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The Big One

How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics

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The Big One Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH

By Mark Olshaker

Read by Peter Ganim

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Sep 2, 2025
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781668632451

Price

$31.99

Format

Format:

  1. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99
  2. ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
  3. Hardcover $30.00 $39.00 CAD

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As bad as Covid-19 was, the next pandemic could be worse—but we have the tools to prepare, as revealed in this urgent, gripping warning by the New York Times bestselling authors of Deadliest Enemy.

The Covid-19 pandemic was the most devastating natural event of the last century, killing more than 7 million people around the globe, straining the fabric of societies internationally, and shaking the foundations of the global economy. And yet, as horrifying as the experience was, Covid-19 was not actually “the Big One” — the dreaded potential pandemic that haunts the nightmares of epidemiologists and public health officials everywhere, and which will alter life across the world on every meaningful level unless we are ready to deal with it. Indeed, even as we learn to live with Covid-19 and continue to recover from its worst effects, the next pandemic is already lurking around the corner—and it may very well be worse.
 
In The Big One, founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker examine past pandemics, highlighting the ways societies both succeeded and failed to address them; trace the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate how it was handled; and look to the future, projecting what the next pandemics might look like and what must be done to mitigate them. Drawing on years of high-level research as well as cutting-edge analysis and an innovative hypothetical scenario threaded throughout each chapter, The Big One is a gripping, comprehensive, and urgent wake-up call. Because Covid-19 was just a taste of what’s to come. If we’re going to survive the next big pandemic, we need to be prepared.
 

Genre:

  • “With his unique blend of knowledge, communications skills, and Midwestern forthrightness, Michael Osterholm has made himself indispensable in the fight to understand and overcome global infections. In The Big One, he marshals this depth and breadth to prepare us for the struggle that surely will come.”
    Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine, and author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science
  • “If there was one person to turn for future pandemic readiness, it would be Michael Osterholm, one of the world’s leading epidemiologists. In The Big One, a landmark book, he, along with Mark Olshaker, provide a remarkably clear-eyed, science-driven, and comprehensive preventive approach.”
    Eric Topol, MD, PhD, author of Deep Medicine and Super Agers
  • “Mike Osterholm is an invaluable expert whose tremendous knowledge and humility also make him a trustworthy guide. In The Big One, Osterholm and Mark Olshaker take us through a tabletop exercise about a highly contagious, airborne virus capable of killing millions. We can only hope those in power heed its guidance.”
    Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, author of Reinventing American Healthcare
  • "Three pandemic viruses have swept across the globe in the last 20 years. There will be another pandemic. The only question is when and how severe. At once thrilling and haunting, The Big One provides a life-saving guide for an inevitable event."
    Paul A. Offit, MD, author of Tell Me When It's Over and Autism’s False Prophets
  • “A riveting warning—and a roadmap. In The Big One, infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm and bestselling author Mark Olshaker deliver a gripping, scientifically grounded account of a plausible—and perhaps inevitable—global crisis. Drawing on decades of experience, they reveal the political, logistical, and human challenges behind pandemic response, and show how we can do better next time. This book is a wake-up call we can't afford to ignore.”
    Governor Michael O. Leavitt, Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • “The Big One is an extraordinary book. It's part thrilling disaster movie script, part insightful history of public health, part personal story. It's also the best after-action report on Covid-19 yet, along with the best advice on how both individuals and government can survive the next one—and there will be a next one. It's a book you won't just read. You'll reread it and learn something new each time.”
    John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza
  • "Osterholm and Olshaker shake us out of our post-COVID complacency to confront the potential for The Big One. Both a warning and a manual, the book provides clear and concise action plans for how we can collectively confront, prepare and respond to other, possibly worse pandemics. It also thoughtfully addresses the many ongoing debates about America's COVID response and shows how the American public may learn to trust again."
    Juliette Kayyem, Former Assistant Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
  • "A vital, compelling read. The next pandemic is inevitable. Preparation is our only option. And there is no one better to show how than the duo of Osterholm and Olshaker."
    Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, author of Being Mortal and The Checklist Manifesto

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Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH

About the Author

Dr. Michael Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. An internationally renowned epidemiologist, he has been at the forefront of public health preparedness, has led many outbreak investigations of international importance, and advises world leaders on the ever-growing list of microbial threats. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Living Terrors. His podcast series, “Osterholm Update: COVID-19,” has been downloaded by more than 8 million listeners.
 
Mark Olshaker is a journalist, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, and a New York Times bestselling author of five novels and twelve books of nonfiction. His books with FBI profiling pioneer John Douglas, including Mindhunter, the basis for the hit Netflix series, have sold millions of copies and offer a unique and intriguing perspective into behavioral science and criminal investigative analysis. He is also the coauthor with Dr. C.J. Peters of Virus Hunter.
 
Together, Dr. Michael Osterholm and Mark Olshaker are the authors of the New York Times bestseller Deadliest Enemy.

Learn more about this author

Mark Olshaker

About the Author

Dr. Michael Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. An internationally renowned epidemiologist, he has been at the forefront of public health preparedness, has led many outbreak investigations of international importance, and advises world leaders on the ever-growing list of microbial threats.

Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and a New York Times #1 bestselling author of five novels and ten books of nonfiction. His books with FBI profiling pioneer John Douglas have sold millions of copies and offer a unique and intriguing perspective into behavioral science and criminal investigative analysis.

Learn more about this author