Book Club: The Premonition — A Pandemic Story

Michael Lewis’s latest book, The Premonition – A Pandemic Story, dives deep into an untold story of how COVID crept up on the US healthcare system, particularly the state and federal agencies that were supposed to be watching and to know what to do. It’s a story of bureaucrats playing it safe while sacrificing our safety, politicians and political appointee leaders who wouldn’t lead. And our former President wasn’t the worst. But it’s mostly the story of a few very brave, very smart, hardworking heroes who rang alarm bells, planned, modeled, refused to follow directives based on bad science, and stood up to the powers that be. Unfortunately, they paid the usual price. Thankfully Lewis has memorialized their stories and their sacrifices. Hopefully this book inspires new public health professionals, it’s on the reading list for my students, and shames the old ones to do the right thing next time.