In this 65th in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we discuss the state of the world through an evolutionary lens. In this episode, we begin by offering gratitude to Bill Maher and his crew for having us on on January 29—but why didn’t Heather answer his question about vaccines? She does so here, and we discuss a bit more about vaccine technology (also see episode 58 for more on that). Next: What does consensus look like in science, and when are we looking at forced consensus, one which may not accurately reflect underlying reality? What does this have to do with the “lab leak hypothesis” regarding the origin of SARS-CoV2? Following that: how does diet affect COVID—either in terms of mitigating risk of contracting it, or of reducing symptoms if you have it? Short advice: eat more ferment, and buy local. We finish by talking about tuna, and sea stars. 

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Theme Music: Thank you to Martin Molin of Wintergatan for providing us the rights to use their excellent music. 

Q&A Link: https://youtu.be/WIC3sx4F2Qg 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Dolgin 2020. COVID-19 vaccines poised for launch, but impact on pandemic unclear. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41587-020-00022-y 

Butler 2015. Engineered bat virus stirs debate over risky research. https://www.nature.com/news/engineered-bat-virus-stirs-debate-over-risky-research-%201.18787?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_deeplink_PID100072647&utm_content=deeplink 

Relman 2020. Opinion: To stop the next pandemic, we need to unravel the origins of COVID-19. https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/117/47/29246.full.pdf 

Karesh et al 2012. Ecology of zoonoses: natural and unnatural histories. https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2812%2961678-X 

Bousquet et al 2020. Cabbage and fermented vegetables: From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32762135/ 

Bousquet et al 2020. Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries? https://ctajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13601-020-00323-0?fbclid=IwAR3ljFDFU6cI9Hg_NwvKFdPF6YhvRWGYiq2ddtNuSYfrJTUJ539V3Ml5Mvo 

Rishi et al 2020. Diet, Gut Microbiota and COVID-19. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33012868/ 

Iddir et al 2020. Strengthening the Immune System and Reducing Inflammation and Oxidative Stress through Diet and Nutrition: Considerations during the COVID-19 Crisis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32471251/ 

There’s no tuna in my tuna! https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/01/27/subway-tuna-lawsuit/ 

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