
Plagues in the Nation
How Epidemics Shaped America
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lea Greene
-
By:
-
Polly J. Price
About this listen
An expert legal review of the US government’s response to epidemics through history—with larger conclusions about COVID-19, and reforms needed for the next plague
In this narrative history of the US through major outbreaks of contagious disease, from yellow fever to the Spanish flu, from HIV/AIDS to Ebola, Polly J. Price examines how law and government affected the outcome of epidemics—and how those outbreaks in turn shaped our government.
Price presents a fascinating history that has never been fully explored and draws larger conclusions about the gaps in our governmental and legal response. Plagues in the Nation examines how our country learned—and failed to learn—how to address the panic, conflict, and chaos that are the companions of contagion, what policies failed America again and again, and what we must do better next time.
©2022 Polly J. Price (P)2022 Beacon PressListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Divider
- Trump in the White House, 2017-2021
- By: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inside story of the four years when Donald Trump went to war with Washington, from the chaotic beginning to the violent finale, told by revered journalists Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker—an ambitious and lasting history of the full Trump presidency that also contains dozens of exclusive scoops and stories from behind the scenes in the White House, from the absurd to the deadly serious.
-
-
An expertly guided tour through history.
- By Cocoabelle on 09-24-22
By: Peter Baker, and others
-
The Real Anthony Fauci
- Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health
- By: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Narrated by: Bruce Wagner
- Length: 27 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Real Anthony Fauci details how Fauci, Gates, and their cohorts use their control of media outlets, scientific journals, key government and quasi-governmental agencies, global intelligence agencies, and influential scientists and physicians to flood the public with fearful propaganda about COVID-19 virulence and pathogenesis, and to muzzle debate and ruthlessly censor dissent.
-
-
Could be shorter
- By Evan Snow on 01-03-22
-
Deadliest Enemy
- Our War Against Killer Germs
- By: Michael T. Osterholm, Mark Olshaker, Michael T. Osterholm PhD MPH
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan - before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
-
-
Topical treatise on virus flu pandemics
- By Wayne on 03-15-20
By: Michael T. Osterholm, and others
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Pandemia
- How Coronavirus Hysteria Took Over Our Government, Rights, and Lives
- By: Alex Berenson
- Narrated by: Alex Berenson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most important fact about the coronavirus pandemic that turned the world upside down in 2020 is that our response to it has been an epic overreaction driven by a disastrous confluence of public and private interests - all of them purporting to “follow the science”. Since the lockdowns began, millions of Americans have relied on the reporting of Alex Berenson. Exposing the hysteria and manipulation behind the worst failure of public policy since World War I, this clear-eyed journalist has been a critical source of reason and truth.
-
-
Outstanding
- By Robert M on 11-30-21
By: Alex Berenson
-
The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
-
-
Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
-
The Divider
- Trump in the White House, 2017-2021
- By: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inside story of the four years when Donald Trump went to war with Washington, from the chaotic beginning to the violent finale, told by revered journalists Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker—an ambitious and lasting history of the full Trump presidency that also contains dozens of exclusive scoops and stories from behind the scenes in the White House, from the absurd to the deadly serious.
-
-
An expertly guided tour through history.
- By Cocoabelle on 09-24-22
By: Peter Baker, and others
-
The Real Anthony Fauci
- Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health
- By: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Narrated by: Bruce Wagner
- Length: 27 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Real Anthony Fauci details how Fauci, Gates, and their cohorts use their control of media outlets, scientific journals, key government and quasi-governmental agencies, global intelligence agencies, and influential scientists and physicians to flood the public with fearful propaganda about COVID-19 virulence and pathogenesis, and to muzzle debate and ruthlessly censor dissent.
-
-
Could be shorter
- By Evan Snow on 01-03-22
-
Deadliest Enemy
- Our War Against Killer Germs
- By: Michael T. Osterholm, Mark Olshaker, Michael T. Osterholm PhD MPH
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan - before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
-
-
Topical treatise on virus flu pandemics
- By Wayne on 03-15-20
By: Michael T. Osterholm, and others
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Pandemia
- How Coronavirus Hysteria Took Over Our Government, Rights, and Lives
- By: Alex Berenson
- Narrated by: Alex Berenson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most important fact about the coronavirus pandemic that turned the world upside down in 2020 is that our response to it has been an epic overreaction driven by a disastrous confluence of public and private interests - all of them purporting to “follow the science”. Since the lockdowns began, millions of Americans have relied on the reporting of Alex Berenson. Exposing the hysteria and manipulation behind the worst failure of public policy since World War I, this clear-eyed journalist has been a critical source of reason and truth.
-
-
Outstanding
- By Robert M on 11-30-21
By: Alex Berenson
-
The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
-
-
Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
-
A Plague upon Our House
- My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America
- By: Scott W. Atlas MD
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Dr. Scott W. Atlas was tapped by Donald Trump to join his COVID Task Force, he was immediately thrust into a maelstrom of scientific disputes, policy debates, raging egos, politically motivated lies, and cynical media manipulation. Numerous myths and distortions surround the Trump Administration’s handling of the crisis, and many pressing questions remain unanswered.
-
-
Love it- hate it!
- By Chuck Weinberg on 12-01-21
-
And the Band Played On
- Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
- By: Randy Shilts
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 31 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Rock Hudson's death in 1985 alerted all America to the danger of the AIDS epidemic, the disease had spread across the nation, killing thousands of people and emerging as the greatest health crisis of the 20th century. America faced a troubling question: What happened? How was this epidemic allowed to spread so far before it was taken seriously?
-
-
The subtitle says it all!
- By January Johnson on 03-19-13
By: Randy Shilts
-
They Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste
- The Truth About Disaster Liberalism
- By: Jason Chaffetz
- Narrated by: Jason Chaffetz
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The coronavirus has been a disaster for America, but it’s been an unprecedented opportunity for the left. In They Never Let a Crisis Goes to Waste, Jason Chaffetz delves into progressive efforts to leverage crises to force their priorities into law. Whether the crisis is legitimate, fabricated, or exaggerated, the solution is always the same: more government, less individual freedom, higher spending, higher taxes.
-
-
Jason Chaffez
- By David on 04-18-21
By: Jason Chaffetz
-
I Do Not Consent
- My Fight Against Medical Cancel Culture
- By: Simone Gold MD JD
- Narrated by: Torii Alaniz
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bumper-sticker directive to ‘follow the science’ was actually an evasion of responsibility. It let people off the hook for their bad decisions in a crisis. Was New York Governor Cuomo’s executive order sending COVID-hospitalized patients back to nursing homes to infect other vulnerable nursing home patients ‘following the science’? Relative to the total nursing home population, Governor Cuomo contributed to a larger percentage of nursing-home deaths - especially when compared to the states without such a policy.
-
-
A great book for all
- By James S Eastling on 04-13-21
-
Pale Rider
- The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
- By: Laura Spinney
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this gripping narrative history, Laura Spinney traces the overlooked pandemic to reveal how the virus travelled across the globe, exposing mankind's vulnerability and putting our ingenuity to the test. As socially significant as both world wars, the Spanish flu dramatically disrupted - and often permanently altered - global politics, race relations, and family structures while spurring innovation in medicine, religion, and the arts.
-
-
A Predilection for Those in the Prime of Life
- By Cynthia on 02-12-18
By: Laura Spinney
-
We've Got to Try
- How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible
- By: Beto O'Rourke
- Narrated by: Beto O'Rourke
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In We’ve Got To Try, O’Rourke shines a spotlight on the heroic life and work of Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon and the west Texas town where he made his stand. The son of an enslaved man, Nixon grew up in the Confederate stronghold of Marshall, Texas before moving to El Paso, becoming a civil rights leader, and helping to win one of the most significant civil and voting rights victories in American history: the defeat of the all-white primary. His fight for the ballot spanned 20 years and twice took him to the U.S. Supreme Court.
-
-
Powerful, Sobering Raw Truth that inspires
- By Amazon Customer on 09-09-22
By: Beto O'Rourke
-
Good-Bye Germ Theory
- Ending a Century of Medical Fraud
- By: Dr. William P. Trebing
- Narrated by: Charles Geddes
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Good-Bye Germ Theory is a must-listen for all those who love children. It is especially written for parent's education. You will learn pertinent facts about an ever-growing and oppressive medical system that has been rooting itself into the lives of each American for over 75 years. Unlike other books of its kind, Good-Bye Germ Theory attacks the actual core of medical belief which is portrayed as science, but turns out to be more like dogmatic religion.
-
-
Chemically toxic man made concocted deadly soup
- By Jlee on 09-16-20
-
Plandemic: Fear Is the Virus. Truth Is the Cure.
- By: Mikki Willis
- Narrated by: Mikki Willis, Nadia Salamanca, Dr. Judy Mikovits, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
USA Today best seller. The incredible true story of the most banned documentary in history. Researching the controversy arising after the release of the viral phenomenon known as Plandemic, the most seen and censored documentary in history, an investigative journalist sets out to disprove and debunk claims made throughout the film. Instead, the journalist opens a Pandora’s box to witness firsthand an underworld of corruption, lies, and the darkest of unsolved mysteries.
-
-
Well worth the time!
- By Laura on 10-16-22
By: Mikki Willis
-
Bellevue
- Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
- By: David Oshinsky
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Oshinsky, whose last book, Polio: An American Story, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and in so doing also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and quackery to a professional and scientific endeavor, and the growth of a civic institution.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 12-14-16
By: David Oshinsky
-
The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy Unabridged
- How the New World Order, Man-Made Diseases, and Zombie Banks Are Destroying America
- By: Jim Marrs
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New World Order. Hitler referred to it in his diaries. President George H. W. Bush foretold of it in his speeches. Formed by a secretive global elite, the group seeking this new order has taken hold of the nation and perhaps the world. Its influence pervades every reach of American society, from the products we buy at the grocery store to the topics of evening news programs.
-
-
Critical thinkers need not apply
- By Sean on 07-11-10
By: Jim Marrs
-
Final Battle
- The Next Election Could Be the Last
- By: David Horowitz
- Narrated by: Andrew J Pearson
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Final Battle exposes the real threat that Democrats pose to freedom. The rise of socialism and critical race theory, coupled with threats to the Electoral College and Senate, an independent judiciary, and the integrity of the electoral system, now threaten to destroy the traditions that bring Americans together—the heart of our democracy.
-
-
Hard truths
- By Big D on 01-21-23
By: David Horowitz
-
The Big Fraud
- What Democrats Don’t Want You to Know About January 6, the 2020 Election, and a Whole Lot Else
- By: Troy E. Nehls
- Narrated by: Millian Quinteros
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Big Fraud tells the true story of how Democrats got away with rigging the 2020 election and orchestrating a sham impeachment around January 6, all in an attempt to destroy President Trump and continue the globalist takeover of America.
-
-
Excellent book
- By WIlliam R. on 01-21-23
By: Troy E. Nehls
Critic reviews
“An authoritative history of America’s flawed responses to epidemics . . . A vigorous argument for unified public health measures.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Gripping prose and lucid analysis make this an essential study of what needs to change before the next epidemic.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Short, readable, and well documented . . . [Price] clearly and ably lays out a timetable of disease and the legal and social response to it.”—Booklist