By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Yogesh Raut (Photo courtesy of Jeopardy!)
If you don’t participate, you might have no idea of a world that exists across the United States, and the globe: A world of dedicated quiz show enthusiasts and trivia hounds. They grow up from spelling bee heroes as kids to adult trivia night conquerors at their local bars. Some, like Indian American and Vancouver, Washington resident, Yogesh Raut, make a career out of loving trivia.
At least in large part. A social and personality psychologist—with degrees from, okay, he has more than one master’s degree, which right there gives you a picture of a lifelong pursuit of knowledge mastery—Raut has just won the 2024 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions. In this best-of-seven event, it came down to Raut and two others: Troy Meyer and Ben Chan. The winner, Raut, went home with the $250,000 grand prize. A grand achievement for what one might still say are pennies in prize money compared to, for example, a recent esports tournament where the champion went home with a hefty million bucks. Intellect is still not 100% cool.
“Jeopardy!” has a large fan base, although many can be said to watch for casual entertainment. They are not serious trivia experts, like Raut, like those who eagerly followed his progress through the Tournament of Champions, like those for whom trivia is life. Raut has a podcast called “Recreational Thinking,” where he runs his own quiz show of sorts; as well as a blog called “The Wronger Box” where he posts, daily—even on the day he won the tournament—a “fact” about…anything…the kinds of facts that people who love quizzes soak up like sponges.
You can see it on Raut’s Facebook page (where he had to lockdown security due to a rash of unpleasantness after his first “Jeopardy!” win in 2022, which aired in 2023). Raut’s Facebook postings of notes from each stage of the tournament are interesting, often funny—and they are exhaustive, but not exhausting to those who share his passion for trivia. Minutia of each series of questions, each person’s responses, are rehashed and mulled over, as well as acknowledgement of small (actually very large) triumphs such as, “I’m glad I got to pronounce an Indian name (‘Mahatma Gandhi’) the Indian way onstage,” which Raut posted on March 22. In the comments, similarly, responders gleefully go down the rabbit hole of facts and information, the difference between the Rhine and the Rhone, when this or that event happened, and where, and who.
Here’s the thing. We call it “trivia,” but it’s not trivial. Raut wrote an article for “American Kahani” on Feb. 15, 2023, after experiencing a bizarre amount of hate from viewers of “Jeopardy!” in November 2022. After trying out for the show for 20 years, Raut had just taken part in “Jeopardy!’s” only “perfect game” thus far in the 21st century, and won $98,000. He had finally risen from the semi-hidden world of everyday trivia to the hot spotlight of “America’s Favorite Quiz Show,” a Hollywood production with all of the bells and whistles. Some people were not happy about it.
“Even before my second episode had aired, a notoriously reactionary sports website had already branded me a ‘supervillain,’” Raut recalled.
It is impossible not to see racist overtones in what happened. Raut was criticized for his playing style (too formal, whereas he is usually casual and fun, but who knows why either is better?); he was criticized for not dressing appropriately, even though he wore what “Jeopardy!” gave him; and he was criticized for coming off as “arrogant” in interviews where he answered questions specifically designed by “Jeopardy!” to market the show however they wanted. Heaven forbid a person of color should be smart on television. It’s all cute when they are 12 and win a spelling bee. It’s another situation altogether when they are in their 30s and winning “Jeopardy!”
Look at the list of “Jeopardy!” winners and it’s pretty white. Interesting, at the college level, you see more women and people of color in the top spot. But get to the Tournament of Champions and it’s quite monochrome. Go figure.
“People declaring me ‘arrogant’ for daring to show something that could be interpreted as pride in my achievements, people saying I have a ‘chip on my shoulder’ because I talked honestly about facing discrimination during my life…are racist,” Raut said in the “American Kahani” article. He also dared to suggest that “Jeopardy!” is not the end all be all of quiz shows, fighting the good fight for all of the relatively unsung champions in the rest of the trivia world, who take part in this type of activity on a regular basis, for personal satisfaction much more than public recognition (although those in the know, do know).
It’s clear from the comments on Raut’s Facebook page that no one who is a true trivia expert found anything to complain about in Raut’s performance. Even those he played against, such as Emily Dudding Sands, took everything said in the heat of competition with grace, and responded to a mention by Raut, who was concerned he might have offended, with “people forget that we’re…humans up onstage, and we have human reactions.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first knowledge quizzing demonstrations I ever gave involved knowing states, capitals, and U.S. presidents. Growing up as the child of immigrants…I had to prove every day that I was an American,” Raut said as part of the debriefing on “Jeopardy!’s” website after he won the tournament. “I quickly became attuned to listening to others, finding out what they cared about, and developing ways of having conversations about those things despite living in a household where most of Americana was unfamiliar and most contemporary pop culture was shunned.” Learning what other people call “trivia,” then, is a matter of great importance to those who come here from other countries. There is the specific task of taking the citizenship exam—how many times have we watched a talk show host quiz people on the street who don’t know the answers to any of the questions? And there is the day-to-day more general and constant challenge of learning the culture.
There are many reasons why someone might be good at trivia. As a psychologist, Raut is no doubt aware that excelling academically (which is how it starts) is one way for children experiencing challenges to control part of their environment. It is common, also, in children whose immigrant parents want the best for them. “‘Trivia’ sticks with us precisely because it is not trivial,” Raut continued on “Jeopardy!’s” website. “Not only is it inherently interesting, but for less privileged members of society, sometimes it’s a matter of survival.”
Raut proceeds now to the “Jeopardy!” Masters competition. After winning the 2024 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions, Raut generously posted on Facebook congratulating everyone who participated, including “immigrants and children of immigrants,” with a shoutout to other contestants who supported him and each other: “Juveria [Zaheer] hugged me and said, ‘You did it.’ ‘We did it,’” I replied.”
Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.