Of toxic labs and (maybe) leaky labs
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It’s only Wednesday, and it’s already turning out to be a busy and newsworthy week.
My post yesterday about the toxic climate in the Walter Jetz biodiversity and ecology lab at Yale has gone viral, as they say, generating the most Twitter views and the most views of a “Words for the Wise” post since I started both venues (I’ve been on Twitter since 2008, so that seems remarkable to me.)
This may be partly because of the lab’s close association with the late E.O. Wilson; and also, I suspect, because when long-standing abuses finally see the light of day—and the possibility that something might finally be done about them materializes—that understandingly attracts a lot of attention.
I expect to be updating the Jetz story soon, because in the past 48 hours a number of researchers have contacted me with their own stories. It also turns out that Yale has known about Jetz’s alleged bullying behavior pretty much since he first came to the university nearly 15 years ago, but has done nothing about it. Stay tuned.
(Note: April 5, at 1:35 PM, this story now includes an important update showing that Yale has known about Jetz’s toxic behavior since at least 2011.)
Meanwhile, my continuing coverage of the Covid-19 origins controversy has intensified this week, with two new posts:
— A two-hour interview with Frank Sweeny of the “Straight Talk MD” podcast about how the media has covered, or failed to properly cover, the Covid origins debate (please forgive my raspy voice due to recovering from bronchitis, although Frank said it made me sound like Kim Carnes.)
— A somewhat more sedate piece on the same topic by me in Quill, the magazine of the Society of Professional Journalists—the most important organization of journalists in the United States. I am particularly gratified to be reaching this critical audience of “influencers.”
As always, my main focus is on how the media is performing, rather than on the ins and outs of the two competing hypotheses for Covid origins, lab origin vs. zoonotic spillover. (While I personally “lean” lab leak based on the evidence I have seen, there is no definite proof for either side.) But clearly we are seeing a shift in the conversation, and the media coverage is beginning to reflect that, in bursts and starts.
I hope regular readers of this newsletter will have noticed that I am trying hard to post more often, on a variety of subjects. In some ways this newsletter violates all the advice the Substack people give to contributors, ie, to stay focused on one topic and build a “brand” that way. Instead I pretty much write what I want and hope that folks will want to read it—always a risky prospect, I agree!
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I do not expect to ever generate much income from this site. But a little bit does help me continue to put the considerable work into these posts that they require, which also means setting aside paying freelance work to devote a little time each week to “Words for the Wise.”
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Have a good day, and back soon with updates on the Jetz affair and other burning issues.
all best, Michael