First: A big shout-out to fellow skeptics Claire and Jakub who are getting married on the day of the release of this episode!This week we learn about William Benjamin Carpenter, an early skeptic and describer of the Ideomotor effect, back in 1870s. Then we ponder the results of the Synod for the Amazon and what decisions Pope Francis will have to make of those. Also, the renewal of the Pact of the Catacombs sounds perfect for the week of Halloween...In the news we look at a study regarding manda...
Oct 31, 2019•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we have a very interesting catch up with Ovidiu Covaciu who attended the International Global Vaccination Summit organised by the European Commission and the WHO. But before that we celebrate that Jelena singlehandedly (not really) made sure that the new Center for Population Health in her home city of Seattle was dedicated to Dr. Hans Rosling, the Swedish professor and science communicator. We also talk about how Pope John Paul II this week in 1996 admitted that evolution probably has...
Oct 24, 2019•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we first have a look to see if it was really the President of Finland who said he preferred reindeer to Trump before we congratulate the Spanish Skeptics for ceasing the opportunity of the Nobel week to point out what the ‘Nobel decease’ is in the mainstream media. We also remember the mockumentary ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ that premiered this week 17 years ago.Social media is tough to handle, as pope Francis discovered when accidentally tagging an NFL football team on Twitter, much to t...
Oct 17, 2019•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we declare that we’re fans of Brian Cox and we deliberate some more on the book ‘Shoot for the Moon’ by Richard Wiseman (see ep. 190) and how we can apply the lessons learned from Apollo in our skeptical endeavors.We then look into the soap opera that is the currently ongoing Synod in Rome that has created a big controversy for Francis, even before it has begun (and in addition he insists you need a dick to vote on the outcome). That is a developing story that we absolutely will come b...
Oct 10, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we first have a brief follow-up on German Health Minister Jens Spahn’s failure do defund bogus homeopathy and how the IHN (Informationsnetzwerk Homöopathie) has published an open letter to the minister explaining why he is wrong not to chance the rules. You can all go sign it! We also mention the Swedish Skeptics’ (VoF) successful participation in the Gothenburg International Book Fair.The main segment of this episode is an interview with the marvelous Richard Wiseman, where he tells a...
Oct 03, 2019•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we first hear from the fantastic Massimo Polidoro who tells all about CICAP Fest from two weeks ago.We look forward to a new film which is a fictional tale about the relationship between pope Benedict and Francis and there is a new book is out which brings attention to the brewing schism within the Catholic church (this makes Francis rather unhappy).In the news, Russia is not very successfully trying to cover up the fire in the smallpox lab (ouch!), Sweden extends the HPV vaccinations ...
Sep 26, 2019•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week the team is all together at last! András us tells a bit about his adventures at the incredibly exiting CICAP Fest in Padua, more on this to follow next week.In the main part of the episode we release the next set of interviews recorded at the European Skeptics Congress 2019! This time you will hear from participants and activists as well as get a sneak peek behind curtain from some of the organizers and volunteers.Oh, and we have a new logo, thanks to Matt Kemp (@kemp_matt)! Thank you ...
Sep 19, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we celebrate the birthday of the ‘Ask for Evidence’ campaign, the Pope gets stuck in an elevator and we debunk three myths about the Amazon forest fires.Counterfeit Medicine is a growing threat to society, even more European countries lose their status a s ‘measles free’ and there are still repercussions in Sweden of the Macchiarini scandal in 2015.Yoga may be good for preventing cardiovascular problem (but there are many questions still), what used to be the highest peak in Sweden has...
Sep 12, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week it was Congress time! András and Pontus (unfortunately not Jelena) spent a wonderful weekend in Ghent, Belgium, at at the European Skeptics Congress 2019, where they had a blast!At the ESC 2019 there were talks by prominent skeptics and plenty of opportunities to catch up with old friends and make new ones.The result for the podcast is several interviews recorded on-site, with more to come later on. If you were there and met with us, we thank you for doing so! If not, there will be mor...
Sep 05, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week it is true that the Amazon (Amazonas? Amazonia?) is burning and glaciers are dying, but misinformation is still everywhere. Especially, meditation and rain dances will not help.Instead we should learn from John Locke, born this week in 1632, and who taught us the benefits of empiricism.Even though the Cardinal Pell story seems to be all over for him, the Vatican still faces a giant dilemma on how to handle it.There’s a 1 million Euro award for you if you can prove that a German city do...
Aug 29, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start by noting that the measles numbers in Serbia from last week must be nonsense (it’s much worse) and again urge you to support Retraction Watch. We then report on Cardinal Pell’s failed appeal in Australia and the pope’s totally misguided efforts to help the people of Syria.Brexit spells disaster for science in the UK, a British ‘Grief Vampire’ is touring in Sweden, but on a positive note, the Homeopathy Information Network provides help on fighting homeopathy in all of EU.A Lit...
Aug 22, 2019•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Pontus was interviewed by Richard Saunders on The Skeptic Zone this week, check it out at http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-564-11august2019In this episode we hear about free energy devices, about Pope Francis’ friend who stands accused of sex-abuse, and that Metro in Sweden is closing down taking with it their ‘Viral Examiner’ that has corrected and explained internet myths for almost five years.We hear about the first publicly known (but certainly not only) victim of Gwyneth Paltr...
Aug 15, 2019•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we reflect on the current heatwave and on climate change, we give a shout-out to James Randi who turned 91 this week(!) and Pontus pokes the pope for letting his Archbishops lash out against vulnerable minorities.In the news it’s confirmed (again) that vaccinations have nothing to do with autism, we hear how Anthroposophy nuts has managed to weasel their way into the University of Basel and how pseudoscience for children is fought by good people in Spain.Retraction Watch is turning nin...
Aug 08, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week and from now on, you can now listen to us on Spotify too!If you do, this episode will tell you about how Lamarck, born today 275 years ago, got it wrong about evolution but also was somewhat on the right track, more than 60 years before Darwin.Pope Francis is starting to sound more and more like this week’s quote supplier, George Orwell, and in EU the fight may be forming against the bad rules about CRISPR.Facebook and Twitter want to fight bogus medical cures, but it seems that some q...
Aug 01, 2019•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Andras interviewed Sander van der Linden, who is a social psychologist and has done extensive research into how we should approach the fight against fake news and the spreading of misinformation about climate change, vaccinations and all sorts of popular social issues by applying prebunking instead of debunking. He and his team at Cambridge have developed a tool that can be used to inoculate people against psychological manipulations and it goes by the name 'Bad News'. Hosted on Acast....
Jul 28, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we celebrate Britt Hermes’ lawsuit victory and that Annika got married (yay!) and urge everyone top make plans for ESC in Belgium – there’s still time to get your tickets! We hear about celebrated scientist and skeptic David Colquhoun and we get into how the term ‘Religious Liberty’ is so misunderstood and misused by the church.András gives us a special interview with Heather and Mark Pentler of the Edinburgh Skeptics who reveal all about the upcoming Skeptics in the Fringe in August.I...
Jul 19, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week while Pontus is away, we talk to Andreas Kyriacou from Switzerland about Camp Quest Switzerland before moving on to other events, IQ testing and a lot more, including a German petition to hold CAM practices to the same standards as real medicine, how the Hungarian Academy of Science is being killed off by Viktor Orban's government, legal action against a science writer in Ireland, the situation of SCAM in Switzerland and Facebook trying to tackle the ever-growing issue of deep fake vid...
Jul 14, 2019•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Jelena discloses the location of her new place to live - and it's far away! Then we hear about how Pasteur would not have been even close to pass today’s ethical guidelines when he tested his rabies vaccine, that the Catholic Church will discuss marriage for priests but rather walk out of the game than play football against pro-choice opponents.A huge meta-analysis covering 60 million people clearly shows the benefits of HPV vaccinations, the Good Thinking Society needs our help in cha...
Jul 04, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we clarify the difference between a ‘skeptic’ and a ‘denier’ when it comes to climate change and plug the Rationalist International Conference (Cambridge, 27-28 July) before Jelena debunks the myth that an American businessman once got tricked into buying Tower Bridge in London.In a special interview we talk to Fernando Cervera, one of the founders behind the European manifesto against pseudo-therapies.Pontus pokes the pope for the way the Catholic Church keep screwing (pun intended) t...
Jun 27, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we remember Willem (‘Wim’) Betz, the iconic Belgian physician, researcher and skeptic, co-founder of SKEPP (Belgian Skeptic Organisation) and CSICOP fellow, who sadly passed away on 8 June.Pontus reports his experiences at the big political event in Stockholm last week (Järvaveckan) and then Jelena talks about the life and times of William Crookes, who was a brilliant scientist, but also a believer in paranormal phenomena.When Pontus pokes the Pope, we find that Pride month is not for ...
Jun 20, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week András sticks his neck out, announcing that he will give a talk at the upcoming CICAP Fest in Padua in September - in Italian!We then learn about Margherita Hack who was a formidable Italian astronomer, skeptic and co-founder CICAP, we hear more interviews from SkepKon, curtesy of special correspondent Annika Merkelbach and hear how Cardinal Pell is trying to get out of his legal problem while Francis are creating new ones. Meanwhile the Vatican has spent a fortune to stop legal protec...
Jun 13, 2019•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we catch up a bit regarding VoF (the Swedish skeptics) and talk about a new Manifesto against pseudoscientific treatments. We also get a bit nostalgic about a UK referendum about Europe - in 1975.Then we get two interviews from SkepKon by our special correspondent on the ground, Annika Merkelbach. We check in with Francis who has been in Romania and also apparently is happy to cultivate his future legacy as the ‘tender’ pope.Sense About Science calls for volunteers for their Evidence W...
Jun 06, 2019•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this week’s episode we have some remarks about the EU Elections, before we hear about the Beringer hoax and his lying stones. The pope has outrageous views on abortions and thinks that women and unborn foetuses must suffer for God.The measles situation is getting even worse than we could imagine with cases more than tripling in the EU. The EU elections predictably brought a new high to fake news on social media and we find yet another example that proves that religious schools is a really bad...
May 30, 2019•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we welcome back Latvian activist Austra Muizniece, fearless fighter against the fake 'cancer treatment’ Rigvir.Shamelessly and corruptibly approved in Latvia just two days before Latvia joined the EU, Rigvir is claimed to be a cure at first for melanoma, and later for virtually any kind of cancer. Austra, herself a cancer survivor, has together with fellow skeptics lobbied for years to get Rigvir off the market as there has never been any evidence presented to support its efficacy. Lit...
May 23, 2019•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this week's episode we talk about ‘kwakzalverij’, the Pope’s new Olympic ambitions (and female football team) and other papal adventures. There are steep fines coming for German vaccination dodgers and a study finds that absence of evidence is evidence on non-sense.MedWatch gets the Carl Sagan award, there is another example of vegan parents that jeopardize the lives of their children and French authorities are stepping up the fight against homeopathy (Boiron Is not happy).We also look into w...
May 18, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this week's episode we announce the winner of our SkepKon raffle! We also invite you to take GapMinder's test to see how well you know the state of the world before we catch up with Alice and Laurie from the Merseyside Skeptics who tell us all about their upcoming 10 year celebration: MSSX on 6 July. You should go!This week 36 years ago, Stern Magazine had to admit that the Hitler diaries they had spent 19 million marks on were fake.Pope Francis is being accused of heresy by Catholic priests ...
May 09, 2019•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we first discuss the scientific method and remember Louis Pasteur, plus we anticipate Pope Francis’ upcoming Vatican revolution.Then in the news we talk about Ukraine election results, a homeopathic remedy that got “The Mom’s Choice Award” and how 170 million children lack protection from measles. A Portuguese pilot project gets flu vaccinations a boost (pun intended), we welcome a new German speaking Skeptic Youtube channel, look at the trend of religiousness going down in Spain and h...
May 02, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we discuss the Notre-Dame fire before we celebrate this week’s icon, the Hungarian astronomer and skeptic Iván Almár. The Measles epidemic is getting even worse with the WHO showing a 300% global increase so far this year, Metabiota has launched a new website for tracking epidemics, Anthroposophs claim to be for vaccinations but they’re really not and the Hungarian government wants to control Facebook.Also, the “Finns party” switches to a new conspiracy theory when the old one is not a...
Apr 25, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we celebrate the first picture of a black hole, Samuel Hahnemann’s birthday and the fact that we can poke two Popes in one week. HPV vaccination is shown to really work, a Spanish Bishop sells gay ‘cure’ courses, babies cannot live on sunshine and laughter and in Hungary you better follow the vaccination schedule for your child.Also: Fines for Jehovah's Witnesses, Edzard Ernst goes to a SCAM conference, Norwegian government anonymizes job applications and NHS in the UK takes further st...
Apr 24, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we talk about some great April Fools’ pranks, we look at the Vatican’s new child abuse law, mumps outbreak in Madrid, climate change models being validated in new observations. We get a first report on why the fake cancer cure Rigvir is being banned (look out for more Rigvir news in the future), we look at how Catholic priests are burning books in Poland, how there’s a battle between Russian homeopaths and skeptics and whether the recent Swedish CAM inquiry is good news or not. The Fre...
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
