The band is back together for a new week of skeptical reports.On this week: Oliver Lodge did not manage to prove psychics right, Pope Francis still believes in celibacy (although his priests do not seem to), Natalie Grams is awarded Die Goldenen Blogger Prize, PSIRAM starts a skeptical blog series, Merseyside Skeptics celebrates 10 years in July and Spanish researchers (nobody expects the Spanish researchers!) tries to convince us about homeopathy.Meanwhile, nobody has noticed(!) that the Macchiarini investigation has gone missing.Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we bring you lots news and topics from across Europe including Annika Merkelbach's interview on Skeptical Inquirer's website with Natalie Grams, whose book has just been published in English, Edzard Ersnt' birthday, a praying application issued by the Vatican called "Click to Pray", the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee to deal with reported non-reportings of clinical trials, a great achievement by Ben Goldacre and the AllTrials campaign (one of the great projects of Sense about Science), how 1 on 20 adults in Britain do not believe the Holocaust actually happened, a Spanish report estimating deaths by pseudotherapies, BARF - special food for your pets as part of the raw food movement, a dangerous book just published with the title 'Healing Cancer: A Homeopathic Approach', the Ministry of Health in Ukraine finally taking action to tackle the measles epidemic in the country and the Swedish government deciding to finally include Chicken pox vaccinations in the national program.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're back to bring you news and info about a wide range of topics including Francis Bacon and his importance in the development of science, how the 'good pope' John Paul II was a misogynist, why we admire the works of Sense about Science so much and how they came up with yet another campaign that deserves much attention ('Evidence Hunter Activity Pack'), how facilitated communication is a thing in Sweden despite all the evidence that suggests it does not work at all, why we should be cautious with consuming probiotics, plus SkepKon, the German annual conference for skeptics is coming up, while a Swedish acupuncturist is on trial for almost killing two patients and the county of Killarney in Ireland calls to remove fluoride from drinking water, despite the lack of any indications that it could be harmful (while its benefits are many).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We interview Turi Munthe, the creator of a new web site aiming to "map the World's opinions".In 2008, Turi launched Demotix - born as a global free-speech platform, it became the largest network of photojournalists in the world and exited to Bill Gates’ Corbis. He now runs a Venture Capital with a focus on media and media tech, and sits on the boards of Index on Censorship, OpenDemocracy and The Signals Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the first episode of the year 2019, with the team together again, we are bringing you topics related to the New Year, including resolutions and hangovers, plus some science history and how James Ussher determined the age of the world (incorrectly), how Pope Francis tries to talk about families when the church is in turmoil over sex abuse scandals, a design company standing up for science in Italy, where the resigning head of the National Institute of Health slams the anti-science government, organ donation becoming opt-out in Ireland, Natalie Grams getting a nomination for the Golden Blogger award with her Twitter account, a new petition to sue French government over inaction on Climate change, Edzard Ernst's new book SCAM coming out in German, a new Spanish award for standing up for Science, an update on Measles and VoF announcing winners of the Enlightener and Bewilderer of the Year awards.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bit of a different episode this week, released on the last day of the year to remind the listeners (and ourselves) of the most important things that happened in 2018. Lots of interesting stuff and also what to look forward to in 2019.We wish you all a really Happy New Year, and we’ll be seeing you!Segments:Intro; Greetings; Checking in with András; Woo in 2018; Skeptical initiatives 2018; Skeptical Awards 2018; QED; The ESP highlights of 2018; Outro; Out-takes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pontus and Andras host this slightly Christmas-themed episode with the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton and the New Style Calendar, Pope Francis promising no more sexual abuse cases covered up by the catholic church, CICAP launching a new chapter in Pordenone, although reality somewhat better than previous estimates, measles still being on the rise in Europe, Spanish chiropractors reacting to new government plan to tackle pseudoscience and how there is no need to fear for Christmas being renamed in Sweden.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time Claire Klingenberg sits in for Jelena again, who's out travelling. We bring you updates on the European Skeptics Congress 2019 in Ghent plus the good news that CICAP Fest will be held again in Padova in 2019.We then talk about the Apollo program, Cardinal Pell finally getting in the hands of the judicial system, while Pope Francis is acting like nothing's wrong.Plus some news about the new Italian government's support for dubious health claims, a Russian homeopathic product under the name Release Active Drug, Paolo Macchiarini in court, the UK's Charity Commission publishing guidelines for operating CAM charities, one of Spain's skeptical organisations, Circulo Esceptico handing out awards for standing up for science, acupuncture applied to babies suffering from colic, and the case of an autistic person euthanised in Belgium now under police investigation. And a big shout-out to Ovidiu Covaciu in Romania for educating tens of thousands of people into the necessity of vaccinations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Pontus and Jelena talks to German Science Communicator and Skeptic Julia Offe. Julia Offe has a PhD in molecular biology and is active within GWUP, the German Skeptics. We talk about the recently announced "Das Goldenes Bretts"-awards and other GWUP activities, as well as the Science Slam events that Julia is promoting in many different places with huge turnouts.Segments:Intro; Greetings; Interview with Julia Offe; Closing remarks; Wikipedia spot; Farewell; Outro; Out-takes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we first hear about John Tyndall who understood climate change over a 100 years ago and talk about how Francis get things wrong while in Poland.We then have a short catch up with Spanish skeptical activist Antonia de Oñate, before we dig into the regular news. In here we lean about homeopathy getting a beating in both Hungary and Austria, about a Swedish quack who is also a sex offender, a pro-vaccine campaign in Italy and a rather depressing measles update.At the end the Daily Mail gets a Really Wrong Award for spreading fake Brexit news.Segments:Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Interview with Antonia de Oñate; News; Really Wrong; Farewell and Quote; Outro; Out-takes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.