Who is Michael Threatt and what is his connection to Reading Rainbow?

Michael Threatt is a librarian who was named the new host of Reading Rainbow from PBS. He grew up being homeschooled and became a devoted fan of the show as a child.

Why did Jason Benetti leave the Chicago White Sox broadcast booth?

Benetti left the White Sox and joined the Detroit Tigers, and the White Sox subsequently recorded the worst record in the modern era for a baseball team.

What is the most unusual sporting event Jason Benetti ever had to broadcast?

Benetti was called to do play-by-play and post-production from a studio for the National Electrician's Championships. His analyst was Scott Karen.

How did Olympic swimmer Lilly King get proposed to by her husband?

August 22, 2026 Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! · Summer Spectacular 2026

Lilly King was proposed to on the pool deck at Olympic trials, moments after finishing her race. Her husband — a former swim team member — managed to access the tightly secured deck despite army personnel being present, and got down on one knee. A friend had quietly tipped King off to remove her swim cap after the race so she'd look presentable, though King had no idea why until her husband appeared in front of her.

A proposal smuggled past army security — right on the pool deck

Olympic trials are notoriously locked down. Typically 100 to 150 swimmers compete in a single event for just two spots on the Olympic team, and the pool deck reflects that level of intensity: access is tightly controlled, with army personnel on site. Getting an unauthorized person onto that deck is no small feat.

King's husband, a former member of a swim team, knew the environment well enough to navigate it. He made it past security and waited for King to finish her race — then dropped to one knee in front of her. The story was shared on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! as part of the show's 2026 summer spectacular highlights.

The one tip that made it all work: "Take your cap off"

A friend of King's was in on the plan. Before the race, that friend gave King a single, cryptic instruction: take your swim cap off as soon as you finish. The reason was purely practical — King needed to look presentable for the proposal photo that was about to happen.

King followed the advice without understanding it. She stepped out of the pool, removed her cap, and only then did her husband step forward. It's the kind of detail that gets lost in the drama of a proposal story — but on this episode of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, it was front and center: the small logistical act that made a completely unexpected moment actually work.

"As somebody with a mild case of cerebral palsy, the marching with the tuba that I selected as my instrument was a horrendous idea."

Jason Benetti — Play-by-play announcer, Sunday Night Baseball (NBC)
Benetti grew up in Chicago and started his broadcasting career at Syracuse University's student radio station in 2003 — his very first on-air lead-in was the NPR News with Carl Castle. His cerebral palsy had an unexpected role in shaping his career: when his high school band director at Homewood Flossmoor realized marching wasn't going to work, he handed Benetti a microphone to announce the band's set instead. Benetti spent years as the voice of the Chicago White Sox, then moved to the Detroit Tigers, before becoming the play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night Baseball on NBC in 2026. The Lilly King proposal anecdote was discussed during the same summer spectacular episode that featured Benetti.

The proposal story sits in a very specific world — elite competitive swimming, where the margin between making the Olympic team and going home is razor-thin. At Olympic trials, around 100 to 150 athletes compete per event, and only 2 advance. The pool deck at that moment is one of the most charged, guarded environments in American sport. That King's husband got onto it — and pulled off a surprise proposal — makes the story all the more striking. Catch the full conversation in Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! to hear how it was told.