I've been hoping for that to happen for the last six years, but I've almost completely lost hope. The Newscorp spin is too strong.
I just watched most of it. Firstly, the institutes mentioned - La Trobe and Flinders Universities are very much real and very well respected. He seems genuine about he saying, especially in that he didn't seem keen on giving the interviewer the sound bites she was fishing for. The lab theory was always placed alongside the natural evolution theory with the 'we need to find the origin to be certain' line. I also found an extensive publication history of his in related fields, so he isn't a generic scientist they found to be a mouthpiece. I don't know enough virology to speak much to the merits of his argument surrounding the spike protein though. It passes my initial smell test, but that is hardly definitive.
I assume he is referring to this.
I figured as much myself, but since I pop into the thread only periodically and I don't observe a what I suspect is a large portion of the discussion, I left the door open a hair for some other mandate.
The post by @Touring Mars was made when there were a bunch of unsubstantiated theories were flying around, and scientific evidence was pretty scarce for any argument. As more thoroughly reviewed scientific evidence becomes available the moderation stance may change, but that is clearly not my place to say.
Oh, sorry, I was bored when I woke up this morning and saw the thread near the top, so I wondered how it would look upside-down. I didn't realise I'd actually saved it
I consider myself reasonably smart, but the number of times on that show that I got to the end of Paxton asking a question and not actually know what he asked (let alone an answer) was insane. The difference between that show and Jeopardy! on this side of the Atlantic is insane.
