It's the Brian Lear show on WNYC.

Good morning again everyone.

With us now, with his memoir out now,

Dr. Anthony Fauchy.

It's easy to forget that his job title all these years

was not COVID lightning rod but rather

director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he

held from 1984 to 2022. Now retired at 83 years old his book is not just about

Trump and the pandemic but that and a whole lot more about public health in his

life and times. The book is titled On Call, a Doctor's Journey in Public Service.

Dr. Fetchy, thanks for coming on with us. Welcome back to WNYC.

Thank you very much. It's good to be with you.

I see it's not a public health officials journey. It's a doctor's journey. Is that how you identify?

Oh, absolutely, as I point out in the book very clearly that my primary identity is as a physician and I tell

the story about how I got to that particular point in life and everything else is derivative that, you know, a scientist, a public health

official and a public servant and that's the reason why I talk about that in the

context of my being my primary identity being a physician, which it still is actually.

Before we get into politics or public health, let's just cover a little of your childhood because it was here in

New York in Brooklyn. I think some of our listeners might find it interesting and

it'll probably be the most fun part of the segment. Where exactly did you grow up and

can you describe your block or your immediate

neighborhood? Yeah, I was born in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn on 79th Street and New

...