Archive

- but at least the bees were informed of the death of their queen
We're back from ESC in Vienna! Thanks to all who came up and said hi to us, that was ...

- a carnival of Cardinals says it's permitted
This week we are packing our bags for the ESC Vienna - hope to see you there! But we also have plans for QED - ...

- and Francis flips the bird
András is back and we chat about next week's upcoming European Skeptics' Congress in Vienna - the ESC, and we're looking forward to go! Mikhail Gorbachev died ...

- speaking of cults, Mother Teresa wasn't much of a saint
Turns out the "hunger stone" found in Elbe is not a photo from this year. It's almost like you cannot trust the ...

- nepotism, bribes and orgies in the Vatican!
We start the episode with some listener feedback that led us to look a bit deeper into Mindfulness and find that it's worse than we ...

- a look into the Vatican's hidden finances
We start by revisiting last week's sad news about Dr Kellermayr and explore the reactions of other skeptical activists. In TWISH we learn about Peter ...

- also, climate change is a 'total meltdown'
More confusion regarding the collaboration between Roscosmos and NASA, Tantra is back on the menu and (on a not so skeptical note) today marks the ...

- student writes bill for UK Parliament re climate change education
This week we mention that Eurovision will be held in UK next year, that Steven Pinker makes clear that ESP is not ...

- with special guests Alice and Marsh
This week we have celebrity company in the form of Alice Howarth and Michael "Marsh" Marshall of Skeptics with a K fame! Before they tell all ...

- and propaganda is for petty dictators
This week we celebrate the news of the return of QED Skepticamp, courtesy the lovely SITP online team. Space is fascinating as demonstrated by the new ...

- how was your day, fellow Skeptic?
We're half-way to hell (666), but not only is Pontus back, but we also have that lovely Queen of European Skeptics Claire Klingenberg with us, so ...

...

What is humour allowed to do? Despite us still missing a cheery Hejsan Hejsan, we are back with a new episode! We talk about Nikil Mukerji (interviewed in Episode 252), who wrote a ...

We are going to Australia! András and Annika are back and tell us all about upcoming events! The European Skeptics Congress in September in Vienna is sure exciting to go to, as is ...

An unusually short episode this week brought to you by Annika and András, featuring the first record of a ball-lightning observation in the English speaking world from 1195 AD, then we talk about ...

According to chiropractors, broken necks are within "good practice".
In this episode we catch up on last weekend with Hungaro Con and SkepKon. We also mention last week's Ig Nobel Prizes and how ...

Fear of needles is probably a big factor in vaccine hesitancy.
In this episode we first mention that Sweden just announced an end to Corona restrictions as per the end of this month ...

Don't take Ivermectin!
In this episode we first have a few events to plug: The launching of the book Fake! in Budapest, Congreso Esceptico in Spain, Skeptics in the Pub Online about 9/11 ...

In this episode we interview Dutch writer, science populariser and educator Annemarie Bon, who’s many works focus on helping children understand the world around us. Having started her career as a biochemical engineer, ...

In this episode we first plug the upcoming Skeptics in the Pub Online about 9/11, Luc Montagnier is the topic This Week in Skepticism and the Pope gets poked for nepotism and corruption ...

In this episode we first chat about the Pegasus project and what implications it might have. We also note that the Russian Nauka module was a little trigger happy when joining with the ...

In this episode we note that skeptics in Germany has raised a lot of money to support victims of the floods. Formidable Dutch skeptic Frits van Dam passed away on 26 July and ...

In this episode we open up by discussing the terrible floods in Germany, the claims made by esoterics and how you can help. We also note that covid misinformation numbskull Sucharit Bhakdi has ...

In this week's episode we start with an update on the successful Virgin Galactic flight and congratulate Natalie Grams for getting married(!), and also comment on the Euro 2020 final won by Italy ...

This week Annika is back making sure we don't run out of dad-jokes, András' travel guide work is resuming while Pontus is just playing golf (and not very well). We discuss the new ...

This week we're joined by Brian Eggo who sits in for Annika. We talk about the Edinburgh Science Festival, skeptical events and the recent ESA astronaut recruitments. In This Week in Skepticism we ...

This week we chat a bit about Madeira, covid scares and rainbow flags in Germany. In this week we highlight Karl Landsteiner who discovered the human blood groups and Pope Francis asks Italy ...

This week summer is here (but András is not) and we get a tip from Bob on about good vaccine tracker. Blaise Pascal was born almost 400 years ago this week (how times ...

This week we get a well deserved correction from listener Cyril on how to pronounce Marquis de Sade's full name and we hear about German teenagers party dangerously in secret in strange locations ...

This week we find out what Pontus was up to last week, we honor the passing of the great skeptic Kees de Jager and note that covid vaccination for teenagers is coming. Listener ...

This week we interview Hungarian researcher and virologist Gábor Kemenesi. He is a research fellow at the Virological Research Group within the Szentágothai Research Centre of the University of Pécs in Hungary, specializing ...

This week we start off with having a quick chat with our old buddy Michael ("Marsh") Marshall regarding the relaunch of the UK magazine called the Skeptic. In this week's history segment ...

This week we interview none other than Brian Deer, the investigative journalist that spent years digging up how the discredited ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield misled the public about the safety of vaccines. We dig ...

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: - ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 (NB: he wasn’t even a medical doctor) ...

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 ...

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 ...

This week we first learn about how the 1854 cholera outbreak led to advances in the knowledge about diseases and outbreaks thanks to the clever and rigorous work by the physician John Snow, ...

A bit less COVID-19-heavy episode this week with the news that May 2020 saw the highest concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere ever recorded and it was also the hottest May ever. 6 ...

This week we celebrate the birthday of the ‘Ask for Evidence’ campaign, the Pope gets stuck in an elevator and we debunk three myths about the Amazon forest fires. Counterfeit Medicine is a ...

This week it was Congress time! András and Pontus (unfortunately, no Jelena) spent a wonderful weekend in Ghent, Belgium, at the European Skeptics Congress 2019, where they had a blast! At the ESC ...

This week it is true that the Amazon (Amazonas? Amazonia?) is burning and glaciers are dying, but misinformation is still everywhere. Especially, meditation and rain dances will not help. Instead we should learn ...

This week we start by noting that the measles numbers in Serbia from last week must be nonsense (it’s much worse) and again urge you to support Retraction Watch. We then report on ...

This week we hear about free energy devices, about Pope Francis’ friend who stands accused of sex-abuse, and that Metro in Sweden is closing down taking with it their ‘Viral Examiner’ that has ...

This week we reflect on the current heatwave and on climate change, we give a shout-out to James Randi who turned 91 this week(!) and Pontus pokes the pope for letting his Archbishops ...

This week and from now on, you can now listen to us on Spotify too! If you do, this episode will tell you about how Lamarck, born today 275 years ago, got it ...

This week András interviewed Sander van der Linden, who is a social psychologist and has done extensive research into how we should approach the fight against #fakenews and the spreading of #misinformation about #climatechange, ...

This week we celebrate Britt Hermes’ lawsuit victory and that Annika got married (yay!) and urge everyone top make plans for ESC in Belgium – there’s still time to get your tickets! We ...

This week while Pontus is away, we talk to Andreas Kyriacou from Switzerland about Camp Quest Switzerland before moving on to other events, IQ testing and a lot more, including a German petition ...

This week Jelena discloses the location of her new place to live - and it's far away! Then we hear about how Pasteur would not have been even close to pass today’s ethical ...

This week we clarify the difference between a ‘skeptic’ and a ‘denier’ when it comes to climate change and plug the Rationalist International Conference (Cambridge, 27-28 July) before Jelena debunks the myth that ...

This week we remember Willem (‘Wim’) Betz, the iconic Belgian physician, researcher and skeptic, co-founder of SKEPP (Belgian Skeptic Organisation) and CSICOP fellow, who sadly passed away on 8 June. Pontus reports his ...

This week András sticks his neck out, announcing that he will give a talk at the upcoming CICAP Fest in Padua in September - in Italian! We then learn about Margherita Hack who ...

This week we catch up a bit regarding VoF (the Swedish skeptics) and talk about a new Manifesto against pseudoscientific treatments. We also get a bit nostalgic about a UK referendum about Europe ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes This week we talked about Susan Gerbic's new interview with Massimo Polidoro, a court ...

On this Episode: QED in Manchester is drawing closer! We speak to Jay Novella of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe (the SGU) whose total cast will be there in October. Hear about ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Really Right; Farewell and Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:27 Greetings While unfortunately Jelena is not present, this week we talk about an ET ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope: Really Wrong; Radio Ad; Farewell and Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:26 Greetings As Eggman (Brian Eggo) sits in for ...

On this Episode: We have good news from Ukraine, when we talk to Malek Tohme, who is starting up the Ukraine Humanist, Rationalist, Skeptic Modernists in the city of L'viv! And a special ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope: Really Right; Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:27 Greetings We quickly go from ear-candles to ass-candles and then the Pope ...

On this Episode: We talk with the fabulous and twice Ockham's Award winning Edinburgh Skeptics Society! Heather Pentler and Sean Slater tell us all about the upcoming Skeptics on the Fringe when there ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope: Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:55 Greetings This week we bring you stuff to think about like Eugenics, ...

On this Episode: We talk to leading science and medical reporter Amina Manzoor at the largest Swedish Dagens Nyheter Together with her colleague Maria Gunther, Amina recieved the Swedish Skeptics' "Enlightener of the ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; Interview with Norbert Aust; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope: Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:27 Greetings We comment on Stephen Hawking's funeral and ...

On this Episode: This week we interviewed Annika Merkelbach, who told us what’s new in Germany, how the greatest German skeptical convention SkepKon went and why the country need native speakers to join ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Pontus Pokes the Pope: Really Wrong / Really Right; Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:29 Greetings Catching up on our slightly erratic release schedule ...

On this Episode: On this episode we interview Dutch mathematician and skeptical activist Pepijn van Erp to talk about his blog, his work at Stichting Skepsis and the Dutch skeptical magazine Skepter and ...

Segments: Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Out-takes Show Notes: 00:00:27 Greetings Andras talks about this travels around Europe and meeting old friends; We remind listeners to book ...

On this Episode: This week we interviewed Italian skeptic and podcaster Enrico Zabeo, who's one of the founders and hosts of Radio CICAP, the official podcast for the Italian skeptical organisation CICAP. Please ...

On this episode: We tell you all about the fantastic 17th European Skeptics Congress coming up in Wroclaw in less than two weeks. Our guest is Claire Klingenberg, event manager extraordinaire from Sisyfos, the Czech ...

On this episode: The inspiration for Mel Gibson’s the Passion of the Christ, alternative treatments in Valencia, the Heilpraktiker system in Germany, whether Down’s syndrome has been eradicated in Iceland and the new Full ...

We start our episode with Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic magazine, Deborah Hyde, who tells us about this year's Ockham Awards that will be happening at, the nominations for which are still open. Our main ...

This week we're back with a regular episode and joined by Chris Higgins, who talks about SkeptiCamp Manchester. Charles Richet is our special mention on 'This Week in Skepticism'. Then we go on talking ...

Our guest on this episode was Konrad Talmont-Kaminski, philosopher and cognitive scientist, who will be among the speakers at the European Skpetics Congress in Wroclaw in September 2018 Segments Intro; Greetings & Feedback; Interview ...

This week Pontus and Jelena talks about news and have an interview with the humanist Leo Igwe, speaker at the upcoming European Skeptcis Congress in Poland. Nicola Throp of the Measeyside Skeptics also comes ...

Our guest on this episode was Holm Gero Hümmler, nuclear physicist, management consultant and author of the book ‘Relativer Quantenquark’. He blogs at quantenquark.com and he is one of the speakers on the ...

This week Pontus and András are joined by Brian Eggo who sits in for Jelena while she's on a European motorbike trip. We talked about Karl Popper's philosophical system of scientific discovery, how much ...

Unfortunately, due to all three of us hosts being otherwise engaged, we could not provide you with a show this week. But there are a few things we had to mention. Sorry and hope ...

This week Jelena and Andras explore the world of skeptical conferences like CICAPFest, the European Skeptics Congress and Skeptics on the Fringe in Edinburgh. The Loch Ness Monster, the death of Ryke Geerd Hamer ...

On this episode our guest was Diego Fontanive, who's the founder of the EOF Project (End of Fear) that aims to understand our epistemic acceptances and apply meta-cognition in order to achieve a ...

This week we talk about Swedish Skeptics treating their members to 15 tickets to the European Skeptics Congress and how we were interviewed by Skeptical Inquiry before we talk about the famous Oxford Evolution ...

This week's episode is dedicated to our interview with Italian chemist, skeptic and paranormal investigator Luigi Garlaschelli, who has investigated and debunked many miraculous claims, including weeping Madonnas, stigmata, the blood of San ...

This week we are coming back with our regular segments featuring topics like the 17th European Skeptics Congress, CICAPfest2017, James Randi's appearances in Europe, the BMJ being infiltrated by quackery, the harm in using ...

This week's episode is dedicated to our latest interview with Susan Gerbic, the Wikipediatrician, who's the leader of the international project called Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia. We talked about what's new, how people can ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including Mother Theresa, Susan Gerbic and GSoW, John Needham and the theory of spontaneous generation, the European Congress for Homeopathy, a new 10:23 international ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with skeptical blogger and podcaster Ovidiu Covaciu, founder and president of the ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including cupping on Wikipedia, a poltergeist in Glasgow, a new tool for understanding health research and anthroposophy schools to face end in Sweden. We ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with Fiona O'Leary, founder of Autistic Rights Together (ART). Segments: Introduction and ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including QED, cupping and ways to win at the Olympic Games, ART and the need to support Fiona O'Leary against the movie "Vaxxed" as ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with folklorist and cultural anthropologist Deborah Hyde, Editor-in-chief of the UK magazine ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including Pokémon Go, The Good Thinking Society vs the BBC, banners to indicate retraction in scientific papers, a guy jailed for insulting the Dutch ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with Brian Eggo (Eggman), leader of Glasgow Skeptics and organiser of both ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including Brexit, problems with science writing, British veterinarians to call for action against the use of homeopathy & the fallacy of political correctness. Segments ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with Linda Strand Lundberg, president of the Swedish Skeptics Association (VoF). Segments: ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including Brexit, Sense About Science to open EU office, NHS Liverpool to stop funding homeopathy and Marko Kovic, president of Skeptiker Schweiz publishes an ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with Claire Klingenberg, foreign liaison for the Czech Skeptics' Club Sisyfos. Segments: ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including Brian Clement touring in Europe, Romanian doctors in trouble and much more. Segments Intro; Greetings & Feedback; On this day; What's on in ...

Along with a usual run-through of feedback and events across Europe in the coming week, this episode is dedicated to our interview with Susan Gerbic aka 'The Wikipediatrician', who is the founder and manager ...

On this episode, you'll find news, events and interesting topics, including open access to science journals in Europe, homeopathy in Germany, the state of GMO bans across the continent and pseudoscience in Greece ...