Annie Jacobsen: How One Lab Leak Ends the World in 6 Days - #564

Annie Jacobsen: How One Lab Leak Ends the World in 6 Days - #564

From Into the Impossible With Brian Keating by Big Bang Productions Inc.

July 28, 2026 · 1h 49m

About this episode

Annie Jacobsen discusses the potential catastrophic consequences of a lab leak of engineered pathogens and the implications for biological warfare.

Annie Jacobsen on BIOLOGICAL WAR: how a single lab leak could take us from outbreak to anarchy in six days — and why bio may be scarier than nuclear. WIN a signed copy of BIOLOGICAL WAR or NUCLEAR WAR, a meteorite & more — enter free: https://briankeating.com/annie (Join there for the free Biological War Scenario Simulation and Source Dossier + early access to my next Nobel-laureate interview.) Covid killed ~1% of the people it infected. Pneumonic plague, untreated, kills nearly 100% within 24 hours. In her new book Biological War: A Scenario, bestselling journalist Annie Jacobsen war-games what happens when an engineered pathogen escapes — drawing on interviews with presidential advisors, secretaries of defense, STRATCOM commanders, epidemiologists, and directors of Operation Warp Speed. We get into gain-of-function, the Soviet bioweapons program, mirror life, AI and bioweapons (including her conversation with Sam Altman), the Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter — and why the first 24 hours decide everything. ENTER THE GIVEAWAY + GET THE FREE SOURCE DOSSIER: https://briankeating.com/annie GET THE BOOK (Annie narrates the audiobook)…

People in this episode

Host: Brian Keating

Guest: Annie Jacobsen

Topics covered

  • biological warfare
  • lab leaks
  • pandemic response
  • gain-of-function research
  • bioweapons
  • public health
  • anarchy

Keywords

  • lab leak
  • biological warfare
  • pandemic
  • gain-of-function
  • bioweapons
  • anarchy
  • public health
  • epidemiology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Operation Warp Speed, Big Bang Productions Inc.

Books & works: Biological War: A Scenario, Nuclear War, Biological War

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