Welcome to the new year! Obviously we start with some reflections on 2025 and we also give a shout-out to Haley Stevens and her article about Wikipedia in the Skeptic UK. In TWISH we learn that the practice of New Year’s resolutions is ancient although each resolution seldom lasts longer than a week or two. Then we look into the news for this week:

• INTERNATIONAL: Five lessons from fact checking in 2025
• ITALY: Lega only party refusing to agree not to use deepfake to attack political opponents
• SWEDEN: Fact check: How Sweden uses imported trash to produce electricity and heat homes
• INTERNATIONAL: Review of Autism Therapies finds they don’t hold up
• UK: Robin Ince quits The Infinite Monkey Cage
• UK: Use of AI for emotional support alarmingly widespread

The EU Chat Control 2.0 regulation is meant to prevent the spread of child abuse material but gets the Really Wrong Award for being ineffective and because it would have very serious effects on integrity. It’s a well meaning by bad idea.

Enjoy!

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-512.html

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:51 Greetings

0:22:32 TWISH

0:27:56 News

0:59:16 Really Wrong

1:02:39 Quote

1:05:02 Outro

1:06:25 Outtakes

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Merry Christmas everyone! This is an episode unlike any other in the ESP history, hope you will enjoy it!

See you again in 2026!

Segments:

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:50 GREETINGS

0:05:11 FACT CHECKERS

0:08:39 REASON TELLS

0:12:11 FAREWELL

0:14:11 OUTRO

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In this week’s TWISH we take a look at the most skeptical saint, Doubting Thomas – not that we feel that he got everything right. In the news today we take a look at the following:

• INTERNATIONAL / SWEDEN: Rising nicotine addiction in teens
• HUNGARY: GP about to leave practice due to harassment from antivaxxers
• SWEDEN: Breast cancer patients turn away from conventional treatment despite 93% survival rates
• INTERNATIONAL: Liam Neeson narrates anti-vaccination pseudo-documentary

A bunch of contrarians that call themselves BMTIG insists that there must be a conspiracy behind the sinking of the MS Estonia – no matter how much the facts say otherwise and for that they ar Really Wrong.

Enjoy!

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-510.html

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:51 Greetings

0:05:33 TWISH

0:17:29 News

0:52:12 Really Wrong

1:07:40 Quote

1:09:17 Outro

1:10:40 Outtakes

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Rage bait is the Oxford Word of the Year and that cannot be a a good sign of the times we live in. In TWISH we acknowledge the genius of Ada Lovelace while recognizing that she had some flaws as well, especially when it came to phrenology and mesmerism… Then we take a look at the news:

• EU: Proposal to allow plants modified using CRISPR
• HUNGARY: Government campaigns against opposition party with fake election program
• INTERNATIONAL: Influencers promote bogus health advice
• UK: Persuasion through chatbots leads to inaccurate assessments

This week’s Really Right Award goes to researcher Rebecca Sear for her commitment in tracking down all studies based on the infamous National IQ database.

Enjoy!

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-509.html

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:52 Greetings

0:11:45 TWISH

0:24:03 News

0:53:12 Really Right

0:59:37 Quote

1:01:56 Outro

1:03:18 Outtakes

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We discuss science communication by the ECDC re vaccinations and have some listener feedback about Dr Who, before with dive into TWISH which this week is about a pioneer of modern chemistry, Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Then of course, there’s the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: E-trade via dropshipping – the scam has many levels
• UK: ChatGPT’s dangerous mental health guidance raises skeptical red flags
• SWEDEN: So-called ‘virginity checks’ now finally illegal
• TÜRKIYE: Case study shows risks with chiropractic

The Green alliance in Germany reverses their stance on homeopathy thanks to the work by Cedrik Schamberger and for that, he deserves the Really Right Award. Well done!

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Right; Quote; Outro; Outtakes

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-508.html

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We start by noting that COP30 was pretty disappointing although we are not too surprised. On another, more positive side, Michael Frass‘ terrible study claiming that homeopathy can help in cancer treatment finally has been retracted! Also, get your flu vaccines, everyone.

In TWISH we hear how António Egas Moniz invented lobotomy and was awarded one of the most controversial Nobel prizes for it, but also why it cannot be retracted. Then, we go to the news:

• SWEDEN: People die of breast cancer after choosing alternative treatments
• EUROPE: Eurobarometer Survey 2025: science, skepticism, and the battle against misinformation
• INTERNATIONAL: Freebirthing is a deadly scam and a grift
• HUNGARY: Political ads on Google and Facebook are over – or are they?

The Really Wrong Award goes to Steiner schools, that thankfully are in decline. A Really Right Award goes to the EU Court of Justice for affirming that also same-sex marriages have to be recognized throughout the union.

Enjoy!

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:51 Greetings

0:12:40 TWISH

0:22:27 News

0:59:46 Really Wrong / Really Right

1:03:33 Quote

1:05:06 Outro

1:06:28 Outtakes

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This week celebrates the launch of Dr Who way back in 1963, the longest running TV-show in history, and a special favourite for many skeptics. For the news we look into the following:

• INTERNATIONAL: Updated evidence for Covid-19, RSV, and influenza vaccines
• HUNGARY: Parliament votes to issue general ban on artificial meat products
• RUSSIA / UKRAINE: Every fifth Russian believes the sun revolves around the earth
• NETHERLANDS: Vaccine skepticism linked to trust in institutions and susceptibility to misinformation

We hand out a Really Right Award to the Swedish Government for removing state support for Jehovah’s Witnesses and in Who’s Quacking? we examine the pseudoscience of Spanish neuroscientist Álex Gómez Marín.

Enjoy!

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-506.html

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:51 Greetings

0:07:11 TWISH

0:22:28 News

0:44:01 Really Right

0:47:55 Who's Quacking?

0:55:37 Quote

0:57:05 Outro

0:58:28 Outtakes

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James Watson died, and brilliant as his contribution to science was, he also had some very problematic views on race and women. The Church of Scientology seems to be in decline even if they try their best to deny it, claiming huge (but questionable) numbers on their recent big conference. We are happily surprised to see a very nice article about ourselves in the Skeptical Inquirer (thanks Susan!) and in TWISH we hear about the founding of the Pasteur Institute and what an impact it has had on science. Then, let’s look at the news:

• UK: TikTok trend makes men seek unnecessary testosterone treatments
• UK: The BBC crisis
• INTERNATIONAL: Paracetamol revisited – still not linked to autism
• FRANCE: Climate disinformation goes mainstream
• INTERNATIONAL: Trolls and narcissism

Watch out for ‘Black Fraud Day’ whose many scammers get this week’s prize for being Really Wrong.

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-505.html

Enjoy!

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:52 Greetings

0:15:16 TWISH

0:23:11 News

0:52:10 Really Wrong

0:57:37 Quote

1:01:11 Outro

1:02:33 Outtakes

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We’re back home after QED and boy was it great! Last one, we know, but next year will see the European Skeptics Congress in Liverpool and it will largely be following the template of QED. Save the dates, 16-18 October 2026!

We note the lessons learned from hurricane Melissa and in TWISH we hear about two milestones of European history, the ECDC and the European Convention om Human Rights. Then, we catch up on the news:

• UK: The Ockham awards for 2025
• AUSTRIA: The Golden Board for 2025
• SWEDEN: Populistic repatriation support meets local pushback
• ITALY: Senate hosts presentation of bogus device
• GERMANY: Student at the Free University of Berlin develops useful tool for spotting fake references
• HUNGARY: Over a hundred political ads financed by Orbán’s Digital Citizen Circles slip through Facebooks filters

In Finland the nonsense of DISC personality tests are inexplicably popular and the company MLP gets the Really Wrong Award for promoting it, while philosopher of science Inkeri Koskinen gets the Really Right Award for speaking up about it.

Enjoy!

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-504.html

Segments:

0:00:27 Intro

0:00:51 Greetings

0:15:12 TWISH

0:24:02 News

0:56:51 Really Wrong / Really Right

1:01:48 Quote

1:03:20 Outro

1:04:43 Outtakes

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

Note! You can find the video of this live recording here on our Youtube channel! (special thanks to the fantastic SitPO team for the video!)

We were live from QED! Best time ever! Joining us for the recording were the fabulous Claire Klingenberg, Deborah Hyde and Brian Eggo, as well as huge crowd of happy QED attendees. We had a TWISH about phrenology and also a line of positive(!) news:

• INTERNATIONAL: UN demands asylum protection for the non religious
• SWEDEN: The Great Pill-Scandal
• UK: ULEZ is improving people’s health
• CZECHIA: Beaver engineered dam saves lots of money for government

Special thanks to friend of the show Rob McDermott for the great photos!

Enjoy!

Show notes: https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-503.html

Segments:

0:00:50 Intro

0:01:43 Greetings

0:05:44 TWISH

0:18:21 News

0:47:17 Quote

0:49:29 Outro

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