The European Skeptics Podcast

In this episode we interview the German astronomer and climate activist, Dr. Leonard (Leo) Burtscher. Leo is a staff scientist at the observatory of Leiden University as well as active in the German skeptics, GWUP. He studies active galactic nuclei in Leiden since 2017 and communicates his research to younger and older audiences. He is also informing the public about the climate crisis in his spare time as a co-founder of the grass-roots movement Astronomers for Planet Earth.Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sixty years later, Captain Kirk is finally taking offWe’re happy to report that a special meeting of ESP hosts took place in Frankfurt this week. In other news, the film industry is heading for the final frontier with Russian actors going to ISS and William Shatner going where no nonagenarian has gone before. Looking back at this week in history Niels Bohr was born in 1885, and apart from describing the atom he also took a stand against the Nazis. Pope Francis, on the other hand, is “sad” because hundreds of thousands of abuse victims have been identified in France. Poor him!Then, of course, there’s the news:EUROPE: EMA approves Covid booster shots (third jab)WALES: UFO sightingFRANCE: Mont Blanc keeps shrinkingINTERNATIONAL: Diet supplement sales through the roof due to the pandemicEUROPE / INTERNATIONAL: Trust in scientists have dropped during the pandemic120 years after the fact Alfred Nobel gets his own Prize – this week’s Really Right Award!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week In Skepticism; Pontu

Put it up your bum!Are people losing their wits as covid restriction are lifted? Elections and referendums are happening and András goes beyond spacetime in an upcoming book and this week marked 20 years since the Estonia disaster. Pope Francis may be losing it too, since the Vatican Secretary of State has to publicly contradict him. Then we dive into the news: • DENMARK: The trend of sticking nicotine up your ass • UK: Doctor jailed for exorcism that almost turned into murder • INTERNATIONAL: Mesotherapy – Not safe and no evidence that it works • SWEDEN: Fire health staff that refuse to get the vaccine? • SPAIN: Spanish skeptical organisation’s ‘Explaining Logical Fallacies’ selection now translated to Italian • SPAIN: Talks of 11 Sept Congress now available with subtitlesSegments: Intro; Greetings; This Week In Skepticism; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Radicalized anti-covid activists. After recent events in Germany and Italy we worry that anti-maskers now may be a terrorist threat. In This Week in Skepticism we hear about Jacob Grimm and the possibility that some of the Grimm stories are based on real events(?) Pope Francis seems to have totally lost it regarding the facts about pregnancies, but science has never been the strong side of the Catholic Church. We then dig into the news: • GERMANY: Are Querdenkers terrorists? • ITALY: Covid terrorists also in Italy • GERMANY: New brochure about vaccinations out • SWEDEN: Are confessional schools on their way out? • INTERNATIONAL: We’re fucked – big time. Climate change, UN warns politicians • UK / ISRAEL: Homeopathic treatment of Covid works! Wait, no…A Swedish priest gets this week’s prize for being Really Right, who could have guessed?Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week In Skepticism; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva

In this episode we catch up on last weekend with Hungaro Con and SkepKon. We also mention last week’s Ig Nobel Prizes and how the ISS do not seem to agree with the Russians any more. The upcoming German election gets a mention and in This Week in Skepticism we discuss the miraculous portrait of Saint Dominic in Soriano and then we briefly discuss the Pope’s latest adventures. After that we dig into the news: - EUROPE: Failure to follow routine vaccination schedules - INTERNATIONAL: Hundreds of medical journals unite to urge climate action - GERMANY: No, the government did not stop using COVID-vaccines - ICELAND: Largest carbon capture device ever built just became operational - ARGENTINA: German MMS salesman arrestedThe General Chiropractic Council (the GCC) in the UK gets today’s prize for being Really Wrong, since they think killing a patient is “good practice”.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week In Skepticism; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted o

In this episode we first mention that Sweden just announced an end to Corona restrictions as per the end of this month and we question if that’s that really wise. This week marks twenty years since 9/11 and the repercussions are still with us. The pope has been saying some strange things lately, and is he really well? Then we get into the news: - UK: Four Met Police officers injured in anti-vaccine protest - SWEDEN / GENERAL: Why people wait to get vaccinated - GERMANY: Two cool things to watch for German speaking people; on climate crisis and on RothschildsTo round off the Italian communications project “Comminicare Il Cancro” gets today’s prize for being Really Right!Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we first have a few events to plug: The launching of the book Fake! in Budapest, Congreso Esceptico in Spain, Skeptics in the Pub Online about 9/11 and the upcoming Ig Nobel ceremony. In This Week we discuss Mary Shelley who was born this week in 1797 and then we skip the pope and instead plunge into the news:Continued demonstrations against the vaccine passportsResearchers in UK: We probably shouldn’t use the word ‘Infodemic’Do not take Ivermectin!What exactly did Martin Luther say about life in times of plague?Snopes is asking for helpThe Swedish authorities get this week Really Wrong for allowing Steiner schools to ruin the lives of thousands of children.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we interview Dutch writer, science populariser and educator Annemarie Bon, who’s many works focus on helping children understand the world around us. Having started her career as a biochemical engineer, she later turned towards writing for children and she was editor-in-chief of the children’s magazine Taptoe until 2001. The Hungarian translation of her latest book Fake! is just about to get published and we thought it would be a good idea to have her on the show to talk about the book and what it has to offer to kids and adults alike.Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we first plug the upcoming Skeptics in the Pub Online about 9/11, Luc Montagnier is the topic This Week in Skepticism and the Pope gets poked for nepotism and corruption. Then we dig into the news:- Grandma directed healthcare fraud through Black Magic- Sixth IPCC report on climate change – we’re screwed- July warmest month on record – ever- Increasing covid cases in Iceland despite high vaccination rates- Covid test scams- Society of Homeopaths withdraws from the Accredited Registers programme of the Professional Standards AuthorityThe recent Swedish Tantra Festival was a Really Wrong idea!Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week In Skepticism; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sorry, we missed our schedule for last week.But we'll be back soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we first chat about the Pegasus project and what implications it might have. We also note that the Russian Nauka module was a little trigger happy when joining with the ISS, turning it around 45 degrees for no good reason. In This Week we salute Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, the excellent science communicator before we have a well-needed Covid-19 update. Then we dig into the news:- Measles follow-up: what became the 2016-2019 epidemic?- Covid-denier‘s Hungarian Chamber of Doctors’ membership suspended- Social media giants criticized for being a ‘safe space for racists’- Massive melting event in Greenland- 14000 scientists warn world about ‘untold suffering’ as result of ignoring climate change- German court faults Facebook‘s past handling of hate speech- Systemic Agro-Homeopathy – the latest craze -86-year-old Basque woman first to get assisted death in SpainTo round off, we hand out a Really Wrong award to Advanz Pharma and a Really Right award to the CMA, all concerning unreasonable pricing of medicat

In this episode we note that skeptics in Germany has raised a lot of money to support victims of the floods. Formidable Dutch skeptic Frits van Dam passed away on 26 July and we want to honor his memory. Listener Marcel-Jan has written a great blog post about his experience with growing up in a woo-family and eventually finding skepticism, and then we get a Polish lesson from listener Max. In This Week we hear about Carl Jung, and then we dig into the news:- Emerging fake news regarding catastrophic floods: - Querdenker fake ”official” car in flood area - Greta Thunberg sticker on flooded car- Climate change scientists call for better computers to work on forecasts- Galileo project to look for UFOs- Vaccine passport rules approved in France despite protests- Chiropractor found professionally liable for harming patient with bogus therapy- Follow-up: Doctor who sold fake covid test results gets prison sentence- New info on the Spanish skeptical congressWe have a double whammy and a bonus for the Really Wrong

In this episode we open up by discussing the terrible floods in Germany, the claims made by esoterics and how you can help. We also note that covid misinformation numbskull Sucharit Bhakdi has lost his publisher for being an anti-Semite. In the This Week we talk about Gregor Mendel and then we hear that Pope Francis is now openly challenging his predecessor Benedict. The we go through the news: - Vaccine protests in Cyprus - Organized tour of Sweden by anti-vaxxers - Multidrug-resistant bacteria found in dog raw-food - Greenland suspends oil exploration because of climate change - Man behind one of the Muhammad caricatures dead - Macchiarini follow-up – whistle-blowers file complaint with the Strasbourg CourtPolish researcher Harald Walach gets today’s prize for being Really Wrong after trying to say that masks and covid vaccinations are dangerous.Enjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode we start with an update on the successful Virgin Galactic flight and congratulate Natalie Grams for getting married(!), and also comment on the Euro 2020 final won by Italy. We then have a chat with Czech GSOW member Pavel Šmejkal, a prolific member of Susan Gerbic‘s Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project. In This Week in Skepticism, Angela Merkel was born 17 July 1954. Then we dig into the news: - Death of 17 year-old girl used by antivaxxers - Teaching handbooks and leaflets to teach and understand CoViD and conspiracy theories - Trust in mainstream news sites up from last year - Amazing verdict regarding homeopathy - Latest craze – Snow White and her skin colour - New book about pseudomedicineEnjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Annika is back making sure we don’t run out of dad-jokes, András’ travel guide work is resuming while Pontus is just playing golf (and not very well). We discuss the new development in space tourism before we get into this week in skepticism with Nicola Tesla. We hear how the pope is coming after Cardinal Becciu, how he still won’t apologies for the Canadian school scandals and how he needed to get his rear end adjusted (insert butt joke here). Then we go into the news: - Tricking the covid-test with orange juice - Promotion of pseudoscience by the UK government - Female Ukraine soldiers made to march in heels - A ruined village is for sale – no inhabitants, but a ghost - Warmest June in Stockholm in 265 years - Spanish congress on conspiracy theories on 9/11Vladimir Putin and the Russian government get a Really Wrong for creating a culture and laws that make it impossible to show an ad depicting a family with two moms. Food company VkusVill gets a Really Right for at least trying to be rational.Enj

This week we’re joined by Brian Eggo who sits in for Annika. We talk about the Edinburgh Science Festival, skeptical events and the recent ESA astronaut recruitments. In This Week we “celebrate” the birthday of debunked fraudster Peter Popoff and then we are horrified by the discoveries of even more graves at the Canadian Catholic Schools. We then go into this week’s news: - Alternative medicine is losing popularity in the pandemic - Manipulated video featuring Greta Thunberg - Scam texts about package deliveries - Health organizations publish free book The Vaccination Book for Everyone - EU Climate Law confirmed by European ParliamentEnjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we chat a bit about Madeira, covid scares and rainbow flags in Germany. In this week we highlight Karl Landsteiner who discovered the human blood groups and Pope Francis asks Italy if his schools could please be allowed to bully anyone who does not fit in to the binary man – woman template. We then head for the news: - Attacks against journalists calls for special measures - Did the WHO tell women to not drink alcohol? - Homeopathy update, France - Healing practitioner in court - Information portal to tackle vaccine misinformation launched - Heatwave with surface temperatures of 48°C - Sense About Science comes out with new tool to help communication about COVID conspiraciesEnjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week summer is here (but András is not) and we get a tip from Bob on about good vaccine tracker. Blaise Pascal was born almost 400 years ago this week (how times fly) and Pope Francis gives Cardinal Marx some good PR while proving he still knows how to play the dictator card. Then we dive into the news:‘Unseaworthy’ Noah’s Ark replica detained at Ipswich WaterfrontWaldorf / Steiner school scandal in SwedenNew law against ‘promotion of homosexuality’Follow-up: Doctor behind fake covid-19 tests and travelers’ certificates to stand trialTo round off, a gross pseudotreatment for babies gets the prize for being Really Wrong.Enjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we get a well deserved correction from listener Cyril on how to pronounce Marquis de Sade’s full name and we hear about German teenagers party dangerously in secret in strange locations. Vaccinations in Sweden are picking up but in Hungary there is considerable hesitation against Chinese and and Russian vaccines. The Pope continues to have problems with Germany and also refuses to take responsibility for the tragedies of Canadian Catholic boarding schools. Francis Crick, important but controversial figure contributing to the discovery of the DNA molecule, was born this week in 1916. After that, let’s have a look at the news: - Counseling for conspiracy victims - Didier Raoult takes legal action against misconduct consultant - Right wing party with Sucharit Bhakdi - New book out: Maladie de Lyme by Eric CaumesLastly, the conspiracy mongers in the “Freedom for Sweden” movement are Really Wrong.Enjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more

This week we find out what Pontus was up to last week, we honor the passing of the great skeptic Kees de Jager and note that covid vaccination for teenagers is coming. Listener Carlos helps us out with Portuguese pronunciation and we urge you to nominate someone for the John Maddox Prize before 14 June. We acknowledge that Marquis de Sade was born this week in 1740 and that the Pope thinks Brazilians are too drunk to deserve salvation. After that, it’s time to get a covid-19 update and to check out the news: - Influencers offered money to spread Pfizer misinformation - EC proposes tougher rules and more factchecking to tackle misinformation - Climate Skeptics are not easily persuaded by evidence - World may hit 1,5 degrees warming within five yearsIn addition, prioritizing the EUFA Champions League football final over covid safety is Really Wrong.Enjoy!The Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.