Lifelines

A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health

By: Dr. Leana Wen

Narrated by: Dr. Leana Wen

"Dr. Wen is determined to convince listeners how crucial it is to make healthcare and all it encompasses higher priorities. Covering a variety of physical and mental health topics, Wen entreats listeners and supports her plea with solid evidence. She is vibrant in tone when pointing out how much public health affects our lives." (Audiofile Magazine)

This program is read by the author.

From medical expert Leana Wen, MD, Lifelines is an insider's account of public health and its crucial role - from opioid addiction to global pandemic - and an inspiring story of her journey from struggling immigrant to being one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.

“Public health saved your life today - you just don’t know it,” is a phrase that Dr. Leana Wen likes to use. You don’t know it because good public health is invisible. It becomes visible only in its absence, when it is underfunded and ignored, a bitter truth laid bare as never before by the devastation of COVID-19.

Leana Wen - emergency physician, former Baltimore health commissioner, CNN medical analyst, and Washington Post contributing columnist - has lived on the front lines of public health, leading the fight against the opioid epidemic, outbreaks of infectious disease, maternal and infant mortality, and COVID-19 disinformation. Here, in gripping detail, Wen lays bare the lifesaving work of public health and its innovative approach to social ills, treating gun violence as a contagious disease, for example, and racism as a threat to health.

Wen also tells her own uniquely American story: an immigrant from China, she and her family received food stamps and were at times homeless despite her parents working multiple jobs. That child went on to attend college at 13, become a Rhodes scholar, and turn to public health as the way to make a difference in the country that had offered her such possibilities.

Ultimately, she insists, it is public health that ensures citizens are not robbed of decades of life, and that where children live does not determine whether they live.

A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books

©2021 Dr. Leana Wen (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Leana Wen’s book about her journey into the world of public health is a moving eye-opener. We follow her as she delves into the lives of the citizens that she hopes to protect; we endure her frustrations and rejoice in her victories. This book is ultimately about transformation— and Wen’s own journey is a metaphor for the long awaited transformation of public health in America. This is a must-read from one of our finest medical writers.” (Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene)

"Our best doctors aren’t created in medical school, they are born through remarkable life experiences with a desire and capacity to end the injustices others accept. Dr. Leana Wen is a public health superhero, destined to make profound changes in our world. This is her origin story." (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent)

"With its brave candor and clarity, this book is for people who might not know all the ways in which public health has saved their lives, but they will once they've read Lifelines. It is also for all the people who do know the importance of investing in public health, of prevention and treating everyone with dignity, and who want to learn how Leana Wen has accomplished this throughout her career as a doctor, public servant, and writer." (Chelsea Clinton, author, advocate, and Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation)

Great job!

Dr. Leana Wen does an amazing job at capturing the complexity yet simplicity that is the field of Public Health. The thing about Public Health is that it is common sense. Yet, the way the United States treats Public Health undermines its mission and values.

Loved it!

So genuine and candid sharing of a rather unique perspective both personally and professionally. Thank you!

Excellent !!

This book should be required for everyone !!!
Read wonderfully by Dr Wen. I’d love to see her in charge of public health for the US

Combination early memoir and career story.

Truly enjoyed hearing Dr Wen share her story from her childhood until the present. I remember her on TV during the pandemic and thought then she was knowledgeable and forthright. I especially loved this audiobook because I learned so much about the role of public health. I knew what public health was but after listening to her give all the examples and ways it interfaces with our lives I realized how much I didn't know. It is a shame that medicine and public health have become politicized. Thanks for what you do. You give me more courage to speak out on these issues.

Public Health saves lives

Dr Wen’s journey shows how she has become a champion of public health. Through her eyes we can see how more lives are saved by public health than any other medical specialty.