On this, our 324th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the 2028 presidential election, and bees, plants, and electrons. First: Kamala Harris is currently the front-runner for the Democratic nominee in 2028. Given her scant record of achievements, her capacity, and her campaign in 2024, how is this possible? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be a better choice. On the Republican side, Vance is the front-runner, as expected, but there are far more other options than on the Democratic side (DeSantis, Kennedy, Gabbard, to name a few). Then: flowers are negatively charged, bees become positively charged while flying, such that when bees arrive at flowers, pollen leaps on to bees. We discuss sensory modalities, communication between pollinators and pollen distributors, and how environmental EMF might disrupt such systems.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Ross Douthat on Harris in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/02/opinion/kamala-harris-democratic-party.html

Real Clear Polling on Republicans in 2028: https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/republican-primary/2028/national

Sir David Attenborough on bees, plants, and EMFs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee381dCP6JM

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On this, our 323rd Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss vultures, politics, and complex systems. Vultures, which have evolved multiple times (like mangroves, poison frogs, and “trees”), specialize on carrion. In India, a painkiller commonly used in people but toxic to vultures, diclofenac, came out of patent, began to be used in cattle, and the vast majority of vultures in India died. Downstream effects include the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and tens of billions of dollars in economic losses. Now in Africa, vultures are being poisoned intentionally, and a similar devastation is likely to happen. Vultures are ugly, smelly, and gross…and utterly central to the health of not just their ecosystems, but the people who live in and near them. Welcome to complex systems. Also: Katie Wilson, the mayor of Seattle, seems to be engaged in a kind of “scientific socialism,” akin to “scientific racism,” in which quasi-scientific ideas are used to justify (bad) policy.

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Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com

Heather’s newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.com

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Mentioned in this episode:

Frank & Sudarshan 2024. The social costs of keystone species collapse: evidence from the decline of vultures in India. American Economic Review 114(10): 3007-3040: https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/171014/13/WRAP-twerp-1433-Sudarshan-24.pdf

Anoosh Moonka tweet: https://x.com/anishmoonka/status/2049394252573004057

On the Origin of Species: https://dn710801.ca.archive.org/0/items/darwin-online_1859_Origin_F373/1859_Origin_F373_text.pdf

Katie Wilson clip from Brandi Kruse: https://x.com/BrandiKruse/status/2049562844862324861

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Bret Weintein debates Jonathan Pageau with Jordan Hall on whether science or religion can save humanity from itself.

Find Jonathan Pageau at https://www.thesymbolicworld.com and on x at https://x.com/PageauJonathan

Bret thanks Redeemer Anglican Church for loaning them the space to do this podcast.

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

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Mentioned in this episode:

Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Bret Speaks with Jonathan Pageau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NYz1DJ4ByM

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Bret Weinstein speaks with Joshua Stylman, an entrepreneur, investor and Covid dissident about societal manipulation and social engineering. The conversation focuses around a recent Substack piece by Stylman on “The Enemy is Not Each Other.”

Find Joshua Stylman on Substack at https://stylman.substack.com, on X at https://x.com/jstylman, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/stylman.

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Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club: Scrumptious & freshly harvested. Go to http://www.GetFreshDarkHorse.com to get a bottle of the best olive oil you’ve ever had for $1 shipping.

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Join DarkHorse on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com

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

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Bret recommends you read:

The Enemy Is Not Each Other https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-enemy-is-not-each-other

The Authentication Layer https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-authentication-layer

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On this, our 322nd Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the Cartesian crisis, whether going to the moon is valuable, and college in the age of AI. Before the ads, we discuss the nature of knowledge, and whether paying attention all the time, to all the things, can backfire and make a personal less capable of comprehension. Later: why go to the moon? An op-ed writer at The Guardian says there’s no point—there’s nothing to see, no one to talk to. We discuss the value of science—not just in terms of what we become capable of doing, but also for the human values of awe and wonder, openness and curiosity. As humans, we must encourage discovery, innovation, and exploration; we cannot cave to the fearful, provincial, and bland. Finally: professors and students are in an arms race over AI. A better move would be to seek two wildly different educational modes: one in which no outside sources of knowledge are available at all (e.g. a remote site with no cell service), and classroom-based work that encourages engagement and learning from and with the AI.

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Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com/

Heather’s newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.com

Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)

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Mentioned in this episode:

Guardian op-ed: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/07/artemis-ii-space-travel-moon

NASA’s take: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/nasa-answers-your-most-pressing-artemis-ii-questions/

TikTok video: https://x.com/LaNativePatriot/status/2042882244034076747

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On this, our 321st Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss AI, Iran, Trump, emergencies in the state of Washington, and stories from the Covid era. Anthropic, which makes Claude, announced that they are halting the release of their latest model due to unexpected capacities it has revealed. We discuss trade-offs, exploration, and game theory as they pertain to bats and planes, cats and humans, and LLMs. Then: did Trump make a genocidal threat against Iran? And: what emergency in the state of Washington could possibly apply to college tuition, out-of-state militias, accurate representation of sex on government IDs, and responding to pandemics? Answer: all the legislature has to do to make their ideas referendum-proof is declare that they are responding to an emergency—they do not even have to say what the emergency is. Finally: our memories of the Covid Era have begun to fade and morph, but it is important that we keep them alive.

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Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com

Heather’s newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.com

Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)

Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org

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Mentioned in this episode:

Bret on Trump on Iran: https://x.com/BretWeinstein/status/2041543705325347266

Glenn Greenwald on Lebanon: https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/2041906094818156646

Nguyen op-ed in Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/im-not-a-millionaire-i-dont-think-we-need-a-millionaires-tax/

Nguyen on X: https://x.com/VietQNguyen

Nguyen’s WA tracker: https://picsterola.github.io/wa-ec-tracker/#/

Covid Era Stories: https://naturalselections.substack.com/s/covid-era-stories

The Symptoms I Carry: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/the-symptoms-i-carry

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On this, our 320th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss whether it can happen here, or again. It is genocide. Growing up in a secular Jewish household in the 1970s and ‘80s, Bret remembers many discussions of whether it could happen again, and where, but it seems to be assumed that the repeated targets of atrocities cannot themselves ever engage in atrocity. Is this true? We discuss lineage selection, the nature of history and memory, diaspora, Israel. Also, the belligerence of the U.S. again Iran. Then: Washington state is allowing non-citizens to become peace and corrections officers, but if any in those positions make mean gestures or social media posts, they can be fired. Toxicity of both stripes—masculine and feminine—are in command in our political landscape, and we seem to have no good options.

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Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)

Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org

Thumbnail: Pool/Getty Images News

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Mentioned in this episode:

Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here: https://www.alibris.com/It-Cant-Happen-Here-Sinclair-Lewis/book/3376310?qsort=p&matches=117

Let that sink in: https://x.com/LibyaLiberty/status/2039695385464017281

Trump on Iran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LJMfd0gYc8&t=992s

WA state bill 5068: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5068.SL.pdf?q=20260404090142

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On this, our 319th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss space mirrors and the state of Washington state. Reflect Orbital is a young company that hopes to put tens of thousands of mirrors in orbit around the planet, and deliver “full moon to high noon” levels of light anyplace on Earth, on demand (for the right price). What could go wrong? Also: Washington state has voted in the first ever income tax (for high earners), quick on the heels of its first ever capital gains tax, while still having some of the highest estate, sales, property, and fuel taxes in the country. Meanwhile, the cost of living is skyrocketing, and the quality of services declining. Our highways are third worst in the nation; our cities are filthy and unsafe; our schools are miseducating children (at best). Is the money being used for anything useful?

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Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com

Heather’s newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.com

Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)

Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org

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Mentioned in this episode:

Reflect Orbital: https://www.reflectorbital.com

Dark Sky International’s take: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/

WA’s affordability crisis: https://www.waroundtable.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WRT_AffStudy_FINAL_3.20.26.pdf

Ferguson signs the millionaire’s tax into law: https://x.com/BobFergusonGov/status/2039085857655951831

WA senate bill 6346: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/6346-S.PL.pdf

WA capital gains tax: https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/special-notices/new-tiered-rates-washingtons-capital-gains-tax

NPR podcast (KUOW’s Booming) on millionaire’s taxes: https://podscan.fm/podcasts/booming/episodes/is-millionaire-migration-really-a-thing-lessons-from-states-that-already-tax-the-rich

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