The Strange Rise of Fanaticism: The 339th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying

On this, our 339th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss the rise of fanaticism in the context of Jason Arday—the former Cambridge professor who was under fire for plagiarism and fabulism, and was recently found dead. Arday benefitted from the progressive stack, and played up both his blackness and autism; he was also an actual marathoner and a human being. There can be no nuance on either side—either he is beloved and his name is chanted at a gathering at Trafalgar Square, or he is denounced by the anti-woke (including race realists). Other examples of cases where fanaticism is met by fanaticism on the other side, when there should be some people who hold an intermediate position, include: Covid vaxxers vs anti-vaxxers; traditionalists vs libertarians; and climate science deniers vs enthusiasts.


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Music: "Marble Machine" by Wintergatan
This track can be downloaded for free at www.wintergatan.net
Free License to use this track in your video can be downloaded at www.wintergatan.net

Thumbnail: Alishia Abodunde / Getty Images News

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Mentioned in this episode:

Sarah Ditum, the Times of London, 8-17: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/was-it-wrong-to-write-so-much-about-jason-arday-nzjrn9gbf

Trafalgar Square: https://x.com/nickdixon/status/2089472484085211226?s=46

The Times on Arday, 7-31: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/jason-arday-university-cambridge-plagiarism-kwfk6sm6c

Nathan Cofnas: https://ncofnas.com/p/dei-fraud-and-cover-up-at-cambridge

“Rebuttal”: https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/the-peter-thiel-linked-race-science-network-that-penetrated-cambridge-university-and-targeted-jason-arday/

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