TheESP – Ep. #404 – The world is really old

– get over it!

Despite the numerology, this episode CAN be found wherever you get your podcasts. We will give you tips about The Conspiracy Test, the Humanist UK 2024 Convention, the latest Skeptical Inquirer interview and Skepticon 2023 in Australia – all good things to check out! In TWISH we hear about one of Darwin’s buddies, the groundbreaking (pun intended) geologist Charles Lyell, born this week in 1797. Pope Frankie has been given a free pass for too long and therefore gets poked before we get to the news:

• GERMANY: Nutrition companies are preying on people and ignore health advice
• UK: Humanists UK welcomes Private Member’s Bill to ban conversion therapy
• HUNGARY: Team of debunkers and educators develops online educational material to help young people detect false information
• UK: The British public largely supports strong climate policies

The Antivaxx movement gets a Really Wrong award for trying to exploit the tragic death of Matthew Perry and in Who’s Quacking? we hear about Norbert Schobert, Hungarian spreader of disinformation.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Wrong; Who’s Quacking?; Quote And Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:52 GREETINGS

• The Conspiracy Test – a game based educational tool re conspiracy theories
  • the Conspiracy Test: https://theconspiracytest.org/
  • School of Thought: https://www.schoolofthought.org/
• Humanists UK 2024 convention
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2023/11/08/humanists-uk-announces-2024-convention-early-bird-tickets-on-sale-now/
• New interview out on Skeptical Inquirer with Stephanie Dreyfurst
  • Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/stephanie-dreyfurst-on-writing-and-skepticism/
• Skeptikon 2023 Australia
  • Skepticon Australia: https://skepticon.org.au/

0:09:22 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 14 November 1797: Birth of Charles Lyell, Scottish scientist, one of the fathers of geology
  • University of Edinburgh: https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/cultural-heritage-collections/crc/sir-charles-lyell-collection/about-sir-charles-lyell

0:17:18 PONTUS POKES THE POPE

• How is this “progressive”? Frankie’s statements on trans people
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/09/trans-people-can-be-baptised-in-church-and-be-godparents-says-vatican
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67390366

0:22:54 NEWS

• GERMANY: Nutrition companies are preying on people and ignore health advice
  • MedWatch DE: https://medwatch.de/ernaehrung/more-nutrition-wie-wissenschaftlich/
  • GWUP: https://blog.gwup.net/2023/11/11/video-wie-scientology-zum-abnehmen-jan-boehmermann-ueber-more-nutrition/ https://www.quarks.de/podcast/science-cops-folge-44/
• UK: Humanists UK welcomes Private Member’s Bill to ban conversion therapy
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2023/11/09/humanists-uk-welcomes-private-members-bill-to-ban-conversion-therapy/
• HUNGARY: Team of debunkers and educators develops online educational material to help young people detect false information
  • Urban Legends HU: https://www.urbanlegends.hu/2023/11/idea-alapitvany-detekto/
  • Detekto: https://detekto.hu
• UK: The British public largely supports strong climate policies
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/rishi-sunak-is-wrong-we-polled-the-british-public-and-found-it-largely-supports-strong-climate-policies-217416
  • Taylor Francis: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14693062.2023.2273302

0:39:40 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Antivaxx movement for using Matthew Perry’s death for their propaganda and calling him a victim of the covid vaccination
  • Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/matthew-perry-death-blamed-on-covid-19-vaccine-by-anti-vaxxers-1234865224/
  • GWUP: https://blog.gwup.net/2023/11/12/ploetzlich-und-unerwartet-die-impfgegner-und-der-tod-von-friends-star-matthew-perry/

0:43:40 WHO’S QUACKING?

• Hungary: Norbert Schobert, spreader of quackery and pseudoscience
  • 24 HU: https://24.hu/elet-stilus/2023/11/10/schobert-norbi-nem-hisz-a-holdra-szallasban-kerdesek-teoria/

0:48:32 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“The science of geology is enormously indebted to Lyell – more so, as I believe, than to any other man who ever lived.”
/ Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882), English naturalist, geologist and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. /

0:49:36 OUTRO

0:50:51 OUT-TAKES