This week Claire Kroulik-Klingenberg joins Jelena and Pontus for the 199th episode – we’re into our fifth year, folks!
In This week in Skepticism, Jelena tells the story of how a young pre-Sherlock-Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle fictionalized the real story of a ghost ship, creating a modern legend. Pontus Pokes the Pope and goes through some of the main on-going abuse scandals, while Francis himself celebrate with lasagne.
In the news we learn about good news for Skeptic Pepijn van Erp, we also hear that institutionalized sex abuse happens also in the Church of England and that an American church causes two deaths in Latvia.
The Good Thinking Society scores two wins this week, both regarding ear candling and homeopathy and we again establish that the Swedish Free School system very often is a front for religious indoctrination.
Measles may be on the decline in Europe, but is continuing to create disasters with thousands of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a state of emergency declared in Samoa, where 1.5% of the total population has been infected, a number that is rising exponentially (as we release this it is more like 2%).
A recent Swedish court case renews the discussions about assisted deaths. Despite some serious topics in this episode we finish off with a bit lighter Really Wrong Award that we hand out to Dr Cameron Sepah, who for some reason believes we all need to make our lives more boring. It’s called Dopamine Fasting.
Enjoy!
Segments:
Intro; Greetings; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Radio Spot; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes
Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe
0:00:27 Intro
0:00:53 Greetings
We welcome Claire back and struggle to pronounce her new surname. Also thanks to all who sent us such good feed back regarding the last episode with Lydia Finch!
0:03:19 This Week in Skepticism – the Marie Celeste Ghost Ship
On 4 December 1872, the Ghost ship Mary Celeste was found abandoned by all crew. A couple of years later a promising young author called Arthur Conan Doyle (later Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) published a fictionalized account of the event , changing the spelling of the name of the ship slightly. This was taken as a true story and was the start not only of a brilliant writing career but also a legend and a myth that has intrigued and inspired ever since.
- Wikipedia on Mary Celeste: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste
- Wikipedia on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle
0:06:58 Pontus Pokes the Pope – The Abuse Stories Pile Up while Francis Eats More Lasagne
We line up four of the on-going sex abuse scandals and conclude that Francis rather eats lasagne.
- Gustavo Zanchetta (Crux): https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2019/11/argentine-bishop-appears-at-court-hearing-on-abuse-charges/
- Nicholas DiMarzio (NY Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/nyregion/brooklyn-bishop-dimarzio-sex-abuse.html
- Luk Delft (CNN): https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/11/africa/luk-delft-intl/
- Horacio Corbacho and Nicola Corradi (AP News): https://apnews.com/0c93504342ec46af8dd2d687bdb4b3ef
- Frankie eats lasagne (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-poor-idUSKBN1XR0GJ
0:12:05 Radio Spot – the Skeptic Zone
- The Skeptic Zone website: http://www.skepticzone.tv/
0:12:35 News
THE NETHERLANDS: Pepijn van Erp Wins Lawsuit over book review
- Pepijn van Erp website: https://www.pepijnvanerp.nl/2019/11/victory-in-court-willem-middelkoop-loses-lawsuit-over-book-review/
UK: Abuse in the Church of England
- The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/23/church-of-england-reviews-its-handling-of-sexual-abuse-case
LATVIA: Religious Fanatics: Child and Mother Die in Terrible Childbirth in Jelgava
- LA.LV (1): http://www.la.lv/vai-cilvekiem-jamirst-dieva-varda-sausmigas-dzemdibas-majas-jelgava-mirst-berns-un-sieviete
- LA.LV (2): http://www.la.lv/karote-mute-nav-mediciniska-palidziba
UK: Good Thinking Society Fights Ear Candling
- The Good Thinking Society: https://goodthinkingsociety.org/bbc-upholds-our-complaint-against-claudia-tries-ear-candling/
SWEDEN: More Free School Madness: Antisemitism and Scientology
- GP: https://www.gp.se/nyheter/gp-granskar/röster-inifrån-vetenskapsskolan-judehat-censur-och-bönetvång-1.20671588
- Dagens Nyheter (1): https://www.dn.se/sthlm/friskolan-ifragasatter-adhd-leds-av-scientologer/
- Dagens Nyheter (2): https://www.dn.se/sthlm/professor-skolans-teknik-ar-en-fasad-for-scientologin/
INTERNATIONAL: Measles – 5,000 dead in DR Congo plus disaster in Samoa
- BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50506743
- The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/30/there-are-no-words-samoa-buries-its-children-as-measles-outbreak-worsens
INTERNATIONAL: Andrew Wakefield’s Fraudulent Retracted Paper Cited >1000 times
SWEDEN: Assisted Suicide Conviction Appealed
UK: BBC Upholds Good Thinking Society’s complaint against homeopathy item
- The Good Thinking Society: https://goodthinkingsociety.org/bbc-upholds-our-complaint-against-homeopathy-item-on-health-truth-or-scare
0:51:18 Really Wrong: Dopamine Fasting: The Silliest Thing We’ve Heard in a Long Time
- The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/22/i-gave-up-everything-i-enjoy-my-day-of-dopamine-fasting-the-latest-silicon-valley-craze
- Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/dopamine-fasting-is-silicon-valley-s-latest-trend-here-s-what-an-expert-has-to-say
0:54:23 Quote and Farewell
“I just finally discovered what’s wrong with my brain – on the left side there’s nothing right, and on the right side there’s nothing left”
/ Anonymous /
0:55:33 Outro
0:56:48 Out-takes