Episode · The Shawn Ryan Show · 2026-07-20
Books mentioned on #323 Annie Jacobsen - Is America Ready for Biological War?
Annie Jacobsen is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, investigative journalist, and bestselling author known for her in-depth reporting on national security, intelligence, military history, and classified government programs.
Shawn Ryan discussed Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen, Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen, Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen, Operation paperclip by Annie Jacobsen, Biological War by Annie Jacobsen, and The Pentagon's Brain by Annie Jacobsen.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Nuclear War
Annie Jacobsen's nonfiction book Nuclear War: A Scenario provides a chilling, unsparing countdown and thorough examination of what a global nuclear exchange would actually look like.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
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Surprise, Kill, Vanish
Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen is an investigative history book that chronicles the clandestine origins, evolution, and operations of the CIA's elite paramilitary Ground Branch.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
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Area 51
Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen is an investigative history exploring the secrets, extreme boundary-pushing nuclear testing, and national security operations of America's most famous top-secret military base.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
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Operation paperclip
Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen is a meticulously researched investigative history detailing the secret US intelligence program that recruited former Nazi scientists after World War II.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
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Biological War
Biological War by Annie Jacobsen is a sobering investigative nonfiction book that examines government plans, potential outbreaks, and the terrifying realities surrounding genetically modified pathogens and modern warfare.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
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The Pentagon's Brain
The Pentagon's Brain by Annie Jacobsen is a comprehensive, deeply researched history of DARPA, the secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency responsible for developing many of America's most revolutionary military and technological innovations.
Discussed“You've written best-selling books including Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill, Vanish, Nuclear War: A Scenario, and your newest release, Biological Warfare: A Scenario.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“But I mean, one of the biggest takeaways that readers came back at me with after reading nuclear war as an area was, I just want to die in the immediate blast because, you know, it's like that Nikita Kruev quote, the survivors would envy the dead.”
“According to Stratcom, in biological war, I take the readers from outbreak to anarchy in six days because anarchy and insurrection is the real threat.”
“He's now dead, but I interviewed him for my book, Area 51, which was sort of my first foray into nuclear weapons.”