Secrets of a Jeopardy Champion
Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts I remember each of my triumphs in a trivia game because they are so rare. (Highlight, 2023: Who is Barry Manilow?) I do not shine in bar-trivia night, or charades, or Sporcle.
At home, my track record when shouting out Jeopardy answers was always worse than anyone else’s on the couch, including my own children, who are obviously much younger than I am.
What is Walden ? What is Mount Everest? What is a pansy? Whatever comes at the end of “What is,” I usually do not know.
The children long ago moved on to the British quiz show University Challenge , which I watched only once and never again, to preserve my sense of authority as a parent and also my self-worth ( “ If the number of the year of the Battle of Hastings is divided by the number of wives of Henry VIII, which pope’s numerical designation do you get?”) I’ve always comforted myself by saying that trivia was a pointless accumulation of junk in the brain, the mental equivalent of a cluttered closet.
But this is obviously just envy.
Knowing trivia is a skill like any other.
It can be learned, practiced, and serve you well in many ways beyond shouting answers to the TV.
On this episode of Radio Atlantic : Drew Goins—an Atlantic staff writer, a Jeopardy champion, and the creator of The Atlantic ’s new trivia game, Rabbithole—shares his secrets on winning at Jeopardy and cultivating a very particular brand of curiosity.
The following is a transcript of the episode: Hanna Rosin: I have never had the desire to go on Jeopardy .
Like, at all.
And to be clear, I haven’t been invited either.
Alex Trebek: If you’re ready, then let us play Jeopardy .
Rosin: My track record when I’m sitting on the couch, shouting out answers, is not good. [ Music ] Rosin: I don’t have the patience or the talent to memorize trivia, and I don’t crave the spotlight or pressure that comes with it.
But recently, I started to feel like even though I don’t want to be a Jeopardy champion, it might be worth it to start thinking like one.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.theatlantic.com — the content belongs to The Atlantic.
