The European Skeptics Podcast

Several awards and gatherings to be on the look-out for: the Ockham Award, the Rusty Razor, the Bent Spoon and Das Goldene Brett. The feast of Santa Rosalia is the topic for TWISH and Pope Frankie is nostalgic about the Mongolian invasion (wtf?). Then, we have this week’s news:GERMANY: Follow-up on the Reichsbürger movementINTERNATIONAL: Prediction of 1 billion+ deaths related to climate change by 2100SCOTLAND: Issues with science publishing – Researcher finds his name on editorial boards of journals he hasn’t even heard ofSWEDEN / INTERNATIONAL: New measles cases in StockholmUK: Country can no longer be considered christianSwedish science journalist Maria Gunther gets the award for being Really Right and in Word of the Week Carl Sagan get translated to Norwegian: ‘påstander’ means ‘claims and ‘bevis’ means ‘evidence’.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Right; Word Of The Week; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa

…and Nessie goes ‘gloop’ We’re happy to announce that the ESP Shop is now available in the US, Canada and Australia. We also want you to know that nominations for Das Goldene Brett is still open. In TWISH we hear about an encounter of the third kind and Frankie insists India don’t look the congregation in the eye more than half of the time. Then we get into the news:SCOTLAND: Nessie hunters hear sounds but fail to record themUK: Full Fact study – Hundreds of hoax posts circulating in Facebook groupsINTERNATIONAL: Scientific journal retracts article that claimed there is no evidence of climate crisisINTERNATIONAL: Study reveals connection between support for SCAM and vaccine hesitancy among physicians in four European countriesWe award Swedish activist Ia Anstoot a Really Right for calling out the unscientific stance of Greenpeace when it comes to nuclear power.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com

…sleep restriction for insomnia? A lot of great talks are coming up for Skepticamp at QED in September – with András, Pontus and Claire among the speakers! In TWISH we hear about an almost 200 year old fake news about the moon and then we take a look at the news:UK: Asparagus fails to predict the futureSCOTLAND: Loch Ness might be ‘home to spirit entity’ that can be disturbed by searchUK: Meghan Markle wears ‘miracle antistress patch’INTERNATIONAL: WHO promotes alternative medicine (again!)INTERNATIONAL: Where skeptics go wrongMedical journal the Lancet gets this week Award for being Really Wrong a new article about insomnia. Word of the Week is the Danish word vrøvl.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Word Of The Week; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

…Uri Geller strikes again… There are now streaming tickets for QED! In TWISH we hear about the three wise guys, sorry, the three wise men, and how they ended up in Cologne in Germany. No pope this week, so we head right in for the news:UK: Voter databank hacked and according to experts can potentially be used to target voters with disinformationINTERNATIONAL: YouTube starts mass takedowns of videos promoting ‘harmful or ineffective’ cancer curesUK: Classroom environmental education doesn’t seem to change attitudes…UK: Infertility clinics exploiting patients with SCAMSWEDEN: MD who helped patient to end his life wants his license backINTERNATIONAL: BBC broadcast – the terrible abusive practices of spiritual healersINTERNATIONAL: Uri Geller shares ‘proof’ that aliens exist – a photo from X-FilesHUNGARY: Government spends taxpayer’s money on a catholic educational centreThe Italian Prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, wants to commemorate fascists and for that she receives this week’s prize for being Really

…and the deep fakes grows deeper We start with listener feedback regarding burning the Quran and the best ways to boil a frog… We also announce our newly created merch store and there is still time to get your ESP t-shirt before QED. 15% off if you hurry!. In TWISH we hear about Sea Org day celebrated by scientologists and the pope gets poked for his “excluded but-not-excluded policy” towards women and the LGBTQ+ community.Then, it’s time for the news:INTERNATIONAL: Happy birthday, Retraction WatchUK: Humans unable to detect over a quarter of deepfake speech samplesINTERNATIONAL: How the World Federation of Chiropractic introduces new guidelines, but fails to make sense of itFRANCE: Link between belief in alternative medicine and vaccine hesitancySCOTLAND: Plan to find Nessie using dronesUK: Government shits on their own climate goalsThe Really Wrong Award goes to Irish conspiracy nut Gemma O’Doherty.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro;

…might get you pregnant?Another record with July being the hottest month ever. It may not matter since AI is here to finish us off before the climate crisis does… But the show must go on and in TWISH we hear about Alexander Fleming who was born this week in 1881, Pope Frankie is in Portugal for his own Woodstock, hoping that no one talks too much about sex. Then it’s time for then news:RUSSIA / GERMANY: ‘Heil Zelenskiy’: Russian actors identified in purported German video against Ukraine aidDENMARK / SWEDEN: Burning holy books: Denmark considers law changeUK: Humanists UK releases concerning info on faith schoolsUK: Sense About Science and UK parliament holds Evidence Week 2023UK: King Charles’ holistic fertility courseNETHERLANDS: Ferry on fireINTERNATIONAL: So, will the Gulf Stream collapse?POLAND: PiS party pushes through ‘Russian influence law’ – EU says it can be used to ban political oppositionGB News presenter Neil Oliver gets this week’s Award for being Really Wrong due to his baseless claims about th

…BTW, a ‘rutgängare’ uses a ‘slagruta’ in their professionThis week in TWISH we hear about Rosalind Franklin and Pope Frankie is on a diplomatic mission from God. In the news, we hear about:SWEDEN: Greta Thunberg gets fined for disobeying police, goes back to protest and confront police the same dayAUSTRIA: Wanted holocaust denier gets stopped by the police – with the body of his wife in the trunkSWEDEN: Estonia sinking: Ramp from ferry recovered raised after 29 yearsITALY: Climate Crisis: Italy wildfires encircle Palermo as temperatures hit 47CEUROPE: Heatwaves ‘virtually impossible’ without climate changePutin gets a new Really Wrong Prize for his collection and we have two words of the week: slagruta and rutgängare.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Word Of The Week; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, as we are finally all back together to record, we start by lamenting on the latest heatwaves and why we might be doomed, especially when we consider the current political stage in countries like Germany.We then interview Stefan Uttenthaler about the yearly 'Das Goldenes Brett' satirical award, before moving on to TWISH, in which we commemorate the birthday of Hungarian engineer and promoter of all things UFO and weird energies György Egely...After Pontus Pokes the Pope for trusting the inquisition with a perv, we move on to the news, where:In ITALY, the government is doing close to nothing to tackle climate change, while downplaying its severety.A new conspiracy on the rise claiming that sunscreens are toxic and should not be used.In GERMANY, anesthesiologist leads the board in retractions with 184 of them to his name.WHO puts aspartame into the possible carcinogen category after all.German Heilpraktiker gets 4 years 3 months in prison for scamming people.While the New York Times gets this week's R

…holiday on Crimea? This war is no vacationSweden seems clear for NATO, but there is still time for Erdogan to trip things up. Two Skeptical awards are coming up, das Goldene Brett and the Ockham Awards. We have a special interview with international skeptic extraordinaire, Adrienne Hill! After that, we hear how Pope Frankie is packing the papal court, and then we take a look at the news:SWEDEN: Millions of views for fake videos concerning SwedenUK: British GP-homeopath’s statements on vaccines amounted to misconduct – so, she was struck off the registerRUSSIA: Russia still advertizes holidays on Crimea.SWEDEN: Major criticism against homes for the elderlyIrish psychic Debbie Paget gets a jail sentence as well as this week’s Really Wrong Award, and then we have two Australian Words of the Week: Furfy and Fairdkinum.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Word Of The Week; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform

…plus Nicola Throp tells all about QED!This week we’re saved once again by Brian Eggo, as we suddenly find ourselves very short on staff. What a guy!Some initial info is followed by an interview with Nicola Throp, one of the brilliant members of the QED organizing team. In TWISH we hear about Carl Vogt, the German scientist, philosopher and, not least, politician who was born this week in 1817. In Pontus absence, Brian Bashes the Bishop (luckily, not exactly what it sounds like), after which we turn to the news:SWITZERLAND: Alternative medicine on the decline?INTERNATIONAL / UK: June is hottest month on record, in the UK and globallyINTERNATIONAL: Aspartame to be feared and avoided?Yet another Heilpraktiker, this one known only as Torben K., receives a well deserved Really Wrong Award as well as penal consequences due to his penile and lethal mistreatment of a customer. We end by a quote by Jane Marcet, a feminist and a science advocate who were at least a century before her time.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greeti

…and someone is quacking in LatviaThis week we start by commenting on the strange developments in Russia and the Titan submersible. We call for speaker at QED SkeptiCamp recommend the work of Skeptical Science. And if anyone wants to meet up with András in the Baltic states, get in touch! In TWISH we hear about the Tunguska event and then as usual Pontus has some news about the Catholic Church. After that, we dig into the news:UK: House of Commons to debate presence of bishops in House of LordsSWITZERLAND: New cases of conspiracy theories as part of treatmentsGERMANY: Investigations ongoing against Heilpraktikers who helped issued false covid vaccination certificates (and more)LATVIA: Plagiarism scandal blows up in domestic science circlesEU: EU’s new ways of securing the online space from disinformation – starting with TwitterINTERNATIONAL: Deforestation is also worsening (not only carbon dioxide emissions)SWEDEN: Macchiarini jail sentence increased to 2.5 yearsThe European Commission get a Really Right Awar

…be mindful of MāņticībaWe see signs of climate change all over the place and it’s worrying. Taking bus 666 to ‘Hel’ is not even an option anymore, but thankfully going to QED is still possible! Check out the link for the QED attendance fund if you cannot afford your ticket… In TWISH we hear about how it really went down when Galileo Galilei was forced to denounce that the Earth in not the center of the universe. A short update of Pope Frankie’s latest adventures and then it’s time for the news:FRANCE / SERBIA: ‘Novaxx’ Djokovic is at it again…!UK: New study shows less than half of Britons believe in God.NETHERLANDS: Dutch university can revoke PhD for fake data after court rulingSPAIN: Homeopathy on the decline in Spain?EU: Laws regulating AI activities to be passedGERMANY: Heilpraktiker sent to jail for fraudWe are happy to hand out a Really Right to Estonia that just legalized same-sex marriages and then we get to know this week’s Word of the Week which is from Latvia: ‘Māņticība’ literally means ‘false-fa

…anthroposophy on fire?Full episode this week folks, with the premier of a new segment to boot (see below). We talk about Hvaldimir the Russian spy whale and remind you of Annika’s SITPO talk on 5 July and comment on feedback from last week’s interview. In TWISH we hear about the recent passing of Silvio Berlusconi and then demonstrate that the Catholic Church has not change one bit when it comes to how they handle sex abuse scandals. After that it’s time for the news:GERMANY: New poster about Bach flower remediesRUSSIA / UKRAINE: Ukrainian children abducted by RussiaGERMANY / AUSTRIA: The Heinz Oberhummer Award goes to The Show With the MouseSWEDEN: Tongue web cut procedures has drastically fallenEU / UK: Sense About Science teams up with the European Commission and comes up with new guidelines for assessing policiesUK / UKRAINE: Ukraine built more onshore wind turbines in past year than EnglandGERMANY: Pharmacy students also distancing themselves from homeopathyThis week’s Really Wrong Award goes to a teach

This week we have a real treat for you – an interview with Brian Deer, the journalist who more than anyone showed the world how fraudulent Andrew Wakefield was when he claimed that there could be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism (spoiler – there isn’t).Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We start by commenting on the sad passing of Tina Turner – even sadder since she at one point turned to homeopathy. That was a choice that she later regretted and it most likely made her condition much worse than it had to be. On a brighter note we have good news about QED in Manchester 23-24 September: first of all there is a QED Attendance Fund that you can either apply or contribute to, all depending on your financial situation. Secondly, it is now confirmed that QED Skepticamp will take place on the day before so you should arrive a day early and possibly apply to speak yourself – link is in the show notes.Then it is interview time – we had an interesting talk with the fantastic Susan Gerbic who always has so many interesting skeptical projects going on. Listen and be inspired!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

…plus interviews from SkepKonPlease support Oliver Rautenberg in his defence against a SLAPP-suit! What’s up with the Turkish presidential elections? Annika delivers short interviews from SkepKon with Maximilian Doeckel and Rebecca Wismeg-Kammerlander and then we look into Pope Frankie‘s obsession with negotiating peace in Ukraine. After that, it’s time for the news:BELGIUM: Prizes from SKEPPINTERNATIONAL: Is WHO right about artificial sweeteners? We are not convincedINTERNATIONAL: Almost 50% of all animal species in declineSWEDEN: School grades inflated in private schoolsGERMANY: Video about SkepKon by Dr. Janos HegedüsEnjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interviews; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

…FYI, that’s not James Randi talkingThis week we reflect a bit on the Eurovision Song Contest and how people misunderstand the news about a baby “with three parents”. In TWISH we wish Ben Goldacre a happy birthday and then Pontus brings us up to date with Pope Frankie. And then, of course, the news:GERMANY: The Golden Board Award is back!IRELAND: AI is here to stay: Fake article about fake tanning in the Irish TimesUK: Retractions should not take longer than two months, says UK Parliament committeeGERMANY: The schools that train ‘Heilpraktiker’ in Germany: no standards and no controlUK: Lost in the mall: Are the results of the classic false memory study not valid?“Voices from the Void” maybe hearing things, but the voices in their head do not include James Randi. Hear this instead: you are Really Wrong!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

…or “SCAM”, if you willThis week we have lots of catching up to do, with sad news from Hungarian Skeptics, but also good news regarding skeptical meetings and activism in Germany, Hungary and Sweden. In TWISH we remember the founding of the Jagiellonian University over six hundred years ago this week. Then we dig into the news:INTERNATIONAL: WHO declares pandemic to be no longer a threatGERMANY: Homeopathic cold medicine Meditonsin no longer allowed to advertise with certain statementsEUROPE: Russia behind anti-Ukraine and anti-Erdogan demonstrations all over EUUK: Propagator of SCAM now heads the Royal Medical HouseholdGERMANY: Association of Midwifery distances themselves from HomeopathyUK: Measles on the riseSWEDEN: Paranormal beliefs remarkably highA very sad Really Wrong this week as a 14 year-old girl dies in Austria due to alternative practitioners.We trust you still enjoy the episode!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.

…BTW, there was not a single monkey at the Scopes Monkey trialBrian Eggo is back to save the day once again! as András and Annika couldn’t make it. But we hope that just like them and us, you will all make it to QED in Manchester on 23-24 of September. We will certainly be there! Tickets are now out and they’re selling like, well, QED-tickets after a pandemic. Get yours now!In TWISH we hear about the arrest of John Scopes of the Scopes Monkey trial fame. (No monkeys were hurt in the making of this episode). Then, it’s time for the news:GERMANY: Homeopathy company Heel reported to authorities for false advertising of productUK: On the power of objects, as the country is preparing for the coronation of The Alternative PrinceINTERNATIONAL: WHO pseudoscienceINTERNATIONAL: How medical decisions are really made?The Charité school in Berlin gets this weeks prize for being Really Wrong as they for no apparent reason pay for a professorship in anthroposophy.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong;

…we also have a ‘defrogging’ for Pope Francis to look intoWe have Claire Klingenberg onboard this week and it means a packed show! We talk about the new interview with Claudia Preis, European immunization week and the Hungarian Flat Earth Award. Claire gives us a report from the growing anti-abortions movement in Czechia and we hear about several upcoming skeptical events, among them that Pontus is going to give a talk in Prague next month. In TWISH we celebrate the birthday of Carl Friedrich Gauss and then we hear how pope John Paul II posthumously is in the news for possible misdeeds in the night. Then it’s time for the news:GERMANY: So-called alternative medicine in Bavarian hospitalsINTERNATIONAL: Cranky Uncle wins awardUKRAINE: Blinding flash over Kyiv was probably meteor, says Ukraine space agencyHUNGARY: More than 1 on 4 Hungarians have seen a UFO at least onceHUNGARY: UFOs – Investigating the Unknown to be released April 28POLAND: Special hospice for pregnancies with nonviable fetusesAUSTRIA / GERMANY