Del Bigtree: What If the Science Was Never Actually Done?

Del Bigtree, Emmy Award-winning producer, founder and CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), and host of The Highwire, joins Dr. Tara Perry for a thought-provoking conversation on medical informed consent, government transparency, and the question he believes everybody should be asking. Del is the executive producer of the documentary An Inconvenient Study, viewed more than 130 million times worldwide, and through ICAN has pursued more than 1,000 FOIA requests and legal actions involving the FDA, CDC, NIH, and HHS. Del shares the nine-year backstory behind the film — from a 2016 dinner challenge with Henry Ford Health's head of infectious disease to the hidden-camera footage and the two-month sprint to finish the documentary — along with why he believes we're in the "violently opposed" stage of truth, where his fearlessness comes from, and the faith that anchors his work. The conversation closes with Del's megaphone message to the world: speak your truth, get involved, and let go of fear.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• (02:06) The handshake bet that started it all — Del's 2016 dinner with Dr. Marcus Zervos of Henry Ford Health, and the admission Del calls one of the most remarkable he's ever heard from a pro-vaccine scientist
• (04:59) The study gets done in 2020 — and why Dr. Zervos refused to publish it, captured on hidden camera at a second dinner in 2021
• (06:36) The phone call that changed everything — Senator Ron Johnson agrees to publish the study on the Senate website, giving Del just two months to make a documentary he thought needed a year
• (08:13) Two awards at FreedomFest — and why Del says he still gets tears in his eyes watching the finished film
• (10:59) Why Del says this is now "repeatable science" — what he describes as the 10th–12th study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children, all pointing the same direction
• (13:00) Del's challenge to the New York Times and Washington Post — "show your evidence" — and how he says the expert defense has shifted
• (16:44) The communicator's craft — how Del layered animation, music, visuals, and nine years of Highwire interviews to make a complex subject land for every kind of learner in just 70 minutes
• (19:30) Taking the film to Italy, France, Poland, England, the Netherlands, and Japan — nearly 10 languages and counting, with free translations on request
• (20:53) The Australian Senate moment — how Del realized the study at the center of his film is reaching health departments on the other side of the world
• (22:46) Schopenhauer's three stages of truth — why Del believes we're in the "violently opposed" stage, and the vaccinated-versus-unvaccinated study he says RFK Jr. is still fighting to complete at HHS
• (29:17) Why Del is optimistic — the 15% it has historically taken to change a system, and the 30% he believes "can't be hypnotized"
• (34:49) Where his courage comes from — parents who marched in the 1960s and celebrated his challenges, an unshakeable optimism, and a faith that leaves no room for fear
• (37:32) Del's biggest heroes — from Andy Wakefield and RFK Jr. to the unsung heroes history will never name
• (39:48) What he'd tell his 18-year-old self who dreamed of being the next Spielberg — "you have no idea how much fun your life is going to be"
• (42:43) Del's biggest concern for the years ahead — global governance, AI, and why he says rebellion is in our DNA
• (46:08) Del's megaphone message to the world: wake up every morning, ask what you can do to make the world better — then listen, and go do it

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