Everything is Tuberculosis: A Virtual Book Study

Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, Green tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

Virtual Book Study – Shared Inquiry, Shared Responsibility

The WEA Academy virtual book studies are a fully collaborative learning experiences where every member plays an equal and active role in shaping our conversations. There is no designated leader guiding the discussion — instead, we each come to the table as both learner and facilitator, ready to contribute our perspectives, questions, and insights.

To make our time together rich and meaningful, all members are expected to arrive at each session having completed the assigned reading and prepared with the following:

• A question worth sitting with — something the text raised for you that you genuinely want to explore with the group
• A passage that struck you — a line, idea, or moment you'd like to bring forward for collective reflection
• A connection or challenge — how the reading connects to your own experience, practice, or thinking, or where you found yourself pushing back
• An open mind — a willingness to have your thinking shifted by what others bring

Our sessions thrive only when everyone shows up prepared and engaged. Silence is welcome for reflection, but passive attendance is not — this is a space built on the expectation that all voices matter and all voices will be heard.

Come ready to listen deeply, speak honestly, and think together.

Acclaimed best book of 2025: NPR, Scientific American, Science News, Booklist, BookPage, Chicago Sun-Times. Goodreads Readers’ Choice Nonfiction Winner.