TheESP – Ep. #347 – The beginning of the end for German homeopathy?

– Lauterbach takes on pseudoscience

Brian Eggo steps in to save the day as he covers for both András and Annika this week. We talk about listener reactions to last week’s episode and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the last of this year’s Nobel prizes in the natural sciences. In TWISH we reminisce about QED 2018 as we prepare attending the next one. Pontus Pokes the Pope for his failure to handle the relations to Russia but give’s him a broken clock award for taking a stand for refugees. Then it is time to look at the news:

• EUROPE: ECDC gets extended mandate to tackle emerging future epidemics
• NETHERLANDS: Court rules that Twitter has done enough to stop conspiracy theory about satanic paedophiles
• SPAIN: No matter what social media giants promised, Spanish disinformation is rampant
• RUSSIA: Russia’s financial monitoring agency adds Meta to list ‘terrorists and extremists’
• GERMANY: Münster Circle issues Memorandum Integrative Medicine

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach gets a Really Right Award together with Edzard Ernst and Nikil Mukerji for taking a stand against homeopathy.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes The Pope; News; Really Right; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes;
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:54 GREETINGS

• Listener reaction to last week’s rant about baby hatches
• ‘Click’ chemistry researchers get Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63121338

0:13:23 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 13-14 October 2018: Skepticamp and QED 2018
  • QED: https://web.archive.org/web/20180823110024/https://qedcon.org/

0:18:23 PONTUS POKES THE POPE

• Total failure on diplomacy, plus a Really Right for Frankie?!
  • Aftonbladet: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Rr77qd/aftonbladet-direkt?pinnedEntry=967879
  • Crux: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2022/10/pope-slams-treatment-of-migrants-as-2-italians-become-saints

0:24:47 NEWS

• EUROPE: ECDC gets extended mandate to tackle emerging future epidemics
  • ECDC: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/ecdc-extended-mandate-endorsed-today-european-parliament
• NETHERLANDS: Court rules that Twitter has done enough to stop conspiracy theory about satanic paedophiles
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/04/dutch-town-falsely-linked-to-satanic-paedophiles-loses-twitter-court-case
• SPAIN: No matter what social media giants promised, Spanish disinformation is rampant
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/oct/06/disinformation-in-spanish-facebook-twitter-youtube
• RUSSIA: Russia’s financial monitoring agency adds Meta to list ‘terrorists and extremists’
  • Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/russias-financial-monitoring-agency-adds-meta-extremists-list-ifax-2022-10-11/
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/sep/27/meta-takes-down-influence-operations-run-by-china-and-russia
• GERMANY: Münster Circle issues Memorandum Integrative Medicine
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2022/10/memorandum-integrative-medicine/

0:49:39 REALLY RIGHT

• Really Right: GERMANY: Karl Lauterbach moves towards removal of homeopathy from statutory benefits (following the input from Edzard Ernst and Nikil Mukerji)
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2022/10/homeopathy-in-germany-more-bad-news-infact-it-is-good-news/
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2022/10/are-homeopathic-remedies-in-germany-about-to-be-banned-from-pharmacies/

0:54:55 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“To people who believe in esotericism, i.e. in energy waves, water dowsing or homeopathy, I say: study quantum mechanics, it is not much stranger, but contrary to your claims it is experimentally proven!”
/ Anton Zeilinger, (20 May 1945 – ), Austrian quantum physicist and Nobel laureate in physics of 2022. /

• Der Standard: https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000015715168/anton-zeilinger-es-geht-nicht-um-persoenliche-eitelkeiten

0:58:00 OUT-TAKES