Morning Book Club (Dec. 10)

On December 10, Morning Book Club discussed The Big One, How We Must Prepare for Future Pandemics, written by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH and Mark Olshaker. Olsterholm, a world famous epidemiologist and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, is well known in Minnesota and the Twin Cities, as well as nationally.  Mark Olshaker is a a journalist, documentary film maker, and author.

The Big One is Osterholm's opinion of why there will be another major pandemic, what that pandemic might be like, and what should be done to prepare for it. The book includes a history of pandemics; a detailed report on how the U.S. dealt with Covid 19; and Osterholm’s advice on what we should do to prepare for future pandemics.  The book is analytical, detailed, and held together by a hypothetical story of a future pandemic, one caused by a highly contagious, airborne virus “with wings” and a significant mortality rate, the kind of virus that Osterholm thinks may cause the next great pandemic. 

Osterholm includes a comprehensive analysis of the mistakes he thinks were made throughout the height of the Covid pandemic; discusses what was useful and not useful; recommends future actions; and then explains in detail the many obstacles to implementing those recommendations.

Our book club noticed that Osterholm is critical of almost everyone involved in our national Covid response, including people throughout our public health system, the government, and the media. Issues discussed included the difficulty of effectively communicating to the public at a time when everyone was still learning about the virus. We experienced a lack of accurate information, politicized government communications, as well as an increase in public misunderstanding and opposition to public health recommendations (e.g. masks) and the vaccine.  

Our group discussed lack of trust as a major obstacle in preparing for the next pandemic. Covid impacted our country significantly, leaving us to deal with an increased loss of trust in our institutions, including government at all levels, and in the public health sector.  There is increased reluctance to believe or accept public health recommendations and vaccines. Moreover, the current administration is openly hostile to public health and purposely destroying the public health infrastructure we relied on to fight pandemics. It may be some time, if ever, before there is a desire to rebuild and prepare for the next pandemic.

The next book will be Coming Up Short; A Memoir of my America, by Robert B. Reich.  We will talk about it at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 at the Highland Library, 1974 Ford Parkway.