#436 — A Crisis of Trust

Sam Harris speaks with Michael Osterholm about his new book, The
Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics. They
discuss the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the major
mistakes made in the public health response—including lockdowns,
school closures, and border policies—the science of airborne
versus droplet transmission, the promise and controversy of mRNA
vaccines, the reality of vaccine adverse events, the
politicization of vaccine hesitancy, and the erosion of
scientific institutions like the CDC and HHS under the Trump
administration. Looking forward, they explore the characteristics
of a future, more deadly pandemic—what Osterholm calls “The Big
One”—and what we should be doing to prepare for it.


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