On this, our 308th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss glyphosate, Roundup, Monsanto, and how science and the law are done. A benchmark scientific review paper from 2000, which established the safety of glyphosate for humans, has been retracted by the publisher, on the basis that a) the paper did not actually review the available evidence, b) the stated authors did not actually write (much of) the paper, and c) employees of Monsanto, which makes Roundup, cryptically contributed substantively to the paper. This paper never should have been published, and its retraction should prompt the EPA to revamp guidelines for the use of glyphosate. Also: peer review and scientific culture are widely gamed. And: punitive damages to injured plaintiffs, awarded by juries against corporations, are being reduced by appellate courts due to a misapplication of the 14th Amendment.
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Mentioned in this episode:
NYT on glyphosate article retraction: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/climate/glyphosate-roundup-retracted-study.html
Williams, Kroes, and Munro 2000. Safety evaluation and risk assessment of the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, for humans. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 31(2), pp.117-165:https://www.cbs17.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2019/06/Safety-Evaluation-and-Risk-Assessment-of-the-Herbicide-Roundup-and-its-Active-Ingredient-Glyphosate-for-Humans.pdf
Retraction: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230025002387
Journal Aims and Scope: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/regulatory-toxicology-and-pharmacology/about/aims-and-scope
Johnson v Monsanto (2018): https://www.wisnerbaum.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/johnson-trial-2018/
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Holding Screen
00:05:24 Does "sally forth" originate from sally forager?
00:21:29 Roundup Study RETRACTED
01:13:00 Monsanto on Trial & the 14th Amendment
01:44:31 Glyphosate is Banned on the Island
We have "cartesian blinders being put on us so that we are trying to make sense out of scraps of information and hints." - @bretweinstein
WEINSTEIN: I mean, even if you have your villains who are engaged in the behavior that motivated this war in Iran, even if that's the story, presumably most of the people in the path of these ferocious bombings that he is describing are not deserving of going back to the Stone Age.
In fact, I distinctly remember him telling us that part of what we were up to was liberating the people of Iran from their tyrannical regime.
So if it's the tyrannical regime that justifies the ferocious bombing, then it's a tragedy that other people are going to be sent back to the Stone Ages with them. Right?
HEYING: It's it's not a narrative. It's an incoherent set of talking points.
WEINSTEIN: Yeah, it's a kind of cheerleading that is completely inappropriate from the perspective of the president.
Bret Weinstein discusses the Trump administrations "back to the stone age" recent remarks in the latest episode of The Evolutionary Lens, Episode 320 "Are we back in the stone age?" on DarkHorse.
Bret Weinstein explains, "If you stop businesses from starting here, and if you drive people so that they move elsewhere—even though it's difficult to do—then the point is the tax base dries up, which then forces you to become even more predatory for the people who stayed.
And that's really the thing, right? They're setting themselves up so that they have to go after more and more people, because the people who are starting new businesses are not going to do it here."
