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More from @juliettekayyem

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Apr 15

On the #BostonMarathon weekend, and 9 years after the terror attack, I am again reminded about the misleading nature of #BostonStrong. From reporting for THE DEVIL NEVER SLEEPS, a new story on what strong really means. 1/

I'll be blunt: #bostonstrong gives the false impression that disaster response is about some mood, the Irish blood, the Ortiz "this is our f--king city" attitude. I know why we need that kind of swagger. But it hides something more complicated, tactical. 2/

I've written before about measuring success after the bombings. Tragically, 3 died at the finish line. But given the investments in training, pivoting, the moment of the "boom" tactics, 281 sent to 26 hospitals in 3 states did not die. 3/

Read 12 tweets

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Apr 12

@cnn

From the start, NYPD says no ongoing threat and no terrorism. That is super early to say, so based on my experience, that means they know suspect and he is known to them for reasons not related to terrorism. @cnn

Again, something can be absolutely terrifying but not be terror because no political link. NYPD is talking "mass shooting" and not terror. Is this good? No, of course not but just suggests where this is heading.

My BIG question is all training of a mass transportation attack is to immediately stop everything from moving. How did suspect escape? Trains should have stopped as well.

Read 4 tweets

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Mar 28

@HarvardBiz

In advance of Tuesday's release of THE DEVIL NEVER SLEEPS: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters, an excerpt from Harvard Business Review about designing for preparedness. @HarvardBiz 1/
hbr.org/2022/03/design…

The book is for all audiences as it hopes to capture what we can learn from the history of disasters. I find their common features, not unique ones. The "devil" in the title is agnostic to what kind of harm or "boom": cyber, pandemic, terror, natural disasters, etc. 2/

One key solution is how we design, or build, for the devil's arrival. An example here is from the corporate world where Chief Security Officers compete with Chief Information Security Officers who now compete with new Chief Medical Officers, etc etc. This is unsustainable. 3/

Read 5 tweets

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Mar 16

@TheAtlantic

Thrilled to introduce you to "The Devil Never Sleeps" with excerpt in @TheAtlantic. "By treating catastrophes as inevitable, communities are more likely to survive them." Rock warnings, a nuclear meltdown, and the facility near Fukushima that survived. 1/
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

@public_affairs

The book, out on 3/29, took about a year to write for @public_affairs, but it has been in my head for many more. It doesn't blame or express shock; it takes harms as a given. It examines through centuries of tragedy what we might learn today from all the tragedies before. 2/

So much of disaster discourse is spent on the past (why did this happen?) or future (how can we build stronger?). We focus on before and after. But we are here, now and we can make this tragic moment a little less so by learning from common attributes of all disasters. 3/

Read 6 tweets

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Feb 25

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1496922073913970701

Exactly! A lot of security experts, using this platform to terrify, schooled me yesterday on my innocence about Putin. Maybe. Trust though I know something about nuclear disasters, force protection and I can read maps. 1/

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1496922073913970701

As between a fire fight in Chernobyl and one not there, I’d prefer the latter. But the suggestion that Russia’s actions there had no other possible explanation but nuclear threat was scary to many, including my mom. 2/

I have failed on this platform (spectacularly at times, my goodness) by forgetting that those of us with an expertise don’t need to prove it, make ourselves relevant by showing how scary things can be. Maybe our role is to also put things in perspective. 3/

Read 5 tweets

Juliette Kayyem

@juliettekayyem

Feb 12

"FRANK, WE LOST THE A FEED."
In honor of the big game, follow along for a story about Superbowl XLVII, Beyonce and the famous 2013 blackout at the New Orleans Superdome. From my forthcoming book "The Devil Never Sleeps," the half dark stadium was actually a planning success. 1/

I dont need to explain what the Superdome represented during Hurricane Katrina. By 2013, hosting the Superbowl in that same place and city was a public celebration, a recovery party. The "Harbaugh Bowl" (opposing coaches were brothers) was going to bring good news to NOLA. 2/