Ken Jennings ‘Did Not Think’ ‘Jeopardy!’ Would Be His Life & Reveals Early Career Plans

Jeopardy, Inc

Even though Ken Jennings is the Jeopardy! G.O.A.T., appearing on the game show was not always his end goal. In a new interview, the host shared what he planned to do for his career after college and how his Jeopardy! career came about. He also talks about his new book, The Complete Kennections, which arrives on shelves on July 29.

Jennings admits he wasn’t too keen on the name Kennections. “It’s really an unpleasant name,” he told the LA Times.  “We have to lead with that. It was suggested by an editor at Parade Magazine, but it doesn’t look good or sound good.” However, he does love the trivia in the books.

The publication wondered if writing books was always a goal for him, and Jennings shared that he studied English in college. “I wanted to write and to teach, but writing didn’t seem like a practical choice,” he said. “I was also doing a double major in computer science, and in 2000, it was absurdly easy to get a job at a friend’s startup, even if you were a terrible programmer, which I was.”

Writing about topics such as geography, myths and fables, and the afterlife seem like great topics for a Jeopardy! brain, but Ken Jennings never thought Jeopardy! would consume his life. “I thought of Jeopardy! as a fun, crazy summer and did not think it would be my life, so I tried making each book less about Jeopardy! and trivia than the one before it,” he shared.

However, the author shared that his “origin story” was reading World Book encyclopedia during a rainy recess and being a sponge for weird information. He thinks his generation is the last one to justify having “nerdy interests.”

Whenever the host is out somewhere, he will get new ideas for a trivia question. For example, if he is in a bagel shop, he’ll try to think of the types of bagels like sesame, poppy, etc., and form a trivia question around that.

Although Jennings didn’t always have Jeopardy! in mind, he did always love trivia and believes it’s important. “I’m a believer that trivia is not just a bar pastime, or even a way for little Lisa Simpsons to get told they’re smart into adulthood. I always felt trivia was kind of a universal social good, a way to enjoy cultural literacy,” he said.

“You need to remind people that learning is not a chore. If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. And trivia is very good at that.”

Jeopardy!, Season 42, September 8, check local listings