Our panel heads to Milan and Arden Cho hunts demons

February 14, 2026·48 min·4 clips

The FAA shut down El Paso Airport for 10 days because they thought a party balloon was a terrorist drone.

Cupid gets drafted first. Bill Curtis opens in Chicago with a Valentine-ready voice, then turns the room over to Nagin Farsad, who is filling in while Peter Sagal is off correcting grammar. Very Wait Wait. Arden Cho is the big guest because she plays Rumi in K-Pop Demon Hunters, and the show does not waste much time getting there. A listener from Granville, Ohio gets folded into the live-audience machinery before the conversation moves to Cho and the movie's reach. Kids, apparently, are still very much in. Cho says the endless replays are easier to take because the movie has a positive message and works for families. Then Rika gets her moment. Asked for a daughter's name, Cho slips into Rumi mode and tells Rika to listen to Mama, which instantly sounds like something a parent will replay forever. Cho says those kid-directed videos are now one of the most common favors requested by people she loves and respects. Halloween noticed too, with plenty of girls dressed as Rumi, though Cho admits there is no neat way to measure the full thing. Awards come up: Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Grammys, Oscars. It is a blur. The host brings it back down by comparing Cho's momentum to her own YouTube video nearing three million views. Public attention is still public attention. Cho admits she checks numbers too, and suddenly the segment is just two people, in separate homes, probably awake too late, refreshing counters and wondering who else is watching.

As heard by us

A Chicago taping that moves from quiz banter into a warm look at K-Pop Demon Hunters and its reach.

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is back in its usual groove here, with a Chicago taping of the NPR News Quiz and Bill Curtis and Nagin Farsad steering the show. The conversation with Arden Cho, who plays Rumi in K-Pop Demon Hunters, is the part that sticks.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a brisk NPR news quiz with panel banter and Arden Cho talking about K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!