The Sage Steele Show | EP 84: What You Should Know About Vaccines

Guest: Del Bigtree (medical journalist, producer, vaccine safety activist)
Release Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Sage Steele

Episode Overview

This pivotal episode features Sage Steele in conversation with Del Bigtree, a former Emmy Award-winning TV producer (“The Doctors”) turned leading voice in the medical freedom and vaccine safety movement. With deeply personal reflections and a probing look at the history, accountability, and controversies around childhood and COVID-19 vaccines, the episode urges listeners to critically examine mainstream narratives and the regulatory oversight of vaccines.

Bigtree discusses his transformation from industry insider to outspoken advocate, unpacks the science and policy gaps in vaccine safety, addresses the surge in chronic disease and autism, and calls for transparent public health standards and parental autonomy.

Sage states at the top: "This is the most important interview I’ve ever done." (00:58)

Key Discussion Points

1. Del Bigtree's Journey: From TV Producer to Vaccine Safety Activist

• Background: Produced for "The Doctors" talk show, won an Emmy highlighting medical innovation. Known for taking on controversial stories, including pharmaceutical safety (Glyphosate, Monsanto).
• Turning Point: A 2015 tip about CDC whistleblower Dr. William Thompson alleging scientific fraud in studies on the MMR vaccine and autism.
• Documentary: Bigtree made "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe," igniting international debate and medical freedom activism.

  "I would say that film doesn’t prove that the MMR causes autism. What it proves is that five scientists in the CDC saw such a strong connection that they committed fraud on that study to hide it." – Del Bigtree (06:23)

2. Systemic Issues in Vaccine Safety Science

• Lack of Standard Safety Trials: No childhood vaccine has undergone the double-blind, placebo-controlled safety study considered the gold standard in medicine before market approval.

  "Not a single childhood vaccine…ever went through a double blind placebo trial." (16:03)

• Liability Shield: Since 1986, vaccine manufacturers have been legally shielded from product liability, eliminating key accountability mechanisms.
• Regulatory Capture: Bigtree claims pharmaceutical companies exert disproportionate influence over regulations and public messaging.

  "Television owned by pharma has taken a trivial childhood illness and made us believe it’s deadly.” (15:16)

3. First-Hand Accounts and the Rise of the Medical Freedom Movement

• Anecdotal Evidence: Extensive engagement with parents of vaccine-injured children—overwhelming emotional testimony and observable patterns of acute regression after vaccination.

  "These weren’t crazy people… They had videos… and then the vaccine and they're screaming and then they never speak again." (08:38)

• Digital Advocacy: Leveraged social media live-streaming to amplify the stories neglected by mainstream media, driving grassroots activism.

4. COVID-19: The Pandemic as a Watershed Moment

• Predicted Push for Adult Vaccine Mandates: Bigtree asserts the COVID-19 pandemic was a vehicle for extending childhood vaccine mandates to adults—an "adult vaccine program".
• Critique of COVID Measures: Masking, social distancing, and lockdowns lacked proper scientific basis and fostered lasting psychological harm, particularly to children.

  “There wasn’t a study in the world that showed that a mask can stop a particle as small as coronavirus.” (30:40)

• ** rushed COVID Vaccine Rollout:** Even with relatively greater study sizes, the placebo group in trials was quickly vaccinated, eliminating meaningful long-term safety data.
• Accountability and Forgiveness: Bigtree and Steele discuss the lack of apology from authorities for policy decisions, damaged trust, and the importance of retaining critical knowledge.

5. Vaccine Policy, Pediatric Practice, and Parental Choice

• Incentive Structures: Pediatricians face financial incentives and pressure from insurers to maintain high vaccine coverage rates—those with too many unvaccinated patients risk losing bonuses.

  "Those pediatricians are now saying, then I'm not going to see you. You're out of my office." (53:56)

• Chronic Disease and Autoimmunity Trends: Charting a dramatic rise in chronic and autoimmune diseases in U.S. children that correlate with increased vaccination and environmental chemical exposure.
• Role of Regulatory Agencies: Criticizes CDC, FDA, NIH for approving a “toxic soup” of products and maintaining outdated or insufficient vaccine safety research.

6. Medical Community’s Knowledge Gap

• Insufficient Training: According to Bigtree and WHO testimony, most doctors receive less than a day’s training in vaccines during medical school.

  “You’re lucky as a doctor if you get a half a day education in college on vaccines.” (69:51)

• Poor Transparency and Ingredient Awareness: Most pediatricians, Bigtree argues, cannot list the ingredients of the vaccines they administer.

7. Personal and Emotional Impact

• Sage’s Reflection: Sage expresses guilt and anger at having trusted public health authorities with her children’s health, echoing concerns of many parents.

  “I feel like an idiot. I’m so mad because I trust it. When I go to these doctors and you ask a question, then you feel stupid, so you just do it.” – Sage Steele (73:45)

• Colton Barrett’s Story: The heartbreaking case of a young athlete disabled and eventually dying after the HPV Gardasil vaccine, with video segment included.
  [Colton Barrett video segment: 80:49–84:14]

8. HPV (Gardasil) & Other Vaccines: Controversy and Risks

• Gardasil: Bigtree claims the risk profile is "very, very bad", with evidence of severe adverse effects and no proven reduction in cervical cancer rates.

  "I can't find a reason for that vaccine... Gardasil’s got a really, really bad aluminum load in it that I think is catastrophic too. It's sterilizing girls. It's causing early menopause..." (85:56)

• Aborted Fetal Tissue in Vaccines: Discussion of Dr. Stanley Plotkin’s testimony about the use of aborted fetal cells in vaccine development, including ethical and religious considerations.

  “There’s no one higher in the world than Stanley Plotkin. I have the whole deposition... 76 babies all over the age of three months gestational...chopped up in little pieces.” (89:32–94:56)

9. Autism and the Search for Causation

• Rapidly Increasing Autism Rates: Discussion of statistics—autism rates now at 1 in 34 nationally, 1 in 12.5 among California 4-year-old boys.
• Etiology: Bigtree suggests vaccines are the predominant environmental trigger, especially in susceptible children who cannot detoxify properly.
• Tylenol and Heavy Metals: Tylenol after vaccination impairs glutathione, possibly worsening vaccine risk; suggests detoxification for children already vaccinated.

10. Faith, Philosophy, and Societal Stakes

• Science vs. God: Delivers a warning against placing blind faith in medical authorities and the unchecked “hubris” of those who would “fix” nature.

  “We are dancing literally with the devil. We are dancing with a hubris, with an ego and no idea the dangers we could do.” (121:44)

• Freedom of Choice: Stresses the absolute necessity of medical freedom—“we cannot live in a world where these products are ever forced into us or we will not survive.” (126:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Long-term Safety Trials:

  “If you punch in my name, I have the ugliest Wikipedia you’ve ever seen…that’s called misinformation. Now they’re changing the story. Now most doctors will admit it is true. We haven’t had a placebo trial of any of the current vaccines.” – Del Bigtree (55:00)

• On the Role of Medical Professionals:

  “It's your job to know... when you are telling me what to put in my body and when and allegedly why.” – Sage Steele (50:38)

• On Statistical Realities:

  “In the 1980s…our chronic disease rate in our kids was 12.8%. …by 2011 was 54%.” – Del Bigtree (41:44)

• On Colton Barrett (HPV Vaccine Injury):
  [Video/introduction at 80:49, Colton speaks at 81:50]

  “Gotta do your research…you can’t just trust a doctor anymore.” – Colton Barrett (81:57)

• On Accountability in Science:

  “Science should celebrate the anti-vaxxers…We may need your bloodline someday.” – Del Bigtree (127:08)

• Personal Reflection:

  “I have done thousands of interviews over the last 31 years. None more important than this and never will.” – Sage Steele (128:22)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Topic/Quote | Timestamp | |--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Introduction | “Most important interview I’ve ever done.” | 00:58–02:32 | | Del’s Background | Early career, “The Doctors”, & whistleblower story | 03:43–08:13 | | CDC Whistleblower | Fraud in MMR vaccine-autism study | 06:23 | | Vaxxed & Movement | Documentary, parent stories, rise of activism | 08:13–13:06 | | Liability & Safety | 1986 law, absence of placebo trials | 13:06–18:08 | | COVID-19 Mandates | Pharma lobby, warp speed, prediction of adult mandates| 24:48–28:28 | | Mask/Distancing Critique | “There wasn’t a study in the world…” | 30:41 | | Impact on Children | Loss of trust, suppressed studies | 41:31–46:03 | | Pediatricians & Incentives| Doctor bonuses for vaccination rates | 53:00–54:19 | | HPV/Gardasil Issues | Colton Barrett story, severe injuries | 80:49–84:14 | | Autism Discussion | Rates, causation, Tylenol, environmental toxins | 107:00–115:00| | Faith and Science | Eden, hubris, “dancing with the devil” | 121:29–127:10| | Final Reflection | “No interview more important than this…” | 128:22–128:55|

Resources & Further Reading

• Del Bigtree’s Website & Daily Show: thehighwire.com (Thursdays)
• Documentary: anInconvenienceStudy.com
• Books Mentioned:
  • HPV Vaccines on Trial (on Gardasil controversy)
  • Denial by Mark Blaxel (on autism diagnosis)
• Key Case Studies:
  • [Colton Barrett’s video at ~80:49–84:14]

Tone & Style

The episode is frank, emotional, and urgent. Both host and guest foreground personal conviction, first-hand testimony, and explicit calls for informed consent, transparency, and critical questioning of public health authorities. There is a recurring motif of parental duty, spiritual reflection, and the protection of future generations.