Dear Friends,

I admire Denzel Washington, but not only for the 10 films for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. I also enjoyed following his career in his smaller early films.

My father owned one of the first VCRs in Washington, D.C., back before there were video stores there from which one could rent movies. He would “check out” films from the TV station where he worked. In retrospect, I don’t remember now if those films were taped from TV broadcasts (likely with commercials), or if they were copied from other sources without permission.

Either way, in 1984, we rented and watched the murder mystery A Soldier’s Story, featuring Washington in a supporting role. That film was itself nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture.

Not nominated for Best Picture, but still fun to watch, was the 1991 psychological thriller Ricochet, with John Lithgow playing the role of the vengeful psychopath, territory he had also explored in Blow Out (1981, with John Travolta) and Cliffhanger (1993, with Sylvester Stallone). My dad delighted in seeing Lithgow’s success, for as the son of one of my father’s acting professors at Antioch College, he was known by my dad when he was but a youth.

My favorite of all these early Denzel films was Mo’ Better Blues (1990), where Denzel played the lead character of Bleek Gilliam, a talented but sometimes self-destructive jazz trumpeter.

That Spike Lee film and other jazz-centered films such as ‘Round Midnight (1986) and Bird (1988), and, much later, the Oscar-winners Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016), have inspired my own interest in the quintessentially American form of music.

Since “Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise” (as George Gershwin says), and since “Jazz is about being in the moment” (as the Buddhist maestro Herbie Hancock says), then jazz has also infused the work I do as a teacher or as a meditator.

Mostly I agree with the actor and musician Nat Wolff: “Jazz is smooth and cool. Jazz is rage. Jazz flows like water. Jazz never seems to begin or end. Jazz isn’t methodical, but jazz isn’t messy either. Jazz is a conversation, a give and take. Jazz is the connection and communication between musicians. Jazz is abandon.”

As I have written about previously, my favorite jazz critic is Will Layman, who writes for Pop Matters. Back in 1984 when A Soldier’s Story was released, Will was also my high school literature teacher. Because mine was a small private school in Washington D.C., Will also taught me trigonometry and coached a sport. A year later, classmates and I would see him play John Adams in a production of 1776. Will could likely have played all the instruments in the orchestra accompanying this musical.

Every December, Will publishes his list of the best jazz albums of the year, and then I stream all those albums as I grade papers, write newsletters, or sip a NA beer. Will reminds me and all his lucky listeners that jazz is not merely a retrospective art. Like Denzel Washington and John Lithgow, jazz is still alive today and ready to entertain those who would be receptive to their charms.

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The temperatures will be downright chilly at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up with bonus layers, and perhaps blankets, and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Even though we expect no rain, some of you will want to head inside. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, entirely possible because it is only 954 words long. 

Congratulations to The Dwingin’ Six for winning last week’s Pub Quiz!

In addition to topics raised above, especially Denzel, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on wallets, mice, Africa, holidays, World War II verbs, literary spiders, Zippos, beverages, French words, surfaces that are difficult to orient, insects, hornets and tomcats, trains, cast members, Drew Barrymore as interlocutor, financial formations, inventors, prognosticators, Mars, World Cups, ancient settings, relatively wealthy countries, different metals and what they mean to musicians, green zones, pay packages, fruits, distant places that can be barely incomplete musical heroism, imagined, umlauts, Oakland, semiaquatic mammals, walkers, Oscar winners, astronomy, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

For more Pub Quiz fun please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks in particular to Ellen. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

22.          Film. For what 2024 film was Zoe Saldaña nominated for an acting Oscar?  

23.          Youth Culture. To be released July 25th, the first Phase Six film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has the subtitle “First Steps.” What are the first three words of the films’ title? 

24.          Countries of the World. What was the first country ever to leave The European Union?  

P.P.S. Our next Poetry Night is February 21.  

Dear Friends,

Some kids spent every summer at camp, hatching careers as athletes or photographers, or attempting puppy love romances. I attended camp for only one summer. I came home from the World Community Camp a vegetarian, and my dad refused to have me return. Little did he know that camp would turn me into a vegetarian eco warrior with a penchant for geodesic domes, all of which is still true today, 45 years later.

These days, I don’t get to travel much. Although members of my immediate family will get to see New Orleans, New York City, and Chicago in the coming month, I will get to visit the south fork of Putah Creek, the part of the creek that only has water after the sort of rainstorms that we have been enjoying this week. Jukie and I will walk some familiar paths and dine in favorite Davis restaurants.

But tomorrow, tomorrow I return to camp, or at least the adult equivalent. Tomorrow, as I have for the past 20 years, I return to the San Francisco Writers Conference.

Taking place every February at the Hyatt Regency, home of the largest lobby in America, the San Francisco Writers Conference is a place where over the decades I have made dozens of presentations, counseled hundreds of writers, run many marathon open mics, and, in this decade, hosted a handful of micro pub quizzes, entertainment for the Friday breakfast.

I also get to perform the closing poem of the conference. Here’s the version I performed in 2023, having written it the night before after hosting a looong open mic.

Flights Before Frights

“Poetry will not leave me alone.” Tongo Eisen-Martin

Yesterday the elevator in Coit Tower was broken!

Can you imagine walking all the way up Telegraph Hill to the base of Coit Tower

Only to discover that 13 flights of stairs await you? 

So it is with your writing project – no one will build you an elevator.

Nothing – not the agent you might have snagged, 

Not the new friends you made at SFWC,

Not even Chat GPT – will make this process any easier than it has to be.

Your published book might make you accomplished,

But better than that, it will make you grow.

You must do the thing you cannot do, Eleanor Roosevelt said.

If she had voiced that today, we would never stop retweeting her.

But as it is, on the last day of the San Francisco Writer’s Conference,

You may be paneled out, and thus you have too many voices in your head.

Maybe even last night your writing project visited you during sleep,

Singing to you with plot twists, with images, with transcendent themes.

I’m here to warn you: Those images, they fade quickly.

Keep a notebook at your bedside.

Trace symbols on your foggy mirror like a mad mathematician.

Note the details. Permit yourself to get granular, to narrow down.

When it comes to books, the riches are in the niches.

Tongo Eisen-Martin says “Draw on your psychic landmarks 

to get to the bottom of reality.”

Distribute hot mics around your home. 

Say something nonsensical or scandalous, and then write it down.

Oscar Wilde says that “Everything that is true is inappropriate.”

Create with abandon — social convention doesn’t need any more cheerleaders.

This weekend I talked to a writer whose mother was a librarian 

and whose father was a magician.

Each of us should be so lucky.

Carry with you from this conference a librarian’s faith in books,

Both those of the people around you, and your own.

Also, like a magician, endeavor to traffic in awe and wonder.

“Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward,” Jeannette Winterson said.

My wife’s smartwatch says she climbed more than 40 flights yesterday.

She climbed so high she made it to the Mark Hopkins Hotel!

My goal-oriented son paid $15 to climb a bonus 210 feet to the top of Coit Tower.

These people are my heroes, as are  you.

Before you fly home, resolve to write 

your own Coit Tower’s daily quota worth of words!

Identify all your distractions and then begin your campaign of targeted disregard.

Muhammad Ali said, “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; 

it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

You know the direction of your own tower,

You have the tools you need,

And you have the inspiration from the accomplished climbers who you’ve seen on this stage.

Rid yourself of all pebbles,

Strap on your shoes, 

And now, with friends here as your witnesses,

Begin to ascend!

I will have some stories to tell next week, some of which might be leveraged as quiz questions, poems, or lessons for my advanced essay writers this quarter.

I hope you are looking forward to your weekend as much as I am mine!

---

The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Even though we expect no rain, some of you will want to head inside. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, entirely possible because it is only 954 words long.

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on travel opportunities, superheroes, Europeans, Quaker philanthropists, trailblazers, cities in Cuba, crossed wires, explorers, birthplaces, civil rights, brave Bruins, Princes of Wales, Super Bowls, cosmetics, stations, Time magazine, one of four states, backwards moves, cowboys, ways Congress is supposed to work, The European Union, controversial movies, changes in pitch, changes for Davis, novels published in 1847, U.S. states, people from Texas, engineering in Japan, people who pass as Greek but who are not Greek, ululations, Oscar winners, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

For more Pub Quiz fun please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1.             Current Events – Names in the News. Born in 1955, what billionaire tech guru says in his February 2025 memoir titled Source Code that he would have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum if he were growing up today?  

2.             Sports. Born in Venezuela in 1981, what former Marlin and Tiger is one of three players in MLB history to have a career batting average above .300, 500 home runs, and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays? 

3.             Shakespeare. Which chilly late Shakespeare play that takes place in Sicily and Bohemia includes a statue of Hermione that comes to life?  

P.P.S. Our next Poetry Night is February 7. It’ll be a wide-open mic!

Dear Friends,

In Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, one character asks, “How did you go bankrupt?” The other responds, “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

I’ve been noticing a similar phenomenon this month of January as friends of mine leave Facebook in light of changes in its content moderation policies. People who see what appears to be Meta’s willful move loosening restrictions on misinformation and hateful speech will remember what happened to Twitter after Elon Musk bought the company, renamed it X, and then welcomed back all the bad actors who had been previously banned or restricted because of their penchant for spreading hateful content, harassing and abusing other users, inciting violence, or just spamming people with advertisements.

Twitter used to be the place where we engaged with strangers or heard from notable users, while on Facebook we shared pictures of our vacations and our children and stayed connected with friends from our childhoods or college days.   

At one point I had 6,000 followers on Twitter, several hundred of whom I have met. On Facebook I have 2,600 friends, almost all of whom I have met. I used to believe Twitter better represented the world, where Facebook better represented my existing communities.

Several of my Facebook friends have announced their exit from Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. One wrote this as her final post: “I’m done. For my own mental health, I have to step away from platforms that support a racist, misogynistic, [redacted]. And I’m done with the people who support him or his cronies. Not that many people care.”

Another wrote this (in part): “My friends, this is my last Facebook post. I’ll miss you. I’ll miss the pictures of family and friends, the dance, aikido, the animal videos and the ease of staying in touch, but there are much larger and more dangerous issues at work, than my personal comfort and pleasure.

In 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, Amnesty International and the UN came to the same conclusion that META Facebook’s lack of fact monitoring and “hate-spiraling” algorithms were directly related to the violence in Myanmar that resulted in murder, torture, rape and displacement of the Rohinga people. To their credit, Facebook immediately began monitoring online posts for truthfulness having seen firsthand how, in countries with weak institutions, online violence quickly spreads offline. Now in an abrupt about-face, to stay current with Donald Trump’s values (and threats), Mr. Zuckerberg gaslights us by disguising what is actually a “safety” issue as a “free speech” issue.

Another wrote this: “This platform has deteriorated so much that even if I didn’t object to the supplication of Meta’s CEO to T***p, I would be migrating away. Too many ads (not that I’d buy any product advertised here) and an endless stream of new sites with historic photographs, fake alumni groups, cute cat and dog videos, all admonishing me to follow or join.”

Some of these people I know glancingly, and some I know well, having dined with them on multiple occasions. Some will leave Facebook altogether, while others will be discoverable only as placeholders, with their last posts greeting anyone who comes by to reconnect or post a birthday message.

We can all point to examples of the “gradually, then suddenly” phenomena. I think of my late mom’s cognitive decline, the way our climate has changed in my lifetime, the experiences of my friends who have battled addiction (including social media addiction), or recent threats to American democracy.

In an article published yesterday titled “Who Will Stand Up to Trump’s Broligarchs?,” Scott Roxborough points out that “Joe Biden, in his final Oval Office speech on Jan. 15, had warned of [] ‘An oligarchy’ of the ‘tech industrial complex’ whose ‘extreme wealth, power, and influence … threatens our entire democracy.’” Now that the world’s richest 500 people have a net worth of more than ten trillion dollars, and now that many of the world’s richest men have committed themselves to Trump policies, we might wonder what room there is in the democratic process for the rest of us.

How much is ten trillion? Measured in dollars, that’s about 38% of the entire U.S. economy. Measured in seconds, that’s more than 317,000 years, before the emergence of homo sapiens.

The late Senator Paul Wellstone said, “As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.”

Following Wellstone’s lead, perhaps we become freer when we turn away from Facebook, and instead focus on embodied and interpersonal communities? I can offer no defense against the algorithms of broligarchs, but I’m glad to offer alternative distractions in the form of hosted events where friends can gather with their phones tucked away, taking time to look in the eyes of their compatriots, or to spend time with a poet or an actor who will take the stage and whisk you away from such troubles.

And if you can’t join me, consider a book! As Mason Cooley says, “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

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The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight. Some of you may opt for the indoor space, while others bundle up on the patio. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, even though the quiz tonight will stretch to 1,023 words.

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on exchange traded funds, quirky poets laureate, harsh deserts, movements north, Davis streets, container ports, occasions to discuss soup in a deli, rescue missions, four-syllable words, the constitution of migrants, iconic youths, medical experts, confectionaries, AI, Michigan newspapers, groups of rivers, Ohio cities, Venezuelan exports, drama desks, marine biologists, notable operas, punctuation marks, American musicians who have performed at the Palms in Davis, cold weather heroes, notable birthdays, Canadian sights, The TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, World War II foods, disorders that are on the tip of your tongue, the implements of heretics, long states, influencers, land animals, comparisons to Timothée Chalamet, spooky statues, New Mexico imports, allotropes, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

For more Pub Quiz fun, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1.             Mottos and Slogans and Acronyms. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and what?  

2.             Internet Culture. Influenced significantly by growth in the technology sector, the net worth of the world’s 500 richest people has recently surpassed which of the following: $100 billion, $1 trillion, $10 trillion, or $1 quadrillion?  

3.             Newspaper Headlines: Inauguration Headwear. Melania wore a wide-brimmed navy hat, like Zorro’s. Ivanka wore something on her head that starts with a B. What was it?  

P.P.S. Our next Poetry Night is February 7. It’ll be a wide-open mic!

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” Eric Hoffer

Dear Friends,

I am perpetually grateful for people’s kindness, but especially this week as I consider the names of all the friends, relations, and a few strangers who have made donations to the Jukie Jones Duren Endowment for the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation.

Maybe you know some of these people: Amy Abramson, Jane Beal, Jean Biegun, Christina Blackman, Anita Boone, Sandra Borgerson, Sara Brookman, Katy Brown, Pinar Brummer, Bill Buchanan, Charlie Burks-Martin, Crilly Butler, JP Cahn, Linda Casillas, Agustín Chapa, Joy Cohan, Roxanna Deane, Carl Dekart, Truman Duren, Patrick Fitzgerald, Andy Flores, Lucas Frerichs, Margaret Hitchcock, Eve Imagine, Julia Johnson, Lauren Kahn, Alicia Kinney, Mickey Kish, Kristine Kjellsson, Michael Koltnow, Bill Maul, Gary May, Julie McCall, Manuel Medeiros, Ann Miller, Geoffrey Neill, Jord Nelsen, Donna Neville, William O’Daly, Steve Oerding, Kari Peterson, Sophie Quynn, Jennifer Quynn, Ranger Ralph, Kathryn Ray, Craig Roberton, Brooke Sarkaria, Wrye Sententia, Wendy Silk, Dyson Smith, Peggy Stein, Jennifer Sterling, Dawn Stranne Wright, Ginny VanAckeren Schram, Sara Watterson, Cindy Williams.

I get to see some of these kind people every week or every month, such as at the Sudwerk Pub Quiz (I see a number of regular teams represented) or at the Poetry Night Reading Series. The kindness of poets often reflects in the big-heartedness of their poems. In a rather heteronormative statement, poet Wallace Stevens said that “A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman.” I can assume that Stevens meant with a heart full of love, respect, and appreciation.

I also see friends from the Davis and Sacramento communities, some of them well known for their civic-mindedness and humanity. Public servants, retired professionals, administrators, teachers, professors, and healthcare providers all stepped up to support a small and hard-working organization that supports families who are newly desperate or newly resolved while facing difficult medical challenges. 

I see friends and relatives of Kate from Chicago and Florida, friends of mine from throughout California, as well as from Boston, Washington D.C., and even Savannah, Georgia. I see friends from high school, friends from college, and two friends who attended both my tiny private school and the huge Boston University.

Two of my mom’s favorite coworkers from her time at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library kindly donated. Some of the friends listed above I run into on the greenbelts of Davis, and at least one, my oldest friend on the list, I haven’t seen in more than 45 years, but with whom I caught up on the phone last year, noting that her voice and energy hadn’t changed a bit over the ensuing decades.

I’m lucky to know all (or almost all) of the people who have helped us build the Jukie endowment this year. So far we have raised $3,629 for the Jukie Endowment of the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation, ensuring that this non-profit will benefit from continued support in perpetuity. With your support, we may even discover a cure for Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome by the time Jukie reaches my age.

While the Facebook fundraiser has concluded (just around the time that many people are fleeing Facebook), the need continues, and the Foundation webmaster has created a special page titled “A 2025 endowment fundraiser to provide an eventual annual source of support for the Foundation to help SLOS families.” Perhaps your name could be added to this list? Checks sent to the Foundation will not incur processing fees. 

Because of the matching gifts and such, some friends are waiting for Giving Hearts Day, February 13^th. If you visit the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation webpage before then, a pop-up menu will prompt you to follow their lead. Perhaps the Jukie Endowment will reach our $5,000 goal after all!

With love and gratitude,

Dr. Andy

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The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Some of you will want to head inside. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, especially as the quiz is but 910 words long, shorter than this newsletter and almost a new record for brevity!

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on attainability, hats, methane, the fitness industry, Vermont, Spaniards, smiles, Russian outposts, asps, announcements, book awards, fresh water, famous houses, hangers-on, looping video, sole survivors, the voices of film stars, candy and crafts, TV shows, therapists, California cities, fasteners, September 7 in history, fast clouds, logicians, odd mop achievements, lyrics, American spellings, reruns, the dearly departed, the technology sector, calculus, islands not named Greenland, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

If you want to see my Christmas quiz for free, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1. Youth Culture. The Marvel actors Ian McKellen, Elizabeth Olsen, and Gwyneth Paltrow have all appeared in the same number of movies over the course of their careers. Is that number 20, 30, or 40?

2. Countries of the World. Found in Central Asia, with a small portion situated in Eastern Europe, the largest landlocked country in the world has seven consonants and three vowels in its name. What country is it?

3. American Cities. Of the 20 cities with the most families per capita under the poverty line, two are found above I-80. One is Walla Walla, Washington, and the other is Elmira. In what state do we find Elmira? 

P.P.S. Our next Poetry Night at the Natsoulas Gallery is February 7. It’ll be a wide-open mic!

Dear Friends,

My father, Davey Marlin-Jones, was an actor, magician, theatre director, film director, drama and film critic, and eventually, drama, directing, and playwriting professor.

Widely recognized in Washington, D.C. because of his movie reviews which aired on the local CBS affiliate just before the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, my dad was larger than life, a convivial, confident, and dynamic performer.

I resolved to chart my own course rather than taking acting classes, learning about broadcast media, or embracing public speaking, the way that my dad had when he was young. I decided to study English literature and psychology.

Today I am a public performer, a public speaker, a radio talk show host, a weekly columnist, and a perpetual master of ceremonies.

Sometimes I feel like heroes such as Oedipus, Macbeth, Paul Atreides, all of whom tried to avoid their destinies, and in that attempted avoidance, fulfilled them. Only my story has much less murdering.

I think of my inherent and inherited gregarious thespianism when I was recently invited to apply to be a Picnic Day Parade announcer. Filling out a form, I was asked if I was qualified for such a job.

The first time I was recruited to announce at the Picnic Day Parade, almost 20 years ago, a fellow KDVS DJ just tapped me on the shoulder and told me where to show up. This most recent time, I was told that the “Duties include, but are not limited to information meetings, run-throughs of the script, being at the event bright and early, and having fun!” I can do that.

Then the form asked me about my skills. I was told that the interview committee “Would like to see the use of organization, flexibility, and  articulation.” Ideally, I “Would need to be outgoing, able to speak in front of a crowd, and able to maintain a high level of energy throughout the event.”

Thanks to my dad and to my having hosted over 2,000 events since graduating from UC Davis with my Ph.D., I feel ready to take up the microphone once again, this time on April 12^th in service to the 111^th Picnic Day.

Maybe I will see you there.

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The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Some of you will want to head inside. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, especially as the quiz is but 940 words long! 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on houseboats, San Pedro, echoes that have been vindicated, lines, museums, chess, absences, dropped celebrities, Nielsen numbers, press freedom, islands that neighbor each other, neuroanatomy, cities above I-80, countries with more than twice as many consonants as vowels, Marvel actors, flags, bodies of water, fitness milestones, video game sequels, banks, codes, underworlds, older men, rare words, Massachusetts history, mechanics, captains, calls for help, work, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

If you want to see my Christmas quiz for free, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Congratulations to The X-Ennial Falcons, winners of last week’s pub quiz!

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

26.          Science. What do we call the study of fossils?  

27.          Books and Authors. Maya Angelou was 40 years old when her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was published. Name the decade.  

28.          Current Events – Names in the News. We were reminded this week that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is grooming which of the following to be his successor: His son, his daughter, or his niece?   

Dear Friends,

It feels strange to write about anything other than the terrible windstorms and the five wildfires that are ravaging parts of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County at this hour. I wish for the first responders and firefighters to have the strength to continue their work on behalf of those who have been affected by the conflagrations. 

The California Fire Foundation and other organizations are collecting donations for California wildfire and disaster relief.

Amid the challenges of this week, and speaking of donations, I’m grateful to friends on Facebook and Instagram who have donated over $2,000 this week to the Jackson “Jukie” Jones Duren Endowment for the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation. We are making steady progress towards fully funding this endowment at $50,000.

Jukie turned 24 on Saturday, and every year we use the occasion to raise funds for an important cause. Most of you know that my son Jukie was born with the rare genetic syndrome called Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome. His entire family has devoted our lives to supporting Jukie, and my wife Kate has worked to raise awareness about the syndrome and Foundation, and to support families who have just discovered that their newborn was born with this syndrome.

Because of donations to the Foundation from friends such as yourself, the (mostly volunteer) Foundation board and staff have been busy with the following activities:

• Funding SLO research “seed” grants, 

• Raising awareness of SLO to increase the rate of diagnosis, 

• Welcoming new parents with an online parent support group and family mentor program, 

• Supporting grieving parents with a parent loss support group, 

• Distributing welcome packets for newly-diagnosed families,

• Subsidizing the biennial SLO family medical and scientific conferences, 

• Connecting families to researchers and SLO specialists.

Such gifts have also helped to fund the creation of the SLO Foundation website, which we invite you to check out.

All donations are tax-deductible (Fed ID# 23-2635206).

If Jukie cared about recognition, he would love that this endowment bears his name. I think he would mostly care that so many other affected children and their families will benefit from your donation and the amazing work of this non-profit organization.

One can donate via Facebook or via the website giving page that highlights this special endowment. Thank you!

We hope in 2025 to raise $5,000 for the Foundation, and we are already almost halfway there. On behalf of all the families who will benefit from the Foundation’s support, I thank you and hope you can help us reach our goal.

With appreciation,

Dr. Andy

---

There are so many disasters and other regrettable truths in our country and in the world, but I try to keep them out of our pub quiz on Wednesday nights. Expect no questions on fires, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, or attempts to limit Americans from accessing life-saving vaccines.

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on moderators, average wages, superheroes, funeral scenes, nurserymen, diamonds, sidekicks, upright animals, parsnips, mothers of celebrities, Tarzanian aspirants, springs, Presidential names, successors, bird songs, extinct plants and animals, hero jerseys, big numbersBritish troops, The European Union, rapids, the Smithsonian, watches, ghosts, researching hobos, islands, satirical cartoons, the remoteness of Alaska and other states, unusual coats, pioneers, monkeys, Paul McCartney songs, limbs, the names of fondly remembered Senators, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

If you want to see my Christmas quiz for free, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Congratulations to Still Here for the Shakesbeer, winners of last week’s pub quiz!

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members on Patreon now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1. Science. What three-syllable C word do we use for a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption?

2. Books and Authors. Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan once told an interviewer that his lyrics were heavily influenced by the long poem Mexico City Blues that was first published in 1959 by what Beat poet and novelist?

3. Sports. What is the only California-based NHL team to have won multiple Stanley Cups, securing titles in 2012 and 2014?  

P.P.S. Don’t forget the Jukie-themed SLOSF fundraiser!

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!

Victor Hugo said that “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” I’ve been lighting a bunch of intellectual and emotional fires in my head and heart, reveling in all the audible sparks.

I believe that I read more books in 2024 – 75 of them – than I did in any year that I was taking classes or conducting research for my PhD in English. 

Also a first in 2024, my ambitious audiobook consumption habit led me to read more works of fiction than non-fiction. In recent years, I’ve read books about Buddhism, positive psychology, and writing, and that trend continued, but this year I read more than 40 novels.

In some ways, I’ve been trying to keep up with my son Truman. We bought him a book of lists about ten years ago, the sort of top ten and top 100 lists that people compile, sometimes at the end of a year. Truman resolved to watch the films and read the books that appeared on various critics’ top 100 lists of all time. I believe he had read more classics of world literature as a high school graduate than I had as a college grad. He is currently finishing Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.

This year I read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, Baumgartner by Paul Auster, and all six Audible-available books in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Those last Dungeon Crawler books do not come up in class.

Nonfiction books that I finished this year include How to Know a Person by David Brooks; Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke; Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Maggie Smith; When Harry Met Pablo: Truman, Picasso, and the Cold War Politics of Modern Art by Matthew Algeo; Hello, Habits: A Minimalist’s Guide to a Better Life by Fumio Sasaki, and The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life by Mark Epstein M.D.

I agree with Susan Sontag who said that “Literature can train, and exercise, our ability to weep for those who are not us or ours.” And the end of December has been a time of weeping, with tragic transportation-related deaths in Kazakhstan, South Korea, and last night, New Orleans.

I’m grateful to the doctors, therapists, and first responders who have tended to the affected families. “No one has ever become poor by giving,” Anne Frank said. 

I’m also grateful that my son Jukie agreed to take millions of Davis greenbelt steps with me this year, thus affording me all that time to read 75 books. As people know who spend time along Putah Creek on the greenbelts of south Davis, we live in a beautiful and walkable city, one that provides many opportunities for nature-gazing and peaceful reflection. Wearing simple clothes, we walk with friends or family, noting the passage of beautiful moments.

I will close with a poem by M.S. Merwin:

Another Year Come 

I have nothing new to ask of you,
Future, heaven of the poor.
I am still wearing the same things.
I am still begging the same question
By the same light,
Eating the same stone,
And the hands of the clock still knock without entering.

---

Just about everyone will have recovered by tonight at 7 PM when we will be holding our weekly Wednesday Pub Quiz. I hope you and your team will join us. This year, resolve to invite some new players.

The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Some of you will want to head inside. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly, even though the quiz is a substantive 1095 words long! 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on mills, rappers, lost hairpins, the mottos directed at employees, magnitudinous steps, dignified actions, romantic tragedies, notable cups, beauty influencers, Mexico City books, cauldrons, islands, Greek mythology, delicious pastries (I get mine at Upper Crust Bakery), bicyclists, one percenters, lakefronts, addiction experts, nurses, functional teeth, sports outsiders, college graduates, female characters, shades of green, Raspberry Awards, money makeovers, San Francisco, game spots, post-trilogy successes, gold rushes, Asian countries, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

I share the entire Pub Quiz with subscribers via Patreon every Monday. If you would like to see what the Christmas quiz looks like, I released that last week, even though we didn’t meet in person. If you are curious, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1.             Mottos and Slogans. What American multinational financial services company has used the slogans “Talk to Chuck” and “Own Your Tomorrow”?  

2.             Internet Culture. When Steve Jobs introduced the first iMac in 1998, he explained that the “I” stood for what?  

3.             Newspaper Headlines. On Christmas Day, 2024, Lamar Jackson surpassed Michael Vick as the NFL’s all-time leading rushing quarterback. Name Jackson’s team. 

Dear Friends,

The month of December provides most of us our only opportunity to listen to thematically unified music from multiple decades (or multiple centuries).

When during the year should Christmas music be played on loudspeakers, if at all? Should it be classical only, instrumental, or choral? Can the song “Holly Jolly Christmas” be barred? How about “Little Drummer Boy,” even though David Bowie was involved in one of the versions?

Other favorite singers, from Johnny Cash to Willie Nelson, from The Beach Boys to (even) Bob Dylan, from Louis Armstrong to Ella Fitzgerald, from Nat King Cole (my mom’s favorite) to Stevie Wonder, have all released Christmas albums. Do we listen to any of those? Sometimes some singles sneak into Christmas playlists, but I suspect that most of these did not transition well from vinyl to digital.

Many families amuse themselves with “gag” Christmas albums. We listen to the 1979 classic John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together every year, largely unironically. Denver’s earnest sweetness helps to compensate for the irreverent zany genius of the Muppets. We watched the ABC special when it aired – there were so many Christmas specials in that era – so I was delighted when my wife Kate brought the album to our relationship almost 35 years ago. Ray Charles was a vocal arranger for the album, ensuring the highest quality of the performances.

Perhaps “gag” Christmas hits started with “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” by Spike Jones (distant cousin). Others in the tradition included “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” by Gayla Peevey in 1953, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” by The Chipmunks in 1958, “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas” by the aforementioned John Denver in 1973, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy in 1979, and “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)?” by the Star Wars Intergalactic Droid Choir in 1980.

Like so much Christmas music, any one of these might have been amusing the first time we heard it, or even the first dozen times, but to return to opening these one-hit presents every Christmas season, as well as songs such as McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” or Wham’s “Last Christmas,” can make one hesitate to turn on the radio or spend any time in a shopping mall or a commercial building at this time of year.

Luckily, we are rarely captive audiences for such songs. We all have our favorite holiday songs, or songs that we love hear during the holidays, or songs that remain our favorites no matter what others are listening to. Many of us who love old winter stories (such as “The Snowman,” “The Fir Tree” (about a Christmas tree), “The Snow Queen,” or “The Ice Maiden” might also remember his famous quotation about music: “Where words fail, music speaks.”

I hope music speaks to you this holiday season. I look forward to speaking with you in 2025.

We are holding the pub quiz tonight at Sudwerk, our last one of the year, as well as on January 1^st. I hope you can start the year off in a festive mood while answering some trivia questions. Saturday will be the shortest day of the year, which means that before you know it, our pub quiz contestants will again enjoy warm temperatures and sunshine on the patio.

The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Some of you will want to head inside where Elliott is often the bartender. He’s bright, so sometimes a team at the bar recruits him play on their teams. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly — the entire quiz is a mere 959 words long! 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on continental  changes, wide plains, later modernist classics, energy sources, basketball, martyrs, holiday music, Christians, people pleasers, holiday trees, alliterative titles, soccer, Prussians, American lakes, European discoveries, New York City, contacts that come from inside the Marx Brothers house, Caribbean culture, BART spending, alcoholic drinks, Oscar hunks, collaborative projects ancestors, drakes, people named Doris, the places where east meets west, open fires, toys, passes, friendly people, British borders, Iowa,  current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

I share the entire Pub Quiz with subscribers via Patreon every Monday. Because Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, next Wednesday, I will video record a pub quiz and publish it by Christmas Eve, making it available to all my paid subscribers, no matter the level. If you enjoy the quiz and would like to share the content with a friend or family member, or if you would like to see what the Christmas quiz looks like, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1. Books and Authors. Charles Dickens first published A Christmas Carol in the same year that biologist Camillo Golgi, composer Edvard Grieg, novelist Henry James, and President William McKinley were born. Name the decade. 

2. Film. Which of the following people with the first name of Joan was the only person to win an acting Oscar for work in an Alfred Hitchcock film, that being the film Suspicion: Joan Collins, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Joan Plowright? 

3. Countries of the World. When one alphabetizes the five countries that border Syria, which comes last? 

Dear Friends,

Having moved from my hometown of Washington D.C. after graduating from Boston University, and leaving behind three parents and two grandparents, I came to California looking for new mentors. At UC Davis, I found a number of people to look up to.

Sandra Gilbert was as confident and ingenious as my favorite BU professors, including Howard Zinn, Elie Wiesel, Derek Walcott, or Sir Christopher Ricks. Offering feminist and psychoanalytic approaches to reading poems, Gilbert opened my eyes to new authors, new discoveries, and new insights that inspired the several sections of my doctoral dissertation (for which she was the first reader on my committee). She was also a richly imaginative poet who explored form and personal reflection in her creative works, each of which had an honored spot on my bookshelf. I enjoyed long conversations about literature and other topics in the two classes Sandra Gilbert taught me, in Washington DC when she hosted the 2000 MLA conference there (as MLA president), at her home in Berkeley, and at a 1996 poetry conference in Stirling, Scotland.

Sandra McPherson, who all of us called “Sandy,” invited me to participate in a directed study of contemporary American poets in schools different from the confessional and formal poets that I studied most closely. A Davis poet, fine art and folk art collector, and independent press founder, as well as a favorite professor of many, McPherson also invited her students to her richly-decorated home. One of the most prolific poets I’ve known, McPherson had a poem in the 1973 collection titled No More Masks! An Anthology of Poems by Women that my mom had on her bedroom bookshelf and which first introduced me to contemporary poetry. McPherson and I kept in touch frequently via Facebook in the years after her retirement.

John Boe was the most accomplished, most dynamic, and most multi-talented of my colleagues in the University Writing Program. He had a great sense of humor that he brought to the classroom, to faculty meetings, and to my radio show. Boe co-founded Writing on the Edge and Prized Writing, two important journals of writing that are still being published today. A past Picnic Day Parade Marshal and an accomplished pianist, Boe participated in both faculty speaker series that I ran and the Poetry Night Reading Series where he performed storytelling and blue comedic bits. I saw Boe’s perpetual energy and irreverence as qualities worth emulating.

As I explored instructional technology and pedagogical excellence at UC Davis, I soon found myself on committees with Physics professor Joe Kiskis. Kiskis cared so deeply about undergraduate education that he would drop in on faculty leadership meetings to learn about the university’s vision for teaching and learning, and to pepper campus leaders with seemingly impertinent questions that always elevated the needs of undergraduates over campus bureaucracy. Because of these concerns, Kiskis took a lead in helping the University Writing Program amiably separate from the Department of English so that it could become one of the best such programs in California. I turned to him so many times for wisdom that reflected concerns outside of the humanities, and thus he helped me widen my perspective on the support that I offer faculty across the disciplines as Academic Director of Academic Technology Services.

After I completed my PhD and started supporting English Department and University Writing Program faculty on the use of emerging technologies in the classroom (and later with remote teaching), one of my favorite and most steadfast attendees at my workshops was Beth Freeman. Via Facebook, we discovered that she was an Oberlin College classmate of a friend from high school, so even though we were in different programs, Freeman always treated me as a peer. I would report to her when our mutual students would rave about her teaching (which was always), and she supported me when she became a dean in Letters and Science, adding personal notes to my official review letters. It feels like just yesterday when Beth lunched with me at Yeti downtown, so full of questions for me and affection expressed for my family.

I dined with all these colleagues, interviewed them all in different forums (on video or on the radio), and welcomed them all to Poetry Night, as performers or as attendees. I looked up to them, admired them, and laughed with them. When I reflect back on my years at UC Davis, I see how all five of these friends made my life richer and more meaningful. Their love and support helped my transition from a time of constant mentorship from my parents back East to a time of discovery of new mentors and friends in Davis. 

As you can discover by investigating them online, all five of these friends and mentors passed away this year. I will miss them profoundly and will always cherish their influence on me.

---

The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Cooler heads will be warmer, for they will head inside. I encourage you to come early to snag a table. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly — the entire quiz is a mere 976 words long! 

In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on the uses of dirt, subscribers, annulled cowpokes, people whose names start with Q, Spanish exports, Boeing airplanes, bankruptcies, five countries in alphabetical order, video game appearances, German markets, baby boomers, soft fabrics, people named Bailey who are not from Bedford Falls, the birth years of presidents, nameplates, newspapers, the distance between Chicago and LA, bears, river stadiums, still waters that run deep, layers of soil, athletic conferences, the height of favorite celebrities, again with the bats, nudity in nature, Arden Way, digital services, beauty filters, surfing destinations, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. 

I share the entire Pub Quiz with subscribers via Patreon every Monday. Because Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, I will video record a pub quiz and publish it by Christmas Eve, making it available to all my paid subscribers, no matter the level. If you enjoy the quiz and would like to share the content with a friend or family member, or if you would like to see the Christmas quiz, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.

Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscribers Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine! 

Best,

Dr. Andy

P.S. Three questions from last week:

1. Mottos and Slogans. Starting with the letter O, the most disappointingly-popular breakfast cereal in 13 U.S. states uses the slogan “It’s Not a Dream – You’re Next.”  

2. Internet Culture. Social media visibility is fleeting, so some people online use the acronym ICYMI. What does that refer to?  

3. Newspaper Headlines. According to a recent article in the New York Times, in 2024, The United States was the sixth largest exporter of automobiles in the world. With 5.7 million cars exported, what country is first?