We start with some listener feedback and corrections regarding Tridentinosaurus Antiquus – the origin of its name was wrong and despite what we said, it wasn’t a a dinosaur. In TWISH we hear about Gerardus Mercator, the man behind most world maps. Then we get to the news:

• SWEDEN: Companies exploit fear of war to sell pretty useless and expensive “emergency equipment”
• RUSSIA: Rumors surrounding the death of Alexei Navalny
• INTERNATIONAL: How harmful are ultra-processed foods?
• UK: Cochrane UK closing shop

The UK government gets this week’s Really Wrong Award for covering up the statistics about the deaths of homeless people.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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This week we have the great pleasure to interview our friend Prof. Chris French! We hear a lot about his research into the paranormal – or Anomalistic Psychology as he prefers to call it.

Chris has a new book coming out on 19 March. It’s called “the Science of Weird Shit” and we cannot recommend it enough! (we were lucky enough to get a sneak peek)

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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This week we’ve had some feedback regarding AI – always glad to hear from our listeners! In TWISH we hear about Charles Clermont-Ganneau, famous French archeologist with a flare for spotting fake artifacts. Then we turn to the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Fossil forgery – famous specimen shown to be fake, and it is not alone
• FRANCE: Experts identify Moscow-based disinformation network
• GREECE: Legalization of same sex marriage

Good news for once! The French National Assembly has adopted a new law aimed at charlatans, and sects or sect leaders who tries to influence their followers to reject science based medicine. We think that is worth a Really Right Award!

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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Luna sits in for András(!) and we talk about conspiracy theories regarding the earthquake in Turkey last year, a new study about peoples worldview and in TWISH we get into the curse of Tutankhamun – what really was going on? Then we have a look at the news:

• UK: Sexual harassment anyone? Chiropractic council is there for chiropractors, not for patients
• EU: EU won’t use dental amalgam anymore
• EU: EU parliament votes to ease regulation of gene edited crops
• GERMANY: Tiktok proves harmful again
• INTERNATIONAL: Paper rejected for using ChatGPT – author says it’s not true, and what if it was?

The German Federal Ministry is funding the SCAM institute ARCIM and for that they are Really Wrong.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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King Charles III is ill and although we seldom agrees with him we still whish him a speedy recovery. Marcus Wandt, the Swedish astronaut, took time off his busy schedule and gave a called via link with students at a Swedish school – the teacher setting it up is active in VoF, the Swedish skeptics. Well done, Philippe! Marcus has been stuck on the ISS for several days but as this episode comes out he is finally on his way back to Earth. We remind everyone to sign up for the European Skeptics Congress in Lyon, France, 30 May – 3 June! Speakers include Massimo Polidoro, Karolina Lisslö Gylfe and Edzard Ernst! In TWISH we hear about Peter the Great who despite obvious flaws also happened to be quite a fan on the enlightenment. Then, it’s time for the news:

• SWEDEN: No data? No problem! Just ask Excel to make something up
• IRELAND: The Constitution, the Catholic Church and the role of women
• UK: House of Lords committee pushes back on EV related misinformation and urges government to do that, too
• EUROPE: European Commission wants to target vaccine-preventable cancers

The NHS in Kent is supporting unscientific alternative treatments and gets this week’s award for being Really Wrong, and to round up the episode we go to Iceland for the Word of the Week. Who can guess what ‘Bóluefni’ means? Tune in to find out!

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Word of the Week; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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We start with some listener feedback and ponder the wonders of European languages before we turn to TWISH, where we hear about Bertrand Russell and his teapot. Then we go into the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Measles update
• SWITZERLAND: Homeopathy in Switzerland
• AUSTRIA: The Austrian Medical Academy exposed for peddling pseudomedicine
• INTERNATIONAL: Funding, not talent, is the problem in the skeptical sphere
• UK: Dragons’ Den: BBC defends show after ME criticism of Acu Seeds

Scotland keeps burning as much peat as ever despite the climate crises, and for that they receive this week’s Award for being Really Wrong.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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This week we interview the fabulous Anja Harrison (no relation to any of the hosts) about a great initiative – The Collaborative Library. Having met Anja at QED last year, we decided we just had to get her on the show. The ambitious plan of the Collaborative Library is to make scientific research much more accessible for the public, by making sure that there is a lay summary of as many papers as possible.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview; Farewell; Outro

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By the time this episode comes out, Sweden hopefully has its third and latest astronaut in space! Marcus Wandt is schedule for launch on Wednesday, (nope) Thursday evening, European time. For a little more down-to-Earth skeptical fun, sign up for the European Skeptics Congress, 30 May – 2 June, in Lyon, France. Registrations are now open! No TWISH today in this slightly shorter than usual episode, but we still take a look at the news:

• SWEDEN: Family awarded damages for covid vaccine death
• INTERNATIONAL: RETRACTIONS 1: Studies claiming Islamic practices protect against disease and sexual harassment retracted
• INTERNATIONAL / FRANCE: RETRACTIONS 2: Several studies by Didier Raoult has been retracted for ethics violations

Karl Lauterbach, the German Health Minister, seems finally to ramp up for withdrawing homeopathy from state funded health care, and for that he is Really Right!

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-410.html

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Sorry for the delay guys, but we’re back! We have a host of tips for our listeners to get engaged in in the new year. In this week’s TWISH we hear about the Basel Massacre in 1349, gruesome stuff. Then we look at the news:

• ROMANIA: Measles declared an epidemic after infant death
• INTERNATIONAL: Large language models validate misinformation
• UK: King Charles’ “Ayurvedic Centre of Excellence” turns out to be an embarrassing failure
• GERMANY: Nikil Mukerji appointed CSI Fellow
• GERMANY: Zeit Online reveals there’s nothing behind newspaper horoscopes

The Really Wrong aware goes to so-called “Energy Healer” Jean-Maurice Latsague, not just an alt-med scammer but also a sex abuser.

Happy new year!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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Suddenly Poland emerges as a possible example against populism in Europe – strange times indeed. In TWISH we hear about Marconi‘s groundbreaking radio transmission over the Atlantic – not very long ago when you think about it, and pretty cool since he didn’t really know how radio waves work! In the news this week we look at these items:

• SWEDEN: Supreme Court awards damages to persons exposed to PFOS
• EU: EU regulating AI
• HUNGARY: Nutrivigilancia – a new site to collect side-effects of food supplements
• DENMARK: No more burning the Quran
• UK: Daily Mirror reporting a Christmas miracle?
• INTERNATIONAL: Developing inoculation strategies to fight climate misinformation in 12 countries – with limited success

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong / Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

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