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 Española (CEE), the Spanish Bishops Conference, is Really Wrong for taking no action against child abuse scandal. The Italian President Sergio Mattarella on the other hand, takes a stance against false balance and for that he is Really Right.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong / Really Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 disinformation with empathy and conversationSIBERIA: WMO confirms highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic: 38CITALY: Noto’s bishop tells children Santa doesn’t existINTERNATIONAL: Buying guide for christmas trees?The German “Corona Ausschuss” spreads dangerous nonsense about the vaccine and pandemic and gets today’s award for being Really Wrong.Enjoy!*)SLAPP = Strategic lawsuit against public participationSegments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 (This Week in Skeptical History) teach us about the Norwegian Spiral Anomaly and Pope Francis is told he should stay out of Greece. After all that, we get into the news:GERMANY: Homeopaths promote vaccinations?SLOVAKIA: Ivermectin overdose leads to serious intoxicationSWEDEN: Expert group: Sweden should have face mask requirementsHUNGARY: COVID-related conspiracy theories continue to riseITALY: Italian man wears fake arm to dodge vaccinationGERMANY: Virologist gets the title Man of the Year 2021 in survey commissioned by… Playboy!ITALY: Gynaecologist arrested for claiming having sex with him is the special cure against HPVSWEDEN: Lund University researchers found link between belief in astrology and intelligenceFinally, if you want a Really Wrong Award of your own, just start injecting thousands of people with your own homemade untested covid-vaccine. That worked for millionaire Doctor(!) Winfried Stöcker.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 commission to keep them in line. Then we look into the news:AUSTRIA: Vaccination denier fails to cure himself of coronavirusAUSTRIA / INTERNATIONAL: The weird history of a photo shows how fake news spreadSWITZERLAND: Swiss voters back law behind Covid vaccine certificateNETHERLANDS: Study shows conspiracy beliefs predict health behavior and well-being during the pandemicSWEDEN: Christian foundation not allowed to take over free schoolGERMANY: New study about Querdenker movementUK / RUSSIA: Empress Catherine the Great’s letter on smallpox vaccination up for auctionThe Polish PiS Party get their fourth(!) Really Wrong award when their health minister Adam Niedzielski doesn’t want to implement any covid restrictions, because protests are bad for business.Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 vaccine mandatesGERMANY: Covid numbers soaringGERMANY: Jens Spahn says Germans will be ‘vaccinated, cured or dead’ by the end of winterGERMANY: Bayer president wrongly calls mRNA vaccines GeneTherapy, feeding new avalanche of misinformationSWEDEN: Cough syrup is hocus-pocus according to researcherAUSTRIA: Ivermectine is sold out in AustriaITALY: Homeopath dies after refusing vaccinationFRANCE: French couple wins legal fight over wind ‘turbine syndrome’INTERNATIONAL: Warning against fake shops during Black WeekINTERNATIONAL: Measles outbreaks to be expected with vaccination schedules laggingUKRAINE: Ukrainians like to spend their money on non-proven productsThe Waldorf School in Freiburg gets today’s Really Wrong Award for faking mask exemptions which led to over 100 covid cases.Enjoy!

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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;

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“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 could catch up with András, just send us a mail! And also, please send us your questions for episode 300 by 15 November!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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: • EUROPE / INTERNATIONAL: Record summer impossible w/o Global Climate Change • FRANCE: Fossil fuel giant Total has known about climate change since 1971 • GERMANY: Report about conspiracy theories ready to download • ROMANIA: Harder corona restrictions • SWEDEN: Is Sweden “the most dangerous country in Europe”? • AUSTRIA: Homeopathy excluded from reimbursed health care treatments • RUSSIA: Anti-evolution paper finally retracted, 25 years after being debunkedWe end with a Really Wrong Really Right combo regarding a midwife who tried to bring her religion into the workplace.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; This Week; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Wrong / Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 can we educate the public on which “medicines” you can trust? Turn to your latest copy of Gute Pillen – Schlechte Pillen, i.e “Good pills – bad pills”!Enjoy!Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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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 in Romania and Eastern EuropeThen, we get into the news: • GERMANY: Homeopathy is out for Bavarian health education system (not supported anymore!) • ITALY: Big protests over mandatory covid green passes • INTERNATIONAL / GERMANY: Natalie Grams in English media • RUSSIA: Population crises worse, due to covid deaths • RUSSIA: Huge methane gas leak discovered by European Copernicus satelliteSegments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; News; Really Wrong; Patreon And Episode 300; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

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