Our Bodies, Our Planet: A Parasite’s History of Us

by Marcus Hall

Parasites and parasitic relationships are fundamental to life on Earth and to human history. Our Bodies, Our Planet explores how vital they are. Unlike harmful pathogens, parasites may produce no ill effects and may even improve our well-being and the lives of the creatures that surround us. Marcus Hall shows how our fellow travellers have evolved to help keep us alive, else they themselves will perish.
Parasitism is a phenomenon of partnership, and the association of parasite and host has had far-ranging cultural, biological and possibly geophysical consequences. From Ascaris to Zika, we are instinctively repulsed by these little freeloaders, but what collateral effects do they have on our lives, lifestyles and imaginations? As Hall demonstrates, we disregard our parasites at our peril.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biology, Nature, Science, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 21, 2025

Reviews

[Sarah Jensen]

Book Review: Our Bodies, Our Planet: A Parasite’s History of Us by Marcus Hall
Rating: 4.7/5

Marcus Hall’s Our Bodies, Our Planet is a revelatory, boundary-smashing work that turns our instinctive revulsion toward parasites into a lens for understanding human evolution, ecology, and even culture. With the rigor of a scientist and the narrative flair of a historian, Hall reframes these “biological freeloaders” as unsung architects of our collective story—a perspective so provocative I found myself questioning everything from hygiene dogma to conservation ethics.

What dazzled me most was Hall’s reframing of parasitism as symbiosis. His exploration of how parasites like Ascaris or Toxoplasma may subtly enhance immune resilience or even influence behavior (e.g., the eerie “zombie ant” phenomenon) reads like ecological thriller meets philosophical manifesto. I was particularly struck by passages linking parasite-host dynamics to broader planetary health—like how gut microbes might mirror Earth’s nutrient cycles. Hall’s prose balances wit (We are ecosystems with shoes) with profound insight, especially when debunking the sterility myth of modern medicine.

The book’s interdisciplinary ambition is both its brilliance and slight flaw. While chapters weaving parasitology with art history (e.g., Renaissance depictions of wormy saints) or geopolitics (parasites as wartime weapons) fascinate, they occasionally feel like detours from the core biological narrative. A tighter focus on Homo sapiens as planet and parasite might have amplified the thesis. That said, Hall’s scholarship is impeccable, particularly his critique of how Western medicine pathologized coexistence with parasites—a bias with cascading ecological consequences.

By the final page, I felt intellectually exhilarated and oddly grateful—not just for Hall’s paradigm-shifting perspective, but for the humble helminths quietly shaping our lives. This isn’t just a book; it’s a mind-expanding invitation to reconsider our place in nature’s web.

Thank you to the University of Chicago Press and Edelweiss for the advance copy. Our Bodies, Our Planet belongs on shelves alongside I Contain Multitudes] and [The Hidden Half of Nature]—a masterpiece that will leave you side-eyeing your microbiome with newfound respect.

For those that TL;DR my review, here are my final impressions:
-Turns everything you thought you knew about parasites on its head—these ‘freeloaders’ might just be the unsung heroes of human evolution.
-What if the key to human health isn’t eradication but coexistence? Hall’s groundbreaking book challenges our war on parasites—and wins.
-A masterclass in interdisciplinary thinking: blending history, biology, and ecology to redefine parasitism as nature’s most misunderstood partnership.
-Hall proves that parasites aren’t just hitchhikers—they’re architects of our immune systems, cultures, and even planetary health.
-For fans of I Contain Multitudes, this is the next essential read in microbiome science and environmental history.
-We are ecosystems with shoes—Hall’s witty, whip-smart prose makes even tapeworms fascinating.
-From zombie ants to gut microbes, this book reads like a thriller about the tiny rulers of our world.
-Ever thanked a parasite? After reading this, you might.
-Hall’s work is as transformative as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—but for the invisible world inside us.

[Dabi]

didn’t even make it through the preface 👎🏾

[Vulpes]

The book was fine overall -- but just wasn't what I was looking for and I found the title a bit misleading even.

I'm probably biased since I was looking for more a ... I guess review of all the parasitology I learned through school? I wanted to look at all the taxa of parasites, not just apicomplexans. This book was very focused on malaria and little of anything else, and I wanted something beyond just malaria.

This book also dips a lot into the social and economic ramifications of parasitic infection, which is fine in of itself, and if you're into how sociology and parasitology intersect, it would be a cool read. But once again -- just not what I was looking for.

My biggest issue with this book is that it really doesn't highlight the disease inflicted by parasites enough. It can come across as very 'pro-parasite' and 'pro-infection' and I think it could be interpreted by an unknowing reader that parasites are VERY GOOD and that you should WANT to have them by all means. The writer sorta just mentions, aw yeah, malaria killed a lot of people but look at all the good things it has done too!!! It doesn't really go further into how awful it can really be. Yes, malaria, and pathogens in general, can do some good and is a powerful selective force and imparts quite the round of change to society, yada yada, but I just found this kinda .... annoying. I understand that there has been this relatively recent wave of knowledge on how microbes can be good and that our need for cleanliness and disinfection is causing widespread harm, but I feel like this book needed to discuss the nuances of this more. It describes the benefits of parasitic infection but like ... they are somewhat vaguely described. I was reading this and I was like, can you go into further detail? I felt that a noticeable chunk of the author's argument was that parasitic infection --> generally healthier but I want to point out the age old adage that correlation is not causation. At some points I felt like there was an almost conspiratorial tone to the writing and I was like bro I need real primary literature on this.

In any case the book should really be renamed. It isn't really about a parasite's history of us. It's more like, malaria's role in human society and how it has unknowingly changed humanity.

[Steve]

I enjoyed this book. I liked the conversational tone and the occasional bit of humour. I found that all the science was well explained and that the author frequently waxed philosophical, sometimes at the expense of pacing. The book was interesting because the relationship between parasites and us isn’t as clearcut as I had been led to believe. Overall, this was a worthwhile read. Thank you to Edelweiss and University of Chicago Press for the digital review copy.

[Richard Jackson]

I have to confess this was a DNF. I read about 50% but for the most part it was out of my wheelhouse. I took Parasitology in college as a zoology major and I was hoping for an interesting review of what I learned then. More in line with Janovy's Life Lessons of the Parasite which is still on my TBR list. What I read was well done which was why I rated it 4 stars and fascinating just more than I needed.

[Emily Posthumus]

I did not find this argument compelling. Hall glosses over any negative effects of parasites in humans, of which, of course there are many, all which outweight any positive impact of the symbiosis. I think changing our view of parasites is interesting, but Hall's writing is very one note and focuses a lot on proving his POV, leaving out other aspects.

[Paul]

A terrifying argument, parasites are good because they kill rich people same as the poor so they are an instrument of social mobility, is made multiple times in the book. A less controversial one, also repeated that because we co-evolved with them we became reliant on each other and they convey some, yet not well specified but assumed benefits is equally grating. Fuck mosquitos and fuck your vague "increased immune response". People in Sardinia live longer on average not because they're ridden by parasites, they live longer because all the weak ones got killed (and benefit fraud). This is considered a good outcome only by someone farming humans (or stealing public money) and by the author.

The argument against clear cut relationships in ecosystems is more interesting. In the end, designations of parasite are simplifying.

[George Petrellis]

It started with an interesting idea, examining whether parasites are always true pathogens but eventually it reeled way too much thinking of humans as parasites, the Earth as not just an ecosystem but as a whole organism and the Gaia theory examining humans as parasites in the global ecosystem.