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Jon Stewart On Vaccine Science And The Wuhan Lab Theory

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Commentary
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this commentary3 months2021–2024 score 3.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN posts it in COVID origin threads as a blunt comedic take on why the lab leak question deserved investigation rather than dismissal.

Jon Stewart appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and discusses the pandemic, vaccine science and the Wuhan lab origin theory. He jokes that the disease shares its name with the lab.

“Jon Stewart's take is brilliant” (HN, 2022)

1 strong recommendations · 3 recommendations · 5 citations · 2 jokes · Commentary · news from the time

11 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@khazhoux Jan 2022 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Scientists believed Covid leaked from Wuhan lab, but feared debate could hurt
Jon Stewart's take is brilliant: [this video] > "The name of the disease is printed on the lab's business cards!!" But the reason the Left in the US couldn't even consider Wuhan as the source, is because the Right (well, Trump himself) wanted to say that because it was " Chi na's fault", that his Administration bore no responsibility for dealing with it.
Stewart's sharp take on the Wuhan lab theory
@khazhoux Feb 2023 Recommends
on HN thread Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, U.S. Agency Now Says
Time once again to post Jon Stewart: [this video] I still don't understand how in 2020 people were branded as racist sinophobes for saying that the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, probably originated from the coronavirus research lab in Wuhan . I know suspicion isn't fact, but that should have always been the leading theory to be disproved. Instead, IIRC Twitter and FB were flagging any post that said "lab leak."
Stewart on Wuhan lab hypothesis being dismissed as racist
@cypherg Mar 2023 Recommends
on HN thread I Asked Leading Covid Scientists, Off the Record, About the Lab Leak Theory
Seems rather insane to me to "not care" about the origins if we all intend on preventing this in the future. Each origin hypothesis has vastly different implications - incredibly vast. I'm shocked that this article didn't discuss the Biosaftey Level of the WIV or the many, many, MANY, other lab leaks from labs with even stricter BSL. The ever avuncular Jon Stuart said it well two years ago: [this video]
Stewart on why origin of the pandemic matters

Citations, criticism and jokes

@throwkeep Jun 2021 Cites it
on HN thread TikTok owner ByteDance sees its earnings double in 2020
Not sure if sarcastic. Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are all heavily engaging in censorship. For example, they banned people last year for talking about the lab leak hypothesis, which is now acceptably mainstream(1). They are currently censoring a Youtube channel(2) run by a PhD in biology, who has been interviewing MDs and the inventor of mRNA vaccines, and whose stated purpose is to help end the pandemic(3). 1) [this video] (Jon Stewart on Colbert earlier this week) 2) [link] 3) [link]
Jon Stewart on Colbert discussing the lab leak hypothesis
@OrvalWintermute Sep 2021 Cites it
on HN thread Alabama man dies after being turned away from 43 hospitals as Covid packs ICUs
Read more
Here are some examples of people that were banned/suspended, and one that was not. [1] Dr. Zelenko of the Zelenko protocol fame [2] Alex Berenson, formerly of the NYT, for raising the vaccine lack of protection issues, and for merely posting Pfizer test results [3] [4] Dr. Martin Kulldorf, Epidemiologist, for stating natural immunity from previous infection superior to vaccine. Later proved correct by Israeli studies which proved natural immunity superior via "Interestingly, CD4+ T cell responses equally target several SARS-CoV-2 proteins, whereas the CD8+ T cell responses preferentially target the nucleoprotein, highlighting the potential importance of including the nucleoprotein in future vaccines" [5] [6] Facebook suspended users for casting doubt on origins which later became more credible after the US government gave it more credence [7] I think a big part of the problem is when BigTech tries to become the authority on information, and is often trailing the data from authoritative sources, or, incorrectly inserting itself into scientific debates in order to prop up a prevailing line, for which there may be weaker evidence. [8] Jon Stewart was not banned or censored when he raised some of the same covid origin logic problems. I am not sure if this is because he is quite funny, or, it may have been viewed as a comedy bit. However, he did receive a large amount of flak from the left. ************* [1] [link] [2] [link] [3] [link] [4] [link] [5] [link] [6] [link] [7] [link]
Stewart raised lab-origin logic without being censored
@cardosof Nov 2021 Cites it
on HN thread The Next ‘Lab Leak’
I don't understand why lab leak isn't, like, the first or most important investigative line. It's just a matter of asking and checking - thoroughly - every person and every machine involved with the lab in that timeframe. After all, "the disease is the same name as the lab!" [1] [1] [this video]
Stewart's quip that the disease shares the lab's name
@ra1231963 Jun 2023 Cites it
on HN thread What went on inside the Wuhan lab weeks before Covid erupted
It was absolutely taboo. If you tried to bring it up you were shouted down as a far right conspiracy theorist, or racist. Mashup of clips from the news: [link] Jon Stewart was the first to call this into question publicly, which was brave at the time. Watch Colbert push back on Stewart’s line of reasoning: [this video] Honestly questioning anything covid-related was taboo at that time, including the vaccines, masks, ivermectin, etc. Please note, I am not making any claims about these things, other than it was taboo to question anything “official sources” stated.
Stewart questioning lab leak, with Colbert pushing back
@davidanekstein Nov 2024 Cites it
on HN thread Did scientists revive an extinct animal or just breed a less stripey zebra?
When Jon Stewart was on the Late Show talking about the possibility of a covid lab leak [1], he gave a quip along the lines of “science says ‘why did curiosity kill the cat? let’s kill 10,000 cats and find out.’” and that if science can do it, it will do it, and it’s uncommon for people to ask “should we be doing this?” before it’s too late. I think that ego and scientific urge to understand are sometimes hard to distinguish because they sometimes lead to similar outcomes. [1] [this video]
Stewart's quip on curiosity killing cats and science ethics
@paulddraper Jul 2021 Makes a joke
on HN thread The Case Against the Covid-19 Lab Leak Theory
> may actually be the strongest evidence for it. That, plus the fact that a novel bat coronavirus originated blocks away from a facility...that studied novel bat coronaviruses. How much of a coincidence is even possible? Humor [this video]

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