Prior to becoming host of Wait Wait in 1998, Peter Sagal had a varied career including stints as a playwright, screenwriter, stage director, actor, extra in a Michael Jackson video, travel writer, essayist, ghostwriter, and staff writer for a motorcycle magazine. He has written two books—The Book of Vice: Naughty Things and How to Do Them (Harper Collins, 2007) and The Incomplete Book of Running (Simon & Schuster, 2018). He has contributed essays to Opera News, AARP the Magazine, Saveur, Finesse, and is the "Road Scholar" columnist for Runner's World. He has traveled to many places and done many things but is now happiest where he lives, north of Chicago, with his wife, Mara Sagal, one dog, and two sons.