nerdcore hip hop, there has to be
some man the gallery in there as well. Always what
inspired us about this is that nerd core is a
word combines the words nerd and hardcore. It's like a
port mashup of those two words. So what we've done
in this puzzle is taken other words. These are actual
words that end with the sound core, right like nerd
(02:18):
core does. And we've made up clues about what genre
of music they might be. Okay, so these are real words,
but not actual music genres. Nobody's making a documentary about these.
We made them up. But like an example, I might say,
it's an American volunteer agency that provides aid around the world,
(02:40):
and so that's a word or a phrase that ends
with core, or it's a music genre that's all about
an individual part of a jigsaw puzzle. And so the
answer to that would be peace Corps. Right, the Peace
Corps is the actual thing. And then if you just
listen to the sound of that Peace Corps, it's the
(03:01):
music about you know, hip hop about pieces of jigsaw puzzles.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So you can get it. This is when when Greg
gives me cryptic clues. Uh, this is the same strategy.
You can get it two different ways because you can
get it from the straight and it is volunteery, or
you can try to do the pun part at the back.
So there are two approaches.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, Okay, yeah, because I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest.
That one left me puzzled. But but yes, I think
I think we can go forward.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Absolutely, this is the hardest one. By the way, this
is the easiest one.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't know. Let's see how it goes. Find out.
But just if you think of words that end with
the core sound, however you might spell that, that's the
key and the first half of the clue is always
that word. So here's your first one. It's a subject
for an interior designer. Or it's a music genre that
happens three hundred and sixty five times a year. This
(04:10):
is so, what's the subject for an interior designer? Someone
who comes to your home and worries about what in
your home?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
What are they like?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Feng shui?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh good? But it ends with the core sound, right,
the core sound.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So they worry about they come in and they think about, oh, decor, decor.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
There you go. You got it from the music. Ango,
I like that and sixty five days of decoor daycre Yeah,
all right, here's here's another one.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It's funny because like interior designers can think of, they
think about the gajillion things I mean theoretically, so you know,
that's a.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Very broad kitten clue. They think about the fabric.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, that's just like me criticizing your clue.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I'm here for it again. I can, we can? This
is this is otherwise.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I think you're a great person, but that clue, my god.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
See if I can do better with the next one. Right,
let's see. It's a rating from experience, or it's a
music genre all about the list of people who worked
on a film credits rating.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yes, so fast, so fast.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
So quick, so quick credit score or credit score credit score.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Nice guys. Okay, this the ore sound coming in hot
in different spellings. Well done, folks.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So I'm one for one on the clues now, I
think you that's a good clue.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
That was a good clue.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Yeah, yeah, it was a good clue.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Okay, so you're two for two. You've gotten both. But
I'm just one for two. That's all right, I can
I can take it. See if I can catch up
on the next one. All right. It's a tuna or
it's a music genre by the actress Jessica from Dark
Angel in Sin City.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Oh my god, the actress Jessica from Dark Angel in
Sin City is a sentence that I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Any of it. Okay, she was also in Fantastic Four,
but that probably isn't going to help.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You in this is where. This is where you wonder
why did you direct the movie Nerdcore Rising?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I see, I.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Know, because I'm like nad I'm not in the I'm
not in the world in so many ways. Okay, what
was the first other.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Kinds of tuna? It's a tuna. It's a tuna when
you go to.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
The store yeeah, albacore Albacore exactly.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Jessica Alba is the actress Alba.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yes, yes, yes, Jessica alb of course, very good, felt good.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, see good, this is great.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That was It's puzz listen, it's good. It's the struggle
and then the aha moment. It's work.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
You live for the aha moments. All Right, I got
two more for you. Okay, it's an extra song. It's
an extra song at the end of a show. Or
it's a music genre that never turns off.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Right, so it's an ooh, an extra song at the
end of a show. Folks. I recently saw you two
at the Sphere so cool, and they played an encore.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yes, you got it very good and you invoked the sphere.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Hey, I just I had to throw that in there.
I mean, that was like the last concert I saw
in which I saw an encore.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
All Right, I'm gonna give you one more warning. This
is gonna be nerdy, but it's okay, You're gonna be
all right. All Right, it's the number eighty, or it's
a Jedi's favorite.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Music, the number eighty. Now, I mean, I feel like
Lincoln once said.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
For score, was it Lincoln? Wait?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Was it Lincoln?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For score. Yeah, well, or spe or a speech writer.
You probably had a really good intern or.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Something right right right, one of those like little you know,
mid eighteenth century interns.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, exactly, So it's the number, it's four score, or
it's force core. A Jedi done the game? Yes, yeah,
you got them all.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That was it five for five or six for six,
whatever it was? You did beautifully. Where can people Well,
first of all, they should, they should get the documentary.
But in addition to the documentary, what else? What else
can people enjoy you on?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Folks? I mean, you should subscribe to my podcast Fakes
the Nation. It is available wherever podcasts are downloaded. And
you can also read my book How to Make White
People Laugh is available wherever books are sold.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And it made this white person laugh. So thank you.
Did you get some reviews like that?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I would imagine it. I got a fair number of
exactly that one review.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
There you go, all right, Well, do you have an
extra credit for the puzzlers at home? Greg?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I do, I do, And I've decided to save the
hard one for the puzzlers at home. A beast with
the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion,
and the head of a man or music all about
underwater rays?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay? Is Google allowed because I feel I might need
a little Google help.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
People are allowed to use whatever reference sources they wish.
They're not being graded on this. It's just for their
own fun and enjoyment. I never makes them happy.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So there you go. Come back tomorrow and you will
get the answer to that extra hard extra credit. And
also in the meantime, please feel free to subscribe. We're
not forcing you with your consent. Subscribe to the Puzzler
podcast and we will meet you here tomorrow for more
puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Hey puzzlers, Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer, here with
the extra credit from our previous show. We played categories
with the siblings Vanessa and Jonah Bayer, and your extra
credit category was fruits and Vegetables. We asked you to
come up with a fruit or vegetables starting with each
of the letters in their surname B A yeer.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Here's some of what we've got on our list.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
B banana beat, BlackBerry, blueberry, back joy, broccoli and brussels sprout,
a apple, arrowroot, arugula, artichoke, asparagus and avocado, hy yam,
yellow squash, yucca, yellow pepper and uzoo e. Just two
(11:14):
eggplant and andive r rudicio, radish, raspberry, rubard, romaine and
rude bega. So bring your rudabagas with you and we'll
see you here next time on the Puzzler Podcast
Hello, Puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler podcast this soothing ice
pack at the end of your puzzle Beat session. I
am your host, AJ Jacobs. Today's guest is the amazing
Naghine Farsade, comedian, writer, director, voiceover artist, host of the
(00:28):
podcast Fake the Nation. Welcome Naghine.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
We are delighted, and by we I mean me and
Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Pliska.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Welcome Greg, thank you. I've crawled up here from the puzzle. Well.
This puzzle, Naghine, is inspired by your film Nerdcore.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Rising ooh okay.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Which is all about nerdcore hip hop and I'm curious
what got you into that music. What was the inspiration
for doing that film?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I just I so, yeah, So I made this movie.
It was my first ever movie and it's a documentary
and I happened to be I was writing a musical
called The Israeli Palestinian Conflict, a romantic comedy, and that
musical went on just is something that you could probably
not even perform now, but we went on years later
(01:22):
to do to do that show at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival and whatnot. And the guy who wrote the music.
The wonderful Gobby Altar is also in a nerd core
hip hop band, and he was in the band of
mc front a lot, Who's this incredible nerd core rapper
And I just thought I had never heard of this
(01:43):
entire movement. I thought it was so interesting, and I said,
someone should make a documentary about that. And I had
a great time, and uh yeah, and I also had
to witness the magic the gathering that was also part
of it.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
So perfect for nerdcore hip hop, there has to be
some man the gallery in there as well. Always what
inspired us about this is that nerd core is a
word combines the words nerd and hardcore. It's like a
port mashup of those two words. So what we've done
in this puzzle is taken other words. These are actual
words that end with the sound core, right like nerd
(02:18):
core does. And we've made up clues about what genre
of music they might be. Okay, so these are real words,
but not actual music genres. Nobody's making a documentary about these.
We made them up. But like an example, I might say,
it's an American volunteer agency that provides aid around the world,
(02:40):
and so that's a word or a phrase that ends
with core, or it's a music genre that's all about
an individual part of a jigsaw puzzle. And so the
answer to that would be peace Corps. Right, the Peace
Corps is the actual thing. And then if you just
listen to the sound of that Peace Corps, it's the
(03:01):
music about you know, hip hop about pieces of jigsaw puzzles.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So you can get it. This is when when Greg
gives me cryptic clues. Uh, this is the same strategy.
You can get it two different ways because you can
get it from the straight and it is volunteery, or
you can try to do the pun part at the back.
So there are two approaches.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, Okay, yeah, because I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest.
That one left me puzzled. But but yes, I think
I think we can go forward.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Absolutely, this is the hardest one. By the way, this
is the easiest one.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't know. Let's see how it goes. Find out.
But just if you think of words that end with
the core sound, however you might spell that, that's the
key and the first half of the clue is always
that word. So here's your first one. It's a subject
for an interior designer. Or it's a music genre that
happens three hundred and sixty five times a year. This
(04:10):
is so, what's the subject for an interior designer? Someone
who comes to your home and worries about what in
your home?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
What are they like?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Feng shui?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Oh good? But it ends with the core sound, right,
the core sound.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So they worry about they come in and they think about, oh, decor, decor.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
There you go. You got it from the music. Ango,
I like that and sixty five days of decoor daycre Yeah,
all right, here's here's another one.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It's funny because like interior designers can think of, they
think about the gajillion things I mean theoretically, so you know,
that's a.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Very broad kitten clue. They think about the fabric.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, that's just like me criticizing your clue.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I'm here for it again. I can, we can? This
is this is otherwise.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I think you're a great person, but that clue, my god.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
See if I can do better with the next one. Right,
let's see. It's a rating from experience, or it's a
music genre all about the list of people who worked
on a film credits rating.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yes, so fast, so fast.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
So quick, so quick credit score or credit score credit score.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Nice guys. Okay, this the ore sound coming in hot
in different spellings. Well done, folks.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So I'm one for one on the clues now, I
think you that's a good clue.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
That was a good clue.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Yeah, yeah, it was a good clue.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Okay, so you're two for two. You've gotten both. But
I'm just one for two. That's all right, I can
I can take it. See if I can catch up
on the next one. All right. It's a tuna or
it's a music genre by the actress Jessica from Dark
Angel in Sin City.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Oh my god, the actress Jessica from Dark Angel in
Sin City is a sentence that I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Any of it. Okay, she was also in Fantastic Four,
but that probably isn't going to help.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You in this is where. This is where you wonder
why did you direct the movie Nerdcore Rising?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I see, I.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Know, because I'm like nad I'm not in the I'm
not in the world in so many ways. Okay, what
was the first other.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Kinds of tuna? It's a tuna. It's a tuna when
you go to.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
The store yeeah, albacore Albacore exactly.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Jessica Alba is the actress Alba.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yes, yes, yes, Jessica alb of course, very good, felt good.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, see good, this is great.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That was It's puzz listen, it's good. It's the struggle
and then the aha moment. It's work.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
You live for the aha moments. All Right, I got
two more for you. Okay, it's an extra song. It's
an extra song at the end of a show. Or
it's a music genre that never turns off.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Right, so it's an ooh, an extra song at the
end of a show. Folks. I recently saw you two
at the Sphere so cool, and they played an encore.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yes, you got it very good and you invoked the sphere.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Hey, I just I had to throw that in there.
I mean, that was like the last concert I saw
in which I saw an encore.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
All Right, I'm gonna give you one more warning. This
is gonna be nerdy, but it's okay, You're gonna be
all right. All Right, it's the number eighty, or it's
a Jedi's favorite.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Music, the number eighty. Now, I mean, I feel like
Lincoln once said.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
For score, was it Lincoln? Wait?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Was it Lincoln?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For score. Yeah, well, or spe or a speech writer.
You probably had a really good intern or.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Something right right right, one of those like little you know,
mid eighteenth century interns.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, exactly, So it's the number, it's four score, or
it's force core. A Jedi done the game? Yes, yeah,
you got them all.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That was it five for five or six for six,
whatever it was? You did beautifully. Where can people Well,
first of all, they should, they should get the documentary.
But in addition to the documentary, what else? What else
can people enjoy you on?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Folks? I mean, you should subscribe to my podcast Fakes
the Nation. It is available wherever podcasts are downloaded. And
you can also read my book How to Make White
People Laugh is available wherever books are sold.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And it made this white person laugh. So thank you.
Did you get some reviews like that?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I would imagine it. I got a fair number of
exactly that one review.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
There you go, all right, Well, do you have an
extra credit for the puzzlers at home? Greg?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I do, I do, And I've decided to save the
hard one for the puzzlers at home. A beast with
the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion,
and the head of a man or music all about
underwater rays?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay? Is Google allowed because I feel I might need
a little Google help.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
People are allowed to use whatever reference sources they wish.
They're not being graded on this. It's just for their
own fun and enjoyment. I never makes them happy.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So there you go. Come back tomorrow and you will
get the answer to that extra hard extra credit. And
also in the meantime, please feel free to subscribe. We're
not forcing you with your consent. Subscribe to the Puzzler
podcast and we will meet you here tomorrow for more
puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Hey puzzlers, Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer, here with
the extra credit from our previous show. We played categories
with the siblings Vanessa and Jonah Bayer, and your extra
credit category was fruits and Vegetables. We asked you to
come up with a fruit or vegetables starting with each
of the letters in their surname B A yeer.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Here's some of what we've got on our list.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
B banana beat, BlackBerry, blueberry, back joy, broccoli and brussels sprout,
a apple, arrowroot, arugula, artichoke, asparagus and avocado, hy yam,
yellow squash, yucca, yellow pepper and uzoo e. Just two
(11:14):
eggplant and andive r rudicio, radish, raspberry, rubard, romaine and
rude bega. So bring your rudabagas with you and we'll
see you here next time on the Puzzler Podcast
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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