Germany

We talk a little bit of the upcoming Germany federal elections this weekend and in TWISH we hear about Carl von Rokitansky the Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician and founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. How he managed to dissect tens of thousands of bodies is baffling and just a little bit scary…

Then, we turn to the news:

• UK: Prof. Jim Al-Khalili gets Darwin Day Medal
• SWEDEN: Murder of Quran burner
• FRANCE: Didier Raoult can’t stop spreading bullshit
• ITALY: Italian ‘mystic’ may face trial after DNA match with blood on Virgin Mary statue
• INTERNATIONAL: Elisabeth Bik Science Integrity Fund launches

We hand out a Really Right Award (for once) and a little surprisingly it goes to the UK government for an ambitious project to spot climate change tipping points. We also have a Norwegian Word of the Week, tune in to find why Elon Musk may not be thrilled about it.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Right; Word of the Week; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Elections in Germany coming up
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/the-german-election-explained-through-seven-essential-questions-247945

0:09:28 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 19 February 1804: Founder of science-based diagnostics, Carl von Rokitansky was born
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Rokitansky

0:17:35 NEWS

• UK: Prof. Jim Al-Khalili gets Darwin Day Medal
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2025/02/12/jim-al-khalili-receives-darwin-day-medal/
• SWEDEN: Murder of Quran burner
  • DN: https://www.dn.se/sverige/falska-bilder-pa-salwan-momika-sprids-pa-sociala-medier/
  • DN: https://www.dn.se/sverige/salwan-momikas-dod-vacker-starka-reaktioner-i-arabvarlden/
• FRANCE: Didier Raoult can’t stop spreading bullshit
  • Le Point: https://www.lepoint.fr/sante/que-vaut-la-creme-antirides-revolutionnaire-de-didier-raoult-24-01-2025-2580678_40.php
• ITALY: Italian ‘mystic’ may face trial after DNA match with blood on Virgin Mary statue
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/14/italian-mystic-may-face-trial-after-dna-match-with-bleeding-virgin-mary-statue
  • IFLScience: https://www.iflscience.com/miracle-seems-somewhat-unlikely-after-blood-of-virgin-mary-statue-receives-dna-test-78085
• INTERNATIONAL: Elisabeth Bik Science Integrity Fund launches
  • Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2025/02/13/elisabeth-bik-science-integrity-fund-einstein-award/

0:38:12 REALLY RIGHT

• Really Right: Early warning system for climate tipping points given £81m kickstart
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/18/early-warning-system-for-climate-tipping-points-given-81m-kickstart

0:41:13 WORD OF THE WEEK

• NORWEGIAN:
  ‘Tesla-skam’ (noun) – ‘Shame of driving a Tesla’

0:47:25 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.”
/ Edward Teller (15 January 1908 – 9 September 2003), Hungarian and American theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as “the father of the hydrogen bomb”. /

0:49:05 OUTRO

0:50:27 OUT-TAKES