TheESP – Ep. #470 – Gross Breach of Trust

With Brian sitting in for Pontus while he’s doing some skiing, we talk events to start with. The Hungarian Skeptic Society just handed out two awards for those enlightening the public by either speaking up directly against pseudosciences and disinformation or choosing to provide detailed analysis on controversial topics. So, we congratulate Professor of molecular biology Zsolt Boldogkői on getting the first ever László Orosz Lifetime Achievement Award, and biologist, PhD candidate Zsófia Tauber who received the first László Orosz Award from the Hungarian skeptics at and all-day event of talks and panel discussions in Budapest.
Brian promotes an evening of presentations about misinformation and conspiracy theories in Edinburgh and we finish off the opening segment by commemorating one of the most acclaimed skeptics, Joe Nickell, who passed away recently.

On TWISH, we talk about a milestone of modern science, the discovery of Uranus by a German immigrant to the UK, William Herschel. And then we turn to the news:

• UK: Plan to make phone use safer for teens watered down
• INTERNATIONAL: Phone bans in school not really helping
• RUSSIA: The country seems to be flooded with esoteric nonsense

The Really Wrong Award this week goes to the Royal Society for still holding on to Elon Musk’s fellowship. On the opposite side, the owner of a soft-play centre for gets this week’s Really Right award for fending off an attempted chickenpox party.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong / Really Right; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:52 GREETINGS

• A day of conversations about misinformation and pseudoscience and an award ceremony in Budapest
• An evening of presentations about misinformation and conspiracy theories in Edinburgh
• The passing of Joe Nickell
  • the Skeptic UK: https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/03/joe-nickell-legendary-skeptical-investigator-dies-at-the-age-of-80/

0:19:03 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 13 March 1781: William Herschel discovers Uranus
  • History.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/william-hershel-discovers-uranus

0:28:14 NEWS

• UK: Plan to make phone use safer for teens watered down
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8y7dvw9ddo
• INTERNATIONAL: Phone bans in school not really helping
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8plvqv60lo
• RUSSIA: The country seems to be flooded with esoteric nonsense
  • MDR.de: https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/welt/osteuropa/land-leute/russland-okkultismus-aberglaube-100.html

0:45:37 REALLY WRONG / REALLY RIGHT

• Really Wrong: Royal Society are still holding on to Elon Musk’s fellowship
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/07/it-would-be-seen-as-political-why-the-royal-society-is-torn-over-elon-musk
• Really Right: Jane Couldson, head of a soft-play centre fends off an attempted chickenpox party
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjevyynnqj8o

0:53:44 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“Imaginary causes have gradually receded with the widening bounds of knowledge and disappear entirely before sound philosophy, which sees in them only the expression of our ignorance of the true causes.”
/ Pierre-Simon Laplace (23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827), French polymath, a scholar whose work has been instrumental in the fields of physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and philosophy. /

0:55:04 OUTRO

0:56:21 OUT-TAKES