Page 54 - Fall2020

Wise Traditions Podcast Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW WAKEFIELD:

IS A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE A GOOD IDEA?

HILDA LABRADA GORE: Our focus today is era of the microbiome. Now we understand
on whether a vaccine against the coronavirus is that while some of these microorganisms may
a good idea. We need to learn more about the be harmful, many of them are essential to our
history of vaccines developed against viruses, survival. In fact, what’s emerging is that the
what’s at stake and what we might expect if we health, consistency, make-up and well-being of
choose to get the vaccine—or choose not to. the gut microbiome, in particular, are essential
Our guest, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, is the doctor to everything we do, whether in terms of our
whose discoveries opened up an entirely new metabolism, development or immune health.
perspective on childhood autism, the gut-brain More recently, we’ve gone on to discover this
link and vaccine safety. He has been studying gut-brain interaction to the extent that we now
the latter for some time. We turn to him because know that the microbiome influences our brain
he is willing to speak the truth, no matter the development, our mood and our personality.
consequences. Basically, he’s something of a I find it fascinating. No man is an island. We
whistleblower in the medical industry. He is could not exist on this earth without the health
also an award-winning filmmaker; he directed of our microbiome, which in terms of numbers
Vaxxed and has just directed and released 1986: of organisms, exceeds our own number of cells.
The Act. Andy, I’m curious to explore with you So, we’ve now learned something very different,
our relationship to microbes and what, if any- and what we need to do is treat that microbiome
Hilda Labrada Gore thing, that has to do with our current situation. with a great deal of respect. This applies not
is the producer and Can you give us a little history? only to organisms that we now perceive as being
host of our Wise helpful and friendly but to those that we’ve his-
Traditions podcast ANDREW WAKEFIELD: Yes. It’s a fascinat- torically seen as pathogens. We need to accord
and a Washington,
DC, co-chapter ing story and one that I’ve studied now for over them a great deal of respect. Because if we do
leader. An thirty years in my professional career. It’s really not, we will get into a very difficult situation.
enthusiastic a question of perspective. When you go back to What happened as a consequence of our
communicator, the time of Louis Pasteur and then Alexander belief that antibiotics were a “miracle?” This
Hilda is passionate Fleming (who discovered penicillin) and other was the word used by public health physicians
about wellness on people like them, you see in what they wrote that at the time. Historically, of course, that was a
every level, which microorganisms—even though they were poorly justifiable perception, but nature does not stand
is why she is known characterized at the time—were perceived as still. Nature evolves at an extraordinarily high
as “holistic Hilda.” enemies. Pasteur wrote about “these enemies” rate with great efficiency because it is geared up
She is a speaker,
podcast consultant and the hope that science would conquer the to do just that to survive and prevail. We cre-
and the co-author enemy. That was the perception of the time. You ated, through our injudicious use of antibiotics,
of Podcasting Made can understand it in a historical context, when a plethora of microbes that are highly danger-
Simple. Hilda lives in diseases like syphilis, battlefield gangrene and ous—that are antibiotic-resistant and are caus-
Washington, DC, rheumatic fever were major problems. When ing what public health officials describe as “the
with her husband, antibiotics came along and dealt with those end of modern medicine” and a “post-antibiotic
children, dog and cat. infections very effectively, it reinforced the apocalypse.” Again, those are their words.
Subscribe to her blog perception that microbes were indeed enemies.
through her website
(holistichilda.com) HG: What you are saying makes sense. I under-
and follow her HG: How are things different now? stand that we have been overusing antibiotics,
on Instagram: and even the medical community is recognizing
@holistichilda. AW: Now we know better. Now we live in the that. But you said that we also need to give bad
52 Wise Traditions FALL 2020