Why the Wuhan lab leak theory is being taken seriously
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2021
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Biden has launched a 90-day investigation into the origins of the virus, following reports which give fresh life to the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis. Once regarded as a conspiracy theory, the idea is now being taken seriously by both American and British intelligence. So what changed?
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guests:
- Warren Strobel, national security reporter, Wall Street Journal.
- Tom Whipple, science editor, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips from: ABC, Sky News.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, Cala McDonnell here, one of the presenters of Times Radio Breakfast. |
| 0:03.2 | Just to let you know about the future of food and drink summit, |
| 0:06.2 | in November, the Times and the Sunday Times Scotland, |
| 0:09.3 | are hosting a field to fork overview of the food and drink industry, |
| 0:13.9 | featuring global brands and exciting startups |
| 0:17.0 | all looking for fresh avenues for future growth. |
| 0:20.2 | And you can be there too. |
| 0:22.3 | Come and join me and those experts in Aberdeen, |
| 0:25.5 | register at times-event.com-foodslash-foodand-drink. |
| 0:38.1 | It's been a year that posed unthinkable questions |
| 0:42.0 | and science has risen to answer them. |
| 0:45.2 | We found vaccines that work and treatments for COVID, |
| 0:49.3 | but there's one question we still don't have a definitive answer to. |
| 0:55.0 | How did this pandemic really begin? |
| 0:58.2 | Almost certainly came from a bat. |
| 1:01.5 | The question is, what happened between the bat and the pandemic? |
| 1:05.4 | It used to be seen as a fringe conspiracy theory, |
| 1:08.8 | but now the idea of a lab leak in Wuhan is being taken seriously |
| 1:13.6 | by the president of the United States |
| 1:16.0 | and both British and American intelligence. |
| 1:18.8 | Did the virus jump from animals to humans |
| 1:21.2 | or did it escape from China's Wuhan lab? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.