Until Proven Safe

The History and Future of Quarantine

By: Nicola Twilley, Geoff Manaugh

Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio

2021 Time Magazine Best Books of the Year
2021 NPR Best Book of the Year
2021 Financial Times Books of the Year
2021 The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year

Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley have been researching quarantine since long before the COVID-19 pandemic. With Until Proven Safe, they bring us an audiobook as compelling as it is definitive, not only urgent listening for social-distanced times but also an up-to-the-minute investigation of the interplay of forces - biological, political, technological - that shape our modern world.

Quarantine is our most powerful response to uncertainty: It means waiting to see if something hidden inside us will be revealed. It is also one of our most dangerous, operating through an assumption of guilt. In quarantine, we are considered infectious until proven safe.

Until Proven Safe tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space - from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC to closed-door simulations where pharmaceutical execs and epidemiologists prepare for the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.

But the story of quarantine ranges far beyond the history of medical isolation. In Until Proven Safe, the authors tour a nuclear-waste isolation facility beneath the New Mexican desert, see plants stricken with a disease that threatens the world’s wheat supply, and meet NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer, tasked with saving Earth from extraterrestrial infections. They also introduce us to the corporate tech giants hoping to revolutionize quarantine through surveillance and algorithmic prediction.

We live in a disorienting historical moment that can feel both unprecedented and inevitable; Until Proven Safe helps us make sense of our new reality through a thrillingly reported, thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of freedom, governance, and mutual responsibility.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 Nicola Twilley (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Thoughtful and intriguing

Very thoughtful review of quarantine and its past, present, and potential future. From COVID to astronauts, from ancient italy to modern america.

Excellent writing, timely and informative

It was a lucky accident that years of research were done before COVID reared it’s ugly head. The writers did an extraordinary job of tying together their studies and present circumstances. This was a great read.

Important Context

The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding. The authors present the history, current and future of quarantine in an understandable and entertaining way. Humanity has had a recent moment of winning in the pathogenic war, but that had not always been the case and a future peace is not guaranteed. This is your opportunity to get comfortable with the concept and necessity of quarantine.

Great book with narration issues

The narrator has a habit (conscious or not) of changing her voice when narrating quotes. It comes off as cartoonish, making the person being quoted sound like a little bit of a buffoon. Since she does not apply the technique evenly, but instead reserves it for certain speakers, it creates an editorial subtext, suggesting subtly what is to be taken seriously and what is not.

Additionally there are some pronunciation issues, in particular with names in other languages.

Otherwise, great content and very engaging.

great book!

very interesting listen that covered a wider range of topics that I imagined.
No dis on the narrator, but I would've loved to hear the author read it. Nicola's voice is absolutely charming on her podcast, Gastropod