Curious Coincidence

MIT Technology Review•www.technologyreview.com

This is a detective story that’s unsolved. Hosted by investigative reporter Antonio Regalado, Curious Coincidence dives into the mysterious origins of Covid-19 by examining the genome of the virus, the labs doing sensitive research on dangerous pathogens, and questions of whether a lab accident may have touched off a global pandemic.

Last refreshed: July 26th, 2025 at 4:20 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Pandora's Box

Is some knowledge too dangerous to possess? Covid-19 has put cutting-edge research on pandemic germs under the spotlight. We Meet: Rowan Jacobsen, journalist Gigi Gronvall, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and associate professor Kevin Esvelt, professor and head of Sculpting Evolution Group, MIT Media Lab Links: Senator Paul and Dr. Fauci Clash Over Research Funding of Wuhan Lab , C-SPAN Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan , MIT Techno...

Apr 06, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 5

China

Scientists zero in on a market in the city of Wuhan as the place the pandemic started. But information on China’s wild-animal trade is hard to uncover. We Meet: Michael Standaert, freelance journalist based in China Alex Crits-Christoph, bioinformatician, Johns Hopkins University Matthew Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser Ho-fung Hung, political economist, Johns Hopkins University Links: No one can find the animal that gave people covid-19 , MIT Technology Review In search for co...

Mar 23, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Labs

Lab accidents have caused disease outbreaks before, and accidents are more common - and kept more secret - than you think. We Meet: Alison Young, journalism professor, Missouri School of Journalism Gigi Gronvall, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and associate professor Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Links: Biolabs in your backyard , USA Today The Reemergent 1977 H1N1 Strain and the Gain-of-Function Debate , Michelle Rozo & Gigi Gronvall, ASM Jou...

Mar 09, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Sleuths

A group of self-appointed online investigators decide to investigate a Chinese lab. Their findings only deepen doubts. We meet: The Seeker, internet sleuth Rowan Jacobsen, journalist Links: Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy, MIT Technology Review Credits: Curious Coincidence was produced as part of MIT Technology Review 's Pandemic Technology Project , which is supported in part by a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation. The series was created by Antonio Regalad...

Mar 09, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Origins

Why we need to find the truth, and the “curious coincidence” that set off a battle over covid-19’s origin. We Meet: Peter Ben Embarek, WHO program manager and covid-19 origins mission leader Jesse Bloom, virologist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Alina Chan, postdoc, Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard Natasha Loder, health policy editor with The Economist Links: On Finding Answers , by Natasha Loder on Substack They called it a conspiracy theory. But Alina Chan tweeted life into the idea tha...

Mar 09, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Welcome to Curious Coincidence

Feb 10, 2022•3 min

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