TheESP – Ep. #205 – Surrounded By Idiots

This week we note that at the time of recording, American-Swedish astronaut Jessica Meir is busy preparing and conducting the second ever all-female spacewalk.
In history this week in 1964, Italian philosopher, author and skeptic Massimo Pigliucci was born, and we discuss some of his contributions and influences.
Pontus Pokes the Pope to note that old Benedict comes out of retirement to fight for celibacy, potentially creating a headache for poor Francis, who is supposed to say the final word on the matter shortly. In other papal news, disgraced former Archbishop Theodore McCarrick goes missing to avoid the wrath of the Holy See.
In the news, the Spanish Catholic Church inexplicably thinks that celibate priests constitute the best expertise in preparing young couples for marriage while Uri Geller reminds us that he’s no more crazy than the UK Government and so, applies for a job there.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s The Goop Lab is soon coming to a Netflix screen near you, trying to convince us that spending a fortune on utter bullshit is the way to female empowerment. Luckily the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project (GSOW) with Susan Gerbic has already launched an excellent Wikipedia page pointing out the stupidity of that.
A Swedish MP spreads conspiracy theories on the Australian wildfires and we try to set the record straight. A Danish study shows what the harm really is with HPV anti-vaccination propaganda and the Swedish Skeptics (VoF) wants to alert the world about bogus personality tests that’s makes the rounds internationally. Beware of the book ‘Surrounded by Idiots’!
We end by handing a Really Wrong award to the College of Medicine that, backed by Prince Charles, wants to teach GPs and alt med quacks Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), despite that it clearly is pseudoscientific nonsense.
Enjoy!

Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes

Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:50 GREETINGS

We give a shoutout to American-Swedish astronaut Jessica Meir who right now with her colleague Cristina Koch continues to do all-female spacewalks.

• • CNET: https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-set-for-two-more-all-female-spacewalks-in-january/
  • NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2020/01/14/nasa-tv-goes-live-wednesday-for-first-spacewalk-of-2020/

0:03:06 THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICISM
Italian philosopher, author and skeptic Massimo Pigliucci was born on 16 January 1920.

• • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Pigliucci
  • New York Times: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/02/how-to-be-a-stoic

0:08:41 PONTUS POKES THE POPE
It’s the Return of the Sith – Now Advocating Celibacy
Senator Palpatine himself (aka Benedict XVI) breaks his promise to stay out of politics and publishes a book on the hottest catholic controversy right now – celibacy. Francis has no reason to be happy about it. In the meanwhile, Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop, known sex molester and alleged briber of popes, disappears as a thief in the night rather than facing Francis’ verdict.

• • Crux (1): https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/01/pope-benedict-xvi-breaks-silence-to-reaffirm-priest-celibacy/
  • Crux (2): https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/01/popes-early-2020-likely-to-be-dominated-by-documents-rather-than-deeds/
  • Crux (3): https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2020/01/former-cardinal-moves-from-kansas-friary-to-new-location/

0:13:25 NEWS

• SPAIN: The Church Launches Marriage Training Course in Spain
  • The Guardian: https://blog.gwup.net/2019/12/23/medwatch-goes-magazin/
• UK: Uri Geller Applies for a Job with Boris Johnson
  • The Telegraph (1): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/01/07/uri-geller-applies-job-no-10-dominic-cumming-appealed-weirdos/
  • The Telegraph (2): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/01/02/calling-weirdos-boris-johnsons-chief-aide-dominic-cummings-begins/
• UK: The Goop Lab on Netflix (and on Wikipedia!)
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab
• SWEDEN / AUSTRALIA: MP Spreads Nonsense About Fires in Australia
  • Dagens Nyheter: https://www.dn.se/ledare/erik-helmerson-riksdagsman-ska-inte-sprida-konspirationer-om-branderna/
  • ABC Australia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/australias-fires-reveal-arson-not-a-major-cause/11855022
• DENMARK: The Harm of HPV Anti-vaxx Propaganda
  • Science Based Medicine: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-harm-of-antivaccine-misinformation/
• SWEDEN: ‘Surrounded by Idiots’: Be Aware of Swedish Charlatan Going On Export
  • VoF (Swedish Skeptics): https://www.vof.se/how-swedes-were-fooled-by-one-of-the-biggest-scientific-bluffs-of-our-time/

0:36:28 REALLY WRONG
College of Medicine and Integrated Health Offers Course in NLP

• • Edzard Ernst (1): https://edzardernst.com/2020/01/neurolinguistic-programming-is-being-promoted-by-prince-charles-college-of-medicine-and-integrated-health/
  • Edzard Ernst (1):https://edzardernst.com/2019/12/prince-charles-becomes-patron-of-the-college-of-medicine-and-integrated-health/

0:41:22 QUOTE AND FAREWELL
“What skeptics are about is to keep that candle lit and spread it as much as possible.”
/ Massimo Pigliucci, (16 January 1964 – ), Italian Professor of Philosophy /

0:41:58 OUTRO

0:43:13 OUT-TAKES