Did I listen to this audiobook because hbomberguy's "Vaccines and Autism: A Measured Response" Youtube video essay lives rent-free in my head? Yes. Am I glad I listened to it? Also yes.

There is literally no good science linking vaccines and autism, and Andrew Wakefield has done irreparable harm to thousands of people in the pursuit of fame (or infamy). Preying on the insecurity and vulnerability of parents with neurodiverse children is some cartoon-villain levels of evil.

I haven't felt so hopeless after finishing a book in years. While some of the initial parents involved in the 12-child Lancet study have realized that they were victims of Andrew Wakefield, many continue to cling to his fantastical claims and others have simply jumped from one conspiracy explanation to another. I doubt that reading about falsified medical records, perjury, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or any of the malpractice that Wakefield was involved in will change the minds of radical anti-vaxxers. The people who need this book the most are those least likely to read it.

Holy shit this book is really good. Deer's prose grips you and pulls you right in with no stops or breaks; sometimes it's downright distressing, sometimes it's hilarious. He speaks from a place of knowledge and I loved reading this very detailed breakdown of the facts and how we got here, to the anti-vaccine crisis of today. Very good book.