The European Skeptics Podcast

No mercy for No-vaxx DjokovicSweden had some unusual northern lights last weekend (which Pontus missed) and the Tonga volcanic eruption had an impact on Annika’s plans. Don’t miss Pontus on next week’s Skeptic Zone with Richard Saunders! In TWISH we hear about Baron d’Holbach who created an important encyclopedia and organised great Skeptics in the Pub meetings back in the 1700s. Pope Francis hates that people are getting pets instead of generating new baby Catholics, totally missing the irony of himself opting out of parenthood. Then we take a look at the news:EUROPE: Increase in attacks against journalists for reporting on COVIDITALY: Nurse in Palermo arrested for administering fake jabsWORLD: 2021 was the fifth warmest year on recordINTERNATIONAL: YouTube called on by factcheckers to tackle misinformationINTERNATIONAL: Homeopaths urging WHO to begin training homeopathsSWEDEN: Tik Tok – Children get bombarded with news of imminent Russian invasionSWITZERLAND: Publisher Frontier in crisis?UK: Edzard Ernst di

Watch out researchers!This week we have a special treat for you – we’re joined by the one and only Elisabeth Bik! Our interview with her takes us into the wonders of how to expose fraudulent (or just sloppy) science.Elisabeth Bik is a Dutch-American microbiologist, whose specialty is spotting photo duplications in scientific publications. As a result of her efforts, hundreds of papers have been retracted due to evidence of misconduct. She’s a founder of the Microbiome Digest Blog and the Science Integrity Digest Blog. Her work is also frequently featured on Retraction Watch and she’s a regular contributor at PubPeer. She has received several prizes for her outstanding work in science popularisation and science integrity. In November 2020 she received the the Peter Wildy Prize by the Microbiology Society for communication of microbiology in education and to the public. In 2021 she was awarded two prizes, both very highly regarded by skeptics, the John Maddox Prize and the Ockham Award, both of which we reporte

Special report: Large Study Released by the Swedish Skeptics (VoF)We start out welcoming the new year and chatting about the James Webb telescope, Omicron and that the Swedish King and Queen just tested positive. Also, András got caught on tape singing on New Year’s Eve! In TWISH we hear about a famous (but not too convincing) UFO encounter in Trans-en-Provence in France. No pope today, so we go directly into the news:INTERNATIONAL: Retraction statistics show an increased rate of publishing questionable contentINTERNATIONAL: Vaccine hesitancy and how to deal with itAUSTRIA: The level of education is a booster for the willingness to vaccinateEU: Some gas and nuclear to be listed as green energyInstead of a Really Wrong we get a Special Report about a Swedish study conducted by VoF. The VoF-study presents all about what the Swedish public actually believes in, from ghosts and homeopathy to 911 conspiracy theories and racism.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Special Report; Quote And Farewell; Outro

With Eggman at the helm, we close the year.We hear about Brian’s adventures at “Scotland’s most haunted hotel“, hear about the passing of biologist E O Wilson and rejoice at the (so far) successful journey of the James Webb telescope. In TWISH we learn why New Year’s Eve is known as “Sylvester” in many countries and then we look into truth behind Pope Francis’ families values. Then it is time for the year’s last news round:GERMANY: Covid demonstration strollsINTERNATIONAL: WHO weighs in on plant-based nutrition issuesINTERNATIONAL: Aliens and what we learned about them in 2021?GERMANY: Natalie Grams latest fellow of CSISCOTLAND: Scottish Independence / SNP conspiracy theories. Most notably, the ongoing conspiracy theories about the death of Willie MacraeA young dealer called Jack Finney illustrates just why you should never buy diet pills on the dark web and gets a Really Wrong Award.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hoste

Who was that Jesus-guy anyway?We get into the holiday season even as Sweden, Italy and other countries implement new covid measures. In TWISH we try to sort out if and when Jesus was born and Pope Francis comes back for a poking, one week after turning 85. Then we dig into the news:GERMANY: How did fortune-tellers do in 2021?GERMANY: Hundreds of ineffective corona vaccinations administered by homeopathNETHERLANDS: 5G protection necklaces could be potentially harmfulLa Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE), the Spanish Bishops Conference, is Really Wrong for taking no action against child abuse scandal. The Italian President Sergio Mattarella on the other hand, takes a stance against false balance and for that he is Really Right.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong / Really Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Also, Santa is not real and Annika pokes Christmas treesThe Ockham Awards have been announced, ESA helps a Chinese rover and the Belgian Skeptics, SKEPP, finally wins against a SLAPP*) suit filed by a multimillionaire. In TWISH we hear of the gruesome death of a Scottish witch and then we dig into the news:INTERNATIONAL: Time magazine names vaccine scientists Heroes of the Year 2021FRANCE: Swedish artist Anna von Hausswolff harassed by Catholic fundamentalsINTERNATIONAL: Tackling COVID disinformation with empathy and conversationSIBERIA: WMO confirms highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic: 38CITALY: Noto’s bishop tells children Santa doesn’t existINTERNATIONAL: Buying guide for christmas trees?The German “Corona Ausschuss” spreads dangerous nonsense about the vaccine and pandemic and gets today’s award for being Really Wrong.Enjoy!*)SLAPP = Strategic lawsuit against public participationSegments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See ac

Also, Pope Francis is a hereticIt’s farewell to Jens Spahn and welcome to the new German health minister Karl Lauterbach – will he be the one to defund homeopathy? Let’s hope so! The a new European space telescope Ariel will help us look for other planets (if we grow tired of this one), but before we go we should learn how to pronounce the name of the Polish Health Minister – listener Przemek shows us how! Also if you missed us on the Skeptic Zone you should check out their episode #685. TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) teach us about the Norwegian Spiral Anomaly and Pope Francis is told he should stay out of Greece. After all that, we get into the news:GERMANY: Homeopaths promote vaccinations?SLOVAKIA: Ivermectin overdose leads to serious intoxicationSWEDEN: Expert group: Sweden should have face mask requirementsHUNGARY: COVID-related conspiracy theories continue to riseITALY: Italian man wears fake arm to dodge vaccinationGERMANY: Virologist gets the title Man of the Year 2021 in survey commissioned b

Conspiracy theories are hazardous to your healthIn this episode we first reflect a little over the new governments in Germany and Sweden. Pontus had Richard Saunders (of the Skeptic Zone fame) at a Swedish Skeptics in the Pub Online event this week and the talk is available on Youtube. In the newly renamed TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) we celebrate the birth of Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen. Pope (aka Primate) Francis is not happy with the Italian bishops and he forms a commission to keep them in line. Then we look into the news:AUSTRIA: Vaccination denier fails to cure himself of coronavirusAUSTRIA / INTERNATIONAL: The weird history of a photo shows how fake news spreadSWITZERLAND: Swiss voters back law behind Covid vaccine certificateNETHERLANDS: Study shows conspiracy beliefs predict health behavior and well-being during the pandemicSWEDEN: Christian foundation not allowed to take over free schoolGERMANY: New study about Querdenker movementUK / RUSSIA: Empress Catherine the Great’s let

We’re back in the saddle for another 300!Before we start today we reflect on the COP26 fiasco, celebrate the recent golden thin-foil hat award and the Russians’ latest adventures in space. Also don’t miss next week’s SiTP Online with Richards Saunders! (Pontus to moderate). This week marks the 162nd anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origins of Species and Joe Biden can still it the holy crackers. Then we go into the news:AUSTRIA: Country goes on a nationwide lockdown and announces the coming of vaccine mandatesGERMANY: Covid numbers soaringGERMANY: Jens Spahn says Germans will be ‘vaccinated, cured or dead’ by the end of winterGERMANY: Bayer president wrongly calls mRNA vaccines GeneTherapy, feeding new avalanche of misinformationSWEDEN: Cough syrup is hocus-pocus according to researcherAUSTRIA: Ivermectine is sold out in AustriaITALY: Homeopath dies after refusing vaccinationFRANCE: French couple wins legal fight over wind ‘turbine syndrome’INTERNATIONAL: Warning against fake shops during Black WeekINTERNATIONA

And if you didn’t know, Luna can be a bit of a DrongoFor six years and 300 episodes we’ve been doing this, and we won’t stop anytime soon!In this week’s special Listener Q/A episode you will learn all you need to know about us and about skepticism in general. From serious to silly, we do our best to tell you everything you ever wanted to know, and then some. Thanks to everyone who sent in their questions!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Listener Q&A; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If it looks like medicine, but it has ‘supplement’ written on it, it’s fraud!”In the episode we interview Petra Schling who is a biochemist and a teacher at the “Biochemie Zentrum” of the University of Heidelberg. We talk about how so-called “natural plants” are actually out to hurt us, how food supplements are normally a waste of money, the misconceptions about “superfoods”, and how important it is to teach critical thinking in schools.In other news, if you are a listener living in the UAE you could catch up with András, just send us a mail! And also, please send us your questions for episode 300 by 15 November!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Also, it's time for some #Metoo in the Vatican…This week we catch up with the fabulous Susan Gerbic whose Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia has hit a fantastic milestone. But we also have a full episode, so we start out by mentioning the Australian and New Zealand Skeptics joint annual convention and then look back at what happen this week in 1459 and Pontus pokes the Poke and his meeting with Joe Biden and the need for him to start believing the abuse victims. Later we get into the news: • EUROPE / INTERNATIONAL: Record summer impossible w/o Global Climate Change • FRANCE: Fossil fuel giant Total has known about climate change since 1971 • GERMANY: Report about conspiracy theories ready to download • ROMANIA: Harder corona restrictions • SWEDEN: Is Sweden “the most dangerous country in Europe”? • AUSTRIA: Homeopathy excluded from reimbursed health care treatments • RUSSIA: Anti-evolution paper finally retracted, 25 years after being debunkedWe end with a Really Wrong Really Right combo regarding a midwife wh

Which pill would you take?We start this week with handing Pontus a Really Wrong award for something he said last week. András is back and among other things he describes his experience with the green pass in Italy. QED has been moved to October next year, but what hasn’t moved is our determination to be there. And please send us your questions for episode 300!This week’s interview with Iris Hinneburg is all about trying to communicate the importance of distinguishing the good from the bad. How can we educate the public on which “medicines” you can trust? Turn to your latest copy of Gute Pillen – Schlechte Pillen, i.e “Good pills – bad pills”!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How hard can it be to get people to do the right thing?We start out with some exiting news about Annika’s upcoming online talk, a huge milestone for Susan Gerbic and Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia and a good legal ruling for Snopes. And our friend Holm Hümmler doesn’t only have a new book out, he also one of the select guests at FerngesprächCon last week, together with Martin Moder and many others.A special feature this week is our interview with Ovidiu Covaciu about the vaccination situation in Romania and Eastern EuropeThen, we get into the news: • GERMANY: Homeopathy is out for Bavarian health education system (not supported anymore!) • ITALY: Big protests over mandatory covid green passes • INTERNATIONAL / GERMANY: Natalie Grams in English media • RUSSIA: Population crises worse, due to covid deaths • RUSSIA: Huge methane gas leak discovered by European Copernicus satelliteSegments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; News; Really Wrong; Patreon And Episode 300; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes; Hosted on

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.