All respiratory pandemics follow a script, one that's as much social and political as it is medical or epidemiological, says Yale sociologist and medical doctor Nicholas Christakis, who has just released a new paperback edition of his authoritative book, Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live (Little, Brown Spark).
"A plague of this kind has been seen as a national security threat by right-wing and left-wing administrations for decades," Christakis says. "Yet I saw nothing to prepare us." Misinformation has been spread by pundits and politicians who seem more interested in pushing ideology than science. That's why Christakis says the best way forward is through robust debate in the public square. In November, Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Christakis about these ideas.
