Janet Yellen Talks Cannabis, Candy Crush, Wordle And More On NPR's 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was a guest last week on National Public Radio's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," where she revealed her Candy Crush obsession and told the story of her first cannabis experience during her first year at Yale University. 

The cannabis story came up when host Peter Sagal commented that Yellen’s "secret to success" is that she overprepares for everything. “So, we’d like to know how you prepared to smoke dope for the first time in college?” he asked. 

Yellen responded that she’d never smoked weed before but came up with a great idea of how to prepare for the challenge.

“It was the summer before I was going to college and my roommate said she hid some marijuana and we should have a party and smoke marijuana. I had never smoked anything in my life, but I like to be prepared.”

How?

Yellen went out and bought a pack of cigarettes, “smoke them and see if I can inhale because I was told that you can’t really enjoy marijuana unless you inhale,” she told a live audience on Saturday.

The treasury secretary said it was a horrible experience and that she couldn’t inhale and stop coughing.

“I thought 'I’m not prepared.' I have to work harder at this so I bought some more cigarettes and all week, preparing for this party, I was smoking cigarettes,” she revealed. 

Party Time And Guess What Happened?

“I went to the party and smoked a couple of marijuana cigarettes. But I never did that again ... but you know what happened to me? Within a couple of months, I was up to three packs a day as a smoker and it took me a decade to quit!” she said. 

A Crush On Candy Crush

One biographer writing a book about Yellen suggested that she try Candy Crush Saga, she said. 

Yellen said she replied, "Candy Crush? I'm not playing a game like Candy Crush. I play Brick Breaker!"

She added that she started playing "Candy Crush Saga" regularly and proudly announced that, this past week, she had hit a level above 6,100.

Yellen also told the audience that she plays Wordle daily. 

Inflation?

"Inflation - was that you?" Sagal asked at one point. 

"Not my fault!" Yellen replied. "That's the Fed's job."

As Sagal noted in his introduction of Yellen, she is a preeminent economist, a former chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and chair of the Federal Reserve, who's now the country's 78^th treasury secretary.

"That means she signs all your dollar bills and, fun fact, reads all your Venmo receipts!" Sagal joked.

Photo: Courtesy of the Federal Reserve