Within Reason

Sandro Galea is the dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is the author of several books, including The Contagion Next Time and Well: What We Need to Talk about When We Talk about Health.

"Despite remarkable successes, Galea argues, public health succumbed to a disturbing strain of illiberalism during the pandemic. . . .Galea makes a powerful case that to carry the worst illiberal outcomes from the pandemic into the next crisis would be a devastating mistake."

• IntroductionFoundationsWhat Stories Will We Tell about COVID-19?Liberty and Health?FearThe Economics of IlliberalismHow to Get Healthier and Wealthier during a CrisisDecision-Making in an Age of Social MediaBorders in an Age of PandemicsUFOs, COVID-19, and the Return of Radical UncertaintyWhy Do We Tell the Stories We Tell?The History of Soccer, the Butterfly Effect, and Public HealthThe Ongoing Challenge of RaceNot in the Name of Public HealthHealth and the Opportunity to Think FreelyThinking in Groups or Thinking for Ourselves: In Praise of IconoclasmThe Challenge of Slow-Burning ThreatsThe Ineluctable Role of the Faceless BureaucratSectarianism and the Public’s HealthHealth in an Era of Resurgent Great Power Conflict“For Our Own Good”HeresiesWhy Health?The Spherical Cow ProblemPublic Health and the Temptations of PowerNot Our PlaceThe Radical Importance of Acknowledging ProgressWho’s Left?Too Far, or Not Far Enough?A Case against Moralism in Public HealthResisting the Allure of Moral GrandstandingResisting Our Suburban ImpulsesChecking Our Blind SpotsWe Need to Talk about ClassPublic Health and TraditionMy Bias in Favor of LivingHopesMercy and Our Present MomentA Case for Good Faith Argument“One Does Have Joys”A Playbook for Balancing the Moral and Empirical Cases for HealthThe False Choice of Diversity and Inclusion versus the Pursuit of ExcellenceOur Place in the Natural Order of ThingsWhat Do We Want from Our Political System?The Role of Experts and Community Voices BothThe Aesthetics of a Healthier WorldIntellectual Cross-Training toward a Healthier WorldThe Incredible Potential of New TechnologyThe Consent of the GovernedSpending SmarterA Populist Public HealthIn Praise of Objective RealityThe Next Generation: The Kids Are (Probably) All RightIn ConclusionToward a Liberal Public HealthAcknowledgmentsIndex