Blast from the past: Nobody Silences Simon Singh!The Hungarian election is coming up, with a lot of Russian propaganda polarizing the public. In TWISH we remember the legal decision that cleared up how “happily promoting bogus claim” was a fair statement by Simon Singh against the British Chiropractic Association. Pope Francis will finally meet up with Canadian Indigenous delegations this week, but will they finally get their apology?Then we have the news:RUSSIA: Country’s scientists are to stay...
Apr 01, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Don’t stare into the Sun! Both of the Earth’s poles are going through extreme weather at the moment. Does that mean the end of the planet is already here? In TWISH we hear about Mussolini’s rise to power and potential parallels to current world events. Pope Francis is said to take a stand against Russia, but we are not convinced. Then we have the news:EUROPE / SPACE: Russian cosmonauts dressed in colours of Ukrainian flag?– European Mars mission on hold as a result of cutting ties with Roscosmos...
Mar 25, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Don’t lose yourself in the bad newsLots of bad news out there at the moment but try to not let it get to you. A Ukrainian drone flies all over Hungary undetected, some European leaders take the train to Kyiv and even in space, tension is mounting. This week is the celebration of the Hungarian revolution of 1848 but there’s a lot of misconceptions about it. Francis tries to do good but fails to impress. After that, we take a look at the news:INTERNATIONAL: Doomscrolling is becoming a serious conc...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast War and anti-vaxxersWe comment on some aspects of the war and also how you can best send help. In TWISH we celebrate good skeptic Massimo Polidoro and then we poke Pope Francis, whose buddy was just sent to jail for sex abuse. After that, we have the news:UKRAINE: The latest disinformation trendsRUSSIA: Why has the letter Z become the symbol of war for Russia?RUSSIA: Lawmakers approve decision to imprison anyone contradicting government propagandaUKRAINE: Putin’s denazification campaign ends up ...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast The first line of the Ukraine national anthem translates to ‘Ukraine is not dead yet’This episode is a special about the Russian war and invasion of Ukraine. No TWISH, no Pope and no surprise as to who gets the Really Wrong award*). We do urge anyone who can to support the people of Ukraine, and provide links to some of the charities you can donate to. Topics we discuss are:UKRAINE: DW Fact Check – Do any of Putin’s claims hold water?INTERNATIONAL: Media giants clamp down on Russian state-own pr...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Also, Benedict works in mysterious waysWe talk about the great new CFI fellows announced, wonder what happens to Ukraine (please note that we recorded this episode one day before the invasion…) and welcome the fact that the Philippines plan to roll out production of Golden Rice. In TWISH we hear about Gutenberg and his bible that was published this week way back in 1455. Pontus pokes both popes and then we look at the news:FRANCE: Djokovic keeps being wrong…GERMANY: Association of Catholic Docto...
Feb 26, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Translating the works of Skeptical ScienceBärbel Winkler is the project coordinator for the translation projects at Skeptical Science and has been organising the translation of documents like the two consecutive versions of The Debunking Handbook, the Uncertainty Handbook, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook and the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook, to mention only a few. And now she’s busy coordinating the translation of the Cranky Uncle game, an awesome tool, which we have mentioned on sever...
Feb 18, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Edzard Ernst joins us to tell all about his new book.Before we get into the interview with Edzard Ernst we are a bit nostalgic about hearing that the end of the ISS is getting closer. András has an update to the Favipiravir controverse from last week and then we get to hear from the horses mouth how Prince Charles became the ‘Alternative Prince’. IN TWISH we learn about Dmitri Mendeleev and his periodic table. After that, we get into the news:SWEDEN: Agency to tackle foreign misinformation re-es...
Feb 11, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are all animalsAnnika is back in Europe and for unclear reasons we may all move to an uninhabited island in Sweden (don’t hold your breath). The German Informations-Netzwerk Homöopathie (INH) is sending an open letter to the new German health minister Karl Lauterback – we should all retweet about this to make sure he reads it! In TWISH we hear about how one of the worst fraudulent scientific(?) papers ever, authored by Andrew Wakefield, was finally retracted in 2010. No pope to poke today, s...
Feb 04, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Djokovic wrong again, and both popes get pokedWe start with the fact that everyone and his uncle seems to have covid nowadays, and access to testing is hard. As mentioned last week, the episode of the Skeptic Zone with Pontus is now out. In other news anti-restriction demonstrations are all around and the Nazis somehow always seem to show up. In TWISH we learn about the birth in 1900 of Theodosius Dobzhansky, who was very important for the field of evolutionary biology. Double whammy for the pop...
Jan 28, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 o...
Jan 21, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jan 14, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ques...
Jan 07, 2022•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Dec 31, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Españ...
Dec 24, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 disinform...
Dec 17, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 (...
Dec 10, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 comm...
Dec 03, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 vac...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast “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...
Nov 12, 2021•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: • EURO...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 c...
Oct 29, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Oct 22, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Aca...
Oct 15, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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” becaus...
Oct 08, 2021•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: M...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 terro...
Sep 24, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 m...
Sep 17, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Sep 10, 2021•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
