Bret Samuel Weinstein (/ˈwaɪnstaɪn/; born February 21, 1969) is an American podcaster, author, and former professor of evolutionary biology.

Like his brother Eric Weinstein, he was named as a member of the intellectual dark web in a 2018 New York Times essay by columnist Bari Weiss.

As a freshman, he wrote a letter to the school newspaper that condemned sexual harassment of strippers at a Zeta Beta Tau fraternity party.

[4] After experiencing harassment for the letter, he transferred to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he met his wife, Heather Heying, and completed an undergraduate degree in biology in 1993.

An administrator had suggested that for that year white participants stay off campus, and were invited to attend an off-campus program on race issues.

The protests involved allegations of racism, intolerance and threats; brought national attention to Evergreen; and sparked further debate about free speech on college campuses.

[18] Weinstein and his wife, Heather Heying, brought a lawsuit against the school, alleging that the college's president had not asked campus police to quell student protesters.

[25] He was named in a 2018 New York Times essay by columnist Bari Weiss as a prominent member of the "intellectual dark web".

[39][40] In 2020, he announced Unity 2020, a plan to nominate for the upcoming US presidential elections a pair of suitable candidates, each associated with one of both major political parties, to govern as a team.

The American Foundation for AIDS Research reacted to the podcast, calling the theories "old and baseless" and criticized Weinstein for "disseminating false information".

[45][46] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Weinstein made several public appearances advocating the use of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin to prevent or treat the disease and downplaying the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

[48][29] Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine, described Weinstein's position on mRNA vaccines as "totally irresponsible.

Afterward, Weinstein and Heying moved their subsequent broadcasts to the fringe alternative video sharing platform Odysee.

[60][61][62] Weinstein has said that ivermectin alone is "good enough to end the pandemic at any point" and claimed that the drug's true effectiveness against COVID-19 was being suppressed in order to push vaccines for the financial benefit of Big Pharma.