science ethics

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with evolutionary biologist, author, and podcaster Dr. Bret Weinstein. They discuss the migration crisis, what values make up the “American Identity,” the potential for defining the transcendent, the origins of mutual reciprocity, and how the founding fathers codified these ideas into guidelines for the most functional nation in history.

Dr. Weinstein is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in adaptive trade-offs. His current focus is on the interaction between genetic and cultural evolution. He has studied tent-making behavior in neotropical bats and worked for 14 years as a professor at The Evergreen State College. He has testified to the U.S. Congress, and been a visiting fellow at Princeton University. He hosts the DarkHorse Podcast and is a New York Times best-selling author. Bret has been a frequent guest on The Joe Rogan Experience and has done live events with Richard Dawkins, Jordan Peterson, Eric Weinstein, Peter Boghossian, Sam Harris, Douglas Murray and has been interviewed by Bill Maher, Russell Brand, Glenn Loury, Dax Shepard, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Bari Weiss, Derrick Jensen, and Lex Fridman, among many others.

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2024 tour details can be found here https://jordanbpeterson.com/events  

Peterson Academy https://petersonacademy.com/  

For Bret Weinstein:

DarkHorse Locals Community https://darkhorse.locals.com/

On X https://x.com/BretWeinstein

Interest rates are high. Bonds yields are on the rise. And money is getting more expensive. We’ll explain what this means for consumers and fiscal policymaking. Plus, NASA has ambitious plans to send civilians to the moon (and make Kimberly’s dreams come true). Later, we’ll weigh in on self-checkout aisles and magnet less refrigerators during a round of Half Full/Half Empty.

Here’s everything we talked about:

• • “Pharmacies begin dispensing abortion pills” from Politico

• • “Maybe in Your Lifetime, People Will Live on the Moon and Then Mars” from The New York Times

• • “Chaos in Washington Feeds Americans’ Dismal View of Politics” from The New York Times

• • “Gil Scott-Heron’s Poem, ‘Whitey on the Moon'” from The Atlantic

• • “Why does furniture fall apart so easily?” from Marketplace

• • “What are YouTube obituary pirates?” from Marketplace

• • “Are Fridge Magnets ‘Lowbrow’? Appliance Manufacturers Have Decided: Yes” from The Wall Street Journal

• • “Costco gold bars: Here’s what’s behind the demand” from AP News

• • “Walmart, Costco, and Kroger Are Facing a Self-Checkout Reckoning” from Business Insider

If you’ve got a question about today’s economy, send it our way. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful ever made, has revolutionized the way we see the universe. The name was chosen for James E. Webb, a NASA administrator during the 1960s. But when doubts about his background emerged, the telescope’s name turned into a fight over homophobia.

Michael Powell, a national reporter for The Times, tells the story of Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist whose quest to end the controversy with indisputable facts only made it worse.

Guest: Michael Powell, a national reporter covering free speech and intellectual debate for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Dr. Oluseyi tried to refute the accusations against Mr. Webb, only to find himself the target of attacks.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In this 144th 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.

This week, we discuss the prestigious scientific journal Nature, and its promotion of an anti-scientific perspective on sex and gender. We also discuss the not-so-prestigious journal Transgender Studies Quarterly, and its take on species concepts, and also on the “Trans*-Ness of Blackness.” We discuss the new research that finds that covid vaccines do affect women’s menstrual cycles, and also the shortcomings both in that research, and in the Washington Post’s reporting on it. Bret offers pro bono marketing help to Pfizer. And we talk about Great Britain’s medical regulatory agency (MHRA) moving from its role as “watchdog” of outside entities, to that of “enabler.”

Our store:  https://www.darkhorsestore.org

Our book: A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Gatherers-Guide-21st-Century-Challenges/dp/0593086880/). Signed copies available here: https://darvillsbookstore.indielite.org

Our Patreons: https://www.patreon.com/heatherheying, https://www.patreon.com/bretweinstein

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

Our sponsors:

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Mentioned in this episode:

Currah, Paisley, 2022. To set transgender policy, look to the evidence. Nature, 9-27-22: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03036-5

Transgender Studies Quarterly, main site: https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq

Trans Species: https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article/1/1-2/253/91865/Trans-Species

Hasenbush et al 2019. Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Laws in Public Accommodations: a Review of Evidence Regarding Safety and Privacy in Public Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Changing Rooms. Sex Res Soc Policy 16: 70–83. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0335-z

Livestream of protest of “Outright Vermont,” from 10-1-22, on the YouTube channel of the Disaffected Podcast: https://youtu.be/OBk5hWxPe4I

Washington Post article (by Amanda Morris, 9-27-22): Women said coronavirus shots affect periods. New study shows they’re right. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/09/27/covid-vaccine-period-late/

Edelman et al 2022. Association between menstrual cycle length and covid-19 vaccination: global, retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected data. BMJ Medicine, 1(1). https://bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/bmjmed/1/1/e000297.full.pdf?with-ds=yes

The Digger, Phil Harper’s Substack: https://philharper.substack.com

Dr. June Raine’s talk at Oxford in March 2022, “From Watchdog to Enabler: Regulation in Covid and after”: https://youtu.be/xUQfzTqPUm4?t=1818

Timestamps:
(00:00) Welcome and announcements

(04:00) Sponsors

(11:53) Nature on Trans

(26:05) Trans gender studies quarterly

(36:32) Another research article from TGSQ

(39:45) Nature's responsibility

(50:18) WaPo on menstrual cycle length and COVID vaccination

(01:04:20) Uptake of new bivalent booster

(01:08:23) MHRA from watchdog to enabler

(01:26:00) Wrap up