Bret Weinstein became famous because of the 2017 Evergreen State brouhaha, and I was firmly on his side on that one. Eventually he became so demonized that he had to leave the College, and since then has found a niche as a heterodox podcaster. But it’s been heterodoxy of the wrong stripe, including pushing Ivermectin as an anti-covid preventive and cure, warning against covid-shots, and now lapsing into bizarre conspiracy theories.
The criticism of Weinstein’s new heterodoxy is detailed in, of all places, a McGill University post on the University’s “Office for Science and Society”, calling him a “would-be Galileo” (i.e., someone who thinks he’s discerned important truths about the world but hasn’t really done so). I’ve followed Weinstein’s career a bit, a career that I see as inimical to rational thinking despite his popularity (he has 1.1 million followers on “X” and appeared on the Joe Rogan Show).
Jonathan Jarry agrees with me, and you can read his article on Weinstein site by clicking the headline below. The title is, even by my lights, a bit mean:
It turns out that, to my dismay, Weinstein is still pushing Ivermectin for covid and questioning the efficacy of other covid treatments, including vaccines. I’ll quote the article in indented sections:
Galileo has many heirs. I don’t mean biological descendants; rather, some intellectuals see Galileo’s face in the mirror staring back at them. Freed from the shackles of academia (or simply kicked out of their university), they find a lucrative niche for themselves, telling their enraptured fans that, just like Galileo, they have an Earth-shattering theory… and a mysterious “they”don’t want you to know about it.
Bret Weinstein is a name you might be familiar with. An evolutionary biologist, now self-titled “professor in exile,” he hosts The DarkHorse podcast with his wife, fellow evolutionary biologist Heather Heying. The podcast has nearly half a million subscribers on YouTube alone and has featured high-profile guests like Russell Brand, Sam Harris, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Weinstein has himself guested on The Joe Rogan Experience, seemingly the largest podcast in the world. And while his calm tone of voice may denote sound judgment, Weinstein has become an über-conspiracy theorist, to the point where he believes the Powers That Be are crafting fake conspiracies specifically to make him look stupid.
Being Galileo is hard, but someone has to do it.
The ivermectin stuff, which abides:
But what made Weinstein particularly relevant in the eyes of the average science news consumer was his appearance on an “emergency podcast” of The Joe Rogan Experience, which in terms of sheer viewership eclipses the so-called mainstream media. Sitting next to Dr. Pierre Kory, Weinstein explained to Rogan that ivermectin worked against COVID-19 and that the vaccines were dangerous. (This was the exact opposite of reality.) Importantly, Weinstein painted himself as part of a group of “heretics,” independent of the structures controlling others, hence free to analyze the data accurately and report on it without being muzzled. He became one of the leading figures of the pro-ivermectin contingent during the pandemic.
To this day, Weinstein still believes in the effectiveness of this anti-parasitic drug in preventing and treating COVID-19, despite the clear evidence that it does not do so. On the September 17th, 2024 episode of their DarkHorse podcast, Weinstein and Heying double down on their pseudoscientific perspective on the pandemic: ventilators were “very negative” and “not necessary” for COVID; ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are the “best drugs” against the virus; and it appears we are facing a “pandemic of the vaccinated.”
Jarry argues that Weinstein’s popularity rests largely not only on his conspiracy theories (see below), but on his calm demeanor and also on the fact that he often takes the “JAQ” (“just asking questions”) approach as a way of really pushing his own views.
More covid stuff along with HIV and polio:
Over years of pumping out incredibly long, weekly podcast episodes, Weinstein and Heying have “hypothesized” a number of truly staggering things, both in the sciences and outside of them.
Weinstein wonders if the alleged “noisiness” of COVID diagnostic tests might be a feature not a bug, as it allows someone to claim anything at any moment. He tells Joe Rogan that the evidence for the HIV virus not causing AIDS is “surprisingly compelling.” Similarly, the poliovirus might not cause polio but might simply be a “fellow traveller” in people who have the disease, which is actually caused by pesticides. Also, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might be Fidel Castro’s son (“the evidence seems kinda good,” says Heying before dismissing its relevance) and he is also gay (“this is now officially known,” says her husband).
This denialism of facts and reality can easily lead you into conspiracy territory: how else to explain that you are right but everyone around you is wrong?
Indeed, we must now confront the Goliath in the room.
“Goliath” is the name Weinstein gives to what he sees is a massive and nefarious worldwide conspiracy aimed at him in particular:
Some conspiracy theorists fret over an alleged “deep state.” For others, it’s the Bildenberg Group, or the World Economic Forum at Davos, or a Satanic cabal, or history’s classic villain: the Jews. For Weinstein, it’s Goliath.
Goliath is the name he gives to the shadowy powers conspiring against the world and against Weinstein personally. The Israel-Palestine conflict unfurling now? That’s Goliath trying to bury the voices of the COVID dissidents like Weinstein under 24/7 news coverage of a world event. He has also hinted at Goliath trying to get him to die by suicide. One day, a browser window allegedly appeared on Weinstein’s phone with a DuckDuckGo search engine page with the search bar containing the word “suicide.” Weinstein believes this might have been a threat, because he and his wife have been “a sticky wicket” for Goliath.
Real conspiracy theories aren’t enough for Weinstein and Heying, however. They must be on their toes for fake conspiracy theories manufactured by Goliath to make them appear foolish. “Traps abound” as Weinstein likes to remind his listeners, and there are psy-ops (or psychological operations designed to influence the population’s attitudes) everywhere. That story about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio? “Very believable,” Weinstein comments, but if it turns out there is no merit to this story, it was an irresistible trap, possibly set by Goliath, to discredit the people who will believe in disinformation. Indeed, Goliath is apparently trying to drive a wedge between Weinstein and his friends, a secret strategy he calls the coalition slicer-dicer. “It could be next-level chess by Goliath,” he calmly states.
Still with me?
Throughout all of this, Weinstein believes his thinking is scientific in nature, but it is not. . .
The author notes several other off-the-rails assertions of Weinstein (e.g., lab mice can’t be used for drug testing because their telomeres are too long), and then goes into a critique of Weinstein’s equally famous brother, Eric, saying that Eric’s “scientific” theories are also criticized (e.g, covid was due to Earth’s shifting magnetic fields). The article finishes up by listing some of the questionable sponsors of Bret Weinstein’s podcast (e.g., AMRA, which sells cow colostrum as a palliative for leaky gut syndrome).
There’s one final note:
No longer satisfied with pontificating about how everything can be seen through an evolutionary lens, Bret Weinstein is now the co-founder of the Star-Wars-inflected Rescue the Republic. This weekend, they are meeting in Washington, D.C.—peacefully, Weinstein reminds us on his podcast—to give voice to their various antiestablishment grievances. They will be joined by similarly minded contrarians, such as Jordan Peterson, Pierre Kory, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Well, I don’t know much about Eric Weinstein, though I know some readers here, do. I have followed Bret to some extent, though, and all i can say is this: don’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth, be it about Covid, Ivermectin, or Goliath. Caveat emptor.
h/t: Ginger K.
The article is a pretty good summary of Weinstein. But I expected it to tell us, “What happened?” As in, “how did a mild-mannered college teacher turn into a too-online conspiracy crank?” Jarry doesn’t say. My money is still on, well, money. The $500k that Weinstein & Heying shared as severance from Evergreen State wouldn’t go far, and they needed new jobs. Maybe working on these videos with Mike Nayna
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLHyNSlsz44_GceBMuwAyflt3lDWMEjTG
about TESU opened their eyes to the $ocial media possibilities? A better reporter than Jarry would maybe have tried to find out. I wonder whether anyone has just asked Heying & Weinstein: “What happened to you?”
If the answer is money it means that BW is kind of evil, for throwing out the idea of educating people to misinform them – for money. A real POS.
Agree about the misinforming part – that’s really bad. I don’t agree about the giving up on education part. Lots of PhDs every year give up on teaching and go into some non-academic work. Weinstein was never a research powerhouse so maybe he just made that switch 20 years later than he should have. But yeah he must have had at least one better option than misleading punditry.
Maybe he’s always been like this. The Covid pandemic seemed to make a lot of people paranoid. There was intense suspicion of the vaccines.
But a lot of people got frankly hysterical. People died rather than get a vaccine: “I don’t like people telling me what to do.”
Maybe he’s always been prone to believing in conspiracies.
It’s appalling that someone with a science background could believe all this weird stuff. AIDS isn’t caused by HIV? Unbelievable.
I think he was always like this, that bit about “we cannot use mice in experiments because they have long telomeres” was supposedly his PhD thesis which he says should have won him the noble prize, but another scientist stole his work.
I didn’t know that. Figures.
.. what a very elegant, poignant comment.
Pattern seeking primates.
If Francis Collins believes in a God…
As Lucretius is alleged to have said vis fear and the creation of God’s I hypothesized we’re so wildly disembodied and desensitised to its all pervasiveness the truly loco is taken as being notso.
I’d love to see the Weinsteins, Peterson and their ilk dancing.
We’ve had a good run at it
Dunning-Kruger effect in live action.
Weinstein appears to be a case study in the media phenomenon of audience capture. He capitalized on his Evergreen drama and used his scientific credentials to traffic in lucrative nonsense that his audience was eager to hear. No doubt his listeners feel validated and privy to elite “knowledge” delivered by the calm, measured demeanor of the professor in exile. It’s a symbiotic relationship that plays well on social media where any serious intellectual challenge can be filtered out.
Yes audience capture for sure where you pander to your audience because they give you what you need which is a platform which provides fame and money.
I think you’re right. Putting oneself in his shoes…his career in academia was probably over after the Evergreen fiasco, and it does seem that he and his wife were mistreated by the University. But a $500K settlement is not going to set you up for life..so he and his wife had to carve out a new career as podcasters and Youtubers. In that Darwinian environment, heterodox and edgy ideas generally outcompete more measured ones.
I think that both Bret and Heather have naturally heterodox tendencies, which is why they enjoyed teaching at a place like Evergreen in the first place. When channeled in the right environment, the tendency to push back on the status quo can be very productive. But set loose in the digital and social media space, it seems like both Bret and Heather have become a bit warped and deranged, and this will feed back on itself as their audience, which they now depend on for their living, will increasingly demand for obtuse takes and positions on things.
Yes, Jeff. 100% with you on all your points there.
Actually I listened to Darkhorse podcast for about 25 hours years ago as they were at the edge of the anti-woke wave and rare voices.
But when they started on the vaccines – that’s a red line for me. I was disappointed I spent the original 25 hours and now I just avoid them.
Eric – brother – is smarter but even he seems to be whirling into some edgy and insane stuff lately. Remember when Jordan Peterson wasn’t demented?
Institutions and people… change. Some go downhill and the incentives aren’t well aligned.
Established intellectuals like our host, Sam Harris, Dawkins, Pinker etc don’t need to go edgy or insane … and wouldn’t want to. WHich is why we listen to them! 🙂
D.A.
NYC
https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2020/06/10/photos-of-readers-93/
You’re right about Eric Weinstein, David. The other day, I had a YouTube podcast playing in the background while I was working. Eric was a guest, and I couldn’t believe the amount of crap he was spewing. The dangerous thing about him – as you note – is that he is cleverer than his brother and is even more disingenuous, but he uses his intelligence to hide his BS between layers and layers of obfuscation. He lays just enough suspicion in his listeners’ minds to make them think they are working out these conspiracies themselves, therefore increasing their investment in his bullshit exponentially.
I despise people like him because he’s very smart, knows what he is doing, and knows it is dishonest and potentially dangerous. However, he doesn’t give a shit because what matters more is popularity and cash, which keeps rolling in from the gullible audiences who trust him.
To someone with an ego like Eric Weinstein’s (and Bret’s, too), few things are as appealing as an army of sycophants hanging on your every word.
There is a very good summary of Weinstein (and his brother) on Profesor Dave Explains YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGcpUxl_9Vg
I’ve watched some Prof Dave lately (we must have similar algorithms Adam!).
Not bad.
Peter Judo – who has a youtube channel – is also good. He reports on various horrors in academia and the sciences.
D.A.
NYC
I assume he believes everything he says. This means his beliefs are a matter of his disturbed psychological state. Some 12 years ago or so I discovered, through social media, that a very bright educated friend of mine from the past had become a conspiracy promoter. This is when I realized that my stereotype that believers in conspiracies were intellectually limited and uninformed was wrong. Weinstein is not merely trying to make a buck or overestimating his intellect in fields he knows nothing about. He is a true believer who wants to enlighten the world. His psychological profile is surely very disturbing. Combating these dangerous forces will take much more than a calm presentation of the truth.
I also begin to suspect that, in addition to the financial motivation, there is something mental going on, and worsening.
I think you’re right. It’s odd that his wife, who also has a science background appears to support him completely. Yet I do believe they’re sincere.
It seems to be a common phenomenon that people who have a contrarian mindset (like to question everything/critical thinking, don’t run with the crowd, think out of the box) at one point become so suspicious of generally accepted truths that they overdo it, especially after they have been personally targeted by “the establishment” or have had some personal crisis. I have seen this many times. Not sure this is what happened to Weinstein, maybe he was always like this, or he is in it for the money.
The current time of crisis fosters such attitudes, too. People don’t ruminate so much in times of stability and optimism. Add the influence of social media where crank theories abound, and official narratives never go unchallenged, and their lacunae, real or imagined, will be pointed out. The algorithms will lead you from the good to the doubtful and from there to the crazy.
Woa. I was waiting for the connection to RFK Jr., and there it was at the end. I wonder how he was as a teacher at Evergreen. Was he off the rails then, too?
Bret Weinstein is a crank and a despicable human being. Imagine recommending to 1/2 million followers that the COVID vaccine is harmful or doesn’t work (it does) while insisting that ivermectin does work (it doesn’t). How many people died after listening to his BS which he promulgated to make money?
He rapidly devolved from teacher of evolutionary biology to a slimy disgorger of memes in less than a generation, spewing pseudoscientific conspiracy theories in a vain and cynical effort to coin an original idea (he hasn’t) sticky enough to attract credulous laypeople or at least make a dishonest buck. Screw that guy.
Something a bit PZ Myers about Bret..
I love Jonathan Jarry. He is seriously smart. Has written to debunk a lot of bogus claims about the poor innocent vagus nerve. He wrote, “[The vagus’s] complex arborescence makes it the ideal nerve on which wellness teachers can hang a multitude of claims pop culture’s favorite nerve. … it is feted as “the key to well-being,” “your superhighway to health,” and even “the physical manifestation of the soul.” And then he debunks that all so so beautifully.
See https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/resetting-hype-around-vagus-nerve for the vagus takedown
The only thing I take small issue with, Jerry, is “of all places.” He is not McGill office of blah blah blah. He is Jonathan Jarry.
He also co-hosts a podcast on “medicine that tastes funny.” Amusing title. Examines the titles for a range of claims. I haven’t listened to it mostly because I am a reader more than a listener but occasionally I get into the listening mood and then I will check it out.
Here is where to find the podcast: https://www.bodyofevidence.ca/
Peggy
I did not expect a takedown of this severity being posted on a university website; That is what I meant.
Ahhhh
Makes sense.
P
I sent this to Jonathan who pointed out that the shifting magnetic fields causing COVID idea came from Moses Bility. Here is the whole paragraph:
“Weinstein is not alone in claiming to have developed a paradigm-shifting theory inconvenient to the establishment. His own brother, Eric, who studied mathematical physics at Harvard and was managing director at Thiel Capital for nine years, came up with a theory of everything, which was widely criticized by the scientific community. I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Moses Turkle Bility in 2020, back when he argued that COVID was actually due to shifting magnetic fields and that a jade-nephrite amulet might protect us from this “disease.” Although he had formally studied molecular biology, he had also elaborated his own theory of everything, meant to reconcile quantum mechanics with gravity.”
Not sure what the connection is between Eric Weinstein and Moses Turkle Bility but the shifting magnetic fields causing COVID idea came from the latter. Nonetheless the former does not sound like a man with gravitas either.
Sadly Bill Maher had him on his show so this didn’t help with things.
So I have a different theory. TESC is in my town and I followed his journey from the college since his saga was first reported. Read the College’s blinkered and self-exculpatory report on the incident. I think he was a true believing progressive who was knocked out of his philosophical comfort zone when he was viciously attacked by similarly identifying students and some faculty for daring to remain on campus on a day that all people of his “race” were supposed to slink off campus and leave it to others. The attacks were assaultive at times and similar to some of the most personally directed attacks we saw this Spring. He was ostracized from his academic clan. I think the shock and pain set him on a course of looking for a new clan and he wants one that rejects the kind of treatment he and Heather endured. He may be auditioning Red America for that role. And while some of his ideas may be whack a doodle, I hope he and Heather find a way to make a living while loving their work. They both deserve that.
This is not wrong.
Thank you for that, Suzi. I don’t know the early Evergreen story. The YouTube video by Professor Dave, cited by Adam Klobukwski at #4, takes glee in mocking Brett Weinstein’s version of the events before he sets in to trashing the two brothers for their promotion of their whackadoodle ideas. Some of the commenters had doubts about the host’s wholehearted support of the College’s version, which you also refer to as self-exculpatory. The College did settle with Brett and his wife for half a million (US dollars!) to go away which suggests some dirty laundry at the College and some merit to their complaint.
I don’t know anything about Professor Dave (and I confess very little about either Weinstein, for that matter.) I do note that one of the many sins he hangs on Eric in drive-by style is his “denial” on Triggernometry of “the genocide in Gaza.” Uh-oh.
I actually used to watch Bret & Heather on YouTube. He was always odd about Covid but I ignored that part.
It sounds like he’s got a lot more unhinged lately. I don’t remember him talking Trudeau and Castro (that’s been around for ages but I always considered it to be a joke).
Late to the party, I’m glad to see the others have it covered. I’m a supporter of Microbe.TV & it’s seminal podcast TWiV. I have my own relevant background. It’s high time that self-styled heterodox Brett Weinstein was evaluated here for his disturbing and dangerous crankery regarding SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. (I wonder what he has to say regarding other issues of virology and medicine.) Is this what we get with heterodoxy?
Very late to the party, but the YouTube channel “Professor Dave Explains” has recently released an in depth video on Bret and Eric that is an eye opener. The impression I took was that the pair of them believe they have been cheated out of a Nobel (along with Eric’s wife) and others have been awarded the prize because of their work.
All the time I was watching the video I had the feeling i had encountered Bret’s name previously, now I know where! Thanks Prof.
As a loose analogy, Eric is Michael Corleone and Bret is Fredo…
I was surprised that Bret, as an evolutionary biologist, didn’t have any qualms about Dr Geert Vanden Bossche’s assertion that the adaptive immune system was a bad idea and a net negative.
Given that all the Gnathostomes have one and they go back 400-420 million years or so, you would have thought that natural selection would have removed that system if it was a net drawback.
He didn’t even frown when listening to Geert.