Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Wait Wait's Letter from the Editors II

Episode Date: November 18, 2020

All the stuff we couldn't fit on the show. This week we celebrate a new Covid treatment plus a special message from Bill.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Well, we came all this way, we might as well do it. Alrighty. Welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me's Letter from the Editors, where we bring you stuff we recorded for the show, but had to cut. Three, two, one. Check, check, one, two, check. Okay, I got numbers moving. So this is my mic check. You want to know what did I have for breakfast? Testing, testing, mic. One, two.

I had a Shake Shack burger. I had fries and I had two. Peanut butter milkshake. One, two, three, four. Five. And then I just had a vodka soda. We'll be right back. Welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me's Letter from the Editors. I'm Mike and I'm here along with Jennifer. Hello.

And we are two of the producers or editors of the editors. I'm Mike and I'm here along with Jennifer. Hello. And we are two of the producers or editors of the show. And this week we have more good stuff that we just couldn't fit in last week's podcast. First up, we have a game that was inspired by all the news recently about new coronavirus vaccines and therapies. And this is actually a great opportunity if you want to play along at home, go grab a pen, piece of paper. You can play along with our panelists, Maeve Higgins, Alonzo Bowden, and Joanna Hausman. All right, panelists.

It is time for a new game, and we are calling it... Name That Drug. Now, you are actually going to need a pencil for this. So get ready, or a pencil, or anything to write with, because this is what we're going to do. This week, Eli Lilly got emergency approval for a new coronavirus treatment. We're going to give you the syllables of the name of the drug, and you have to put them in the right order. Are you ready, Bill? Here we go. Here are your syllables.

Mab. Nih. La. V. Bam. Here we go. Here are your syllables. Mab-ne-la-ve-bam. So once again, we want you to put those five syllables together in some order to give us the name of the new COVID treatment. Can we get them again a little slower? Yes, we can. Here we go. Mab-ne-la-ve-bam. Okay, I'm ready.

You ready? Okay, Maeve, you go first. What is the name of this drug? Bamamalaba. Close, close. Did I get it? No. Alonzo, how about you?

I'm working on it right now. I think it's vibamneblamab. Yeah, vibamneblamab. I'd shoot that up in a minute. All right. Vibamnevlamab. Matter of fact, I'll get mine on a street corner. I don't even need a pharmacy.

You've both come close. You have some syllables in the right place, but you haven't gotten it yet, Joanna. It's up to you. Bamlinamab. You are so close. The correct answer is bamlanivamab. Bamlanivimab. Bamlanivimab. Bamlanivimab is the name of this new treatment produced by Eli Lilly.

And we want to say to Eli Lilly, hey, guys, the next time, before you head out to the press conference to announce the name, look in the mirror and just take one syllable off. You don't need it. Yeah, or just give it a, you know, like a popular guy's name. Just call it Jacob. Yeah. You know, Jacob the drug. I think that you shouldn't be taking the bomb la viba nav before you name the bomb la viba nav. Last week, we covered a story from the Wall Street Journal about how leaf blowers are creating a bunch of noise in people's neighborhoods and bothering them while they're working from home. So here's a joke that came from that conversation. But again, we just didn't have time for it. The interesting thing,

of course, is it's it's not just leaf blowers. We're learning about all sorts of new sounds that happen around the house because we're all home all day. If anything, the leaf blowers are welcome because they drowned out the sound of your roommate eating soup. Is it true that at the White House, the leaf blower is the only guy who doesn't have to pass a security test? Wow. He can go anywhere he wants. Wow.

What an interesting, that's like an amazing like political thriller where like the leaf blower, you know, they kidnap the leaf blower, they take his place. Somebody, he sneaks into the Oval Office and just blows the president. Oh, no, wait. I'm sorry. That did happen. Sorry, sorry. All the good ideas have already been used. That's all the bonus material we have for you this week uh but before we go we have a special

announcement recorded by bill curtis and mike my favorite thing about this piece from bill is that we didn't we didn't ask for this we didn't know about it we don't have a hand in it at all we didn't help at all and um you know we just one day we opened our email and there this was. So here it is. This is a self-produced bit of tape from Bill Curtis. It's a public service announcement for you, the listener. Enjoy. It's all about the mask.

About the mask. No trouble. All about the mask. About the mask. No trouble. You wear it night and day. No sneeze. No trouble. All about the mask. No trouble. You wear it night and day. No sneeze, no cough, no spray. A simple little way

to keep the germs at bay. Keep the germs at bay. It's all about the mask. No trouble. No trouble.