TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Kai Ryssdal: This is, believe it or not, the Friday before Christmas. What better time to take a break from the big news of the week and discover what lies beneath, courtesy of Rico Gagliano, Brendan Newnam and the Marketplace staff.
Rico Gagliano: Rod Abid, senior producer of the Marketplace Morning Report, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Rod Abid: Charles Dickens’ toothpick has just sold at an auction in New York. It sold for $9,150.
Gagliano:To who?
Abid: Strangely enough, the buyer does not want to be identified.
Gagliano: How much do you want to bet it’s the guy who has George Washington’s teeth?
PERSON: Yeah, exactly.
Brendan Newnam: Senior producer of Marketplace Money, Deb Clark, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Deb Clark: OK, this probably reflects my loathing of Christmas. I do everything…
Newnam: Is this a “bah humbug” story?
Clark: Kind of. I do everything I can to avoid holiday shopping. So Wal-Mart has a twisted idea: you can order online — which is great right? You can avoid the queues — and then you get to pick it up at a Wal-Mart store.
Newnam: What?
Clark: Yeah, isn’t that crazy?
Newnam: Especially during the holidays. Why don’t they just ship it to Grand Central Station?
Clark: It’s like sending things to Mecca during the Hajj.
Gagliano: Stacey Vanek-Smith, senior reporter at Marketplace. What story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Stacey Vanek-Smith: Well, President Obama this weekend is going to be appearing on a holiday wrestling special.
Gagliano: You’re kidding.
Vanek-Smith: No, he’s got a message for the troops he’s going to be broadcasting.
Gagliano: I thought he was going to take the opportunity to, you know, work some policy issues out.
Vanek-Smith: Yeah. They’re going to settle this health care debate once and for all.
Gagliano: You thought you were going to take down health care, Joe Lieberman. Now I’m going to take down you!
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