Is it possible to turn this pandemic year into a nonfiction thriller?

If anyone can, it's Michael Lewis.

He joins us this week to talk about his new book, The Premonition.

How did Juneteenth evolve in Texas and should it be a national holiday?

Historian Annette Gordon Reid will be here to discuss her new book on Juneteenth.

Alexander Alter will be here with the latest in publishing news.

Plus, our critics will talk about the latest in literary criticism.

This is the Book of E podcast for The New York Times.

It's May 7th. I'm Pamela Paul.

Michael Lewis joins us now from Berkeley, California.

A repeat guest he is here to talk about his new book, The Premonition, A Pandemic Story.

Michael, welcome back to the podcast.

Pleasure to be here.

So, we spoke not so long ago about your last book, The Fifth Risk, which was all about risk.

Surely, a global pandemic was one of those risks.

What did you learn from reporting that book that maybe informed this book?

Yeah, I didn't just inform this book, it led to this book.

The premise of The Fifth Risk was that stop thinking about the federal government, however you think about it, if you think about it.

And think about it as a manager of a portfolio of risks, many of them existential, that has been left to degrade.

And under the Trump administration was actually kind of bashed around the head a bunch.

And one of those risks is the risk of pandemic disease.

The Fifth Risk was asking the question, what happens if people neglect these risks?

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