Episode · Modern Wisdom · 2026-07-23
Books mentioned on Something Scary Is Happening In Biolabs - Annie Jacobsen - #1127
Annie Jacobsen is a journalist, investigative reporter and an author. For decades, nuclear war has been humanity’s greatest existential fear.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
The Precipice
The Precipice by Toby Ord is a comprehensive exploration of existential risks and the various threats that could potentially bring about the end of human civilization.
Discussed“I'm pretty sure that the precipice came out in 2019. Uh so, before COVID and it in order to write the book and to have the research and to be able to get to the stage where Yeah, top left.”
Where to get it
-
The Decameron
Discussed“There's a famous book called The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and an Italian notary and he writes about what it was like at that time and and copies”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I'm pretty sure that the precipice came out in 2019. Uh so, before COVID and it in order to write the book and to have the research and to be able to get to the stage where Yeah, top left.”
Own book Biological War
“I wrote biological war a scenario, not biological war the only scenario. And in my acknowledgements part of the book, I mention how in some of my interviews”
Own book Nuclear War
“He had read Nuclear War, my book Nuclear War, and I said he said, "Annie, unlike Nuclear War, biological warfare will be deeply nightmarish.”