On this, our 319th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss space mirrors and the state of Washington state. Reflect Orbital is a young company that hopes to put tens of thousands of mirrors in orbit around the planet, and deliver “full moon to high noon” levels of light anyplace on Earth, on demand (for the right price). What could go wrong? Also: Washington state has voted in the first ever income tax (for high earners), quick on the heels of its first ever capital gains tax, while still having some of the highest estate, sales, property, and fuel taxes in the country. Meanwhile, the cost of living is skyrocketing, and the quality of services declining. Our highways are third worst in the nation; our cities are filthy and unsafe; our schools are miseducating children (at best). Is the money being used for anything useful?
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Mentioned in this episode:
Reflect Orbital: https://www.reflectorbital.com
Dark Sky International’s take: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
WA’s affordability crisis: https://www.waroundtable.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WRT_AffStudy_FINAL_3.20.26.pdf
Ferguson signs the millionaire’s tax into law: https://x.com/BobFergusonGov/status/2039085857655951831
WA senate bill 6346: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/6346-S.PL.pdf
WA capital gains tax: https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/special-notices/new-tiered-rates-washingtons-capital-gains-tax
NPR podcast (KUOW’s Booming) on millionaire’s taxes: https://podscan.fm/podcasts/booming/episodes/is-millionaire-migration-really-a-thing-lessons-from-states-that-already-tax-the-rich
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Holding Screen
00:05:11 April Fool’s, But Real
00:10:34 Sponsor: Timeline
00:14:23 Sponsor: SaunaSpace
00:17:56 Sponsor: Caraway
00:20:27 Reflect Orbital: Sunlight After Dark
00:23:09 The Case for Orbital Light
00:25:26 Why This Is a Terrible Idea
00:27:21 Hubris, Not Wisdom
00:33:41 The Cost of Playing With Nature
00:42:07 Rights, Reversibility, and Control
00:45:19 Reflect Orbital FAQ Breakdown
00:52:14 Dark Sky Pushback
00:55:37 Energy Claims Don’t Add Up
00:58:29 Weaponizing Light
01:02:11 Washington’s Affordability Crisis
01:04:59 The New “Millionaire Tax”
01:10:25 Will High Earners Leave?
01:14:03 Why This Hurts Growth
01:18:39 Small Business Tax Trap
01:23:52 Gas Taxes, Bad Roads, Broken State
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."
Bret and Heather discuss Russell Brand: his history, his character, his recent convictions and sentencing. What does consent mean in the modern era—is it a concept that can possibly do what it needs to do? Other concepts under discussion are rape, statute of limitations, charisma, and redemption.
Then: how a story of a failed co-op reveals deep divides.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTI7paEbpI0
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/08pSgWUPFXxyNDZXQ6IuKe?si=9_-lbgyqTxyfo6cWiF0oTg
X: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/2VNRYNjKmopPXM
DarkHorse is available with timestamps on all popular podcast ...
Rantings from a token Anti-vax guy
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A funny thing happened to me the other day. I was talking to a former coworker about why I think mass immigration into the country is harmful in many ways. We had a friendly exchange, and I thought the conversation was going well. Eventually, she said she enjoys talking about politics, which shocked me. To me, how is that political? It's not like anyone voted on it, and nobody knew about it until far too late. But somehow, even expressing concern about it is a Republican thing to do?
I find the same line of logic when it comes to being injected with chemicals. Most people I know frame it as a political position, not as a question of personal health and safety in the least (never mind concepts like informed consent and bodily autonomy, which many of them are passionate about when it comes to reproductive rights).
I really take offense at being called an anti-vaxxer, even though that's ...
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How overnight, the entire ecosystem that is Candace Owens crashed
I’ll admit it. I was one of those dirty Candace Owens fans. Kinda still am, maybe? Still making sense of what is happening.
What hooked me was her series on French President Macron’s wife, and specifically her penis, built on the reporting of Xavier Poussard. An American podcaster taking on the president of France over his wife’s anatomy. I thought it was the most American gangster thing I’d ever seen. I was in.
For a while, watching Candace felt like watching Jordan Peterson in the early days, or Joe Rogan before he got involved with the gambling industry, or DarkHorse, of course, of course. You know, a dissident speaking truth.
Then, almost overnight, it all fell apart.
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