BonSecours

Congratulations to friend of the show Deborah Hyde who has been appointed patron of Humanists UK! In TWISH we hear about to unsolved mystery of the disappearance of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and after that, we dig into the news:

• IRELAND: Excavation of mass grave of infants in Irish “mother and baby home”
• INTERNATIONAL: YouTube and Meta seem to finally crack down on political disinformation
• UKRAINE: Zelensky’s new law mandates regular lie detector tests
• SCOTLAND: Trump caught on tape cheating in golf?
• DENMARK / INTERNATIONAL: No link between aluminum in vaccines and chronic disease
• UK / INTERNATIONAL: Nominations for the Ockham Awards are now open!

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and general spreader of disinformation, is demonstrably lying about the crime situation in the UK, and for that he gets this week’s award for being Really Wrong.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Deborah Hyde now a patron of Humanists UK!
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2025/07/17/humanists-uk-welcomes-two-new-patrons-deborah-hyde-and-a-j-west/

0:14:50 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 31 July 1944: The mystical disappearance of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7300489.stm
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exupéry

0:29:34 NEWS

• IRELAND: Excavation of mass grave of infants in Irish “mother and baby home”
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/14/ireland-excavation-tuam-mother-and-baby-home
• INTERNATIONAL: YouTube and Meta seem to finally crack down on political disinformation
  • CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/21/youtube-channels-propaganda-china-russia.html
  • EuroNews: https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/07/25/meta-halts-political-advertising-in-the-eu-due-to-unworkable-rules
• UKRAINE: Zelensky’s new law mandates regular lie detector tests
  • Ukrinform: https://www.ukrinform.net/amp/rubric-ato/4018612-zelensky-everyone-who-has-access-to-state-secrets-must-undergo-regular-lie-detector-tests.html
• SCOTLAND: Trump caught on tape cheating in golf?
  • Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/video-trump-cheating-at-golf/
• DENMARK / INTERNATIONAL: No link between aluminum in vaccines and chronic disease
  • Pub Med: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40658954/
  • Skeptical Raptor: https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/aluminum-in-vaccines-is-not-linked-to-chronic-diseases-in-children/
• UK / INTERNATIONAL: Nominations for the Ockham Awards are now open!
  • Skeptic UK: https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/07/the-ockham-awards-2025-recognising-the-best-in-skepticism-and-the-worst-in-pseudoscience/

1:01:11 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Nigel Farage does not let facts get in the way of his policies
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/fear-of-crime-is-a-useful-political-tool-even-if-the-data-doesnt-back-it-up-261777
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/most-crime-has-fallen-by-90-in-30-years-so-why-does-the-public-think-its-increased-228797
  • EurActiv: https://www.euractiv.com/section/eet/news/right-wing-climate-sceptics-blast-eus-anti-disinformation-drive/

1:07:30 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.”
/ Karl Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994), Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. /

1:09:17 OUTRO

1:10:39 OUT-TAKES