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The European Skeptics Podcast - The ESP
TheESP – Ep. #464 – The lying liars lie
Ep. 464
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After discussing Nazi salutes, placebo surgery, scientology follow-up, Massimo Polidoro’s new book and several recommendations for other podcasts, we eventually get down to the meat of the show. In TWISH we hear about Delta, the science TV program that aired 61 years ago on 31 of January. Then, we look to the news:
- SWEDEN: Swedish Skeptics Awards
- CENTRAL EUROPE: Disinformation and conspiracy beliefs in East-Central Europe show significant differences
- BALTIC SEA: Follow-up on the alleged cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea
- UK: Is Google actually gonna crack down on fake reviews?
- SWEDEN: Against scientific consensus, the age of criminal responsibility could be lowered to 14
Putin and Russia collect a yet another Really Wrong Award, this time for disinformation in schools.
Enjoy! (if that’s the word)
https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-464.html
Segments:
0:00:27 Intro
0:00:52 Greetings
0:20:46 TWISH
0:27:57 News
0:54:17 Really Wrong
0:58:59 Quote
1:00:50 Outro
1:02:05 Outtakes
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468. TheESP – Ep. #468 – Education Fail
51:46||Ep. 468We are still fascinated by the on-going planetary alignment and this week is an even better opportunity to watch it. And if it’s cloudy and a Thursday, go back inside and join the SITP Online virtual pub, it’s highly recommended!In TWISH we hear about Émile Coué who popularized autosuggestion which in a way paved the way for all self-help books that we are still riddled with today. Then of course, we have the news:NORWAY: Heat record blown away in northern NorwayGERMANY: Election resultsAUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND: Shaman on the runINTERNATIONAL / WALES: Trust in politics on the declineEU: The European economy needs immigration – that’s science!INTERNATIONAL: Nominations for the John Maddox Prize now openThe Really Wrong award goes to education in general in the EU – lots of people are still creationists and believe that early humans lived along dinosaurs…Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-468.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:52 Greetings0:09:04 TWISH0:19:29 News0:42:02 Really Wrong0:47:43 Quote0:49:44 Outro0:51:06 Outtakes467. TheESP – Ep. #467 – Tesla-skam
51:21||Ep. 467We talk a little bit of the upcoming Germany federal elections this weekend and in TWISH we hear about Carl von Rokitansky the Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician and founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. How he managed to dissect tens of thousands of bodies is baffling and just a little bit scary…Then, we turn to the news:UK: Prof. Jim Al-Khalili gets Darwin Day MedalSWEDEN: Murder of Quran burnerFRANCE: Didier Raoult can’t stop spreading bullshitITALY: Italian ‘mystic’ may face trial after DNA match with blood on Virgin Mary statueINTERNATIONAL: Elisabeth Bik Science Integrity Fund launchesWe hand out a Really Right Award (for once) and a little surprisingly it goes to the UK government for an ambitious project to spot climate change tipping points. We also have a Norwegian Word of the Week, tune in to find why Elon Musk may not be thrilled about it.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-467.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:51 Greetings0:09:28 TWISH0:17:35 News0:38:12 Really Right0:41:13 Word of the Week0:47:25 Quote0:49:05 Outro0:50:27 Outtakes466. TheESP – Ep. #466 – Science and Politics
52:45||Ep. 466Lots about guns and politics this week, as well as science, homeopathy and a little bit about lost pants. In TWISH we hear about Descartes and his suspicious death in 1650. Was it murder?Here is a list of the news:SWEDEN: Mass shooting in ÖrebroGERMANY: Is this the descent of Homeopathy?SWEDEN: Government wants stricter laws regarding guns – Sweden Democrats in uproarUK: Evidence week a big successSCOTLAND: Alien abductee trousers(?)The Really Wrong Award goes the Swedish government for their misuse of science to legitimize killing half the wolves.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-466.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:50 Greetings0:07:12 TWISH0:16:14 News0:44:42 Really Wrong0:49:17 Quote0:50:41 Outro0:52:04 Outtakes465. TheESP – Ep. #465 – The moon and the planets, with Marcel-Jan Krijgsman
51:46||Ep. 465This week we interview Marcel-Jan Krijgsman, Dutch amateur astronomer, data engineer and science communicator.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-465.htmlSegments:0:00:33 Intro0:00:56 Greetings0:11:04 Interview0:45:58 Farewell0:50:08 Outro0:51:30 Outtakes463. TheESP – Ep. #463 – Welcome to the Post-Shame Era
54:59||Ep. 463The ECDC has declared January cervical cancer awareness month which we support 100%. We also want encourage local skeptical actions such as speaking up when companies promote nonsense and Pontus gives us an example of how easy it can be, if you just take a few minutes and speak up. We also mention that the planets are lined up in a cool way at the moment, so turn your eyes to the skies! In TWISH we hear about Vladimir Bekhterev who was at least as significant in psychology as Pavlov was, but made the mistake to talk badly about Stalin and as a result was almost entirely written out of history. Then, we look at the news:INTERNATIONAL: It’s confirmed: 2024 was the first year with an average temperature 1.5°C above pre-industrial levelsINTERNATIONAL: Pro-Russia disinformation pops up on BlueSkyBALTIC SEA: Damaged cables in Baltic Sea not Russian sabotage?EU: X asked to disclose internal documents about algorithms over fears that far right gets boostUK: Meta and the scrapping of fact-checkingThe Croatian deputy prime minister Josip Dabro confirms all our preconceived ideas regarding stupid populist politicians and gets the week’s award for being Really Wrong.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-463.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:50 Greetings0:15:50 TWISH0:25:46 News0:45:49 Really Wrong0:49:16 Quote0:53:17 Outro0:54:32 Outtakes462. TheESP – Ep. #462 – Bogus Vagus Hocus Pocus
57:49||Ep. 462Happy to be back again and we start by welcoming some new publications by Brian Eggo and Edzard Ernst. In TWISH we wonder if 13 January is Skeptics Day and then we dig into the news:FRANCE: Godfather of modern far-right movement Jean-Marie Le Pen dies aged 96UK / ESTONIA: Nurosym – an example of scam health deviceUK: Poll shows more than half of UK voters dislike Elon Musk and his meddling with UK politicsThis week’s Really Wrong Award was just as hard to guess as the sun going up or down – Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are going full MAGA on us and it is terrible to see.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-462.htmlSegments: 0:00:27 Intro0:00:50 Greetings0:09:48 TWISH0:13:26 News0:42:37 Really Wrong0:53:53 Quote0:55:51 Outro0:57:06 Outtakes461. TheESP – Ep. #461 – Orbán to go Barefoot?
01:08:42||Ep. 461Quite a few things to dive into this week: the Medici popes, some listener feedback, cool dinosaur tracks and some sad news from France. In TWISH we we have an epiphany and then we go through the news:NORWAY / UK: Who Believes in Alternative Medicine?RUSSIA: Cancer vaccine announced, with no published evidenceUK: Over 40% of cancer patients use complementary and alternative medications while receiving anticancer treatmentINTERNATIONAL: Another year of Retraction Watch being awesome! Want to work for and with them?INTERNATIONAL: Recent global temperature surge intensified by record-low planetary albedoHUNGARY: Viktor Orbán travels to India, posts photo with Ayurvedic guruSeveral Hungarian organizations close to the government signs up with IFTCC who claims that banning conversion therapy is a threat to human rights – can you be more Really Wrong?Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-461.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:51 Greetings0:17:18 TWISH0:27:54 News0:57:21 Really Wrong1:04:59 Quote1:06:37 Outro1:07:52 Outtakes460. TheESP – Ep. #460 – Faith or reason?
36:26||Ep. 460With András unavailable, we drag Annika out of retirement to launch the new year! In TWISH we hear about Martin Luther’s excommunication and while Pontus always enjoy seeing someone stand up to the Pope, Martin Luther himself was far from flawless. Then we have the news-round:SWEDEN / INTERNATIONAL: Multi supplements are at best unnecessary and at worst dangerousEU: Amalgam is historyINTERNATIONAL: World endures ‘decade of deadly heat’ as 2024 caps hottest years on recordElon Musk, already adorned with the shameful Rusty Razor Award of 2024, add this week’s Really Wrong Award to his collection, this time for supporting the German AfD party.Enjoy!https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-460.htmlSegments:0:00:27 Intro0:00:52 Greetings0:03:19 TWISH0:13:46 News0:29:18 Really Wrong0:33:05 Quote0:34:44 Outro0:35:59 Outtakes