On this, our 307th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss short form video (SFV), advertisers coming for our dreams, and a review of where we are, and where we are headed. Short form video has negative impacts on both cognitive capacity and mental health in youth and adults; in the context of recent research, we discuss laugh track, philosophy of science, and how tiny actions that appear to have no harm can be very harmful in the aggregate. Then: humans have a long history of accessing our hypnogogic states—between waking and sleep—for creative or spiritual purposes. Now, most companies surveyed are looking into “targeted dream incubation” as a way to change consumer behavior, including Burger King with their 2018 green-bunned “Nightmare King” burger. How do we resist? Finally: an intercalary period is when the absence of an even number of days in the year catches up with our calendars, and we add things like leap days. The mismatch between the solstice, Christmas, and new year’s may point to this reality, and we seem to be living in a metaphorical one. We can’t predict what comes next; the political landscape is in chaotic motion; Silver’s rise in price may set off market collapse—so what can you do? Spend time in person with real people; develop real relationship; and become comfortable in solitude. Treasure your privacy, and both time alone, and time together.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Nguyen et al 2025. Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use. Psych Bull 151(9):1125: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-89350-001.pdf

Marlan 2023. The Nightmare of Dream Advertising. Wm & Mary Law Rev 65: 259: https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol65/iss2/2/

Crawford 2016. The World Beyond Your Head: https://amzn.to/3MSKI1n (commission earned)

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Bret Weinstein speaks with Aaron Siri on the subject of the childhood vaccine schedule.

Find Aaron Siri on X at http://x.com/AaronSiriSG and at https://aaronsiriofficial.com.

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This episode is sponsored by:

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

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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 (Amazon links earn commission):

Vaccines, Amen: The Religion of Vaccines https://amzn.to/3YBINR8

The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio https://amzn.to/3LbT03I

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On this, our 306th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss men and women, relationships and strategies. What is actually true of young women right now? Is the manosphere onto some uncomfortable and deep truths, or do they suffer from sampling and confirmation bias? What role is porn playing? Social media? Is the nonsense that emerged from #MeToo, with regard to blaming all men, seeing an analog now in the blaming of women? However: men and women are different. Women are more likely to think they have a “right to be right,” to embrace ideologies that privilege victims and grievances, and to be neurotic. Just as encouraging men to embrace their emotional side can enhance many men’s lives, encouraging women to embrace the physical world is likely to enhance their lives. Finally: a book recommendation (Playground).

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

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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:

BSW on male-female dynamics, and response from @MichaelPThelen: https://x.com/thedarkhorsepod/status/2002077458758279397

Thelwall 2017 (1of2). Book genre and author gender in Goodreads: Romance>paranormal-romance to autobiography>memoir. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 68(5):1212–1223. DOI:10.1002/asi.23768.

Playground, by Richard Powers: https://www.powells.com/book/playground-9781324123736

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On this, our 305th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss evolution, including major transitions from sea to land (early amphibians), and back again (e.g. whales), and the evidence. Where should we expect gaps in the fossil record, and why? How are adaptations to space and time analogous to one another? Then: lab grown pig fat is combined with plant protein and turned into meatballs that pretend to be pork. What could go wrong? Prediction: they’ll be carcinogenic. Finally: GLP-1s—e.g. Ozempic—have so many side effects. Now on people’s radar: they decrease drive and pleasure in all things, including libido.

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Our sponsors:

Everyday Dose: Coffee plus collagen, mushrooms & nootropics – delicious! Get 45% off your first subscription order and also receive free gifts at http://everydaydose.com/darkhorse.

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.

ARMRA: Colostrum is our first food, and can help restore your health and resilience as an adult. Go to http://www.tryarmra.com/DARKHORSE to get 15% off your first order.

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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:

Jim Tour, physicist, talking to Tucker Carlson about creationism: https://x.com/uncommonsince76/status/2000981781651009727

Bret’s dissertation: https://backend.production.deepblue-documents.lib.umich.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/0617b499-b8e8-4071-9a21-95f4c39f8372/content

Bacon that isn’t bacon: https://grist.org/climate-energy/this-pigs-bacon-was-delicious-but-shes-alive-and-well/

Pharma Darlings: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/pharma-darlings

GLP-1s flatten sex drive: https://www.thecut.com/article/glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-sex-drive-side-effects.html

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Bret Weinstein and British free-speech activist, Carl Benjamin discuss Nick Fuentes and generational divides. Topics include: the crisis facing young men, cultural continuity, and responsibilities needed to build a better future.

Find Carl Benjaminon X at https://x.com/Sargon_of_Akkad and at https://lotuseaters.com.

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This episode is sponsored by:

Timeline: Timeline accelerate the clearing of damaged mitochondria to improve strength and endurance: Go to http://www.timeline.com/darkhorse and use code darkhorse for 20% off your first order.

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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 on this episode:

The Failure of the Straight White Man by Carl Benjamin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yybTvpH6g

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On this, our 304th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the mainstream media’s pivot, in which they now tentatively accept that some children have died from the mRNA Covid shots. We discuss failing trust in science, why it will not be quick to fix the institutions or to people them with honest scientists, and the rebels in the hills who are keeping the flame alive. Also, the application of the phrase “safe and effective” to products that are neither. Then: hominids have been making and controlling fire for far longer than we had thought. And: hadrosaurid dinosaurs were, perhaps, quite clumsy at sex.

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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.

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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:

The Atlantic: Yes, Some Children May Have Died From COVID Shots: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/12/prasad-memo-covid-vaccine-deaths/685175/

Myocarditis and mRNA shots in Science Translational Medicine: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adq0143

Earliest evidence of making fire: SciAm links to original research: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-humans-were-making-fire-350-000-years-earlier-than-scientists/

Recurrent pattern of tail injuries in hadrosaurid dinosaurs: https://www.cell.com/iscience/pdf/S2589-0042(25)02000-0.pdf

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On this, our 303rd Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the recommendation to stop vaccinating newborns against Hepatitis B, as just handed down by ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) for the CDC. Why were newborns whose mothers do not have Hep B, being vaccinated against a disease that is contracted through sexual activity and dirty needles? We discuss claims of “safe and effective,” risk stratification, the childhood vaccine schedule, and what “individual-based decision-making” will mean for parents and doctors. Then, new research: tattoo ink induces inflammation in lymph nodes, and changes the immune response to vaccination. Finally: an homage to Tom Stoppard, playwright extraordinaire, author of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia, and so much more. RIP.

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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.

ARMRA: Colostrum is our first food and can help restore your health and resilience as an adult. Go to http://www.tryarmra.com/DARKHORSE to get 15% off your first order.

Helix: Excellent, sleep-enhancing, American-made mattresses. Go to http://www.HelixSleep.com/DarkHorse to get 27% sitewide.

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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:

ACIP Hep B recommendation: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/2025-acip-recommends-individual-based-decision-making-for-hepatitis-b-vaccine-for-infants-born-to-women.html

Retsef Levi on Hep B rec: https://x.com/cdcgov/status/1996967080793358366

RFK on vaccines: https://x.com/seckennedy/status/1997104582128754854

Capucetti et al 2025. Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(48), p.e2510392122: https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2510392122

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Bret Weinstein speaks with Ben Davidson about modern relationship dynamics, masculinity and feminism, and the nature of good and evil from an evolutionary perspective.

Find Ben Davidson on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceWeatherNewsS0s and on X at https://x.com/SunWeatherMan.

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This episode is sponsored by:

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

Caraway: Non-toxic, beautiful, light ceramic cookware. Go to http://carawayhome.com/dh10 for 25% off your order.

Everyday Dose: Coffee plus collagen, mushrooms & nootropics – delicious! Get 45% off your first subscription order and also receive free gifts at http://everydaydose.com/darkhorse.

*****

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.

*****

Mentioned in this Episode:

Apocalypse When? Ben Davidson on DarkHorse LIVE https://youtube.com/live/w0Gz7w3l_uE

The Sun, The Earth and The Disaster Cycle https://observerranch.podia.com/the-sun-the-earth-and-the-disaster-cycle

Ben Davidson on X https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceWeatherNewsS0s

Hoe Math on X https://x.com/ItIsHoeMath

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