The European Skeptics Podcast - The ESP

Viktor Orbán is coming down hard on free speech and Romania seems to (maybe) avoid chaos after their second attempt on presidential elections. In TWISH we get into classical skepticism and have a look at the Plauen UFO incident. Then it’s time for the news, with a little bit of Word of the Week:INTERNATIONAL: Overshooting 1.5°C: even temporary warming above globally agreed temperature limit could have permanent consequencesEU: Petition against conversion therapy meets threshold!INTERNATIONAL: Retraction Watch inquiry results in Elsevier removing a whole journal from ScopusGERMANY: Research identifying subgroups of homeopathy users based on their attitudes towards scienceNORWAY: Putin’s billionaire funds new political partyEU: TikTok in trouble with the European Commission for not adhering to Digital Services ActIRELAND: Psychics are repeatedly insisting on ‘helping’ the policeUK / INTERNATIONAL: The largest ever profiling effort of susceptibility to misinformationElon Musk gets his second Really Wrong Award after his AI machine Grok goes both racist conspiracy theorist and antisemitic last week.Enjoy!Segments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:50 Greetings0:16:07 TWISH0:24:06 News0:51:09 Word of the Week1:01:10 Really Wrong1:05:47 Quote1:07:48 Outro1:09:11 Outtakes

So, the conclave elected ‘Papa Bob’ a.k.a. Leo XIV – who is he, and will that bring back the ‘Pontus Pokes the Pope’ segment? Time will tell! In other news, If you catch this episode in time, please consider signing the European petition to ban conversion therapy, last day is May 17th.Inge Lehmann is one of forgotten heroes of science, hear more about her in TWISH. Then we go for the news:INTERNATIONAL: Aspartame – risk vs. hazardAUSTRIA: Michael Frass’ controversial study just lost all validity – and yet, it’s still not retractedBELGIUM: Special report from Josef! The winners of the awards from the Belgian skeptics (SKEPP)FRANCE: An open letter by healthcare professionals to stop the funding of SCAM therapies that lack scientific evidenceGERMANY: King of the Reichsbürger movement arrestedEUROPE: Fact-checking chatbot The Check has passed experimental development phasehttps://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-479.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:51 Greetings0:13:56 TWISH0:22:50 News0:53:59 Really Wrong0:59:08 Quote1:00:57 Outro1:02:19 Outtakes

QED tickets are available everyone, so we start our count-down to October in Manchester! The papal conclave is currently on-going and we bring you the latest news. In TWISH we hear about John Strachey, the almost forgotten pioneer in the field of basic geology. Then of course, we have the news:INTERNATIONAL / EUROPE: Measles updateEU: Press freedom under threat by foreign disinformationSWEDEN: Swedish climate study stopped due to Trump policiesNETHERLANDS: A PhD position to research paper millsROMANIA: First round of presidential election goes to leader of pro-Putin conspiracy theoristUK: Reform UK wins election, if by six votes onlyThe American war on science is starting to reach Europe and for that Donald Trump receives this week’s award for being Really Wrong.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-478.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:52 Greetings0:08:24 TWISH0:16:18 News0:46:49 Really Wrong0:51:34 Quote0:52:40 Outro0:54:02 Outtakes

We start out with a few things from the world of skepticism – in Belgium, SKEPP turns 35 next week with special appearance by Chris French (don’t miss it!), and we link to an article about skeptic history in Hungary. Speaking of Hungary, in TWISH we talk about the prominent Hungarian skeptic and science communicator Aurél Ponori Thewrewk, who was born this week in 1921. Then we head for the news:VATICAN: The conclave begins on 7 MayGERMANY: Prominent antivaxxer admits that covid vaccines had few side-effects, but he’s still completely wrongEU: European Commission launching new initiatives to tackle vaccine related mis- and disinformationSWEDEN: HPV vaccinations close to eliminate virus in SwedenUK: Unproven mushroom supplement – a report by MarshWe then hand out no less than 1047 Really Right Awards to the Swedish scientists who fights back against politicians who keep dismissing their research as “opinion”.Enjoy!Segments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:52 Greetings0:09:22 TWISH0:18:05 News0:49:18 Really Right0:55:12 Quote0:56:27 Outro0:57:50 Outtakes

It’s time for the last Poking of Francis but before we get into that and the other news, we go to TWISH to hear about this week’s birthday boy, Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio transmissions and his wireless telegraph system.The news list contains the following:INTERNATIONAL: Medical cannabis shows potential to fight cancer, largest-ever study finds – or does it…?HUNGARY: Antivaxx nutjob gets Flat Earth AwardVATICAN: So Frankie died… one last chance to poke the pope (at least this one)EUROPE: RFK Jr having a devastating effect on Europe’s vaccine acceptanceThe Dutch ultra-Christian Civitas Christiania foundation gets this week’s Really Wrong Award for taking their bigoted anti-LGBTQ stance to unacceptable levels.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-476.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:53 Greetings0:03:24 TWISH0:15:18 News0:48:19 Really Wrong0:54:48 Quote0:56:01 Outro0:57:23 Outtakes

Mixed messages from QED – new dates announced but we hear this is the last one(!) and we have a hard time accepting it. At least we’ll do our best to be there and meet (among others) Chris French whose audiobook is currently on sale. In TWISH we hear about Leonardo da Vinci and specifically about some of the myths surrounding him. Then, it’s time for the news:UK: Christian missionary group YWAM accused of public shaming and rituals to ‘cure’ sexual sinPOLAND: Sanal Edamaruku’s case: what do we know?INTERNATIONAL: Shadowy market for weight-loss drugs has emerged onlineSERBIA: A wave of disinformation surrounding the demonstrationsSWEDEN: Debunked personality test (DISC) refuses to dieINTERNATIONAL: The Global Listening Project on how attitudes towards vaccines have changed since CovidNorwegian-Swedish fundamental Christian zealot Runar Søgaard announces Trump to be God’s gift to the US and himself as God’s gift to Sweden, and for that receives this week’s Really Wrong Award.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-475.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:50 Greetings0:05:32 TWISH0:17:43 News0:54:22 Really Wrong0:58:55 Quote1:00:09 Outro1:01:32 Outtakes

We first rant a bit about Viktor Orbán and examine some psychic horsing around at the Grand National. In TWISH we hear about the Dead Sea Scrolls and then we dive into the news:UKRAINE / USA: Zelenskyy and Trump look for leaks using lie detectorsINTERNATIONAL: Snopes’ toolkit to guard against online misinformationITALY: AI beats lottery?SWEDEN: Test of phishing attack goes awfully wrongEndometriosis is a serious condition and the topic deserves so much better than this recently published so-called study. Therefore Edinburgh University receives this week’s award for being Really Wrong as they are only raising false hope while wasting valuable time and resources.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-474.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:51 Greetings0:11:08 TWISH0:19:04 News0:38:35 Really Wrong0:46:58 Quote0:48:33 Outro0:49:55 Outtakes

We explore the source of April Fool's day in this week’s TWISH, before we get into the news:UK: Three-quarters of UK fertility patients using unproven add-on treatmentsGERMANY / INTERNATIONAL: Rudolf Steiner’s legacy on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his deathINTERNATIONAL: More people leave religion than joinUK: Tory’s U-turn on climate policies attributed to ties with major climate denierFRANCE / RUSSIA: French anti-vaxxer feeds Russian disinformationAnother Nordic princess, Madeleine of Sweden, goes of the rails and announces that she will market Anthroposophic beauty products and that naturally earns her this week’s Really Wrong Award.Enjoy!Show notes: https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-473.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:51 Greetings0:08:33 TWISH0:14:41 News0:39:16 Really Wrong0:43:34 Quote0:48:32 Outro0:49:54 Outtakes