DarkHorse Podcast

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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Lovebird: Delicious, nutritious cereal made with real ingredients. Go to http://lovebirdfoods.com/darkhorseand use code DARKHORSE for 25% off your first order.

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.

Xlear: Xylitol nasal spray that acts as prophylaxis against respiratory illnesses by reducing the stickiness of bacteria and viruses. Find Xlear online, or at your local pharmacy, grocery store, or natural products store.

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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:

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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Sponsors:

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

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

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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This episode is sponsored by:

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

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

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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Our sponsors:

Branch Basics: Get 15% off Branch Basics with the code DARKHORSE at https://branchbasics.com/darkhorse #branchbasicspod

Puori: Amazingly clean and safe supplements and protein powders, lab tested and guaranteed. Go to http://Puori.com/DarkHorse for 32% off grass-fed whey protein with a subscription. DarkHorse code works on all products!

MUD\WTR: Start your new morning ritual & get up to 43% off your @MUDWTR with code DARKHORSE at http://mudwtr.com/darkhorse #mudwtrpod

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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:

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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Our sponsors:

Xlear: Xylitol nasal spray that acts as prophylaxis against respiratory illnesses by reducing the stickiness of bacteria and viruses. Find Xlear online, or at your local pharmacy, grocery store, or natural products store.

Caraway: Non-toxic, highly functional & beautiful cookware and bakeware. Save with Caraway’s cookware set and visit http://Carawayhome.com/DH10 to for an additional 10% off your next purchase.

Puori: Amazingly clean and safe supplements and protein powders, lab tested and guaranteed. Go to http://Puori.com/DarkHorse for 32% off grass-fed whey protein with a subscription. DarkHorse code works on all products!

*****

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

*****

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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