Sorry for the delay guys, but we’re back! We have a host of tips for our listeners to get engaged in in the new year. In this week’s TWISH we hear about the Basel Massacre in 1349, gruesome stuff. Then we look at the news: ROMANIA : Measles declared an epidemic after infant death INTERNATIONAL : Large language models validate misinformation UK : King Charles’ “Ayurvedic Centre of Excellence” turns out to be an embarrassing failure GERMANY : Nikil Mukerji appoi...
Jan 12, 2024•53 min•Ep 409•Transcript available on Metacast Suddenly Poland emerges as a possible example against populism in Europe – strange times indeed. In TWISH we hear about Marconi ‘s groundbreaking radio transmission over the Atlantic – not very long ago when you think about it, and pretty cool since he didn’t really know how radio waves work! In the news this week we look at these items: SWEDEN : Supreme Court awards damages to persons exposed to PFOS EU : EU regulating AI HUNGARY : Nutrivigilancia – a n...
Dec 15, 2023•52 min•Ep 408•Transcript available on Metacast First we mention that the prestigious Heinz Oberhummer Award has just been given to Die Sendung mit der Maus which we recently called out for being Really Wrong . Annika puts that into perspective for us. It is time to plan the trip to next year’s European Skeptics Congress , this time in Lyon France, 30 May to 2 June . We then ask if Pope Frankie is planning his ‘Endgame’; some things point in that direction. After that we take a look at the...
Dec 08, 2023•52 min•Ep 407•Transcript available on Metacast In TWISH this week we hear about Claude Lévi-Strauss who put together a structuralist theory to analyze myths. We also hear that Pope Frankie is sick but still plans to attend the COP-28 meeting in Dubai – we cannot help wondering why. Then it’s time for the news: ISRAEL : Most common rumors related to the Israel-Hamas war GERMANY : Court dismisses lawsuits over alleged coronavirus vaccination damage INTERNATIONAL : Things you can do to...
Dec 01, 2023•48 min•Ep 406•Transcript available on Metacast In this week’s TWISH we hear about Trofim Lysenko before we look into the news: EU : Glyphosate update INTERNATIONAL : Nostalgia in politics UK : The Good Law Project supports the General Medical Council taking action against harmful misinformation NORTHERN IRELAND : ‘The Hum’ is back! Naturopaths selling Miracle Mineral Supplements (MMS) are promoting a life threatening substance with no possible benefit. This came to a class call recently when a toddler coud...
Nov 24, 2023•51 min•Ep 405•Transcript available on Metacast Despite the numerology, this episode CAN be found wherever you get your podcasts. We will give you tips about The Conspiracy Test , the Humanist UK 2024 Convention , the latest Skeptical Inquirer interview and Skepticon 2023 in Australia – all good things to check out! In TWISH we hear about one of Darwin’s buddies, the groundbreaking (pun intended) geologist Charles Lyell , born this week in 1797. Pope Frankie has been given a fr...
Nov 17, 2023•52 min•Ep 404•Transcript available on Metacast After the normal meet and greet, we have an interview with Norbert Aust – German skeptic and one of the initiators of INH, Information Network Homeopathy . He brings us up to date on what’s going on and reports on the fight to get fraudulent and incorrect ‘scientific’ papers retracted. We later get a ‘TWISH’ about the ‘Festival of Reason’ , a failed and misguided attempt to get rid of religion during the French revolution . Then, it’s time fo...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast – with Paula Dahlberg Full length episode, plus an interesting interview this week. We first note that science has discovered the “Pontus plate” (much to our liking) and also that if you are quick you can still apply to give a talk at SkepKon in Augsburg in May. Then we hear about the sad passing of Peter Olausson, prominent skeptic and former president of VoF. After that we have our interview with Paula Dahlberg who takes us through the most common myths about the legal system. Then, we take a ...
Nov 03, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Starting off our next 400 episodes, we interview the amazing Cara Santa Maria of Talk Nerdy and Skeptic Guide to the Universe fame. We get into things about her that you may not be aware of – how she rebelled against her Mormon upbringing, her passion for social injustices, and why she cannot always be allowed to speak her mind on the Skeptics Guide.A brilliant science communicator with a background in television, podcasting, and more, Cara is also a clinical psychologist and recently received h...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The band is back together for episode 400! Watch out for Gerson therapy, confusing Synods and of course, this week’s news:UK: Phones in schoolsPOLAND: End of the PiS party reign(?)BELGIUM: Catholic University of Leuven stops UFO ‘conference’SWITZERLAND: Another tumor ‘treated naturally’UK: ‘Relaxed’ climate change policies in the UK, but also elsewhereUK: University of Exeter offers degree in Magic and the occultThe Reichsbürger movement get (another!) Really Wrong Award for creating fake Jewish...
Oct 20, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast SkepKon 2024 is coming up in May 2024! It will be held in Augsburg and there is a call for papers out, see link in the show notes. This episode comes out on Friday the 13th, so in TWISH we explore where this superstition comes from. We have an interview with Dr Holm Hümmler who tells us what really went down at the presentation of Das Goldene Brett Award in Vienna last week, and then we take a look at the news:SWEDEN: Macchiarini found guilty of falsified research – again!GERMANY: Raids with Rei...
Oct 13, 2023•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the second part of our reporting from QED 2023. Before we get into the interviews we comment on the brand new Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, all awarded for fascinating progress in science! Then we have four new interviews to share from QED.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Additional Interviews; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 06, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week was QED, and boy did we enjoy it! Fantastic talks, great happenings and wonderful people!This episode is part 1 of our interviews with some of the people we met.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; About Qed; Additional Interviews; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 29, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast …science communicator extraordinaire! This week we are talking to Florian Aigner, an Austrian physicist, science editor, author, science communicator and skeptic. He lives in Austria and works at the TU Vienna (Technical University). He is also on the jury of Das goldene Brett. He has written three popular science books and held the keynote speech at the European Skeptics Congress in 2022 in Vienna titled “Why we can trust in science”. He is also a member of GWUP (the German Skeptics) where he w...
Sep 22, 2023•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Annika has been to the esoteric fair and gives a report and dowsing is apparently used by employees at Scottish Water. In TWISH we celebrate the International Day of Democracy, and boy do we need it. And then there is the news:INTERNATIONAL: Toddlers can reason!SWEDEN / UK: Believing in personal gut feelings and falling for conspiracy theoriesGERMANY: New developments regarding Satanic PanicSWEDEN: Pontus Pokes the Politicians: Thousands marching against mandatory reporting of paperless personsC...
Sep 15, 2023•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Several awards and gatherings to be on the look-out for: the Ockham Award, the Rusty Razor, the Bent Spoon and Das Goldene Brett. The feast of Santa Rosalia is the topic for TWISH and Pope Frankie is nostalgic about the Mongolian invasion (wtf?). Then, we have this week’s news:GERMANY: Follow-up on the Reichsbürger movementINTERNATIONAL: Prediction of 1 billion+ deaths related to climate change by 2100SCOTLAND: Issues with science publishing – Researcher finds his name on editorial boards of jou...
Sep 08, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast …and Nessie goes ‘gloop’ We’re happy to announce that the ESP Shop is now available in the US, Canada and Australia. We also want you to know that nominations for Das Goldene Brett is still open. In TWISH we hear about an encounter of the third kind and Frankie insists India don’t look the congregation in the eye more than half of the time. Then we get into the news:SCOTLAND: Nessie hunters hear sounds but fail to record themUK: Full Fact study – Hundreds of hoax posts circulating in Facebook gr...
Sep 01, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast …sleep restriction for insomnia? A lot of great talks are coming up for Skepticamp at QED in September – with András, Pontus and Claire among the speakers! In TWISH we hear about an almost 200 year old fake news about the moon and then we take a look at the news:UK: Asparagus fails to predict the futureSCOTLAND: Loch Ness might be ‘home to spirit entity’ that can be disturbed by searchUK: Meghan Markle wears ‘miracle antistress patch’INTERNATIONAL: WHO promotes alternative medicine (again!)INTER...
Aug 25, 2023•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast …Uri Geller strikes again… There are now streaming tickets for QED! In TWISH we hear about the three wise guys, sorry, the three wise men, and how they ended up in Cologne in Germany. No pope this week, so we head right in for the news:UK: Voter databank hacked and according to experts can potentially be used to target voters with disinformationINTERNATIONAL: YouTube starts mass takedowns of videos promoting ‘harmful or ineffective’ cancer curesUK: Classroom environmental education doesn’t seem ...
Aug 18, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast …and the deep fakes grows deeper We start with listener feedback regarding burning the Quran and the best ways to boil a frog… We also announce our newly created merch store and there is still time to get your ESP t-shirt before QED. 15% off if you hurry!. In TWISH we hear about Sea Org day celebrated by scientologists and the pope gets poked for his “excluded but-not-excluded policy” towards women and the LGBTQ+ community.Then, it’s time for the news:INTERNATIONAL: Happy birthday, Retraction Wa...
Aug 11, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast …might get you pregnant?Another record with July being the hottest month ever. It may not matter since AI is here to finish us off before the climate crisis does… But the show must go on and in TWISH we hear about Alexander Fleming who was born this week in 1881, Pope Frankie is in Portugal for his own Woodstock, hoping that no one talks too much about sex. Then it’s time for then news:RUSSIA / GERMANY: ‘Heil Zelenskiy’: Russian actors identified in purported German video against Ukraine aidDENM...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast …BTW, a ‘rutgängare’ uses a ‘slagruta’ in their professionThis week in TWISH we hear about Rosalind Franklin and Pope Frankie is on a diplomatic mission from God. In the news, we hear about:SWEDEN: Greta Thunberg gets fined for disobeying police, goes back to protest and confront police the same dayAUSTRIA: Wanted holocaust denier gets stopped by the police – with the body of his wife in the trunkSWEDEN: Estonia sinking: Ramp from ferry recovered raised after 29 yearsITALY: Climate Crisis: Italy...
Jul 28, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, as we are finally all back together to record, we start by lamenting on the latest heatwaves and why we might be doomed, especially when we consider the current political stage in countries like Germany.We then interview Stefan Uttenthaler about the yearly 'Das Goldenes Brett' satirical award, before moving on to TWISH, in which we commemorate the birthday of Hungarian engineer and promoter of all things UFO and weird energies György Egely...After Pontus Pokes the Pope for trusting th...
Jul 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast …holiday on Crimea? This war is no vacationSweden seems clear for NATO, but there is still time for Erdogan to trip things up. Two Skeptical awards are coming up, das Goldene Brett and the Ockham Awards. We have a special interview with international skeptic extraordinaire, Adrienne Hill! After that, we hear how Pope Frankie is packing the papal court, and then we take a look at the news:SWEDEN: Millions of views for fake videos concerning SwedenUK: British GP-homeopath’s statements on vaccines ...
Jul 14, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast …plus Nicola Throp tells all about QED!This week we’re saved once again by Brian Eggo, as we suddenly find ourselves very short on staff. What a guy!Some initial info is followed by an interview with Nicola Throp, one of the brilliant members of the QED organizing team. In TWISH we hear about Carl Vogt, the German scientist, philosopher and, not least, politician who was born this week in 1817. In Pontus absence, Brian Bashes the Bishop (luckily, not exactly what it sounds like), after which we ...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast …and someone is quacking in LatviaThis week we start by commenting on the strange developments in Russia and the Titan submersible. We call for speaker at QED SkeptiCamp recommend the work of Skeptical Science. And if anyone wants to meet up with András in the Baltic states, get in touch! In TWISH we hear about the Tunguska event and then as usual Pontus has some news about the Catholic Church. After that, we dig into the news:UK: House of Commons to debate presence of bishops in House of LordsS...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast …be mindful of MāņticībaWe see signs of climate change all over the place and it’s worrying. Taking bus 666 to ‘Hel’ is not even an option anymore, but thankfully going to QED is still possible! Check out the link for the QED attendance fund if you cannot afford your ticket… In TWISH we hear about how it really went down when Galileo Galilei was forced to denounce that the Earth in not the center of the universe. A short update of Pope Frankie’s latest adventures and then it’s time for the news:...
Jun 23, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast …anthroposophy on fire?Full episode this week folks, with the premier of a new segment to boot (see below). We talk about Hvaldimir the Russian spy whale and remind you of Annika’s SITPO talk on 5 July and comment on feedback from last week’s interview. In TWISH we hear about the recent passing of Silvio Berlusconi and then demonstrate that the Catholic Church has not change one bit when it comes to how they handle sex abuse scandals. After that it’s time for the news:GERMANY: New poster about B...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we have a real treat for you – an interview with Brian Deer, the journalist who more than anyone showed the world how fraudulent Andrew Wakefield was when he claimed that there could be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism (spoiler – there isn’t).Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Outro; Out-Takes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start by commenting on the sad passing of Tina Turner – even sadder since she at one point turned to homeopathy. That was a choice that she later regretted and it most likely made her condition much worse than it had to be. On a brighter note we have good news about QED in Manchester 23-24 September: first of all there is a QED Attendance Fund that you can either apply or contribute to, all depending on your financial situation. Secondly, it is now confirmed that QED Skepticamp will take plac...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
