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  • The Premonition

  • A Pandemic Story
  • Written by: Michael Lewis
  • Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
  • Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (260 ratings)

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The Premonition cover art

The Premonition

Written by: Michael Lewis
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
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Publisher's Summary

For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about.

Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’ taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The characters you will meet in this audiobook are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A 13-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu...everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work.

Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2021 Michael Lewis (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Premonition

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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I’ve been waiting for a book like this

I’ve said throughout the entire pandemic that I will be interested to look back on this time in history to understand why it seemed like such a disorganized disaster - luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait all that long. I couldn’t turn it off. Really great stuff.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Listen at 1.4x speed

Not my favorite of Michael Lewis’ work. I see a lot of comments on the narrator - if you listen at 1.4x speed you cant notice the erotica tone!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A peak inside the dysfunction

Seeing that the poor US pandemic response was more than just Trump was quite sobering. The systemic failure was a lack of a system…

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I can’t write books

I can’t write books so how would I not give this a 5 star? Brayden

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Another winner from Michael Lewis

Wonderful insightful story, great background research and well narrated. So many things about the story you would never know without this book

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    5 out of 5 stars
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US and health

scary as hell. Never happier that I am Canadian. They have great knowledge but red tape and money grabbing sinkhole.

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Not what I wanted

I thought I was getting The Big Short, and got The Blind Side instead. Good but I wanted answers on a more global level not finger pointing at an almost uniquely America process

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Key Insights on the US public health system

This book is an interesting account of one person’s experience and contributions to public health both well before the Covid-19 pandemic and well into it. This is a perfect book to take in as an audiobook. The story is presented by a woman with superb intonation. I listened in segments of 30-45 minutes and found it easy to pick up where I left off.

The story follows the career path of a woman with two college degrees in science. Early on, she serves as the Chief Public Health Officer for Santa Barbara, California. This is where she truly explores the duty and responsibilities of the role. Later, she serves in regional and national roles that play a significant role in promoting a successful response to Covid-19. Well written!

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Scary, interesting and eye opening

Michael Lewis has once again told a story with mastery! What starts as several independent stories converge during the biggest crisis of our time. It is shocking to learn of the behind the scenes details of the COVID 19 global pandemic. It makes me thankful for the brave and courageous people who spoke up and took action!

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Amazing!!

What an incredible story and the narration was one of my all time audible favorites!!

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