Terry Gross

John Barry, author of the 2004 book, The Great Influenza, draws parallels between today's pandemic and the flu of 1918. In both cases, he says, "the outbreak was trivialized for a long time."

Whitcomb, who died April 19, had the 1965 novelty hit, "You Turn Me On," but soon after devoted himself to writing books about early American popular music. Originally broadcast in 1988.

David Fajgenbaum was diagnosed with Castleman disease as a medical student. In Chasing My Cure, he recounts crowd-sourcing his own treatment with a global network of doctors, scientists and patients.