The European Skeptics Podcast

This week before we get into the meat of the show, we talk Corona, Greta Thunberg and look forward to Adam Rutherford’s new book, “How to Argue with a Racist”. We also have two good news for our German friends: Natalie Grams have launched her podcast “Grams’ Sprechstunde” and we have a ticket raffle for SkepKon 2020 in Berlin. Tune in to find out how you can win a free ticket!In this week in history we celebrate Charles Darwin who was born on 12 February 1809. Pontus Pokes the Pope for hypocritically telling others how to reduce poverty when he personally has misplaced tens of millions of Euro from the Peters’ Pence charity. Also Cardinal Barbarin get off scot-free for covering up a child molester.In the news we report that the BBC launches “My World”, a show to teach young audiences to spot fake news, that the WHO fights the “Infodemic” of fake Coronavirus rumours and that they get help from Factcheck.org and Fullfact.org.Climate change reaches new heights with the warmest January on record for Europe and Ry

This week we interview Finnish activist Iida Ruishalme and talk about nuclear power and green energy. Iida is a biologist specialised in biomedical research, an environmentalist, a writer and a science communicator. She also a mum, taking the future of her children very seriously. She blogs at Thoughtscapism.com.We first met her at the 2019 European Skeptics Congress in Ghent where she gave a fascinating talk about the importance of critical thinking when it comes to green energy and decarbonisation.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we first get the record straight and correct our position on Ocean Cleanup - while we appreciate the sentiment, the whole idea is both damaging and unscientific. Two great Skeptical events are coming up this spring Skepkon 2020 in Berlin 21 - 23 May and the 4th Conference on Science and Pseudoscience 13 -1 4 March in Alicante.In this week in history we hear about Russia’s own Roswell incident, the Height 611 UFO crash. Pontus Pokes the Pope and gives us the latest on the celibacy controversy, the first female high-ranking appointment in the Vatican and how Father Robert, aka the Digital Jesuit, invited Francis for a D&D session in the crypt.All news sources are full of Coronavirus stories at the moment, but how does one separate the facts from fiction? Swedish Schools keeps patronizing known Scientology organisations and the Spanish Manifesto against Pseudotherapies gets momentum abroad.Greenpeace wants a piece of the action on the Green party’s recent success in the Hungarian election, but they

This week we note that the Swedish Skeptics’ article from last week concerning Thomas Erikson’s nonsense personality book “Surrounded by Idiots” has gotten some attention from other skeptics, among other things Pontus was a guest on the last episode of the Skeptic Zone podcast to talk about it.In history this week we talk about Desmond Morris and his role in the Aquatic Ape hypothesis and then Pontus Pokes the Pope about the fact that the two living popes are at odds regarding celibacy and also that the charity money from Peter’s Pence goes straight into the coffers of the Vatican.In the news this week: Contrary to what you may have heard, Finland does not plan to go to a four-day working week, in Russia 800 science papers have been retracted and the Eurobarometer shows that EU citizens are concerned about climate change. Andrew Wakefield will screen the new film Vaxxed II at a public venue in Notting Hill, the Goop Lab will feature the Dutch “Iceman” Wim Hof, an Italian court has against scientific consensus

This week we note that at the time of recording, American-Swedish astronaut Jessica Meir is busy preparing and conducting the second ever all-female spacewalk.In history this week in 1964, Italian philosopher, author and skeptic Massimo Pigliucci was born, and we discuss some of his contributions and influences.Pontus Pokes the Pontus to note that old Benedict comes out of retirement to fight for celibacy, potentially creating a headache for poor Francis, who is supposed to say the final word on the matter shortly. In other papal news, disgraced former Archbishop Theodore McCarrick goes missing to avoid the wrath of the Holy See.In the news, the Spanish Catholic Church inexplicably thinks that celibate priests constitute the best expertise in preparing young couples for marriage while Uri Geller reminds us that he’s no more crazy than the UK Government and so, applies for a job there.Gwyneth Paltrow’s The Goop Lab is soon coming to a Netflix near you, trying to convince us that spending a fortune on utter bul

This week András is back and we start by philosophizing a bit about what a new decade really means and look forward to a few nice skeptics meetings coming up. We also talk about the future for Golden Rice and why it is so important despite what Greenpeace and EU politicians think.From history we hear about the so-called ‘psychic’ Doris Stokes who was born this week in 1920 and Pontus Pokes the Pope for telling others to show restraint while he himself lost his temper just a few days ago. Should he be the one who negotiate peace in the Middle East? We think not.In the News this week: MedWatch.de turns into full online magazine, the people behind the Manifesto Against Pseudotherapies are getting sued by homeopaths and Prince William starts the ‘Earthshot Prize’ to fight the climate crisis. We look back on a decade of Edzard Ernst, praise Hayley Stevens for continuing to spread light over ghost hunting and look forward to Natalie Grams new book coming out in February. Also, the ‘El Esceptico’ magazine has recent

This week Brian is back again and we look forward to the new year. One thing to note about 2020 is the Ratio conference in Sofia in Bulgaria in June and that the super early bird tickets already are released. Chris French is going, so why don’t you? Then Jelena tells us a ghost story from this week in 1762 that took place in Cock Lane, believe it or not.In Pontus Pokes the Pope we hear about shady monetary shenanigans involving two sitting popes and how the Catholic church is now struggling to live up to the recent changes regarding so-called Papal Secrecy.In the news we talk about the resignation of the Italian education minister, how the NHS in the UK is trying out ‘prehab’ for cancer patients and we check back on the Samoan measles emergency.Further news takes us to Russia who has appealed the sanctions imposed because of doping scandals, and we go to Spain where homeopaths are trying to sue the government and then we are happy to hear that the charlatan John of God has been sentenced to 19 years in jail,

This week we wrap up the year and wish all our listeners a Happy Holiday. We revisit something we got wrong about Das Goldene Brett last week and celebrate the birthday of Johannes Kepler.For Pontus Pokes the Pope we examine what the Pontifical Secret is all about and what it may mean when Francis now has declared it cannot be used to hide sex abuse. We also deliver our first ever film review, on the rather nice but totally fictional movie ‘The Two Popes’.In the news we talk about Chemophobia, HPV vaccinations for boys and again marvel at the stupidity of the Prince of Wales. We also discuss doctors paying for positive on-line reviews, the measles situation in Turkey (it’s bad) and how anti-vaxxers and making millions from ‘natural supplements’ goes hand in hand. Also, the supreme court in the Netherlands has upheld a ruling against the government for not doing enough to fight climate change.We end the episode and the year by looking back to find that several good things happened too in 2019, even if they som

This week we start our journey towards episode 300 and first reflect on climate change with Greta Thunberg as Time Magazine’s person of the year and Australia heading for a sever heatwave just in time for Christmas.Johan Nevil Maskelyne, skeptic, magician (and inventor of the pay toilet) was born on 22 December 180 years ago. Pontus Popes the Pope who has been very busy over the year and seems to have big plans also for 2020.Then there is some more climate change news, with the European Green Deal proposed by the European Commission, we see a trend of apps trying to tell us what to eat and then a scumbag from episode 51 back in December 2016 finally gets well deserved jail time.Das Goldene Brett (the Golden Board) has been awarded to homeopathy manufacturer Hevert by the GWUP in Austria and the CFIIG increase their paranormal challenge reward to $250,000. Will anyone ever win it?We close the show by explaining why new research into HPV vaccines show that it’s perfectly safe, but still have to issue a Really W

This week we celebrate our 200th episode and that we continue our journey into our fifth year!We re-unite with our first ever guest, Gábor Hraskó (president of the Hungarian Skeptics) to philosophize a little about Skepticism and what has changed over time. And throughout the show we hear fantastic congratulation greetings from dear friends from across the world!We go on to bring up the eradication of Smallpox and Pontus Pokes the Pope to examine a potential $4 billion threat to the Catholic Church. And a Catholic Minecraft server sounds intriguing as well…In the news we talk about reliable climate change models, Etiopathy, the measles epidemic both globally and in Samoa. Polio is still a threat to consider and we revisit the topic of Assisted Death and the Manifesto Against Pseudoscientific Therapies.Finally, András does his very best Master Yoda impression to celebrate that we have lasted this far!Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Welcome with Gábor Hraskó; Greetings from friends 1; This Week; Greetings from friends (2

This week Claire Kroulik-Klingenberg joins Jelena and Pontus for the 199th episode – we’re into our fifth year, folks!In This week in Skepticism, Jelena tells the story of how a young pre-Sherlock-Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle fictionalized the real story of a ghost ship, creating a modern legend. Pontus Pokes the Pope and goes through some of the main on-going abuse scandals, while Francis himself celebrate with lasagne.In the news we learn about good news for Skeptic Pepijn van Erp, we also hear that institutionalized sex abuse happens also in the Church of England and that an American church causes two deaths in Latvia.The Good Thinking Society scores two wins this week, both regarding ear candling and homeopathy and we again establish that the Swedish Free School system very often is a front for religious indoctrination.Measles may be on the decline in Europe, but is continuing to create disasters with thousands of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a state of emergency declared in Samoa, where 1.

This week we have a very interesting interview with Lydia Finch, an ex-Jehovah’s Witness turned skeptic. As a sort of a follow-up from two weeks ago, we felt we wanted to dive a little more into what it really means to grow up as a JW and then eventually leave. Leaving voluntarily is difficult enough, but in Lydia’s case she was kicked out for “behaving badly” and for a long while she lived in fear, convinced that she had brought eternal damnation on herself.Eventually she managed to figure out that it was all BS and got in contact with the Skeptics movement. In our interview she takes us through that journey and also gives us a unique insight into how JW works and how dishonestly they try to portray themselves to the outside world.Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we welcome Brian back for an unprecedented two-weeks-in-a-row appearance and then we dive into how the Piltdown-man hoax went undetected for many years, but was revealed this week 66 years ago. Then we poke the pope for trying to put the blame for his sex abuse scandals on Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, while Cardinal Pell, believe in or not, may get one more day in court.In the news we find we still have to explain why you should NOT go to a chiropractor because not only is chiropractic total pseudoscience, it’s also occasionally deadly. In happier news an Ebola vaccine is finally here and has been approved in the EU, where coincidentally, being it due to vaccinations or not, the measles epidemic finally shows signs to be receding. Nevertheless, the measles vaccine is now mandatory in Germany.In Venice the recent floods are devastating but is it climate change or is it just that building a city out in the water is a bad idea? Speaking of water, did holy water from Lourdes save Shakira’s voice? And

This week it’s the return of Brian as we have sent András on a field trip to Malaysia. We celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Glasgow Skeptics and then explore signs that some bishops in the Catholic Church at least seem to be trying do the right thing regarding the abuse scandals, however without much help from Francis. He may instead worry that he has opened Pandora’s box by allowing discussions about married priests and female deacons.In the news ‘Trick or Treatment’, the book by Edzard Ernst and Simon Sing, has received an award and a study indicates that organic farming may actually be worse for the environment in some cases, something that leads to protests from organic defenders filled with logical fallacies.WHO is getting hard criticism for its inclusion of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the ICD, the International Classification of Diseases, which is also illustrated by a study the shows that TCM is causing a growing number of cases of fatal liver failure.A French study shows that MD’s who re

This week pope Francis is all talk and no show, there was a secret love affaire between a Cardinal and a Queen of Sweden in 1654 and Massimo Polidoro’s book Il Mondo Sottosopra is now in the shops.New study finds that measles resets your whole immune system in a very bad way, homeopathic nonsense should absolutely not have a Royal warrant of appointment and Swedish CAM proponents claim CAM is safe despite obvious examples that it is not.Facebook and Twitter have totally opposite views in political ads on their platforms and Facebook employees points out to Mark Zuckerberg that he is wrong.Finally, we demonstrate how the EU rules on GMO and CRISPR are totally bananas.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: A big shout-out to fellow skeptics Claire and Jakub who are getting married on the day of the release of this episode!This week we learn about William Benjamin Carpenter, an early skeptic and describer of the Ideomotor effect, back in 1870s. Then we ponder the results of the Synod for the Amazon and what decisions Pope Francis will have to make of those. Also, the renewal of the Pact of the Catacombs sounds perfect for the week of Halloween...In the news we look at a study regarding mandatory vs. voluntary vaccinations, we note that even if you are a Shaman and married to a Princess you may not publish dangerous health advice and we have a look at the latest unfortunate victim of German cancer quackery.We celebrate that two out of three polio strains are now eradicated and take a look at a new example of how to battle conspiracy theories, and are happy to see the Good Think Society help the chief of the NHS put homeopathy awareness on the agenda (and on the front page of the Daily Mail!)We close the sh

This week we have a very interesting catch up with Ovidiu Covaciu who attended the International Global Vaccination Summit organised by the European Commission and the WHO. But before that we celebrate that Jelena singlehandedly (not really) made sure that the new Center for Population Health in her home city of Seattle was dedicated to Dr. Hans Rosling, the Swedish professor and science communicator. We also talk about how Pope John Paul II this week in 1996 admitted that evolution probably has some merits to it after all. That doesn’t necessarily mean he liked it much.After the interview we poke the pope with some more Amazon news and the hilarious innovations of the Vatican to make use of modern technology. Yes, it’s the eRosary™, that nifty device we’ve all been waiting for! It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and send those Hail Marys to the heavens above at the flick of the wrist (literally).In the news we find another win for the Good Thinking Society against Peter Popoff, we anticipate the yearly

This week we first have a look to see if it was really the President of Finland who said he preferred reindeer to Trump before we congratulate the Spanish Skeptics for ceasing the opportunity of the Nobel week to point out what the ‘Nobel decease’ is in the mainstream media. We also remember the mockumentary ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ that premiered this week 17 years ago.Social media is tough to handle, as pope Francis discovered when accidentally tagging an NFL football team on Twitter, much to the delight of all the fans. Meanwhile his synod on the Amazon is fully underway, and we report on the latest developments.In the news, we report on the Global Vaccination Summit on-line, discuss the anti-gay sentiments in France, Flat Earthers in the Netherlands and the rising homeopathy resistance in Germany. We also discuss illegal circumcisions in Sweden, a new skeptical book from CICAP in Italy and the start of a huge medical lawsuit in France.We end by handing yet another Really Wrong for covering up sex abuse in

This week we declare that we’re fans of Brian Cox and we deliberate some more on the book ‘Shoot for the Moon’ by Richard Wiseman (see ep. 190) and how we can apply the lessons learned from Apollo in our skeptical endeavors.We then look into the soap opera that is the currently ongoing Synod in Rome that has created a big controversy for Francis, even before it has begun (and in addition he insists you need a dick to vote on the outcome). That is a developing story that we absolutely will come back to in the upcoming weeks.Massimo Polidoro (see ep. 189) has yet another new book out AND has launched a new YouTube channel. Does the man never sleep? We take a look at why Greta Thunberg is constantly attacked, and our message is that if she gets on your nerves you should listen to what she says, not how she may make you feel.The Swedish liberal Centre Party takes a very controversial stand against male circumcision and the World Health Organization has issued new recommendations regarding flu vaccinations.We end

This week we first have a brief follow-up on German Health Minister Jens Spahn’s failure do defund bogus homeopathy and how the IHN (Informationsnetzwerk Homöopathie) has published an open letter to the minister explaining why he is wrong not to chance the rules. You can all go sign it! We also mention the Swedish Skeptics’ (VoF) successful participation in the Gothenburg International Book Fair.The main segment of this episode is an interview with the marvelous Richard Wiseman, where he tells all about his latest book Shoot for the Moon. András was fortunate enough to catch up with him in Edinburgh and the book tells the fascinating story about how a very young, but passionate team, came together under Apollo 11 and were instrumental in putting Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Richard has coined the phrase ‘Apollo Mindset’ to describe how the team spirit they developed was key in making sure that Apollo 11 was the fantastic success it was. The book also discusses how we may all learn from the Apol