TheESP – Ep. #420 – Happy vikings

Who knew that Hungarian intellectuals were numerologists – András reveals all! We have a correction from last week and also reflect over the illness of Princess Kate, naturally we wish her well. In this week’s TWISH we hear about Percy Shelley and how his atheism ruined his academic career – to the benefit of mankind. Then, it’s time for the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Nordic people are the happiest in the world
• RUSSIA / UKRAINE: Russian TV channel using deepfake to blame Moscow attacks on Ukraine
• ICELAND: Did Iceland ban covid 19 vaccinations?
• UK: It’s Acupuncture Awareness Week!

This week’s Really Right goes to the EU parliament though until the last minute we thought they had messed up.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:49 GREETINGS

• Numeric vocabulary of Hungarian skeptics and science fiction enthusiasts
  • Datatrans.hu: http://bier-alappp.datatrans.hu/Numer/numer.htm
• Correction re “Losing my religion” by R.E.M.
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_My_Religion
• Princess of Wales announcing cancer and going through treatment

0:10:45 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 25 March 1811: Expulsion of Percy Shelley from Oxford Uni for his pamphlet “The Necessity of Atheism”
  • Big think: https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/the-necessity-of-atheism/
  • Communiqué: https://zahidsiddique.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/percy-bysshe-shelleys-expulsion-from-oxford-university-3/

0:17:58 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: Nordic people are the happiest in the world
  • Euro News: https://www.euronews.com/health/2024/03/20/finland-named-the-worlds-happiest-country-again-in-2024-but-young-people-in-europe-are-str
• RUSSIA / UKRAINE: Russian TV channel using deepfake to blame Moscow attacks on Ukraine
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68645755
  • Pravda: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/03/23/7447789/
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/deepfakes-are-still-new-but-2024-could-be-the-year-they-have-an-impact-on-elections-224786
• ICELAND: Did Iceland ban covid 19 vaccinations?
  • Full Fact: https://fullfact.org/health/iceland-still-not-banned-covid-vaccine/
• UK: It’s Acupuncture Awareness Week!
  • Acupuncture.org.uk: https://acupuncture.org.uk/acupuncture-awareness/

0:41:10 REALLY RIGHT

• Really Right: EU’s ‘Nature restoration laws’ pass after all
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/25/eu-nature-restoration-laws-in-balance-as-member-states-withdraw-support

0:46:43 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

1. “

We must prove design before we can infer a designer.

1. “

 

1. /

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822), British writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. /

0:47:58 OUTRO

0:49:12 OUT-TAKES