Episode #5 Out of the Wild - What a Global Virus Teaches Us with David Quammen

Body of Wonder Podcast The spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-COV2 is a seismic global event that has pushed healthcare systems and societies into new realities. So, how does a virus become a global pandemic? After all, the world is veiled with viruses and this isn't the first time human history has been altered by one - we need only to recall viruses like the Bubonic plague, Polio, and SARS to see evidence. Humans have a long and complex relationship with viruses. Like most living organisms, viruses co-evolved alongside humans for millions of years. The interaction between viruses and mammals has even permanently altered species' DNA through a process called horizontal gene transfer. Yet, we face this new threat today as a highly-connected global society and economy, and we can learn from these trying times to prevent another occurrence of this scale and potentially save lives. Our guest on this episode is notable wildlife journalist and author David Quammen whose award-winning books have focused prominently on the 'spillover effect' or the jumping of animal diseases into human beings and the impact. Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Victoria Maizes speak with Quammen about the events that built-up to this crisis as well as measures individuals can take to reduce the likelihood of another global pandemic, including health choices like diet, lifestyle, and human causes of environmental disruption.

Please note, the show will not advise, diagnose, or treat medical conditions. Always seek the advice of your physician or healthcare provider for questions regarding your health.

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Hosts

Andrew Weil, MD and Victoria Maizes, MD

Guest

David Quammen

David Quammen is an author and journalist whose books include The Song of the Dodo (1996), The Reluctant Mr. Darwin (2006), and Spillover (2014), a work on the science, history, and human impacts of emerging diseases (especially viral diseases), which was short-listed for eight national and international awards and won three. His shorter books Ebola (2014) and The Chimp and the River (2015) were drawn from Spillover, each with a new introduction. His forthcoming book (August 2018) is The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, which explores the drastic revisions in understanding of life?s history on Earth forced by recent discoveries from genome sequencing, and the story of a scientist named Carl Woese. In the past thirty years Quammen has also published a few hundred pieces of short nonfiction?feature articles, essays, columns?in magazines such as Harper?s, National Geographic, Outside, Esquire, The Atlantic, Powder, and Rolling Stone. He writes occasional Op Eds for The New York Times and reviews for The New York Times Book Review. Quammen has been honored with an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is a three-time recipient of the National Magazine Award. He is a Contributing Writer for National Geographic, in whose service he travels often, usually to wild and remote places. Home is Bozeman, Montana. New York Times calls Quammen ?Our greatest living chronicler of the natural world.?
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