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 an American businessman once got tricked into buying Tower Bridge in London.
In a special interview we talk to Fernando Cervera, one of the founders behind the European manifesto against pseudo-therapies.
Pontus pokes the pope for the way the Catholic Church keep screwing (pun intended) their congregations.
Then we get a new segment, ‘Annika Reports!’, where Annika Merkelbach interviews speaker and archaeologist Mirko Gutjahr at Cologne Skeptics in the Pub.
In the news this week, we have the results from the world’s biggest study of vaccine attitudes, UK holidaymakers are warned to get vaccinated before visiting Europe and a Spanish doctor is suspended for promoting the old myth that vaccines cause autism.
Finally, we hand out over a million Really Wrong awards(!) to everyone that have signed Boiron’s desperate petition to keep public funding in France for useless homeopathy.
Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; Interview with Fernando Cervera; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Annika Reports!; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Out-takes
Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe
00:00:55 Intro
00:01:19 Greetings
We clarify the difference between a Skeptic and a climate change denier and highlight that the Rationalist International Conference takes place in Cambridge 27 – 28 July.
- https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48696023
- https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/17/the-greenland-ice-sheet-is-melting-unusually-fast
- https://www.rationalists.net/cambridge
00:07:38 This Week in Skepticism
On 30 June In 1894, Tower Bridge across the River Thames in London was officially opened by the Prince of Wales and it is now very much an icon of the city. However, the story about how Robert P McCulloch was conned into buying London Bridge thinking he actually paid for Tower Bridge in 1968 is just an urban myth.
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-2275097/The-batty-American-bought-London-Bridge-LONDON-BRIDGE-IN-AMERICA-BY-TRAVIS-ELBOROUGH.html
- https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/attractions/the-history-of-tower-bridge-six-amazing-things-you-never-knew-a3750461.html
00:12:24 Manifesto against Pseudo-therapies – Interview with Fernando Cervera
00:21:39 Pontus Pokes the Pope – Neither compassion nor compensation
It’s all about the money: Rather than compensating their victims, Catholic US dioceses transfer their assets to other entities and declare bankruptcy.
- https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/06/22/395-claims-filed-in-church-bankruptcy-case/
- https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/12/05/bankruptcy-filing-provides-rare-window-into-church-finances/
00:25:46 Annika Reports! – Interview from SiTP in Cologne with Mirko Gutjahr
- Follow Mirko on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DerBuddler
- The Secret Cabinet podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/travis-dow/the-secret-cabinet
00:32:46 Skeptical News
INTERNATIONAL: Biggest global study on vaccine attitudes
- https://wellcome.ac.uk/reports/wellcome-global-monitor/2018
- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48512923
UK: UK health authority tells holidaymakers to get vaccinated to go to Europe
- https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-health-authority-tells-holidaymakers-to-get-vaccinated-to-go-to-europe/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/holidaymakers-urged-to-put-mmr-checks-top-of-any-travel-plans
SPAIN: Spanish doctor suspended for claiming vaccines cause autism
- https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/06/21/inenglish/1561110699_465144.html
- https://www.statnews.com/2019/03/04/vaccines-no-association-autism-major-study/
00:41:34 Really Wrong
Over a million Really Wrong awards(!) to everyone that have signed Boiron’s desperate petition to keep public funding in France for useless homeopathy.
- https://monhomeomonchoix.fr/
- https://edzardernst.com/2019/06/homeopathy-in-france-cure-cancer-with-homeopathy-lets-get-real-we-are-doctors/
00:44:56 Quote and Goodbye
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
/ Galileo Galilei, 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642. Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer and polymath. Also notably, not a fan of the Pope /
00:46:39 Outro
00:47:54 Out-takes