When the coronavirus first surfaced, conventional wisdom and the Chinese government suggested it emerged from a wet market in Wuhan. However, newly uncovered State Department cables give credence to the theory that the virus may have leaked from a research facility just down the road.

The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin joined the podcast to walk us through the 2018 cables warning of inadequate safety at a Wuhan coronavirus research lab. Rogin discusses the Chinese government’s reaction to the lab origin story, as well as politicization of the virus at home.

Josh Rogin is a columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post and a political analyst with CNN. He has covered foreign policy and national security for Bloomberg View, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, and Foreign Policy magazine, among other outlets. He was a 2011 finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists and the 2011 recipient of the Interaction Award for Excellence in International Reporting.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of AEI’s What the Hell is Going On?, with hosts Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen. For more episodes, find What the Hell on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. This episode was first released on April 27, 2020.

Download the transcript here.