Haunted by the Hanta Virus: The 325th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
5/9/20261 hr 50 min
On this, our 325th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss Hanta virus and drought. First: what is the natural history of Hantavirus, do any Hantaviruses transmit directly from human to human, and what is going on with the M.V. Hondius, the cruise ship on which Hantavirus has made a stand? Given its mechanisms of action, Ivermectin is likely to treat Hantavirus (a negative sense single-stranded RNA virus), but the WHO dismisses the possibility. Moderna is working on a Hantavirus vaccine, even though the Number Needed to Treat is sky high. What is going on? Then: in Washington state, we’re experiencing a very wet drought. The Department of Ecology has declared a drought (again), and the snow pack is low, but all other indicators—from rivers to reservoirs to soil moisture—are excellent. Cliff Mass, atmospheric scientist, puts the evidence in one place and calls bull on the drought diagnosis.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Hantavirus and the elders: https://asm.org/articles/2024/october/indigenous-knowledge-solved-mysterious-outbreak
Toledo et al 2022. Evidence for human-to-human transmission of hantavirus: a systematic review. The Journal of infectious diseases, 226(8): 1362-1371: https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/226/8/1362/6369311
Zaidi & Dehgani-Mobaraki 2022. The mechanisms of action of ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2—an extensive review. The Journal of antibiotics, 75(2): 60-71: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41429-021-00491-6
The WHO on the recent outbreak: https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON599
Cliff Mass – There is no drought emergency: https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-is-no-drought-emergency-in.html
Statewide drought declared in WA: https://ecology.wa.gov/about-us/who-we-are/news/2026/april-8-statewide-drought-declared-due-to-dismal-snowpack
Clips
Showing 10 of 12Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBret Weinstein· Host0:00
[intro music] Hey, folks. Welcome to the Dark Horse Podcast live stream. It is number 325. I am Dr. Bret Weinstein. You, of course, are Dr. Heather Heying. We are going to talk about this hantavirus situation. I think you will get a view here that is different from what you hear elsewhere. We're gonna do some integrating of evolutionary biology with some, uh, some of the value we got from the graduate level education we were put through during COVID. So we've learned some of the propaganda tricks and some of the medical and public health tricks, and we're trying to divine what is going on with this strange story. So that is upcoming.
Heather Heying· Host0:47
I also wanna talk about the drought in Washington State.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:50
Yes, and maybe a relationship between such things, which is- There is at least a thread to tie the two stories together, yes. Yes. All right. So that's all very exciting stuff. Uh, it's a little hard to keep it all in one's head, but anyway, we're gonna, we're gonna do a pretty good job, I think, and, um, stay tuned for it. Um, at the top here, we need to [laughs]... You're looking at me like I've lost my mind, which is probably true.
Heather Heying· Host1:19
No, you just look like you're about to- [laughs] ... stop talking and not resume.
Bret Weinstein· Host1:23
Well, let's just say this does feel a little bit like early days of COVID, but with a whole lot