Best Day Ever: "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" host Peter Sagal
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Peter Sagal presents at the recent James Beard Awards in Chicago. Photo: Jeff Schear/Getty Images for The James Beard Foundation
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" host Peter Sagal is marking the 25th anniversary of his wildly successful NPR news quiz show — and his 25th year in the city — with some fun retrospective shows and a super-important chat with Axios on the milestone and more.
The big anniversary: "Mainly, we're keeping quiet about it," he tells Axios."We're afraid if anyone notices we're still here we'll be summarily disposed of, like Milton in 'Office Space.'"
Memorable moments: "There are too many but … Our free Millennium Park shows, especially the one in 2015 with special guest Chance the Rapper, which — we were told, at least — set a record for attendance at the Pritzker Pavilion.
- "This is what we call in the news business 'too good to check.'"
What's happening: Sagal agreed to share his ideal day in Chicago with the caveat that he's a suburban dad (again) and so his current best day would be "a dinner that my toddler son will actually eat, followed by a full night's sleep."
- "So the following is pure fantasy."
🏃🏽♂️ Early morning: "A run on the Lakefront Trail, a crown jewel of Chicago that I appreciate more every time I try to run along a cluttered, inaccessible waterfront in a less enlightened city."
- "Twenty miles of pedestrian path, with a separate lane for bikes, along well-kept parks and beaches! Thank you, Daniel Burnham! And also Ken Griffin, who paid to renovate the thing before decamping to Miami."
🥧 Breakfast: "I don't eat big breakfasts these days, because I'm too old and because Ina Pinkney, the Dowager Breakfast Queen of Chicago, closed her eponymous restaurant some years ago.
- "So, a muffin or slice of apple pie with coffee at the original Hoosier Mama Pie Co. on Chicago Avenue."
🏙️ Morning activity: "In my fantasy, I'm not tired from my morning run, so I'd do a walking tour of the Loop or a Chicago neighborhood by the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
- "Their river cruise is great, but you're limited to what you can see from the river. I learned to love Chicago's architecture long before I moved here, and still discover new marvels everytime I round a corner."
🌭 Lunch: "I am firmly against deep-dish pizza, not because it's bad (it is bad), but because there are so many more interesting genuine Chicago foods for visitors to try, and the best of all of them is the Chicago hot dog.
- "Even though they don't serve a classic Chicago dog (pickled tomato, rather than fresh) I'm heading out to the Superdawg Drive-in, currently celebrating their 75th Anniversary as a family-owned restaurant.
- "The dog comes nestled in a little box wrapped in hand-cut fries, and since this is a fantasy, I'm chasing it down with a chocolate shake."
🖼️ Afternoon activity: "I prefer seeing modern art more than the classic masterpieces, because I don't feel any obligation to like what I see, or any shame if I don't.
- "So a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art, or the newer Wrightwood 659, where even if the exhibition of the day doesn't thrill, the Tadao Ando-designed building always will."
🌮 Dinner: "If I have to choose just one: Rick Bayless' original Frontera Grill. The world's finest margarita followed by the best Mexican to be had anywhere, and then maybe another margarita. Then maybe dessert."
🎭 Evening activity: "Theater, in the greatest theater town in the country. It could be something ambitious at the Goodman like '2666,' something raw Steppenwolf like 'Downstate,' or a lyrical adaptation at Lookingglass like 'Metamorphosis.'"
- "Or — and here's what I always hope for — something utterly surprising made by young artists I've never heard of, like 2003's 'San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid,' an original musical supernatural Western by the House Theater (RIP) that was so astonishing I joined their board. And I hate meetings."