TheESP – Ep. #211 – Dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden

This week we talk about the John Maddox Prize, the BBC’s new show series about Greta Thunberg and about Darren Brown, born on this day in 1971. Pontus Pokes the Pope and finally we get Francis’ take on celibacy in the Amazon (or do we?), and of course the highlights from the latest sex abuse scandals.
In the news we hear the latest regarding the CoViD-19 Coronavirus, more details about dangerous measles complications and check how much of the climate change debate that are driven by twitter-bots. The latest mass shooting in Germany shows that conspiracy theories are not something to take lightly, the Hungarian government sponsors creationist nonsense, Jeff Bezos finally announces some philanthropic activity and Scandinavian tele company Telenor launches HiperSchool in Hungary, a tool to teach young people how to handle Internet misinformation.
We end by handing a Really Right Award to the DA! art competition, arranged by Giordano Bruno Foundation and Natalie Grams.
Enjoy!

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

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

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

Nominations for the John Maddox Prize open soon, Greta Thunberg gets her ‘own’ TV show on the BBC.

• • Sense About Science: https://senseaboutscience.org/john-maddox-prize/
  • the BBC (1): https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51456549
  • the BBC (2): https://www.bbc.com/news/education-51492942
  • the TechFuture: https://www.teachthefuture.uk

0:11:18 THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Derren Brown was born on 27 February 1971.

• • Derren Brown: http://derrenbrown.co.uk/derren/
  • TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/derren_brown_mentalism_mind_reading_and_the_art_of_getting_inside_your_head
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Derren_Brown_shows#Derren_Brown_Investigates_(2010)

0:15:44 PONTUS POKES THE POPE – No Hanky-panky in the Jungle Please, We’re Catholic
Frankie did in the end not dare to let go of the celibacy rules in the Amazon. Also, Jean Varnier, founder of Catholic charity l’Arche abused at least six different women and de-frocked Cardinal McCarrick sent almost $1 million to a cult known for sex abuse (and no one knows where he is now).

• • Crux (1): https://cruxnow.com/amazon-synod/2020/02/pope-ducks-debates-over-married-priests-women-deacons-in-amazon-doc/
  • the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51474009
  • Crux (2): https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/02/a-report-finds-larche-founder-sexually-abused-6-women/

0:31:14 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL / ITALY: Coronavirus CoViD-2019 outbreak update
  • WHO: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
  • Outbreak News Today: http://outbreaknewstoday.com/who-underestimates-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-swedish-researchers-24735/
  • ECDC: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases
  • NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/coronavirus-updates-5-dead-200-infected-italy-europe-braces-covid-n1141466
• INTERNATIONAL: Measles Complications, Their Variations and Seriousness
  • Outbreak News Today: http://outbreaknewstoday.com/measles-complications-can-be-many-and-varied-and-more-serious-than-people-might-realize-study-33162/
• INTERNATIONAL: Quarter of All Tweets About Climate Crisis Produced by Bots?
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/21/climate-tweets-twitter-bots-analysis
• GERMANY: What Paranoia and Conspiracy Theories Can Lead To
  • Snopes (1): https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/02/20/paranoia-racism-german-killer-drew-on-conspiracy-tropes/
  • Snopes (2): https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/02/22/germany-admits-theres-a-far-right-problem-but-what-to-do/
• HUNGARY: Hungarian Government Funds Creationists
  • Fire Media: http://firemedia.hu/creation-rajzpalyazati-kiiras/
  • Nepszava: https://nepszava.hu/3068038_12-millioval-tamogatta-az-emmi-az-evolucio-tagado-magazin-magyar-importjat
  • Kimittud: https://kimittud.atlatszo.hu/request/creation_magazin_tamogatasa
• INTERNATIONAL: Jeff Bezos Pledges $10bn to Climate Change Research.
  • the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51539321
  • the NESS: https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/bezos-10-billion-earth-fund/
• HUNGARY: HiperSchool – ConsciousNet Quiz Developed by Telenor for Parents and Children
  • Hipersuli: https://www.hipersuli.hu/tudatosnet/tananyag/topics

1:02:10 REALLY RIGHT
GERMANY: DA! art Prize Focusing on Pseudoscience with this Year’s Patron – Natalie Grams

• • Aufklärungsdienst: https://aufklaerungsdienst.de/da-art-award-2020-duesseldorfs-erster-saekularer-kunstpreis/

1:08:06 QUOTE AND FAREWELL
“If nature leads us to mathematical forms of great simplicity and beauty—by forms I am referring to coherent systems of hypothesis, axioms, etc.—to forms that no one has previously encountered, we cannot help thinking that they are “true,” that they reveal a genuine feature of nature…”
/ Werner Karl Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel laureate, and one of the founders of the field of quantum mechanics /

1:09:50 OUTRO

1:11:05 OUT-TAKES