Have the parties flipped? The 248th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying

In this 248th in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we talk about the state of the world through an evolutionary lens.

In this week’s episode, we begin and end by geeking out on biology: why there tend to be so many molecules in organisms that humans find useful (see: turmeric and ginger), why you can’t be both the fastest and the most agile anything, and new research that finds that some Atlantic fish with leg-like appendages can taste the ground with those “legs.” In between all that: an analysis of American political parties—where they’ve been, where they are now, and what might happen next. Also: self-indulgent whining from the Southern hemisphere.

*****

Our sponsors:

CrowdHealth: Pay for healthcare with crowdfunding instead of insurance. It’s way better. Use code DarkHorse at http://JoinCrowdHealth.com to get 1st 3 months for $99/month.

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.

PaleoValley: Wide array of amazing products, including SuperFood Golden Milk and beef sticks. Go to https://paleovalley.com/darkhorse for 15% off your first order.

*****

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://a.co/d/dunx3at

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

*****

Mentioned in this episode:

The Atlantic on Trump: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-authoritarian-rhetoric-hitler-mussolini/680296/

Season’s mis-greetings: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03245-0

Fish “legs” that taste the ground: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03117-7

Original research (Allard et al 2024): https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(24)01126-6

*****

Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Holding Screen
(00:05:18) Welcome
(00:07:00) Sponsors
(00:16:19) Turmeric and How Humans Began Cultivating Plants and Animals
(00:28:27) The Organism that Produces Ivermectin
(00:31:21) Cultivation of Corn
(00:36:37) Trade-offs and Game Theory in Politics
(00:54:33) Bret on Populism
(00:58:01) The Lesser Evil Paradox
(01:00:21) Donald Trump and the Flip
(01:04:24) The Media is Part of the Same Racket
(01:08:11) It’s Not About Politeness & Tea Parties
(01:14:09) The Thing We Need to Be Careful Of
(01:17:59) Nature Magazine: Stop Using Seasons on Invites
(01:31:14) Fish’s Legs are Made for Walking and Tasting the Sea Floor
(01:35:27) Closing