This week András returns to the mothership to hear us discuss the UFO sighting in Cussac in France. Francis gets a pass this week and then we dive into the news:- Covid-19 update- Children in Germany are falling behind their vaccination schedules- Does flu claim more deaths the covid-19?- People who react negatively to rules and recommendations use more SCAM (so-called alternative medicine)- Does homeopathy “also” work for women (spoiler: it does not work, period)- Why is there a priest in the Swedish Corona commission?- Unprecedented levels of CO2 rise caused by humans- European Commission's educational page tackling conspiracy theoriesThe prize for being Really Wrong goes to the producers and distributers of the dangerous and misleading (and idiotically named!) film “Plandemic: inDOCTORnation”.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week we interview molecular biologist, science communicator and overall cool guy Martin Moder, who is one of the Austrian “Science Busters” and who is also active in the Austrian “Society for Critical Thinking”. We found ourselves discussing everything from the dangers of farting Coronavirus to GMO, philosophy, designer babies, how to make booze out of toilet paper and the optimal way of cutting a birthday cake. There were unexpected turns at every corner of this interview…Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week Brian is back(!) as András has gone missing(?) We chat again about the wonderful online events out there: you should definitely check out the Edinburgh Skeptics on the Fringe productions. We then talk about the Wow! signal that was recorded this week in 1977 and also find that Francis seems to have done something good for once.In this week’s news:- Two outbreaks in Mamming, Bavaria- Danish abattoir closed over COVID-19 cluster- Disinformation not only consumed by young or uneducated- Countries with mandatory BCG vaccination might actually be better off in the fight against COVID-- 19- 10 Coronavirus scams to be weary of- WHO calls for caution about Russian vaccine roll-out- No need to celebrate: 0.01 degrees less global warming by 2030 due to the pandemic- NHS hiring a spiritual healer- No positive outcomes at all from having free-schools in Sweden- UK government may intervene to curb dangerous 'cancer cure' propagandaThe prize for being Really Wrong goes to NICE in the UK (the National Institute for Health Care Excellence) for recommending acupuncture, despite any evidence or science.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week we first chat about some of the great current skeptical online events, like NECSS and Skeptics in the Pub. We also enjoy the good news that the worlds largest fusion reactor is now being assembled in the South of France.In this week in history we learn about “Lysenkoism” which Stalin decided should replace all other science. In current affairs Pope Francis has issues with Chinese infiltrators and French women who demands to be bishops.In this week’s news:- What’s the truth about face masks and covid-19?- What lies behind conspiracy theories- Misleading claims on pre-existing conditions and Covid-19 deaths go viral- Hungarian company selling bogus 'pro-insulin c-peptide' product banned from advertising- COVID conspiracy theories skyrocket in Romania and number of cases increase- Use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) by French cancer patients- Update - Retraction Watch gets a response from editor-in-chief of journal that published worst paper of 2020- Chronic back pain and spinal manipulation - is it a good treatment?- Stonehenge's long-lived mystery solvedThe prize for being Really Wrong goes to all the German demonstrators that marched in Berlin last weekend, spreading crazy ideas and endangering the public and themselves.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week starts with the wonderful news that Annika is now a full time ESP member and co-host. We couldn’t be happier!We start with a minor correction to a story from last week and then chat a bit about the latest astronomy news before we celebrate this week in history: Happy birthday to the great skeptic and parapsychology researcher Susan Blackmore! (Also see our episode #088 when we had her as a guest)Giving the Pope more or less a pass this week, we then dive into the news:- Covid-19 update- Austrian Science Busters- (Not so) scientific paper on covid and 5G is withdrawn- Another misleading “letter from a doctor” regarding covid19 is making the rounds- How to engage conspiracy theorists- Climate change CO2 sensitivity- Heatwave in Siberia melts ice in the Arctic Ocean- German homeopathy study criticized- Orbán keeps winning the fight against Hungarian free press- UK to fight obesity by banning junk food adsThe prize for being Really Wrong goes to the scientific journal “Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice”. They totally failed the peer review process on a study that claims there is “mathematical proof” that homeopathy is effective against covid-19.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week we welcome Annika back and first chat a bit about comets and astronomy and about some of the excellent online skeptical events there now is to follow, like the UK Skeptics in the Pub Online, the new Cologne events and Susan Gerbic’s About Time project.In this week in history we hear about Carl Jung, who was born on 26 July in 1875. Just like Freud he got a lot of things terribly wrong, but his ideas still inspired a lot better psychology later on and they continue to be part of the present-day culture. Then we poke the pope and find that even though Francis appears to want to fight the sex abuse scandals, last week’s new guidelines confirm that the Church continues to get most of their priorities completely backwards.Lots of corona in the news this week:- The COVID19 infodemic re Western Europe- Corona conspiracy myths in Germany- Andrew Wakefield and other anti-vaxxers mobilising against a future corona vaccine and unfortunately it is working- Hungarian guy gets convicted for coronavirus misinformation - Austria’s relaxed rules on masks has bad effect on infection rates- Google bans ads for conspiracy theories- the PSA investigates the UK Society of Homeopaths for non-compliance- Russia wages war on homeopathy- Good Thinking Society help the BBC in producing excellent documentary about fake cancers ‘cures’- BMJ presents study on medical science communication in the age of disinformation- Is the Russian Dyatlov mystery finally solved?The prize for being Really Right (perhaps controversially) goes to a Swedish doctor who turned himself in for assisted death.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week we are joined by the brilliant British geneticist, broadcaster, science journalist and author, Dr Adam Rutherford.He’s written several books of international acclaim like “Creation: The Origin of Life and the Future of Life”, “A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived”, “The Book of Humans: The Story of How We Became Us” and “Humanimal: How Homo Sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature”.Avid podcast listeners might know him from the BBC Radio 4 shows ‘Inside Science’ and ‘The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry’, but he also frequently appears on TV both as presenter and as an expert in genetics. Adam frequently appears as a speaker at Skeptics in the Pub events and on the same day this interview goes out he will be giving a talk on Skeptics in the Pub Online that bears the same title as his latest book, How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science and Reality.Enjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week Europe has lost a star in the sky and we hear about how Louis Pasteur managed to create a rabies vaccine back in 1885 (he wasn’t even a medical doctor). Pope Francis seizes even more control about the Vatican’s finances and appoints an “extraordinary commissioner” to raid the entity looking after St Peter’s Basilica. Apparently, someone has been cooking the books.In the news this week:– After a new outbreak the German authorities suggest people stay at home for vacation– Was SARS-CoV-2 really present in Barcelona in March 2019? – WHO stops Hydroxychloroquine tests– WHO launches new podcast - Health in Europe– High risk for polio outbreak in Ukraine– Russian disinformation operations revealed– Swedish actor from "Fargo" creates documentary TV-series promoting bogus rune stone in Minnesota– What's happening with Facebook?- 5G towers burning in Limassol- Climate change denier loses bet - has to pay up- National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition bans most homeopathic products from claiming specific therapeutic effects- Our friend Holm Hümmler airs a documentary about conspiracy theoriesTo end the episode secondary school students in Germany gets today’s Really Right Award for not backing down from their “tinfoil hat” projectEnjoy!Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takesEvents Calendar: http://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

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This week we can't help but mention the Polish presidential elections and Susan Gerbic's latest interview with Pontus. We commemorate Ignaz Semmelweis on his birthday before moving on to deliberating over the future of the papacy.In the news:- Was the Tönnies incident with COVID19 due to a church service- Didier Raoult doubles down on hydroxychloroquine- Hungary's new curriculum and history textbooks full of folk legends and misleading claims- Measles update- The latest and most sophisticated fake of the Loch Ness Monster- Large wildfires in Sibera as reminder of climate change- ARP-SAPC's Sergio Lopez Borgonoz research grant now open for applicationsThis week's Really Wrong Price goes to a Swedish elementary school for investing in bogus "protective equipment" against Wi-Fi.Enjoy!

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This week Pontus and András bring you the latest from all over Europe mixed with some history and a little bit of Poking the Pope(s).This week marks the 646th anniversary of the onset of the Aachen Dancing Plague. After exploring that phenomenon, we move on to how Pope Francis regards women and weather Palpatine is up to no good on his visit to his homeland Germany.Then, in the news:- COVID-19 superspreading centre in Gütersloch, Germany now in lockdown- Swedish coronavirus quack bites the dust- The Guardian's article on revised climate models deemed misleading by experts- Spanish authorities finally publish COVID-19 statistics- ARP-SAPC's Skeptical Magnifier Award announced- Novartis stops Hydroxychloroquine study for lack of participants- New survey in University of Oxford's Digital News Reports shows how much people care about climate change- Political consensus in Norway to remove VAT exemption status for SCAM practitioners- European Commission identifies Russia and China as origins of disinformation campaigns- Almost half of Italians would not get a COVID-19 vaccineThe Swedish Food Safety Agency gets this week's Really Right price for stepping up against illegal food supplement ads.Enjoy!

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