It’s the episode  nobody could expect!  Least of all András, who in Pontus’ continued absence gets put  on the spot  by  the hot Scot  known as  Eggman . Can you match the skills of the Magyar Man? Tune in and find out. Enjoy! Segments : 0:00:27 Intro 0:00:57 Greetings 0:03:18 Quiz 0:05:32 round 1 0:20:58 round 2 0:40:40 round 3 0:54:02 Farewell 0:56:11 Outro 0:5...

As Pontus is off on som some mysterious quest or whatnot,  Brian Eggo  (Eggman) sneaks back into the driver's seat of the show. In  TWISH  we hear about the myths surrounding the death of the  last tsar of Russia  and his family back in 1918. Then we take a look at the news: UK : Child dies at Alder Hey after contracting measles INTERNATIONAL : Humanists pass global d...

The  heat wave in Europe  is back, and in  TWISH  we learn about the  Russell-Einstein Manifesto  which was published 70 years ago this week, and we wonder why we haven’t come any further than we have. Then, it’s time for the news: SWEDEN : Scammers using fake AI videos of politicians and scientists DENMARK / INTERNATIONAL : Are ADHD diagnoses misleading millions? INT...

Viktor Orbán  got his behind handed to him when trying to ban  Budapest Pride  and that makes us very happy! In  TWISH  we learn about  Attila Pataky  who can not only sing but has also repeatedly been  abducted by aliens  – maybe they just like his music? Then, it’s time for the news: EUROPE : Current heat wave in Europe set to ‘kill 4500 people in the...

Is  the virus metaphor  for  spreading misinformation  really as good as we have been led to think? Some psychologists disagree. We again ask everyone to show support their support for  the Naked Scientists podcast  and then in TWISH we hear about George Orwell whose dark visions of society seems ever relevant. Then, we go to the news: ENGLAND / WALES : Assisted dying...

URGENT!  The great podcast  the Naked Scientists  is in great danger of being cancelled by  Cambridge University  and we urge everyone to  protest this!  Information about how to do that is here:  https://www.thenakedscientists.com/sos . In other news  Pontus will be in Lithuania 29-30 August  to participate in  the Būtent festival . If you ha...

As  Eggman  sits in for András, we look forward to  SkeptiCamp at QED  and  Mike Hall’s Skeptics in the Pub Online talk  and are happy to note that not only do we follow the  ECDC , but they follow us back. In  TWISH  we hear about one of the forgotten(?) super villains of  the Theosophy movement ,  Alice Bailey , and then we take a look at th...

We have some  listener feedback  about the name of  ‘Grok’  and a tip to sign a very important  petition regarding NASA . In  TWISH  we hear how a timely letter kicked  Darwin  into action and made him finally publish ‘that book’. We then dig into the news: UK : ‘Notable increase’ in scammers tricking people into sending money abroad INTERNATIONAL : Ret...

Deborah Hyde  joins us this week, it’s been far too long. We recommend her Youtube series ‘ The Green Children of Woolpit ‘! The  Romanian presidential election  is still contentious, and we congratulate  Ian Dunt  to his position as editor for  the New Humanist . In  TWISH  we learn about the first observational evidences for  Einstein’s Theory of Gene...

Viktor Orbán  is coming down hard on  free speech  and  Romania  seems to (maybe) avoid chaos after their second attempt on  presidential elections . In  TWISH  we get into classical skepticism and have a look at the Plauen UFO incident . Then it’s time for  the news , with a little bit of  Word of the Week : INTERNATIONAL : Overshooting 1.5°C...

So,  the conclave elected ‘Papa Bob’  a.k.a.  Leo XIV  – who is he, and will that bring back the  ‘Pontus Pokes the Pope’  segment? Time will tell! In other news, If you catch this episode in time, please consider signing the  European petition to ban conversion therapy , last day is May 17th. Inge Lehmann  is one of  forgotten heroes of science , hear...

QED tickets  are available everyone, so we start our count-down to October in Manchester!  The papal conclave  is currently on-going and we bring you the latest news. In  TWISH  we hear about  John Strachey , the almost forgotten pioneer in the field of basic  geology . Then of course, we have the news: INTERNATIONAL / EUROPE : Measles update EU : Press freedom u...

We start out with a few things from the world of skepticism – in Belgium,  SKEPP turns 35  next week with special appearance by  Chris French  (don’t miss it!), and we link to an article about skeptic  history in Hungary . Speaking of Hungary, in  TWISH  we talk about the  prominent Hungarian skeptic  and science communicator  Aurél Ponori Thewrewk...

It’s time for  the last Poking of Francis  but before we get into that and the other news, we go to  TWISH  to hear about this week’s birthday boy,  Guglielmo Marconi , the  pioneer of radio transmissions  and his  wireless telegraph system . The news list contains the following: INTERNATIONAL : Medical cannabis shows potential to fight cancer, largest-ever...

Mixed messages from  QED  –  new dates announced  but we hear  this is the last one(!)  and we have a hard time accepting it. At least we’ll do our best to be there and meet (among others)  Chris French  whose audiobook is currently on sale. In  TWISH  we hear about  Leonardo da Vinci  and specifically about  some of the myths  ...

We first rant a bit about  Viktor Orbán  and examine some  psychic horsing around  at  the Grand National . In  TWISH  we hear about the  Dead Sea Scrolls  and then we dive into the news: UKRAINE / USA : Zelenskyy and Trump look for leaks using lie detectors INTERNATIONAL : Snopes’ toolkit to guard against online misinformation ITALY : AI beats lottery?...

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...

Science  takes an interest in  Pontus’ body  (who would’ve thought?) and in  TWISH  we hear about  Comenius  who got a whole lot of things right already on the 16th century. Of course there are also more current news to take a look at: INTERNATIONAL : Tretinoin, the holy grail in skin care, is dangerous INTERNATIONAL : Are there any nations taking commitments to...

Pontus is back from skiing,  Orbán is worse than ever , and an astronaut will photograph  the turtle that carries the Earth on its back  – just a normal week in skepticism. In  TWISH  we hear about the successful  ban on CFCs to save the ozone layer , and then it’s time for the news: EUROPE : Measles in Europe highest in 25 years ITALY : Higher levels of spirituality...

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...

Believe it or not, there are more  skeptical podcasts  out there than ours – check out  the Skeptic podcast  for example, the newest one out there from the  Skeptic UK .  Pierre -Simon Laplace  is this week’s topic for  TWISH , and then we get into the news: SWEDEN : New study confirms: Tens of thousands of lives in Sweden saved by covid vaccines HUNGARY : S...

We are still fascinated by  the on-going planetary alignment  and this week is an even better opportunity to watch it. And if it’s cloudy and a Thursday, go back inside and join the  SITP Online virtual pub , it’s highly recommended! In  TWISH  we hear about  Émile Coué  who popularized  autosuggestion  which in a way paved the way for all  self-he...

We talk a little bit of the upcoming  Germany federal elections  this weekend and in  TWISH  we hear about  Carl von Rokitansky  the Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician and founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. How he managed to  dissect tens of thousands of bodies  is baffling and just a lit...

Lots about  guns and politics  this week, as well as  science ,  homeopathy  and a little bit  about lost pants . In  TWISH  we hear about  Descartes  and his suspicious death in 1650. Was it murder? Here is a list of the news: SWEDEN : Mass shooting in Örebro GERMANY : Is this the descent of Homeopathy? SWEDEN : Government wants stricter laws rega...

This week we interview  Marcel-Jan Krijgsman , Dutch  amateur astronomer ,  data engineer  and  science communicator . Enjoy! https://theesp.eu/podcast_archive/theesp-ep-465.html Segments : 0:00:33 Intro 0:00:56 Greetings 0:11:04 Interview 0:45:58 Farewell 0:50:08 Outro 0:51:30 Outtakes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.