LGBTQ

We’ve got some listener feedback about the popularity of lie detectors in Ukraine, and in TWISH we hear about the man behind the number, Amedeo Avogadro. Of course, we then get into this week’s news:

• NORWAY: Russian disinformation regarding made up ecological catastrophe
• RUSSIA / EU: Putin’s disinformation efforts are changing for the worse
• GLOBAL: COVID Vaccines saved 2.5 Million lives in the first 4 years of the pandemic
• UK: Has the government learned the lessons from the Southport riots?
• UK: Funding to promote anti-LGBT conversion practices surges
• INTERNATIONAL: Happy 15th anniversary, Retraction Watch!

The Really Wrong award goes to the Swedish fundamentalist evangelical Genesis organisation and the Really Right award to Prof. Dan Larhammar for his excellent take down of creationist nonsense.

Enjoy!

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

0:00:50 GREETINGS

• Listener feedback: Popularity of lie detectors in Ukraine

0:08:06 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 9 August 1776: Amedeo Avogadro was born
  • Science History: https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/amedeo-avogadro/
  • Chemestry World: https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/avogadro/3004497.article

0:24:29 NEWS

• NORWAY: Russian disinformation regarding made up ecological catastrophe
  • Dagbladet: https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/kan-na-drikkevannet/83389869
• RUSSIA / EU: Putin’s disinformation efforts are changing for the worse
  • Atlatszo : https://english.atlatszo.hu/2025/07/30/for-putin-influencing-western-public-opinion-is-more-important-than-convincing-ukrainians/#
• GLOBAL: COVID Vaccines saved 2.5 Million lives in the first 4 years of the pandemic
  • IFL Science: https://www.iflscience.com/covid-vaccines-saved-an-incredible-25-million-lives-in-the-first-4-years-of-the-pandemic-80180
• UK: Has the government learned the lessons from the Southport riots?
  • Full Fact: https://fullfact.org/technology/government-learned-lessons-from-southport-riots/
• UK: Funding to promote anti-LGBT conversion practices surges
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2025/07/31/funding-to-promote-anti-lgbt-conversion-practices-surges/
  • Citizen’s Initiative EU: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000001_en
• INTERNATIONAL: Happy 15th anniversary, Retraction Watch!
  • Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2025/08/01/happy-15th-anniversary-retraction-watch/

0:53:34 REALLY WRONG / REALLY RIGHT

• Really Wrong: Swedish creationist organization ‘Genesis’
  • Genesis: https://genesis.nu/
• Really Right: Prof. Dan Larhammar, for his excellent rebuttal of creationism
  • Svensk Jakt: https://svenskjakt.se/opinion/evolutionen-far-dagligt-stod-fran-tiotusentals-forskare/

0:59:19 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“It is an infirmity of the human mind that it demands an explanation before it has assorted the facts.”
/ Sir Almroth Wright (10 August 1861 – 30 April 1947), English bacteriologist and immunologist. The quote is from his opening talk in 1904 at the opening session of the Pathology Section of the British Medical Association Annual Meeting, Oxford. /

1:01:16 OUTRO

1:02:39 OUT-TAKES