TheESP – Ep. #307 – What do people believe?

Special report: Large Study Released by the Swedish Skeptics (VoF)

We start out welcoming the new year and chatting about the James Webb telescope, Omicron and that the Swedish King and Queen just tested positive. Also, András got caught on tape singing on New Year’s Eve! In TWISH we hear about a famous (but not too convincing) UFO encounter in Trans-en-Provence in France. No pope today, so we go directly into the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Retraction statistics show an increased rate of publishing questionable content
• INTERNATIONAL: Vaccine hesitancy and how to deal with it
• AUSTRIA: The level of education is a booster for the willingness to vaccinate
• EU: Some gas and nuclear to be listed as green energy

Instead of a Really Wrong we get a Special Report about a Swedish study conducted by VoF. The VoF-study presents all about what the Swedish public actually believes in, from ghosts and homeopathy to 911 conspiracy theories and racism.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Special Report; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:53 GREETINGS

• András Singing on New Year’s Eve: https://youtu.be/OzvcBIuq5kw
• Space: James Webb launch a huge success so far
  • Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/there-was-a-major-unexpected-benefit-to-james-webb-s-christmas-launch
• Sweden: The Swedish King and Queen have tested positive for covid
  • Swedish Royal Website: https://www.kungahuset.se/press/pressmeddelanden/aretspressmeddelanden/ddmmkonungenochdrottningentestadeigarkvallpositivtforcovid19.5.6a4cc5ca17db8150d1a10a5b.html
• Covid: Worries about Omicron
  • AP: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-world-health-organization-united-nations-03d73750c37eea4d4f31c97422c3fb7f
  • Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/fyi-rapid-antigen-tests-appear-to-give-more-false-negatives-with-omciron
• Corrections: Meaning of ‘buck’, and 1st Jan as the beginning of the year
  • Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/articles/387886/julius-caesar-new-years-day/

0:13:08 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 8th January 1981 – Trans-en-Provence Case
  • New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11443-france-opens-up-its-ufo-files/
  • Cosmoquest: https://cosmoquest.org/x/365daysofastronomy/2011/04/21/april-21st-the-trans-en-provence-ufo-case/
  • UFO Evidence: http://www.ufoevidence.org/Cases/CaseSubarticle.asp?ID=111

0:19:02 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: Retraction statistics show an increased rate of publishing questionable content
  • Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2021/12/30/2021-a-review-of-the-years-3200-retractions/
• INTERNATIONAL: Vaccine hesitancy and how to deal with it
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/28/unvaccinated-uk-covid-dilemma-vaccine-refusers
• AUSTRIA: The level of education is a booster for the willingness to vaccinate
  • DER Standard: https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000132191800/das-bildungsniveau-ist-ein-booster-fuer-die-impfbereitschaft-in-oesterreich
• EU: Some gas and nuclear to be listed as green energy
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59850093

0:37:35 SPECIAL REPORT

• New big study published by Swedish Skeptics (VoF): What do Swedes believe in?
  • VoF: https://www.vof.se/vof-undersokningen/
  • SVD: https://www.svd.se/det-har-tror-svenskarna-pa
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6reningen_Vetenskap_och_Folkbildning

0:52:03 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“We cannot criticise global warming sceptics for denying the scientific consensus on climate when we ignore the same consensus on both the safety and the beneficial uses of nuclear power and genetic engineering.”
/ Mark Lynas (born 1973), British author and journalist whose work is focused on environmentalism and climate change. /

0:53:18 OUTRO

0:54:33 OUT-TAKES