In this week’s episode we talk about ‘kwakzalverij’, the Pope’s new Olympic ambitions (and female football team) and other papal adventures. There are steep fines coming for German vaccination dodgers and a study finds that absence of evidence is evidence on non-sense.
MedWatch gets the Carl Sagan award, there is another example of vegan parents that jeopardize the lives of their children and French authorities are stepping up the fight against homeopathy (Boiron is not happy).
We also look into whether the code of the Voynich manuscript really has been broken and how another populist right wing party tries to score points by questioning climate change.
We end with awarding a Really Right to a football player for not wanting to take advantage of how hard it really is to understand the odds of gambling.
Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Right; Quote; Outro; Out-takes
Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe
00:00:27 Intro
00:00:49 Greetings
A correction about the Heinz Oberhummer award and special greeting from Pilip Schunke, the winner of the SkepKon raffle! Plus our Patreon page now have different levels of support, check it out!
00:08:01 This Week in Skepticism
On 15 May 2009, the Dutch organization Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VTDK) won a court case regardning to use of the word Kwacksalver (‘quack’) when describing certain so called ‘health providers’.
00:14:35 Pontus Pokes the Pope
Francis goes for the Olympics, praises Mother Teresa and makes reporting abuse mandatory – but gets it wrong.
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/14/vatican-launches-womens-football-team-with-popes-blessing
- https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-in-north-macedonia-history-is-written-by-people-like-mother-teresa-75338
- https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-issues-norms-for-reports-of-abuse-of-minors-seminarians-and-religious-94849
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48213135
00:21:00 Skeptical News
GERMANY: A new bill aiming to threat parents refusing vaccination for their kids with fines
SWITZERLAND: Youtube health advice – The Absence of Evidence is Evidence of Non-Sense
GERMANY: The Carl Sagan Award (1000 EUR prize) goes to MedWatch – Award ceremony at SkepKon
- https://blog.gwup.net/2019/05/13/der-carl-sagan-preis-2019-der-gwup-geht-an-medwatch/
- https://medwatch.de
- https://blog.gwup.net/2017/03/14/alternative-krebsbehandlung-carl-sagan-preis-2017-der-gwup-fur-die-unheiler/
SWEDEN: Another child suffer from parents insisting on vegan food
FRANCE: French authorities likely to stop reimbursements for homeopathic remedies soon
- https://edzardernst.com/2019/05/the-days-of-homeopathy-in-france-are-counted/
- https://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/sante/medicament/la-haute-autorite-de-sante-recommande-de-ne-plus-rembourser-les-medicaments-homeopathiques_3446463.amp
- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/29/homeopathy-french-healthcare-system
UK: Voynich manuscript deciphered?
- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-48284012
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
GERMANY: AfD aims for political gains by denying climate change
00:57:21 Really Right
Football player Kim Källström, for not promoting gambling
- https://www.dn.se/sport/kallstrom-nobbar-spelreklam-det-ar-inget-jag-vill-sta-for/
- https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/hur-idrottsstj%C3%A4rnor-bygger-sina-varum%C3%A4rken-n%C3%A4r-lamporna/id1462628788?i=1000438156791
01:02:53 Radio Spot
01:04:33 Quote and Goodbye
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
/Maria Skłodowska-Curie, 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934, Polish-born scientist and two-times Nobel laureate/
01:06:11 Outro
01:07:26 Out-takes