[Download our one-sheet here: Go Fact Yourself — One-Sheet 2024]
The podcast where we quiz the smartest celebrities we know
and find out why they love what they love!
Go Fact Yourself is a celebrity trivia game show, hosted by J. Keith van Straaten (Senior Writer, “Ask Me Another”) and Helen Hong (recurring panelist, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”), and produced in collaboration with the Maximum Fun podcast network (producers of NPR’s “Bullseye”). Click here to learn more about J. Keith and Helen!
Past guests include:
- Actors: Rachel Bloom, Betty Buckley, Anna Camp, Rob Corddry, Shea Couleé, Rachel Dratch, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Pena, Yeardley Smith, Lea Thompson, Wil Wheaton
- Athletes: Colt Cabana, James Farrior, Ryan Kalil, Greg Maddux, Alexander Rossi
- Authors: Jonathan Ames, Roxane Gay, Elizabeth Gilbert, Larry Niven, Susan Orlean, Amy Tan
- Comedians: Maria Bamford, Lewis Black, Margaret Cho, Reggie Watts, Larry Wilmore
- Journalists: Audie Cornish, Mike Pesca, Hari Sreenivasan, Bob Woodward, Jessica Yellin
- Musicians: George Clinton, Will Lee, Lisa Loeb, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Thao Nguyen
- Public Radio Hosts: Bill Kurtis, Tonya Mosley Peter Sagal, Jesse Thorn, Glynn Washington
- TV Hosts: Tom Bergeron, Drew Carey, Andy Richter, Mo Rocca, Wink Martindale
Guests supply us with a few topics they know about (outside their field of work), and we pick one of them to quiz them on.
Topics cover everything from pop culture to science to history, and have included:
- Alfred Hitchcock Movies
- Artificial Sweeteners
- “Beverly Hills, 90210”
- Boston Red Sox
- Celine Dion
- Chicken Husbandry
- Frequent Flier Programs
- The Gutenberg Bible
- Mars
- Menopause
- Minnesota Cuisine
- Otters
- Pretty Woman
- Victorian England
After the quiz, a surprise expert in that topic joins the show, discusses the topic, and lets the celebrity guest geek out. Our experts have been actors, writers, directors, mayors, professors, US Senators, scientists, business leaders, athletes, musicians and more. Their accolades include Oscars, Peabodys, Olympic Gold Medals, the Pulitzer Prize, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Super Bowl Champion.
Some of our previous experts include musician DJ Jazzy Jeff (for the topic of The Career of Will Smith), sports legend Tara Lipinski (for Figure Skating), Senator Barbara Boxer (for US Senate 2000-2021), author Elizabeth Gilbert (for Eat Pray Love), Broadway legend Betty Buckley (for Broadway in the 1960s), TV star Katee Sackhoff (for “Battlestar Galactica”) and comedian Tommy Chong (for Marijuana).
Go Fact Yourself typically records with a live audience, with occasional episodes via Zoom, and releases new episodes every first and third Friday. In 2024, we release our 150th episode. We have over 700 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts and have been featured in The New York Times.
Go Fact Yourself is created by, written, and produced by Jim Newman and J. Keith van Straaten. The show is available at gofactyourpod.com or wherever you get podcasts.