Status Updates From Breathless: The Scientific ...

"COVID-19 pandemic:
breakthrough cases of, 186
global fatalities of, 168
lack of preparedness for, 3-4, 27, 38, 312
...
political dimension of, 282
rapid global spread of, 76, 91, 114
stock market and, 144-45
Trump's bad advice on, 20, 191, 202-4
uncertainty factor in, 146-47
vaccines for, see vaccines, for COVID-19
wild speculation about origin of, 76-78" (422)

This was the right balance of sciencey facts, history and engaging political drama

Deeper than the typical TV news (e.g. we all get to hear a little bit of what "fauceys emails" were about) but very accessible (e.g. I learned about the viral "spillover")

The puns were attempted, not fun but doesn't take much from the book.

"...best-case scenario, the virus will disappear entirely from that population because it can't find anyone new to infect. That's how smallpox eradication was achieved. The last active smallpox strains in the last few human cases were not killed by antiviral drugs. They died of isolation and loneliness, without leaving offspring." (196)

"On April 28, a day when Brazil's total cases exceeded 73,000 and the death toll passed five thousand, Bolsonaro faced a group of reporters at a barricade, and someone mentioned the numbers. 'So what?' he said with a shrug. 'I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?' Brazilians were so badly served by their president they might as well have had Trump." (180)

Listening to this on audiobook.