Origins: Birth of a Pandemic Podcast
There is hardly a human alive who wasn't affected in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic. But almost two years after the SARS-CoV-2 virus began infecting people in the city of Wuhan in China, the world still has no clear answer on exactly where the virus came from.
In Origins: Birth of a Pandemic, journalist John Duffy explores the strong possibility that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Built from interviews with scientists from around the world who have been working to get to the bottom of how the pandemic began, Origins critiques the media and academic institutions that tried to denigrate the lab leak hypothesis.
This 100% listener-supported series is produced by Double Asterisk and comes ad-free thanks to the support of listeners like you.
Listen to Season One
S1E1: A Mother Knows Her Son
Danyé's mother Melissa finds her son dead and requests help from the media. Our hosts make contact with her, and the investigation begins.
S1E2: Lost Voices
Melissa's backstory at the origins of Black Lives Matter is explored. A shocking revelation about the lead detective in Danyé's case is unearthed.
S1E3: A Minor Component
As the St Louis County medical examiner determines Danyé's death to be suicide, our hosts look deeper into the evidence.
S1E4: Missing Time
A time-of-death innovator deepens the mystery around Danyé's last night. New evidence of racism by the lead detective causes a risky visit to his home by our hosts.
S1E5: Chasing Dasha
A rocky relationship begins between the podcast and St Louis County PD. A twisty turny pursuit of Danyé's ex-girlfriend ends in surprise.
S1E6: She Said, She Said
The 5-year anniversary of the Ferguson movement sees Melissa reunited with other activists. The hosts finally connect with Danye's ex, who may lead them into unlocking his phone.
S1E7: Navy Knots
Melissa seeks the bed sheet used in her son's death, intent on finding the origins of additional DNA. The death of George Floyd changes everything -- or maybe nothing at all?
S1E8: The Streets Was Gonna Handle It
The opening of Danyé's cell phone leads deeply into the man himself.
S1E9: Not Paranoid, Stressed
New discoveries lead our hosts more deeply back into the suicide theory.
S1E10: Hypothesis & Conjecture
In the penultimate episode, "theory" sessions attempt to tease out how Danyé's final hours may have gone done.
S1E11: A Fair Shake
Everything wraps up with Melissa and the podcasts allying with Missouri state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal to try to get new evidence to first black prosecutor Wesley Bell, and Danyé's case reopened.