NPR’s Carl Kasell Retiring From ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!’

The radio talk show legend will step down from NPR in the spring after over three decades with public radio

Michaela Murphy/Wikicommons

Carl Kasell, the voice of the popular NPR news quiz radio show “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” is retiring after a 50-year broadcasting career and will record his final appearance on the show in the spring.

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Kasell joined “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” in 1998 as official judge and scorekeeper, drawing a loyal following of listeners who tuned in every week for his judicious score keeping.

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“My favorite time at NPR has been “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” Kasell revealed. “It was loads of fun and gave me a chance to meet and talk in person to the audiences that I felt I had known for so many years on the air. I can honestly say I am the luckiest man around to be able to have worked at a job I love for so many years. It’s truly been a joy for me.”

Kasell also was the voice of NPR’s “Morning Edition” from the show’s inception in 1979 until 2009.

“All of his imitations sounded exactly the same,” said “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” executive producer Mike Danforth in a statement. “But the audience loved it. Everyone from Vladimir Putin to Zsa Zsa Gabor sounded exactly like our beloved Carl Kasell.”

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