Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Everything is Tuberculosis

Subtitle: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Author: John Green

Genre: Nonfiction, History

Publish Date: March 2025

Read: August 2025

Favorite Quote: In general, colonial infrastructure was not built to strengthen communities; it was built to deplete them.

Synopsis: Tuberculosis is a disease that can and should be prevented. John Green dives into the history of TB and why it’s stuck around for so much of humanity and why we in the more developed nations should not turn our backs on research and funding when people still suffer and die from TB.

Why does this book beguile? What happens when you have a novelist with a neurospicy brain and access to the internet? Specialized information. John Green does an exceptional job of harnessing his curiosity around disease and compassion for humanity to teach readers about the history of TB; how it was romanticized, how it influenced fashion, art, and science, and how it still persists today in countries around the world. It’s a fascinating book and one that clocks in at just under 200 pages, making it well worth the read.

Bookshop.Org Link*: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Amazon.com Link*: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

If you’re interested in this, read*: Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson