lab leak

Did the COVID-19 pandemic start with a lab leak? Pandora's Gamble author Alison Young is here to crunch the numbers without entertaining conspiracies!

What We Discuss with Alison Young:

• How often disease research lab leaks really occur.
• Why even the world's best-run labs are susceptible to safety breaches.
• The prevalence of disinformation campaigns to cover up, obscure, or misdirect lab leak blame.
• What gain-of-function research is and why it's so controversial.
• What we do and don't know about the possibility of the COVID-19 pandemic being the result of a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
• And much more...

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Where did it come from? More than three years into the pandemic with untold millions of people dead, that question about the origin of Covid-19 remains widely disputed and fraught, with facts sparkling amid a tangle of analyses and hypotheticals like Christmas lights strung on a dark, thorny tree. One school of thought holds that the virus, known to science as SARS-CoV-2, spread to humans from a nonhuman animal, probably in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, an emporium brimming with fish, meats and wildlife on sale as food in Wuhan, China.

Another school argues that the virus was laboratory-engineered as a bioweapon to infect humans and cause them harm, and was possibly devised in a “shadow project” sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army of China. A third school, more moderate than the second but also implicating laboratory work, suggests that the virus got into its first human victim by accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research complex on the eastern side of the city, maybe after undergoing well-meaning but reckless genetic manipulation that made it more dangerous to people.

If you feel confused by these possibilities, undecided, suspicious of overconfident assertions — or just tired of the whole subject of the pandemic and whatever little bug has caused it — be assured that you aren’t the only one.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

A heated Congressional hearing investigates Covid origins, women are back in the workforce, and a government agency investigates journalists who report on “Twitter files”. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.

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America's conservative cable TV channel is being sued for airing false 2020 election fraud claims. And court documents suggest that Fox News anchors reported allegations that the vote was “stolen” from Donald Trump even though they knew they were false. The Washington Post’s media critic Erik Wemple joins the team to talk through what's been happening in the case and a bombshell deposition from Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.

When Coronavirus first spread around the world, everyone wanted to know where it came from. Did it jump from animals to humans in a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan? Or was it leaked from a virology lab? No one is entirely sure. But this week not one, but two US intelligence agencies said their best assessment was a lab leak. Stephen Morrison, host of the Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast, gives Americast the latest and explains the political context in Washington.

Americast is presented by North America editor Sarah Smith, Today host Justin Webb, the BBC's social media and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63530374.

Email Americast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments and send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, to +44 3301239480.

This episode was made by Cat Farnsworth and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Simon Watts. The senior news editor was Sam Bonham.

Krystal and Saagar discuss the US Government admitting the likely origins of COVID are from a Lab Leak, nearly 45k animals dead in Ohio, Buttigieg arrives in East Palestine, Jeb endorses Desantis, Biden denies responsibility for classified documents, inflation spikes as recession looms, the Media attacks Woody Harrelson for making a Big Pharma joke on SNL, Krystal looks at Joy Behar scolding Ohioans on The View for voting for Trump as the reason for the trail derailment, Saagar looks at the crisis of Single Young Men, and guest Kevin Roose from the NYtimes talks to us about his unhinged experience with the Chatbot known as Sydney.

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Sam Harris speaks with Matt Ridley and Alina Chan about the origins of the COVID pandemic. They discuss the evidence of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, media and academic censorship of this topic, the history of collaboration between western scientists and Chinese labs, the risks of "gain-of-function" research, the evidence for the zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2, the initial complacency and denialism of the Chinese, the biosafety levels at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, molecular evidence of a lab leak, the practical constraints on synthesizing viruses, lack of international cooperation, conspiracy theories promulgated by the CCP, EcoHealth Alliance, different kinds of "gain-of-function" research, virus hunting, the history of lab leaks, risk and reward in the search for knowledge, Anthony Fauci, and other topics.

If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Jamie Metzl is a futurist, author, and founder of OneShared.World.