BROADCASTS.com

b'FDA Expands Pharmacy Options for Abortion Pills\\nThis week, the FDA finalized rules that would allow more retail pharmacies to stock and fill prescriptions for the abortion drug mifepristone. Previously, the medication had been available only via certain specialty pharmacies or via mail order. Now, major retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens can apply for permission to fill prescriptions for the medications, which now account for about half of all abortions performed in the United States.\\nThe immediate effects of the rule change are not entirely clear, however\\u2014a patchwork of state and local laws govern the availability of these medications, and may prevent their availability in some areas. Around half of the states have some restriction on abortion pills.\\nKatherine Wu, science writer at The Atlantic, joins Ira to unpack the rule change and other stories from the week in science, including news of a new surging COVID variant called XBB.1.5, the injury to NFL player Damar Hamlin, a stray snowy owl visiting southern California, a likely farewell to the Mars InSight lander, and a study looking at how an island rat population can affect offshore coral reefs.\\n\\n\\xa0\\nMeet The Comedians Bringing A Sense Of Humor To Science\\nA scientist and a comedian walk into a bar\\u2014for an interview about the craft of science comedy. Ira talks to comedians Chuck Nice, Kasha Patel, and Kyle Marian Viterbo about their work bringing the joke format to science communication.\\nWhile all three have different approaches to science\\u2014whether it\\u2019s sneaking the knowledge into \\u201cregular\\u201d jokes, or going straight for the factual jugular\\u2014they agree that the practice of stand-up has much in common with the scientific process. \\u201cWe normally start with an observation or a question,\\u201d says Nice. \\u201cThe experimentation is the joke itself, seeing whether or not it will get a laugh\\u2026 you have to tell it in front of an audience. And after that you go, \\u2018Wow, that sucked. I can\\u2019t believe that wasn\\u2019t funny.\\u2019\\u201d\\nPlus, why comedy can itself be a science, and what good comedy has in common with good (science) communication. \\u201cIt\\u2019s a long term skillset in playing with, and communicating, and connecting with your audience,\\u201d says Viterbo. \\u201cTo be able to really listen to our audience, which these days we need more of.\\u201d'