Last week both Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris have picked up on new findings on the LabLeakTheory of Covid19. This is a reminder for us, how important a reopening of the public discourse would be for Western Democracies. The ongoing polarization and data driven extremes are hurting Western Democracies to their core. Regula Staempfli has warned already in May 9th 2020, after the first few lockdowns how devastating it was to see intellectuals, media and scientists to close all discussion about the virus, the origin of the virus and its effect on public and democratic discourse. Read here the remarkable essay by Regula Staempfli translated by her in English: https://regulastaempfli.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/nzz-9-may-laStaempfli.pdf

This is the book that Sam Harris has in his podcast: He speaks with Matt Ridley and Alina Chan about the origins of the COVID pandemic. They discuss the evidence of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, media and academic censorship of this topic, the history of collaboration between western scientists and Chinese labs, the risks of “gain-of-function” research, the evidence for the zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2, the initial complacency and denialism of the Chinese, the biosafety levels at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, molecular evidence of a lab leak, the practical constraints on synthesizing viruses, lack of international cooperation, conspiracy theories promulgated by the CCP, EcoHealth Alliance, different kinds of “gain-of-function” research, virus hunting, the history of lab leaks, risk and reward in the search for knowledge, Anthony Fauci, and other topics.