A warning for this episode - it covers details of a murder and an execution that some might find distressing.

In this episode of Guardian Australia’s US politics podcast, co-hosts Jonathan Yerushalmy and Reged Ahmad examine what happened when the state of Tennessee tried to execute prisoner Christa Pike. They also look at the controversy over taxpayer-funded ads promoting US president Donald Trump, midterm AI attack ads and the Elon Musk-Trump bromance that appears to be back on.

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© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

Gov. Gavin Newsom ramped up talks after a botched execution in Tennessee.

© Max Whittaker for The New York Times

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, will be shot to death on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, where he killed 13 and wounded 32 in 2009.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Her awareness and condition deepen ethical and legal questions after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her for murdering a classmate decades ago.

© Seth Herald/Reuters

Jamaal Howard, 46, executed by fatal dose of pentobarbital after lawyers’ bid for stay had been denied

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday in the first US execution since the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week.

Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 8.03pm after receiving a fatal dose of pentobarbital, a sedative, at the state prison in Huntsville.

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© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

Attorneys say Pike was set to be taken off life support before she woke up, as judge orders officials to preserve evidence

Christa Pike awoke “angry and confused” after surviving two lethal injections, her attorneys said on Wednesday, as a judge ordered Tennessee state officials to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution.

Pike, 50, was taken to hospital unconscious but alive from Tennessee’s execution chamber last Wednesday after two supposedly lethal doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital.

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© Photograph: Dipti Vaidya/IMAGN IMAGES/Reuters Connect

© Photograph: Dipti Vaidya/IMAGN IMAGES/Reuters Connect

© Photograph: Dipti Vaidya/IMAGN IMAGES/Reuters Connect

Christa Pike, a death row inmate who survived the state of Tennessee’s attempt to execute her last week, is conscious and speaking. The 50-year-old is recovering in hospital after surviving two lethal injections in a case that has shocked many in the US and prompted a debate about the death penalty. She was due to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Michael Safi speaks to the chief reporter for Guardian US, Ed Pilkington – watch on YouTube

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

They believe that records of her failed execution in Tennessee will show “incompetent and reckless actions.”

© Denny Simmons/The Tennessean, via Reuters

This blog is now closed. You can read our full story here:

• Judge orders officials to preserve all evidence tied to Christa Pike’s botched execution

Christa Pike’s lawyers said that Pike remains shackled to her hospital bed.

“Based on our understanding, medical staff have asked that the shackles be removed and have been denied that request by [the Tennessee corrections department],” they said, adding: “We would also amend our request and ask for that relief.”

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© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

Jamaal Howard was put to death after courts rejected his lawyers’ requests to delay the execution over concerns about the drug.

© Pat Sullivan/Associated Press

Lawyers seek preservation of evidence after prisoner received two doses of pentobarbital on 30 September

Christa Pike, a Tennessee prisoner who survived the state’s attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment at a hospital, her attorneys said, as they head to court on Wednesday seeking a court order requiring preservation of all evidence relating to the botched exercise by the state.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital, a sedative, as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death last Wednesday in a case that shocked many in America and created headlines around the world. She was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

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© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

© Photograph: J Miles Cary/Reuters

The death row inmate in Tennessee received two doses of a lethal injection drug last week but lived. She was taken from the execution chamber in an ambulance.

© George Walker IV/Associated Press

Tennessee’s unsuccessful attempt to end the life of Christa Pike is spurring more scrutiny over capital punishment techniques, and whether the death penalty should exist at all.

© South Carolina Department of Corrections, via Associated Press

The Pentagon said that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who carried out the deadliest mass shooting at an American military base, would be executed by firing squad.

© Bell County Sheriff's Office

Frank Strada, who oversaw the process that left Christa Pike unconscious and hospitalized, quit as an independent review began.

© Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Frank Strada, who oversaw the process that left Christa Pike unconscious and hospitalized, quit as an independent review begins.

© Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Her legal team had repeatedly warned that her execution could go wrong. On Wednesday, they were proven right.

© Denny Simmons/The Tennessean, via USA Today Network, via Reuters

The failed execution of Christa Pike, which left her clinging to life in Tennessee, was the latest grisly error to take place in an American execution chamber.

© Denny Simmons / The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK, via Reuters

The failed execution of Christa Pike has prompted new scrutiny of Frank Strada, who resigned as the state’s top prison official on Saturday, and his past role overseeing executions in Arizona.

© Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Her condition raises questions about whether Tennessee could attempt to execute her again if she is incapable of understanding what is happening.

© Denny Simmons/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK, via Reuters

Prosecutors want remote testimony for witnesses unable or unwilling to travel to Guantánamo. The defense wants jurors to be told that, guilty or innocent, the defendant will not go free.

© Marisa Schwartz Taylor/The New York Times