-
Uncontrolled Spread
- Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.29
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
New York Times best seller
“Uncontrolled Spread is everything you’d hope: a smart and insightful account of what happened and, currently, the best guide to what needs to be done to avoid a future pandemic." (Wall Street Journal)
“Informative and well paced.” (The Guardian)
“An intense ride through the pandemic with chilling details of what really happened. It is also sprinkled with notes of true wisdom that may help all of us better prepare for the future.” (Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNNP)
Physician and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb asks: Has America’s COVID-19 catastrophe taught us anything?
In Uncontrolled Spread, he shows how the coronavirus and its variants were able to trounce America’s pandemic preparations, and he outlines the steps that must be taken to protect against the next outbreak. As the pandemic unfolded, Gottlieb was in regular contact with all the key players in Congress, the Trump administration, and the drug and diagnostic industries. He provides an inside account of how level after level of American government crumbled as the COVID-19 crisis advanced.
A system-wide failure across government institutions left the nation blind to the threat, and unable to mount an effective response. We’d prepared for the wrong virus. We failed to identify the contagion early enough and became overly reliant on costly and sometimes divisive tactics that couldn’t fully slow the spread. We never considered asymptomatic transmission and we assumed people would follow public health guidance. Key bureaucracies like the CDC were hidebound and outmatched. Weak political leadership aggravated these woes. We didn’t view a public health disaster as a threat to our national security.
Many of the woes sprung from the CDC, which has very little real-time reporting capability to inform us of COVID’s twists and turns or assess our defenses. The agency lacked an operational capacity and mindset to mobilize the kind of national response that was needed. To guard against future pandemic risks, we must remake the CDC and properly equip it to better confront crises. We must also get our intelligence services more engaged in the global public health mission, to gather information and uncover emerging risks before they hit our shores so we can head them off. For this role, our clandestine agencies have tools and capabilities that the CDC lacks.
Uncontrolled Spread argues we must fix our systems and prepare for a deadlier coronavirus variant, a flu pandemic, or whatever else nature - or those wishing us harm - may threaten us with. Gottlieb outlines policies and investments that are essential to prepare the United States and the world for future threats.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Lessons from the Covid War
- An Investigative Report
- By: COVID Crisis Group
- Narrated by: Derek Shetterly
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our national leaders have drifted into treating the pandemic as though it were an unavoidable natural catastrophe, repeating a depressing cycle of panic followed by neglect. So a remarkable group of practitioners and scholars from many backgrounds came together determined to discover and learn lessons from this latest world war. Lessons from the COVID War is plain-spoken and clear sighted. It cuts through the enormous jumble of information to make some sense of it all and answer: What just happened to us, and why? And how, next time, could we do better? Because there will be a next time.
-
-
Great, but more is needed...
- By Michael on 06-28-23
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Silent Invasion
- The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late
- By: Deborah Birx
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx—a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations—was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she’d been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public—from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans.
-
-
Great insight into Public Health
- By Ann-Karen Weller on 05-09-22
By: Deborah Birx
-
Preventable
- The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response
- By: Andy Slavitt
- Narrated by: Bradley Whitford
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From former head of Obamacare Andy Slavitt, Preventable is the definitive inside account of the United States' failed response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Slavitt chronicles what he saw and how much could have been prevented - an unflinching investigation of the cultural, political, and economic drivers that led to unnecessary loss of life.
-
-
Right, Left, or Center.... every American needs to read this book
- By Family account on 06-19-21
By: Andy Slavitt
-
The Premonition
- A Pandemic Story
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about. Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’ taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.
-
-
Why not Michael Lewis?
- By Brian on 05-04-21
By: Michael Lewis
-
The Plague Year
- America in the Time of COVID
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, and the pandemic novel The End of October: an unprecedented, momentous account of Covid-19 - its origins, its wide-ranging repercussions, and the ongoing global fight to contain it.
-
-
Balanced Account of a Horrible Year
- By C. Emerson Thompson on 07-14-21
By: Lawrence Wright
-
Lessons from the Covid War
- An Investigative Report
- By: COVID Crisis Group
- Narrated by: Derek Shetterly
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our national leaders have drifted into treating the pandemic as though it were an unavoidable natural catastrophe, repeating a depressing cycle of panic followed by neglect. So a remarkable group of practitioners and scholars from many backgrounds came together determined to discover and learn lessons from this latest world war. Lessons from the COVID War is plain-spoken and clear sighted. It cuts through the enormous jumble of information to make some sense of it all and answer: What just happened to us, and why? And how, next time, could we do better? Because there will be a next time.
-
-
Great, but more is needed...
- By Michael on 06-28-23
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Silent Invasion
- The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late
- By: Deborah Birx
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx—a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations—was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she’d been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public—from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans.
-
-
Great insight into Public Health
- By Ann-Karen Weller on 05-09-22
By: Deborah Birx
-
Preventable
- The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response
- By: Andy Slavitt
- Narrated by: Bradley Whitford
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From former head of Obamacare Andy Slavitt, Preventable is the definitive inside account of the United States' failed response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Slavitt chronicles what he saw and how much could have been prevented - an unflinching investigation of the cultural, political, and economic drivers that led to unnecessary loss of life.
-
-
Right, Left, or Center.... every American needs to read this book
- By Family account on 06-19-21
By: Andy Slavitt
-
The Premonition
- A Pandemic Story
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about. Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’ taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.
-
-
Why not Michael Lewis?
- By Brian on 05-04-21
By: Michael Lewis
-
The Plague Year
- America in the Time of COVID
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, and the pandemic novel The End of October: an unprecedented, momentous account of Covid-19 - its origins, its wide-ranging repercussions, and the ongoing global fight to contain it.
-
-
Balanced Account of a Horrible Year
- By C. Emerson Thompson on 07-14-21
By: Lawrence Wright
-
The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
-
-
Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
-
Justice Is Coming
- How Progressives Are Going to Take Over the Country and America Is Going to Love It
- By: Cenk Uygur
- Narrated by: Cenk Uygur
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The media can't stop talking about the gridlock in Washington, as if a handful of stubborn Republicans are the only thing standing between us and a fully-functional democracy. The reality is that our government was taken over by big business and their allies in both political parties. The getaway driver in this heist was corporate media. The good news is that the American people are very progressive. And soon progressives will take over Washington as well! And when they do, the great majority of Americans will love it.
-
-
Much better than expected
- By Tracy B on 09-23-23
By: Cenk Uygur
-
A Plague upon Our House
- My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America
- By: Scott W. Atlas MD
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Dr. Scott W. Atlas was tapped by Donald Trump to join his COVID Task Force, he was immediately thrust into a maelstrom of scientific disputes, policy debates, raging egos, politically motivated lies, and cynical media manipulation. Numerous myths and distortions surround the Trump Administration’s handling of the crisis, and many pressing questions remain unanswered.
-
-
Love it- hate it!
- By Chuck Weinberg on 12-01-21
-
Viral
- The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
- By: Matt Ridley, Alina Chan
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A new virus descended on the human species in 2019 wreaking unprecedented havoc. Nearly two years into the pandemic, the crucial mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not only unresolved but has deepened. In this uniquely insightful book, a scientist and a writer join forces to try to get to the bottom of how a virus whose closest relations live in bats in subtropical southern China somehow managed to begin spreading among people more than 1,500 kilometers away in the city of Wuhan.
-
-
A pivotal work in search of truth around the Covid19 virus in a world where facts got downgraded in favour of politics
- By Pal on 11-25-21
By: Matt Ridley, and others
-
Deadliest Enemy
- Our War Against Killer Germs
- By: Michael T. Osterholm, Mark Olshaker, Michael T. Osterholm PhD MPH
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan - before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
-
-
Topical treatise on virus flu pandemics
- By Wayne on 03-15-20
By: Michael T. Osterholm, and others
-
How to Prevent the Next Pandemic
- By: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over. But even as governments around the world try to get it under control, they’re also starting to talk about what happens next. How can we prevent another pandemic from killing millions of people and devastating the global economy? Can we even hope to accomplish this? Bill Gates believes the answer is yes, and he has written a largely upbeat book that lays out clearly and convincingly what the world should learn from COVID-19, explains the science of fighting pandemics, and suggests what all of us can do to help prevent another one.
-
-
excellent in-depth review of pandemics
- By Do42 on 05-21-22
By: Bill Gates
-
The Real Anthony Fauci
- Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health
- By: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Narrated by: Bruce Wagner
- Length: 27 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Real Anthony Fauci details how Fauci, Gates, and their cohorts use their control of media outlets, scientific journals, key government and quasi-governmental agencies, global intelligence agencies, and influential scientists and physicians to flood the public with fearful propaganda about COVID-19 virulence and pathogenesis, and to muzzle debate and ruthlessly censor dissent.
-
-
Could be shorter
- By Evan Snow on 01-03-22
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
The Code Breaker
- Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.
-
-
Except for the author, this book is good!
- By Johan on 03-14-21
By: Walter Isaacson
-
World War C
- Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One
- By: Sanjay Gupta MD, Kristin Loberg - contributor
- Narrated by: Sanjay Gupta MD
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As America’s favorite frontline Covid-19 health journalist, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has barely left his primetime seat in his makeshift studio basement since the pandemic began (other than to perform brain surgery). He’s had insider access to the drama’s unfolding, including exclusive conversations with the world’s top public health experts and behind-the-scenes scientists racing to find treatments and cures.
-
-
Thank you Dr. Gupta!!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-06-21
By: Sanjay Gupta MD, and others
-
This Will Not Pass
- Trump, Biden and the Battle for American Democracy
- By: Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the authoritative, “deeply reported” (The Wall Street Journal) account of an eighteen-month crisis in American democracy that will be seared into the country’s political memory for decades to come. With stunning, in-the-room detail, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns show how both our political parties confronted a series of national traumas, including the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the political brinksmanship of President Biden’s first year in the White House.
-
-
Ammerca's Futura does Not included Trump
- By K. Lilja-King on 05-12-22
By: Jonathan Martin, and others
-
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning
- Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
- By: Peter Zeihan
- Narrated by: Peter Zeihan
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it. America made that happen, but now America has lost interest in keeping it going.
-
-
Everyone dies except Americans
- By preetam on 06-22-22
By: Peter Zeihan
Related to this topic
-
Panic Attack
- Playing Politics with Science in the Fight Against COVID-19
- By: Nicole Saphier
- Narrated by: Nicole Saphier
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical doctor and national bestselling author of Make America Healthy Again Nicole Saphier reveals how politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic has baffled the public by creating distrust, fueling conspiracy theories, and making it harder for Americans to understand the necessary path forward. The pandemic has resulted in a failure of government, much of which is unavoidable in a unique disaster scenario. However, the rampant politicization of science has hopelessly muddied the water and knee-jerk anti-Trumpism made it all worse.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By K. Green on 07-29-21
By: Nicole Saphier
-
Silent Invasion
- The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late
- By: Deborah Birx
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx—a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations—was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she’d been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public—from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans.
-
-
Great insight into Public Health
- By Ann-Karen Weller on 05-09-22
By: Deborah Birx
-
Presidential Takedown
- How Anthony Fauci, the CDC, NIH, and the WHO Conspired to Overthrow President Trump
- By: Dr. Paul Elias Alexander, Kent Heckenlively
- Narrated by: Bob Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2020, Donald Trump was on the fast track to an easy re-election. While his first two years had been stymied by House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Democrats, his third year had been one of remarkable success. The United States had low unemployment and was making strides across the globe. The president's rallies were well-attended, and he was being projected to win four hundred electoral votes and about forty-five states. Then came COVID-19.
-
-
Must listen!!
- By Christina Borkowski on 01-10-23
By: Dr. Paul Elias Alexander, and others
-
Influenza
- The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
- By: Dr. Jeremy Brown
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the 100th anniversary of the devastating pandemic of 1918, Jeremy Brown, a veteran ER doctor, explores the troubling, terrifying, and complex history of the flu virus, from the origins of the Great Flu that killed millions, to vexing questions such as: are we prepared for the next epidemic, should you get a flu shot, and how close are we to finding a cure?
-
-
Important read
- By Kathryn C. on 12-21-18
By: Dr. Jeremy Brown
-
Until Proven Safe
- The History and Future of Quarantine
- By: Nicola Twilley, Geoff Manaugh
- Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarantine is our most powerful response to uncertainty: it means waiting to see if something hidden inside us will be revealed. It is also one of our most dangerous, operating through an assumption of guilt. In quarantine, we are considered infectious until proven safe. Until Proven Safe tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space - from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC.
-
-
Excellent writing, timely and informative
- By MSE on 07-24-21
By: Nicola Twilley, and others
-
Germs
- Biological Weapons and America's Secret War
- By: Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, William Broad
- Narrated by: Murphy Guyer
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three New York Times reporters uncover the truth about biological weapons. In a frightening and unforgettable narrative of cutting-edge science and spycraft, Germs reconstructs the former Soviet and Iraqi germ warfare programs, and how they affected U.S. policy. "Chilling," says Booklist.
-
-
Should be called "Beltway Dollars"
- By G. Spence on 07-14-15
By: Judith Miller, and others
-
Panic Attack
- Playing Politics with Science in the Fight Against COVID-19
- By: Nicole Saphier
- Narrated by: Nicole Saphier
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical doctor and national bestselling author of Make America Healthy Again Nicole Saphier reveals how politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic has baffled the public by creating distrust, fueling conspiracy theories, and making it harder for Americans to understand the necessary path forward. The pandemic has resulted in a failure of government, much of which is unavoidable in a unique disaster scenario. However, the rampant politicization of science has hopelessly muddied the water and knee-jerk anti-Trumpism made it all worse.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By K. Green on 07-29-21
By: Nicole Saphier
-
Silent Invasion
- The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late
- By: Deborah Birx
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx—a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations—was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she’d been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public—from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans.
-
-
Great insight into Public Health
- By Ann-Karen Weller on 05-09-22
By: Deborah Birx
-
Presidential Takedown
- How Anthony Fauci, the CDC, NIH, and the WHO Conspired to Overthrow President Trump
- By: Dr. Paul Elias Alexander, Kent Heckenlively
- Narrated by: Bob Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 2020, Donald Trump was on the fast track to an easy re-election. While his first two years had been stymied by House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Democrats, his third year had been one of remarkable success. The United States had low unemployment and was making strides across the globe. The president's rallies were well-attended, and he was being projected to win four hundred electoral votes and about forty-five states. Then came COVID-19.
-
-
Must listen!!
- By Christina Borkowski on 01-10-23
By: Dr. Paul Elias Alexander, and others
-
Influenza
- The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
- By: Dr. Jeremy Brown
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the 100th anniversary of the devastating pandemic of 1918, Jeremy Brown, a veteran ER doctor, explores the troubling, terrifying, and complex history of the flu virus, from the origins of the Great Flu that killed millions, to vexing questions such as: are we prepared for the next epidemic, should you get a flu shot, and how close are we to finding a cure?
-
-
Important read
- By Kathryn C. on 12-21-18
By: Dr. Jeremy Brown
-
Until Proven Safe
- The History and Future of Quarantine
- By: Nicola Twilley, Geoff Manaugh
- Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarantine is our most powerful response to uncertainty: it means waiting to see if something hidden inside us will be revealed. It is also one of our most dangerous, operating through an assumption of guilt. In quarantine, we are considered infectious until proven safe. Until Proven Safe tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space - from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC.
-
-
Excellent writing, timely and informative
- By MSE on 07-24-21
By: Nicola Twilley, and others
-
Germs
- Biological Weapons and America's Secret War
- By: Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, William Broad
- Narrated by: Murphy Guyer
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three New York Times reporters uncover the truth about biological weapons. In a frightening and unforgettable narrative of cutting-edge science and spycraft, Germs reconstructs the former Soviet and Iraqi germ warfare programs, and how they affected U.S. policy. "Chilling," says Booklist.
-
-
Should be called "Beltway Dollars"
- By G. Spence on 07-14-15
By: Judith Miller, and others
-
COVID: The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science
- By: Marc Siegel MD
- Narrated by: Peter Van Norden
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
COVID-19 has stolen our security and our nation's peace of mind. There is a pandemic virus as well as a crippling epidemic of fear sweeping America. Why? The answer, according to nationally renowned health commentator Dr. Marc Siegel, is that we already lived in an artificially created culture of fear that was just waiting to be unleashed. In COVID: The Politics of Fear and the Power of Science, Siegel identifies three major catalysts of the culture of fear - government, the media, and our own psyche.
-
-
Informative and well sourced
- By A. Powers on 10-12-21
By: Marc Siegel MD
-
The HPV Vaccine on Trial
- Seeking Justice for a Generation Betrayed
- By: Mary Holland, Kim Mack Rosenberg, Eileen Iorio
- Narrated by: Caroline Slaughter
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancer strikes fear in people’s hearts around globe. So the appearance of a vaccine to prevent cancer - as we are assured the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will - seemed like a game-changer. Since 2006, over 80 countries have approved the vaccine, with glowing endorsements from the world’s foremost medical authorities. Bringing in over $2.5 billion in annual sales, the HPV vaccine is a pharmaceutical juggernaut. Yet scandal now engulfs it worldwide. The HPV Vaccine on Trial is a shocking tale, chronicling the global efforts to sell and compel this alleged miracle.
-
-
Outstanding Investigative Book!
- By Barbara Loeppke on 10-02-19
By: Mary Holland, and others
-
Warnings
- Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes
- By: Richard A. Clarke, R.P. Eddy
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Warnings is the story of the future of national security, threatening technologies, the US economy, and possibly the fate of civilization. In Greek mythology Cassandra foresaw calamities, but was cursed by the gods to be ignored. Modern-day Cassandras clearly predicted the disasters of Katrina, Fukushima, the Great Recession, the rise of ISIS, and many more. Like the mythological Cassandra, they were ignored. There are others right now warning of impending disasters, but how do we know which warnings are likely to be right?
-
-
On prediction, catastrophe and mitigation
- By S. Yates on 02-28-18
By: Richard A. Clarke, and others
-
A Shot to Save the World
- The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine
- By: Gregory Zuckerman
- Narrated by: Jack Armstrong
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few were ready when a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, China, in January 2020. Politicians, government officials, business leaders, and public-health professionals were unprepared for the most devastating pandemic in a century. Many of the world’s biggest drug and vaccine makers were slow to react or couldn’t muster an effective response. It was up to a small group of unlikely and untested scientists and executives to save civilization.
-
-
Wow! Do not miss this one.
- By Jacob on 11-18-21
-
A Crack in Creation
- Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
- By: Jennifer A. Doudna, Samuel H. Sternberg
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR - a revolutionary new technology that she helped create - to make heritable changes in human embryos.
-
-
In to the abyss we ascend, a scary future
- By Philomath on 06-17-17
By: Jennifer A. Doudna, and others
-
The Antidote
- Inside the World of New Pharma
- By: Barry Werth
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1989, the charismatic Joshua Boger left Merck, then America's most admired business, to found a drug company that would challenge industry giants and transform health care. Barry Werth described the company's tumultuous early days during the AIDS crisis in The Billion-Dollar Molecule, a celebrated classic of science and business journalism. Now he returns to tell a riveting story of Vertex's bold endurance and eventual success.
-
-
For me this was not interesting
- By Yan on 06-26-17
By: Barry Werth
-
Resilience
- Why Things Bounce Back
- By: Andrew Zolli, Ann Marie Healy
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Katrina. Haiti. BP. Fukushima. The Great Recession. Those are just a few of the catastrophic disruptions the world has endured in recent years. As we try to respond to such crises, key questions arise: What causes one system to break under great stress and another to rebound? How much change can a complex system absorb while still retaining its purpose and function? What characteristics make it adaptive to change? Provocative and eye-opening, Resilience sheds light on the nature of change.
-
-
Totally Misleading Title
- By Doug on 07-18-12
By: Andrew Zolli, and others
-
Between Hope and Fear
- A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity
- By: Michael Kinch
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between Hope and Fear tells the remarkable story of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases and their social and political implications. While detailing the history of vaccine invention, Michael Kinch reveals the ominous reality that our victories against vaccine-preventable diseases are not permanent - and could easily be undone. Between Hope and Fear relates the remarkable intersection of science, technology, and disease that has helped eradicate many of the deadliest plagues known to man.
-
-
Enjoyed
- By Minsi Zhang on 05-03-20
By: Michael Kinch
-
Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster
- By: Susan Stranahan, David Lochbaum, The Union of Concerned Scientists, and others
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake large enough to knock the earth from its axis sent a massive tsunami speeding toward the Japanese coast and the aging and vulnerable Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power reactors. Over the following weeks, the world watched in horror as a natural disaster became a man-made catastrophe: fail-safes failed, cooling systems shut down, nuclear rods melted.
-
-
Internal workings of the NRC
- By Eduards J. Vucins on 05-11-14
By: Susan Stranahan, and others
-
Viruses, Plagues, and History
- Past, Present, and Future
- By: Michael B. A. Oldstone
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses. For this revised edition, Oldstone includes discussions of new viruses like SARS, bird flu, virally caused cancers, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile. Viruses, Plagues, and History paints a sweeping portrait of humanity's long-standing conflict with our unseen viral enemies.
-
-
very detailed, but very statistical
- By ekhensel15 on 01-12-19
-
Red Team
- How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy
- By: Micah Zenko
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Red teaming. It is a practice as old as the Devil's Advocate, the 11th-century Vatican official charged with discrediting candidates for sainthood. Today, red teams - comprised primarily of fearless skeptics and those assuming the role of saboteurs who seek to better understand the interests, intentions, and capabilities of institutions or potential competitors - are used widely in both the public and private sector.
-
-
Repetitive
- By Pax S Whitmore on 07-12-16
By: Micah Zenko
-
Denialism
- How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives
- By: Michael Specter
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter has twice won the Global Health Council’s Excellence in Media Award, as well as the Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Denialism, he fervently argues that people are turning away from new technologies and engaging in a kind of magical thinking that is hindering scientific progress.
-
-
A compelling read
- By S on 05-17-11
By: Michael Specter
What listeners say about Uncontrolled Spread
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bbneo
- 01-10-22
A must read... CDC is incompetent and corrupt
For an agency that is charged with public health recommendations, the CDC has been REPEATEDLY incompetent and corrupt at every crisis. This is a must read... also read Robert Kennedy's "The Real Dr. Anthony Fauci"
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- john sprissler
- 11-08-21
Excellent
This was an excellent look back on the causes effects and management of Covid 19.
The responses of Trump administration. The lack of Global compassion is a sad testimony to our times.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James Highlands
- 09-25-21
A look behind the curtain
This book pulls back the curtain on how poorly the CDC operates. While much of the information presented is publicly available, assembling it would require a significant effort. Anyone who has an opinion about masks, vaccine, or the pandemic needs to read this book.
An excellent examination of Covid-19 and how it evolved in the United States and the world.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve from Tucson
- 10-17-21
Scott Gottieb’s scared the Hell out of me!
His book lays out the background of the CoVid19 Pandemic, warts and all. Gottlieb an MD and former head of the CDC brings an insiders view of what really happened to us as a country. I will not give any spoilers but there is hardly a section of the book that doesn’t reveal the mistakes that were being made and why they happened, even naming those responsible. This book should be required reading for all thinking Americans. I’ll end this teaser review with the fact no one wants to say out loud too many people have died, more are going to die and it could have been controlled. It’s an important guide of what should have been done but wasn’t and a guide of how to handle the next pandemic. Americans prefer to keep their heads buried in the sand, if we don’t look at it then nothing bad will happen. Wake up everyone, read this book and if it doesn’t win a Pulitzer Prize then the government fixes the selection. Thank you by Scott for your insight. What a roller coaster of a read. Simply the best I’ve come across!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- B. Seltzer
- 10-17-21
Excellent book from a calm, centrist expert
A good look into the major government and science issues of the pandemic. It is an accessible overview from an expert who, it seems to me, has consistently tried to convey a calm, reasoned public health message outside of the hyper political froth of what passes for public discourse these days.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JMR
- 08-13-22
Very good read
I followed Dr. Gottlieb after his very interesting daily updates on CNBC. I used his input to help make decisions regarding my business and couldn't wait to read the book. It's sad to read that various Governmental Organizations behaved so badly and without a common purpose, but not surprising. I wonder if one day we can change this or if it's just the normal human condition. I highly recommend this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SCB
- 11-03-21
Very informative
Hope someone in a position to effect change will read this and actually create a plan for responding to the next chrisis.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ceallaigh74
- 01-11-22
Must read for those sincerely interested
This is one of those books that everyone should (or needs) to read. It is equal parts fascinating and infuriating. It is clear from the book that the failures during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were legion, cannot be pinned solely to any particular officials or organizations. This book should be a wake-up that we need to take a serious look at operational aspects of our public health apparatus, and how we communicate public health information and data with both domestic audiences and international partners. If you are of the opinion that the problems during the pandemic can be pinned on specific people or organizations you are probably correct. The target of your ire likely deserves their share of blame. However, you’d be equally incorrect in shifting too much blame toward that same target. At nearly every inflection point during the pandemic there were missteps or outright failures, at all levels. Some of them occurred before anyone in the U.S. was even aware of COVID-19. Some occurred in the earliest days of U.S. awareness while others persisted for weeks and months.
For those sincerely interested in understanding what went wrong, this is the book you should read. Understanding the entire, complex picture is vital to fixing the problems that exacerbated the pandemic. Focusing only on specific individuals, groups or policies, and ignoring the multitude of other factors is a sure fire way to assure the next pandemic hits us just as hard, and is just as crippling.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Byron Cohen
- 12-06-21
Very insightful
This is an insightful, fair-minded account of many of the policy and operational failures that left the US so vulnerable to COVID-19. My main criticism is that Dr. Gottlieb seems to focus on the very real mistakes made by the CDC to the exclusion of other important mistakes made by the FDA, the White House, state governors and legislators, and Congress.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Gillern
- 01-12-22
Scott G
Excellent analysis. Most went over my limited scientific knowledge. Worth being stretched. Well done Scott
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!