The Oligarchs Strike Back: The 326th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
5/20/20261 hr 35 min
On this, our 326th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss government and tyranny, environmental toxins and the media, eminent domain, and memories of childhood. Former Washington state governor Christine Gregoire says the state doesn’t have an income problem, it’s got a spending problem—and that unpredictability from legislators is making it impossible for the business community to plan. Stochasticity is impossible to adapt to—for humans, and for other species too. In the most expensive Congressional primary race in U.S. history, incumbent Thomas Massie lost in Kentucky; his opponent was substantively funded by AIPAC. Young people supported Massie; old people did not. The Department of Fish & Wildlife has declared the widely used herbicide atrazine no big deal—but it very much is, beginning with the well-established fact that it turns the frogs…not gay, but aggressive and dysfunctionally hermaphroditic. In Georgia, eminent domain is being invoked to “liberate” people from their houses. And we end with memories of idyllic childhoods in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Christine Gregoire: https://x.com/BrandiKruse/status/2054995043006681440
AIPAC on Kentucky race: https://x.com/AIPAC/status/2056893663511257316
NYT on atrazine, 2023: https://www.nytimes.com/article/rfk-conspiracy-theories-fact-check.html
NYT on atrazine, 2026: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/climate/epa-atrazine-endangered-species-maha.html
Hayes et al 2003. Atrazine-induced hermaphroditism at 0.1 ppb in American leopard frogs (Rana pipiens): laboratory and field evidence. Environmental health perspectives, 111(4): 568: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1241446/pdf/ehp0111-000568.pdf
Gender Surrender – DarkHorse #182 on atrazine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USF0A\_fRlvk
Eminent domain – Ansley Brown in Georgia: https://x.com/Ansleysgarden/status/2054036145328075104
Shadow Thoughts: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/shadow-thoughts
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBret Weinstein· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hey, folks. Welcome to the Dark Horse Podcast live stream. I think it's number 326.
Heather Heying· Host0:10
Mm-hmm.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:10
Because you told me that moments before we went on the air.
Heather Heying· Host0:13
Yeah.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:13
It seems right. Yeah. That feels right.
Heather Heying· Host0:18
It does. It does. I mean, not that we've been here before, but, uh, here we are now, and it feels like 326. What is going on? Yeah. Well, uh, I will keep talking. Do you wanna share mine?
Bret Weinstein· Host0:31
Do you, uh... No?
Heather Heying· Host0:32
[laughs] All right.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:34
Okay. [laughs] Hey, folks. Welcome to the Dark Horse Podcast. I am Dr. Bret Weinstein. You are Dr. Heather Heying. This is live stream 326. We had- Woo ... a rare microphone technical difficulty at the beginning. Sorry about that, but we're up and running.
Heather Heying· Host0:50
Yes, we are.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:51
Yeah.
Heather Heying· Host0:51
Um, boy, my notes say Q&A today, but that's not true. That happened last week, right? Yeah.
Bret Weinstein· Host0:57
Hold your, hold your Qs, people.
Heather Heying· Host0:59
Yeah, we have a Q&A, uh, next Sunday.
Bret Weinstein· Host1:01
Sunday.
Heather Heying· Host1:01
Uh, Sunday.
Bret Weinstein· Host1:01
Next Sunday.
Heather Heying· Host1:02
Sunday.
Bret Weinstein· Host1:03
Sunday. Sunday, super Sunday.
Heather Heying· Host1:04
Uh, on- For all you Los Angelinos. [laughs] On Locals, and, uh, we have a watch party going on there now, so join us on Locals. We appreciate... We're gonna be talking about, um, unpredictability in state legislatures and in primary elections and, uh, a little bit about maybe insecticides. And, um- Yeah, we're gonna be talking about tyranny from, like, six different angles.