Play It Forward Episode 348 With Brandan Borrell The First Shots

Published: Dec. 17, 2021, 10 p.m.

This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward. Episode 348 with Brendan Borrell author of The First Shots.
In THE FIRST SHOTS-currently under development for an HBO limited series with superstar director and producer Adam McKay (Succession, Vice, The Big Short)-Borrell draws on his exclusive and high-level access to weave together an incredible story about the hard-driving scientists, billionaire entrepreneurs, and chaotic political power players who shaped 18 pandemic months of fear, resolve, and triumph.

Speaking with roughly 150 sources including infectious disease expert Michael Callahan, an American doctor secretly on the ground in Wuhan in January 2020 to gauge the terrifying ravages of disease X; Robert (Dr. Bob) Kadlec, one of Operation Warp Speed's architects, whose audacious plans for the American people run straight into the buzz saw of the Trump White House factions; and delivering insider reveals on Stéphane Bancel of upstart Moderna Therapeutics going toe-to-toe with pharma behemoth Pfizer, THE FIRST SHOTS lays bare the full stunning story behind the medical science "moon shot" of our lifetime. Fast-paced and stunningly researched, THE FIRST SHOTS is a real-life thriller.