The European Skeptics Podcast

This week, while DenkFest and Ratio are both on, we release two interviews that Andras recorded in Zürich when they stopped there during the About Time Tour 2017 with Susan Gerbic, Mark Edward and Liubomir Baburov.
 But finally, we have a regular episode for you with Harry Houdini, who died on the nigth of Halloween, ComCeptCon being in the making, Norwegian TV selling prayers, deaths from chiropractic treatments miscommunicated, Natalie Grams’ new book out with the title “Gesundheit!”, a beauty parlor in Sweden offering IV treatments, science denier Czech billionaire elected new leader of the country and Das Goldene Brett accepting nominations.
 We look into how the EU parliament can be really wrong about glyphosate and how badly we can interpret Kant’s thoughts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First we give a massive shout-out to Richard Saunders for dedicating such a great chunk of the Skeptic Zone to us winning the Ockham Awards 2017. Then you can listen to some of the interviews András recorded at CICAPfest in Cesena, Italy, while on the 'About Time Tour' with Susan Gerbic and Mark Edward.Francesco Grassi is an expert on crop circles (actually makes them) and an author of a book on the topic, Francesco Paolo de Ceglia is a science historian talking about the 'blood miracle' of Saint Januarius and of course, Massimo Polidoro (chief executive of CICAP) talks about the festival and what it might become in the future.Please, don't forget to check out our events calendar, on which you'll find that Jelena and Pontus will soon be busy participating in a panel discussion at Ration in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We go bonkers and enjoy QED 2017 in Manchester!www.theESP.euRüdiger Ludwig GWUP (German Skeptics) https://www.gwup.org/James Williams Email: james@talfuin.com Facebook: http://fb.me/talfuinNatalie Newell Science Moms movie: http://www.sciencemomsdoc.com/the-film.html Science Enthusiast podcast: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceEnthusiastPodcast/Geoff WhelanGreater Manchester Skeptics: http://www.gmss.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a post-congress show that features interviews with Eran Segev, president of Australian Skeptics Inc. and Martin Mahner, who runs the office of the German skeptical organisation, GWuP.If you want to have more information on Denkfest, please check it out here: https://denkfest.ch/de/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a guest on this show, Claire Klingenberg, who was the chief organiser of ECS 2017 and is the newly elected chair of ECSO.Than we talk about Marie Stopes and eugenics, the UK eliminating measles, EASAC's statement on Homeopathy and a new cancer treatment from Latvia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are checking in from Wroclaw, where we attended the 17th European Skeptics Congress and recorded a show sitting in a hotel room together.You can listen to a couple of our short interviews recorded during this wonderful international event with Lasek, Deborah and Daniella. More to be released with upcoming episodes.András is now on the road with Susan Gerbic, Mark Edward and Liubomir Baburov, networking across Europe with the "About Time Tour". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before we head out to the 17th European Skeptics Congress, we bring you news from Germany, Denmark, Italy and the UK, talk about Sigmun Freud and his weird theories. We try to find out if the world is coming to an end (again) and how fact checking can prevent elections from going off track.Also, after the Congress, Andras is going on the About Time Tour with Susan Gerbic, Mark Edward and Liubo Baburov to do some skeptical networking in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary. Feel free to donate to theri cause at https://fundly.com/about-time-tour-skeptical-networking-across-europe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode:We tell you all about the fantastic 17th European Skeptics Congress coming up in Wroclaw in less than two weeks. Our guest is Claire Klingenberg, event manager extraordinaire from Sisyfos, the Czech Skeptics' Club.Please help funding the About Time Tour 2017 with Susan Gerbic and Mark Edward! https://fundly.com/about-time-tour-skeptical-networking-across-europeAlso, make sure you check out our event page at http://theesp.eu/events_in_europeSegmentsIntro; Greetings; Claire Kilngenberg; Outro; Outtakes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week talk about the inspiration for Mel Gibson’s the Passion of the Christ, alternative treatments in Valencia, the Heilpraktiker system in Germany, whether Down’s syndrome has been eradicated in Iceland and the new Full Fact tool. Then we dive deep into the measles epidemic in Europe and the problem of crowdfunding for cancer trips to Mexico.Segments:Intro; Greetings & Feedback; This Week in Skepticism; Skeptical News; Analysis; Really Wrong; Quote Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we start our episode with Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic magazine, Deborah Hyde, who tells us about this year's Ockham Awards, the nominations for which are still open.https://www.skeptic.org.uk/ockham-awards-2017/vote/Then we have an interview with Prof. Susan Blackmore, who tells us about her fascinating journey from being a believer in paranormal explanations of out-of-body experiences and the like to becoming a skeptic and a popular author telling the world about the tricks of the mind and what science has to say about all that. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're back with a regular episode and joined by Chris Higgins, who talks about SkeptiCamp Manchester. Charles Richet is our special mention on 'This Week in Skepticism'.Then we go on talking about Comité Para, bleach enema treatment on young children, how Sweden's churches are losing their peole, El Esceptico and the great organisation behind it, and how the use of alternative medicine makes you more likely to die of cancer.We also talk about the failed PSI-tests conducted in Germany by GWUP and how the Rationalist Party in Hungary might have taken a silly step towards a public debate about Homeopathy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In anticipation of the upcoming 17th European Skeptics Congress, this week we interview philosopher and cognitive scientist Konrad Talmont-Kaminski, who will be among the speakers at this international event.Ha talks about his research into how our rational and irrational ways of thinking are all part of the same cognitive system and therefore are possible to understand.You can also hear the new ad for the other upcoming international convention: QED - Question. Explore. Discover. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Pontus and Jelena talks about news and have an interview with the humanist Leo Igwe, speaker at the upcoming European Skeptcis Congress in Poland. Nicola Throp of the Measeyside Skeptics also comes on to tell us all about QED in Manchester in October.Leo Igwe is a skeptic and a Nigerian human rights advocate who has played leading roles in the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Atheist Alliance International and the Center For Inquiry - Nigeria. For many years he represented IHEU (International Humanist and Ethical Union) at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and generally in Western and Southern Africa. He specialized in campaigning against child witchcraft accusations and have researched this topic at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.In the news segments we revisit an old Really Wrong winner who is now being extradited to Australia, GWUP warns about a German fake news site and in Ireland, the falling HPV vaccination rates will lead to an increase in cervical cancer. Hosted on Acast.

On this episode our guest was Holm Gero Hümmler, nuclear physicist, management consultant and author of the book ‘Relativer Quantenquark’. He blogs at quantenquark.com and he is one of the speakers on the upcoming 17th European Skeptics Congress in Poland in September. We discuss how ‘relativity’ and ‘quantum’ and other scientific words are misused by charlatans and the importance of proper science communication.SegmentsIntro; Greetings & Feedback; Interview with Holm Gero Hümmler; Farewell; Outro Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Pontus and András are joined by Brian Eggo who sits in for Jelena while she's on a European motorbike trip.We talked about Karl Popper's philosophical system of scientific discovery, how much of what we think of suicide is actually true, why simplicity is not the ultimate goal in understanding science, how the Tories in the UK just sent a crackpot to the EP, why news regarding the dangers of chemotherapy are probably untrue, how much of the Italian demonstrations against the new vaccination strategies are exaggerated and why caution is required when talking about new research on the Shroud of Turin.Also, please check out our calendar of events and don't forget to cast your vote before 31st July for the John Maddox Prize 2017 for standing up for science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unfortunately, due to all three of us hosts being otherwise engaged, we could not provide you with a show this week. But there are a few things we had to mention. Sorry and hope to have your ears next week when we're back to normal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Jelena and Andras explore the world of skeptical conferences like CICAPFest, the European Skeptics Congress and Skeptics on the Fringe in Edinburgh.The Loch Ness Monster, the death of Ryke Geerd Hamer (NGM) are also talked about, as well as another country joining the compulsory vaccination club, cancer quack in action again in Hungary, the Familiarity Backfire Effect revised and evolution forced out of Turkey schools.Also, don't forget that nominations for the Maddox Prize 2017 are still open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode our guest was Diego Fontanive, who's the founder of the EOF Project (End of Fear) that aims to understand our epistemic acceptances and apply meta-cognition in order to achieve a better understanding of our flaws, memetic choices and ways of getting it all wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talk about Swedish Skeptics treating their members to 15 tickets to the European Skeptics Congress and how we were interviewed by Skeptical Inquiry before we talk about the famous Oxford Evolution debate. Then we dive into skeptical news around Europe talking about homeopathy being debunked (which does not impress the Homeopathic World Congress), The Good Thinking Society, antivax-sentiments in Italy and Switzerland, mistletoe therapy in Austria, Chinese medicine in Hungary, 30 years of skepticism in Spain, Brian Dunnings new film Principles of Curiosity and how the EU Court of Justice believes science can be ruled on in courts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode is dedicated to our interview with Italian chemist, skeptic and paranormal investigator Luigi Garlaschelli.Andras also announces a road trip between the 17th European Skeptics Congress in Wroclaw, Poland and CICAPfest2017 in Cesena, Italy in September 2017. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.