A weekly diary covering the threat of pneumonic plague, a botched execution in the US, the Conservative party conference, Anne Carson's Nobel prize in literature, and a new Elon Musk documentary.
Plague fears and a sense of proportion
A friend who is a medic texted to ask if anyone was worried about pneumonic plague, following reports of a 28-year-old Russian woman who died while working at a plague research lab in Siberia. The short news item, relying on details from the Russian state, hinted at a lab-grown disease escaping into the general population, eight hours' flying time from London.
The writer recalled a previous incident where a man exposed to Ebola took the subway to go bowling in Brooklyn, but concluded that post-Covid, the current situation feels worse. The New York Times attempted to contextualise the various types of plague, noting that pneumonic plague is the most virulent, spread by cough or sneeze and causing a severe lung infection that can kill within days. The medic friend's advice was to get antibiotics for everyone, or invest in a sense of proportion.
Botched execution and firing squads
A serious discussion about firing squads is underway in the US after the botched execution of Christa Pike, a convicted murderer on death row in Tennessee who regained consciousness and started talking after the state failed to kill her. This was the second botched execution by the state this year, and one of the apparently 7% of all executions in the US since 1972 that have not been effective, with common reasons including expired drugs, untrained executioners, and malfunctioning electric chairs.
The firing squad is the only method of execution in the US with no failed attempts. For the first time in the US military since 1945, such an execution is due to happen at Fort Hood, Texas, in December, which the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, promised to livestream.
Tory conference and the Kult of Kemi
At the party conference in Birmingham, Kemi Badenoch appeared chipper, referring to the Reform party as "that", as in "we are not uniting with that". The Tory leader presents herself as plain-spoken in contrast with Reform and the Greens. The writer suggests Badenoch strikes them as someone stuck on the gimlet-eyed setting of victory at all costs.
Footage of Young Conservatives partying at conference offered a strong rival for most embarrassing moment to the 30,000-word policy document the Tory leader has self-christened "Kemistry".
Anne Carson wins Nobel prize
Anne Carson has won the Nobel prize for literature. The writer recalls going hiking with Carson in Iceland last year, or more precisely, a short walk up a rocky incline, having known her since they met in Michigan many years ago. A favourite line from Carson's poetry is from the poem Lines in her 2005 collection Decreation: "To my mother / love / of my life, I describe what I had for brunch."
The writer compares the feeling about this line to what Madonna used to say about Frida Kahlo's self-portrait: if you don't feel it vibrate through your system, the writer can't ever really be your friend.
Elon Musk documentary
Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary on Elon Musk launched this week. Pre-publicity focused on contributions from Justine Wilson, Musk's ex-wife, who said: "He was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking." Wilson also told Gibney her ex-husband once said to her: "If you were my employee, I would fire you."
