In Episode #65 of The Ultimate Assist, John Stockton and Ken Ruettgers sit down with researcher and entrepreneur David E. Martin for a wide-ranging and controversial conversation about patents, power, and the systems behind modern science.

Martin revisits his claims surrounding early coronavirus patents, arguing that key elements of both the virus and its potential treatments were documented years before the Covid-19 pandemic. He explains why these findings were labeled “misinformation” at the time—and why he believes many of those same claims have since surfaced in mainstream reporting.

The discussion goes deeper into:

• The role of patents and intellectual property in shaping global health responses
• Why Martin believes fact-checking organizations failed to examine primary evidence
• The structure of federal funding, universities, and what he calls “research money laundering”
• Ongoing concerns around gain-of-function research and biological engineering

The conversation also expands beyond Covid, exploring how similar dynamics may exist in agriculture and the modern food system—and what that means for long-term public health.

At its core, this episode asks a bigger question:

Are we looking in the wrong place when we try to understand how these systems really work?

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