Latest news with #KenJennings
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
‘Jeopardy!' star Ken Jennings is hosting a miniseries about the history of public transit
In September 2024, Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings took a brief interlude from taping one of America's most iconic game shows to film another series: a YouTube show about the history of public transit, set in his local county of Snohomish, Washington. The show, called The Transit Effect, is a seven-part series that examines why public transit matters, diving into everything from infrastructure and economic growth to access to work, school, and healthcare. It's the brainchild of Community Transit, a public transportation agency in Washington's Snohomish County, just north of Seattle. The show's first episode is now available on YouTube and on Community Transit's website, with the remaining installments slated to drop over the coming months and into 2026. Starting with the electric streetcars of the 1920s, The Transit Effect maps how American communities have been shaped by public transit—and, amid today's notoriously car-centric American infrastructure, it presents a thesis for investing in more sustainable transportation options. The show is especially timely, given the Trump administration's current crackdown on renewable energy and support for various fossil fuel industry projects. 'We hope viewers come away with a deeper appreciation for how much public transit shapes daily life—even if they never set foot on a bus,' says Community Transit public information officer Monica Spain. 'If this series sparks someone to think, 'I had no idea transit did all that,' or nudges them to take a ride instead of drive, that's a win.' How Snohomish County's 'Community Transit' snagged Ken Jennings Rory Graves is a senior marketing copywriter at Community Transit who helped develop and write The Transit Effect. She says that, when the idea for the show first came about, the team knew the series would need to be anchored by a host who was both familiar and trustworthy to a wide range of audiences. It wasn't a new challenge for the agency: In 2024, Community Transit partnered with American travel writer Rick Steves—who has lived in Edmonds, Washington (a city inside Snohomish County) since 1967— on another educational transit series. For The Transit Effect, Graves thought Jennings, another longtime Edmonds resident, could be the perfect fit. 'We wanted to find someone who was a trusted source of information to do that storytelling. Who better than Ken Jennings?' Graves says. In 2004, Jennings won 74 consecutive games of Jeopardy!, the longest winning streak in the show's history, before becoming its host in 2021. Beyond his impressive credentials, Jennings also has a personal connection to Community Transit: As a college student, Jennings frequently rode the agency's buses between his family's home in Edmonds and the University of Washington. Today, he lives in Seattle. After Community Transit reached out to him over email, Jennings readily agreed to host The Transit Effect. But there was a small catch. Given Jennings' tight schedule, the entire seven-part series had to be filmed in just four hours—a feat that required extensive preparation and multiple dry runs to 'test every piece of equipment, walk through the setup, and build in redundancies,' Graves says. 'We don't have a huge budget like Amazon or Coca-Cola for our campaigns, but Ken was happy to collaborate with us, and we're thankful for that.' Exploring how public transit shaped America as we know it To give viewers a peek behind the curtain at the history of public transit, The Transit Effect is organized into sub-10-minute episodes by themes. Episode 1, for example, details how '20s era streetcars, electric trolleys, and subway systems determined how major American cities expanded; episode 3 dives into the environmental impact of public transit compared to travel by car; and episode 6 explains how public transit can serve as a vital lever of accessibility for kids, the elderly, those with disabilities, and those without access to a vehicle. Throughout the series, Jennings refers to local examples to help illustrate this history—like in episode 1, which notes how the expansion of the Link light rail, a train system in the Seattle area that opened in 2009, has roots that extend back by more than 100 years. 'Everyone's talking about Link light rail expansion, but did you know our region had electric mass transit more than a century ago?' Graves says. 'The old Interurban Trolley once ran along the same route we now know as the Interurban Trail. We often treat electric transit like it's brand new, but it's actually part of our history. What's fascinating is how long cleaner, electric options have existed—and how car-centric planning pushed them aside.' Another surprising tidbit explored in the show is how public transit shaped the musical world. The series highlights how New York City's subway system helped make Harlem a cultural epicenter for Black Americans in the '20s and '30s, attracting the musicians that would ultimately bring the Harlem Renaissance to life. 'It's wild to think that something as everyday as a transit system could set off a domino effect that helped launch the careers of artists whose legacies have helped define modern music,' Graves says. Through these stories, Spain says, Community Transit hopes to help viewers understand how 'public transportation shapes communities and removes barriers to opportunity,' and to encourage community members to invest in their local public transit systems. 'More than anything, we want people to see transit not just as a service, but as a powerful force for good in our region,' Spain says.
National Post
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
Canadian man gunning for third straight Jeopardy! win tonight. Who is Brendan Liaw?
Anyone looking for a Canadian pride bandwagon to jump on should probably watch Jeopardy! tonight. Article content Article content Vancouver's own Brendan Liaw, a 25-year-old self-described 'stay-at-home son,' scored back-to-back victories on the game show this week and will look for a third straight win in an episode airing at 7:30 p.m. ET. Article content A win in tonight's pre-taped show will further pad his two-day total of US$38,798 (CAD$53,787) and see him defend his title again on Friday. Article content Article content It could also help get him out of his parents' house in Richmond, where he lives, having recently completed a master's degree in political science at the University of British Columbia. Article content Well uh, I did a thing. The Thing really. Finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of questioning answers on national... Posted by Brendan Liaw on Thursday, May 8, 2025 Article content The hero is host Ken Jennings, whom he identifies as a fellow resident of Cascadia — a term referring to a Pacific Northwest bioregion encompassing parts of British Columbia and Washington, where Jennings has roots. Article content Article content 'Pretty good gig,' he agreed with Jennings regarding his living situation during their pre-game banter. Article content 'I think they want to promote me to away-from-home son soon,' he said. 'But we'll see how the games turn out.' Article content In his first appearance, Liaw actually got off to a somewhat shaky start in his bid to unseat Mitch Loflin, the reigning three-time champion from California, and hold off fellow newcomer Wendy Pous of Iowa. Article content By the end of the first round, Single Jeopardy!, Liaw found himself in third place with just $1,600 and Poush at $6,200, according to a recap from TV Insider.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Stay-at-home son' from Metro Vancouver wins big on ‘Jeopardy!'
Since he was a little boy, Brendan Liaw has wanted to be a contestant on Jeopardy! 'Very early on, I realized that I was getting quite a few of the answers,' said Liaw. 'And so it quickly became a lifelong goal.' He was a member of a trivia team in high school, and has a knack for memorizing information. After two 50-question online tests, a mock game and an interview, the 27-year-old from Richmond was chosen to be a Jeopardy! contestant. He flew to Los Angeles and taped his first episode on March 17. Liaw has a master's degree from UBC, but thought that description sounded boring. So, when it came time to talk to host Ken Jennings, he discussed the title he chose for himself on the show: stay-at-home son. 'I figure, you know, if I lose, I might as well make some people laugh,' said Liaw. 'I think it's good to be fun and not just, you know, serious trivia guy. So that was my reasoning behind the title.' After falling behind early, the stay-at-home son ended up winning his first game– which aired on Tuesday night – taking home US$13,599. 'You don't really have time to be nervous. You don't have time to really think things through. You're just buzzing in and trying to get as many as you can, and hope that it's enough to get you through to a win,' Liaw said. As for how his parents feel about the stay-at-home son moniker? 'I think they prefer professional loiterer at this point,' Liaw joked. 'The stay is getting a little too much. I think they want to promote me to away-from-home son soon. But we'll see how the games turn out.' While he can't reveal how many times he won on Jeopardy!, Liaw can confirm he is still a stay-at-home son. 'I have not found employment since taping. So if there's anyone out there who wants to hire a guy who's mildly amusing and has broad-based knowledge, please contact me. I'm looking for gainful employment,' he said with a grin. While he hasn't gotten any job offers yet, Liaw now has plenty of fans. 'I'm really like heartened by all the support. I didn't realize people cared that much about Jeopardy! I've gotten a lot of well-wishes from strangers on the internet, and it feels good,' said Liaw. 'And hopefully, I can do the city proud.'
Geek Wire
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Wire
‘We are sticklers in Seattle,' ‘Jeopardy' host says to contestant who wrongly put ‘s' on Pike Place Market
Geek Life: Fun stories, memes, humor and other random items at the intersection of tech, science, business and culture. SEE MORE Pike Place Market in Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Don't cross 'Jeopardy' host Ken Jennings, or any Seattleite, on the proper way to say Pike Place Market. During an episode of the popular television game show this week, under the category, 'They almost tore it down,' the clue was, 'If the 1960s plan to replace this Seattle market with high-rises had succeeded, there might be no Starbucks today.' Watching from my own kitchen in Seattle on Wednesday, I nonchalantly supplied the question: 'What is Pike Place Market?' But on TV, the question from contestant Dan Moren, a writer and podcaster from Massachusetts, didn't match: 'What is Pike's Place Market?' Uh oh. 'No. Sorry, Dan,' Jennings said. 'We are sticklers in Seattle. It's PIKE Place. No 's.'' A clip of the exchange was posted on the r/Seattle subreddit under the title 'Jeopardy tonight puts an end to Pikes Place,' where it had almost 5,000 upvotes by Friday morning. The Seattle Times wrote about it, digging up the history of when the market was almost abandoned as 'a ramshackle firetrap' and even checking in with a Western Washington University linguistics professor about why people add an 's' to business names, like Costcos or Fred Meyers. 'Jeopardy' host Ken Jennings. (Sony Pictures Television Image) The 'no' from Jennings seemed to be dripping with decades of consternation over correcting people. Now in his third year as host, Jennings often comes across as the smartest person on the stage, because he probably is — his unprecedented 74-game victory streak as a 2004 contestant won him $2.52 million. But for the Seattle native, who takes clear delight in clues related to the city or Pacific Northwest, this wasn't just any grammatical miscue. It seemed personal. If you've been around Seattle long enough you've no doubt heard transplants and tourists alike refer to the 117-year-old market as 'Pike's Place.' It can serve as a quick identifier of out-of-towners or those who haven't properly assimilated. For history's sake, the landmark Pike Place Market was created in 1907 on Pike Place, a street named for pioneer builder John Pike. Maybe the place was Pike's. But it's not our place to put an 's' in the official market name. As for Moren, the 'Jeopardy' contestant, the only 's' he needs to worry about is in dollars. He's won 33,500 of them as a two-day champion on the show.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
It Was ‘A Hard Day's Night' for ‘Jeopardy!' Contestants
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The Final Jeopardy clue on Jeopardy! on Wednesday (May 7) seemed to be way too easy, but not one of the contestants got it right. The category was The Grammys. The clue: 'Best New Artists at the 7th Annual Grammys, this band would be nominated the next six years, but not again until the 39th and 67th events.' The champion wrote down 'Who is the Marine Marching Band,' which was incorrect. The ensemble has never even been nominated for a Grammy. More from Billboard A challenger wrote down 'Springsteen,' which ignored a key part of the clue that it was a 'band.' And while Bruce Springsteen has been recording for more than 50 years, the clues indicated a 60-year span of Grammy ceremonies. The Boss hasn't been around quite that long. The second challenger, you figure, has to get it right. He wrote 'The Rolling Stones.' As host Ken Jennings pointed out, that was closer, but still not right. To the Grammys' eternal shame, The Rolling Stones weren't even nominated for a Grammy until the 1979 ceremony, when they were up for album of the year for Some Girls. And they don't satisfy another part of the clue, either: They have never been nominated more than two years in a row. But they did win best rock album earlier this year for Hackney Diamonds. The correct answer, of course, is The Beatles. They won best new artist at the 1965 ceremony, were nominated every year from 1966-1971, and then were nominated again in 1997 (when they won a total of three Grammys for The Beatles Anthology and 'Free as a Bird') and earlier this year (when they won best rock performance for 'Now and Then'). If the contestants had just muttered 'Help!' when they saw the clue, and realized they were in trouble, that might have led them to the correct question. OK, so, these three contestants were not Grammy experts, and perhaps not die-hard Beatles fans. Still, they did very well in other categories during the two rounds of play. This just goes to show that we all have our strong suits and other areas were we draw a blank. Best of Billboard Sign up for Billboard's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
