TheESP – Ep. #473 – Anthroposophic Princess

We explore the source of April Fool’s day in this week’s TWISH, before we get into the news:

• UK: Three-quarters of UK fertility patients using unproven add-on treatments
• GERMANY / INTERNATIONAL: Rudolf Steiner’s legacy on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death
• INTERNATIONAL: More people leave religion than join
• UK: Tory’s U-turn on climate policies attributed to ties with major climate denier
• FRANCE / RUSSIA: French anti-vaxxer feeds Russian disinformation

Another Nordic princess, Madeleine of Sweden, goes of the rails and announces that she will market Anthroposophic beauty products and that naturally earns her this week’s Really Wrong Award.

Enjoy!

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

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• The History of the APRU by Chris French
  • the Skeptic UK: https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/03/a-brief-history-of-the-anomalistic-psychology-research-unit/
• The 5th consecutive yearly Flat Earth Award to be given out on 22 April. Nominations now open!

0:08:33 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 1 April: Where does April Fool’s day come from?
  • EuroNews: https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/04/01/april-fools-day-what-are-its-origins-and-how-do-europeans-celebrate

0:14:41 NEWS

• UK: Three-quarters of UK fertility patients using unproven add-on treatments
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/26/three-quarters-of-uk-fertility-patients-using-unproven-add-on-treatments
• GERMANY / INTERNATIONAL: Rudolf Steiner’s legacy on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2025/03/100-years-ago-today-was-the-day-rudolf-steiner-died/
• INTERNATIONAL: More people leave religion than join
  • Pew: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/03/26/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-group/
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2025/03/26/non-religious-outnumber-christians-in-uk-pew-study/
• UK: Tory’s U-turn on climate policies attributed to ties with major climate denier
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/25/badenoch-and-family-spend-week-as-guests-of-climate-sceptic-tory-donor
• FRANCE / RUSSIA: French anti-vaxxer feeds Russian disinformation
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/28/emmanuel-macron-takes-legal-action-over-hitler-poster-comparison
  • Var-Matin: https://www.varmatin.com/faits-divers/l-afficheur-flori-poursuivi-pour-incitation-a-la-haine-979631

0:39:16 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Swedish Princess Madeleine to collaborate with anthroposophical drug manufacturer Weleda
  • Omni: https://omni.se/weleda-samarbete-sagas-oppnar-dorr-som-inte-kan-stangas/a/RzwjQA
  • DN: https://www.dn.se/sverige/alex-schulman-kritiken-mot-prinsessan-madeleines-hudkram-bottnar-i-kvinnohat/

0:43:34 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.”
/ Antoine-Augustin Cournot and Thomas-Henri Martin (The quote is widely misattributed to Galileo Galilei) /

0:48:32 OUTRO

0:49:54 OUT-TAKES