Aaron Siri Discusses His Book Vaccines, Amen: The Religion of Vaccines
In this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joe sits down with Aaron Siri, the managing partner at Siri & Glimstad. The conversation opens with both Rogan and Siri reflecting on how they each started out holding entirely mainstream views on vaccines — taking it for granted that the science was settled and beyond scrutiny. Siri draws on this to introduce the central argument of his book, Vaccines, Amen: The Religion of Vaccines — that vaccines have become a kind of secular religion, shielded from the critical analysis we’d apply to any other product or industry.
At the heart of Siri’s case is the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which granted pharmaceutical companies sweeping liability protection for childhood vaccines — something that exists for no other product category in the United States. He argues that removing the threat of lawsuits also removed the primary economic incentive companies have to make products safer over time, pointing to industries like automotive and construction as examples where litigation drove meaningful safety improvements.
