In this episode of the No Pill Podcast, I take a deep dive into the contested relationship between vaccines and autism, centering on claims about aluminum adjuvants, study design flaws, and immune activation pathways. I highlight testimony from Toby Rogers on how “placebo,” “inert,” and “randomized controlled trial” are often misused in vaccine safety research, discuss the Capacity-Load-Trigger theory of autism causation, and review posts by JB Handley arguing that removing mandates—like the moves proposed in Florida—could lead to lower autism rates. I walk through studies frequently cited by vaccine skeptics, including analyses on DTP and asthma/allergies, Hepatitis B and special education/autism risk, Jackson State University’s vaccinated vs. unvaccinated comparisons (including preterm infants), and Hooker/Miller’s pediatric practice data. I also summarize mechanistic research linking maternal immune activation, cytokines (notably IL-6), microglial activation, and aluminum adjuvants to neuroinflammation and atypical brain development, and point listeners to resources that compile and interpret these studies. A brief detour covers a wayward NASA balloon recovery in Texas, and I close with a personal life update and requests for prayer regarding family health, transportation woes, and church decisions.

Resources mentioned and discussed include: Toby Rogers’ congressional testimony and Substack posts; the Capacity-Load-Trigger theory paper by Claire Craigpath and Tim Calley (with Rogers’ edits); JB Handley’s articles on Florida mandates and aluminum adjuvants; studies on DTP and allergy/asthma outcomes; SUNY Stony Brook research on Hepatitis B and special education/autism associations; Jackson State University’s vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies and the preterm subgroup analysis; Hooker/Miller’s pediatric chart review; work by Chris Shaw and Lucija Tomljenovic on aluminum adjuvants; Paul Patterson’s maternal immune activation research; Johns Hopkins findings on neuroinflammation in autism; and the Vaccine Papers site. I encourage listeners to read the linked studies in the show notes for full context and to reach out with feedback or critiques.