– don’t listen to the fish and chips physicianThis week we have several things to get through before the actual show – the Swedish Skeptics at the international book fair in Gothenburg, the Hungarian Skeptics at the upcoming HungaroCon, the new book from the SGU (The Skeptic’s Guide to the Future), a listener question about organic farming and reactions to the Italian elections. In TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) we hear about the Voronezh UFO incident.Then it’s time for the news:CONFLICT IN EUROPE: Sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines – watch out for the conspiracy theoriesGERMANY: SkepKon 2023 – Call for papersUK / GERMANY: UK and German politicans behind American counterparts in tweeting misinformationGERMANY: Eurocom press release for the promotion of quackerySWEDEN: Pontus Pokes the Politicians: The new second vice speaker of the parliament is a science denier – do we need to name her party?UK: As was expected: government lifted ban on frackingThe Award for being Really Wrong goes to German-Swedish head physician Ute Krüger, who ‘feels’ that covid vaccines cause ‘turbo cancer’ and the head of the medicinal region, Johan Rosenqvist, who thinks that’s quite OK.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– Frankie has found his own 007!This week we reveal further plans about our travels and about Skepticamp at QED. We also have listener feedback about air quality in planes regarding last week’s Really Wrong. No TWISH this week, but Pope Frankie has found a super Cardinal to drop behind enemy lines for covert operations. And then we look into this week’s news:GERMANY: Honorable mention of HomöopaTeaUK: Charles feels vindicated for going organic. He is wrong.UKRAINE: UFOs above KievSWEDEN: Pontus Pokes the Politicians: Winning parties of the election advocate irrational actions in fighting criminalityThe WHO gets another Really Wrong Award for their failed logic around NSS (non-sugar sweeteners)Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– but at least the bees were informed of the death of their queenWe’re back from ESC in Vienna! Thanks to all who came up and said hi to us, that was a blast! This week we reflect on what Charles III, the king of SCAM, may mean for skepticism and what there is to say about the Swedish election results. For TWISH we get to learn about Foucault and his pendulum, a simple but brilliant demonstration of the rotation of the Earth. We leave the poking-of-the-Pope for next week and dig into the news:GERMANY: Prominent figure of New Germanic Medicine Helmut Pilhar diesUK / INTERNATIONAL: Madness around the Queen’s deathUK: Celebrity Russel Brand admits spreading falsehoodsEUROPE: Europe’s hottest summer on recordRUSSIA: Anti-censorship tool lets Russians read Blocked NewsGERMANY: Study shows behavioral studies got the sampling all wrongFRANCE: Didier Raoult‘s lab under investigationGerman party FDP and airlines get the Really Wrong Award for campaigning against masks on planes.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– a carnival of Cardinals says it’s permittedThis week we are packing our bags for the ESC Vienna – hope to see you there! But we also have plans for QED – András and Pontus will both talk at Skepticamp, and BREAKING NEWS! – live recording of the ESP has now been announced! In TWISH we celebrate 200 years of “cardinal” permission of the heliocentric model and in more current Vatican news, Pope Frankie elevates a predecessor who is now on his way to full sainthood. Then there is the news:GERMANY: New book out – Science Matters!INTERNATIONAL: Cranky Uncle Game now available in Spanish and Portuguese, too (Swedish soon out as well)UK: New prime minister on the Horizon… Or not so much.RUSSIA: Die for the Motherland – Indoctrination in Russian schoolsFRANCE: Medical service Doctolib under attack for promoting SCAMUK: Kate Moss – yet another supermodel who turns to selling bogus productsA Really Wrong Award goes to an Irish transphobic teacher who doesn’t know when to quit.Enjoy!

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– and Francis flips the birdAndrás is back and we chat about next week’s upcoming European Skeptics’ Congress in Vienna – the ESC, and we’re looking forward to go! Mikhail Gorbachev died and we comment a bit on what he meant for Russia and the contrast Putin is compared to him. Going back to the autumns events there is also QED where the winners of the Ockham Award and the Rusty Razor will be announced. Listeners can now put in their nominations for the best Skeptical activism and the most prominent promoter of unscientific ideas, respectively. There is more developments in to last week’s Really Wrong Award to cover, and breaking news! Annika has got a book out of short stories for children! (in German). In TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) Pontus is in for a surprise, and Pope Frankie seems to have had it with Kirill’s shenanigans. Then it’s time for the news:ISRAEL: Antivax doctor’s medical licence gets revokedSLOVAKIA: Study shows 41% of students cannot tell true online health information from fakeUK: Researchers trying series of videos for inoculation against misinformation on YouTubeINTERNATIONAL: Google airbrushes out emissions from flyingGerman Green Party leader in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lena Schwelling, thinks that homeopathy is the subject to a ‘Crusade’ which makes her Really Wrong.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– speaking of cults, Mother Teresa wasn’t much of a saintTurns out the “hunger stone” found in Elbe is not a photo from this year. It’s almost like you cannot trust the internet any more… Climate change is here to stay, regardless. In TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) we hear about Mother Teresa, probably the best known modern saints of all, and we learn that she was in fact pretty mean and cruel. The guy who made her a saint (Francis) gets a poking for messing with the on-going “trial of the century” when he suddenly makes up with the main suspect Cardinal Becciu – or did he? Not even the Vatican seems to know. Also, Pontus predicts that Kirill may back out of meeting with Frankie. (BREAKING NEWS! Confirmed by orthodox official the day after the recording). Then it’s time for the skeptical news:INTERNATIONAL: The cult of Ivermectin refuses to dieSWEDEN: More science denial from Sweden DemocratsUK: NHS Fund looking for Reiki healersRUSSIA / UK: The assassination of Darya Dugina: Which conspiracy theory to believe?The Hungarian government is at it again and their Innovation minister, Laszlo Palkovics, gets a Really Wrong Award for sacking weather chief over a storm that didn’t happen.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– nepotism, bribes and orgies in the Vatican!We start the episode with some listener feedback that led us to look a bit deeper into Mindfulness and find that it’s worse than we thought. We share the sad news that the great Italian science communicator and skeptic super hero, Piero Angela, has passed away at the respectable age of 93. In TWISH we take a look at pope Alexander VI who was an intriguing figure and who also has a legacy that pope Francis has to deal with to this day. Speaking of Frankie, he really demonstrates appalling lack of leadership when it comes to the ongoing scandal in the Archdiocese of Cologne. Then we have the news:UK / US: Polio in London (and New York)POLAND / CZECHIA / GERMANY: What is killing the fish in river Oder?SWEDEN: Sweden Democrats wants to rename The Prison and Probation Service to “the Agency for Punishment”FRANCE: Homeopathy in France is in steep declineAnthroposophs in Germany gets today Prize for being Really Wrong after trying to sue critics and taking them to court.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– a look into the Vatican’s hidden financesWe start by revisiting last week’s sad news about Dr Kellermayr and explore the reactions of other skeptical activists. In TWISH we learn about Peter Atkins, professor extraordinaire in physical chemistry. A deep dive this week in the busines of Pope Francis, both regarding his recent apology and trip to the indigenous peoples of Canada (did he do enough?), and also then into the hidden finances of the Vatican which we suddenly know much more about than before. Then we have a look at the news:US / UK: Harriet Hall‘s children’s book promotes critical thinking (with illustrations by a fan from the UK)UK / US / AUSTRALIA: Olivia Newton-John dies at age 73 – another victim of SCAM?UK: School-based Mindfulness training proves not beneficial compared to teaching-as-usualRUSSIA / UKRAINE: Anti-vax Twitter accounts pushing food crisis disinformationTo round off, Viktor Orbán and his regime gets the Really Wrong Award for allowing clear-cutting of native forests in Hungary.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– also, climate change is a ‘total meltdown’More confusion regarding the collaboration between Roscosmos and NASA, Tantra is back on the menu and (on a not so skeptical note) today marks the release of the Beatles ‘Revolver’ album. Pope Frankie finally went to Canada, which was a literal ‘feather in is cap‘. Then we have a look at the news:DENMARK: Russian oil and gas supply issues could drive green transitionUK: Heatwave basically impossible without climate changeINTERNATIONAL: Total climate meltdown cannot be stoppedAUSTRIA: Austrian medical doctor and science communicator commits suicide after relentless bullying from anti-vaccine activists and conspiracy theoristsA number of companies sells totally unnecessary blood tests to healthy people and for that the are Really Wrong.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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– student writes bill for UK Parliament re climate change educationThis week we mention that Eurovision will be held in UK next year, that Steven Pinker makes clear that ESP is not real (but WE are!) and Annika clarifies how the police system is organised in Germany. No TWISH or Pope this week so we skip right into the news:UK: TikTok is fastest growing source of news for adultsUKRAINE: Google to be banned in Donetsk and LuhanskGERMANY: Manual on climate communication publishedUK: Students write bill on climate change educationThe UK National Lottery gets the Really Wrong award for funding homeopathy.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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