289 – Annie Jacobsen & Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid

This may be my scariest episode ever!

We’ve covered non-fiction before, but rarely is the truth more frightening than the stories we tell. This week it just might be… cos Annie Jacobsen is here with Biological War: A Scenario.

It unveils a narrative of speculative reality, in which an engineered pathogen escapes a lab, and runs rampant through our civilisation. Cities fall, millions die, the lights go out.

I dared myself to read it. I dare you to listen to Annie tell us about her research, and the stuff she found that scares the hell out of her.

Enjoy (sort of!)

Other books mentioned:

• Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), by Annie Jacobsen
• “A Modest Proposal” (1729), by Jonathan Swift
• World War Z (2006), by Max Brooks
• The Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley
• A Brief History of the Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters (2021), by Andrew H. Knoll

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices