The Stand tells the story of a world devastated by a rapidly mutating flu virus known as Captain Tripps, which kills over 99% of the population. The survivors are drawn to two opposing forces: Mother Abagail, a 108-year-old woman who represents good, and Randall Flagg, a supernatural entity embodying evil. The novel explores themes of rebuilding society, the persistence of evil, and the necessity of standing against it. The Complete & Uncut Edition, released in 1990, includes material that was originally cut from the 1978 publication, providing a more comprehensive and detailed narrative[2][4][5].
You might have noticed there's been a bit of talk recently about a certain virus. A virus that may or may not have a vaccine that is very safe and effective, that may or may not be curable via hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D and ivermectin. That may or may not have escaped from a certain Chinese lab....
Yes folks, we're talking about SARS CoV-2. And although it's technically not directly guru-related, these are topics that have sucked so many of our gurus in like a conceptual black hole.
So, we were particularly happy that Dr. Stuart Neil was willing to talk to us and sort this stuff out. Stuart is a Professor of Virology at King's College London. He's a specialist in virus cell biology and immunology, antiviral restriction, and has studied HIV, Ebola, and most recently COVID.
Stuart is passionate about helping to inform the public about the state of scientific knowledge on COVID, and is known for his many excellent twitter threads helping to provide summaries and combat the misinformation and conspiracy theories that surround these topics.
In this episode, Stuart gives a nuanced and crystal clear summary of where the evidence is pointing on these COVID-related topics. Stuart's frank about what we do and we do not know on these topics. And with Matt and Chris, there's interesting discussions about the controversies surrounding THAT letter to the Lancet, how scientific publishing works, and how the 'scientific consensus' develops in a politically charged and highly dynamic situation.
If you have friends or colleagues who are uncertain about what positions the evidence supports on COVID, then THIS is the guy and THIS is the episode you want them to listen to.
Links
This Week's Sponsor
- Check out the sponsor of this week's episode, Ground News, and get the app at ground.news/gurus.
Decoding the Gurus 