Thanks so much for choosing our podcast. Before you start this episode, this is Kellyn Erskine

from the future. If you're listening to The Bookpile for the first time, I highly recommend

starting on a later episode after we hit our stride. Some of my all-time favorites are when we cover

the books, The Hunger Games, 1984, and the roasts of the Da Vinci Code or any of the Twilight Roses. If you hear because you

already like the podcast and want to binge from the beginning, then thanks again. New episodes

every Monday. Hey everyone. Close your eyes, even if you're driving. Imagine that you know a lot

about blood. Now open your eyes. This is a podcast about blood.

Today's book is Nine Pints by Rose George.

I'm Kellanerskin.

I'm a comedian of father, and I can't stand the sight of blood.

So luckily, we're just going to be talking about it.

And I'm David Vance.

I have a much less common phobia of the sound of blood.

Nine Pines is a book about blood in the role it plays in medicine, the economy, and daily life.

And if that makes you excited, I wouldn't want you around my kids.

And this is the book pile.

Here are our favorite lessons from nine pints.

Number one, there is a global economy for blood, which is also the motto of Deutsche Bank.

I want to start with a quote from the book that blew my mind.

She says, human and animal blood is the 13th most traded commodity in the world worth

$252 billion. Oh, what's the animal? Why animal blood? Where's, like, is that what you get in

the hospital if you don't have insurance? We can have Medicare for all, but it's just

...