… and Francis strikes against the rebel nuns of RavelloThis week Brian and Pontus takes the lead and talks about the Turkish-Syrian earthquake as well as looking forward to Annika’s new WTF adventure (stay tuned!). In TWISH we look at the shenanigans of Elizabeth Holmes who was born this week in 1984, while pope Frankie is busy fighting rebels nuns(!). Then we also have the news:FRANCE: Naturopath...

… and Frankie stands firm: no sex for gay peopleThis week the three hosts are finally back together. We start by congratulating Edzard Ernst on his 75th birthday, yippie! In TWISH we hear about the first tele-evangelist / remote healer of Hungary before diving into pope Francis’ terrible take on gay sex which for some reason is being hailed as very progressive (it is not). Then we get into the new...

– but all’s well that ends PellThis week we start by recommending that you check out Annika’s Skeptical Inquirer’s article about our trip down under, we hear about the Swedish Skeptic’s annual awards, the Hungarian Skeptics appearance on radio and a little bit about the fascinating art of art forensics. In TWISH it’s all about the high flying ancestors of Jean Luc Piccard – August and Jean Felix P...

... and nobody puts Greta in the corner! We start this week by commemorating Harriet Hall AKA "The SkepDoc" and talk about what a great loss her passing is for the international skeptic movement. On TWISH András talks about the London Institution, a major body for the public understanding of science in the 19th century, then with the Pope remaining un-poked this week, we are turning over to the ne...

... and someone please tell Prince Harry to act more responsibly. This week we start by lamenting over the launch failure of Virgin Orbit from Cornwall Spaceport, then praise Wikipedia that soon turns 22 and we also have a lot to thank Susan Gerbic, the "Wikipediatrician" for. Then in Pontus' absence we leave the pope alone and turn to the News:NETHERLANDS: Alleged nazi treasure map keeps people e...

– also, never think with your royal penis! This week start with some listener feedback regarding the new Swedish Spaceport Esrange, look at the value of New Year’s resolutions and discuss the crazy weather situation. In this week in Skepticism we celebrate the birth of Isaac Asimov who was born on 2 January 1920 (or was he?) and then Pontus reflects on the life and death of Joseph Ratzinger, aka....

– also be prepared for next year’s Christmas! We start by reflecting on Putin’s “war” against Ukraine now that he (by accident?) admitted that that is what it is. In TWISH we hear about Vlad the Impaler (aka Vlad III or Dracula) and to what extent Bram Stoker used him as inspiration for his famous book. Also, some recent pseudohistory is making the rounds about Vlad III “Dragulya”. Pope Frankie ha...

– however, the other 1063 predictions failedThis week all the hosts are back from their adventures in foreign lands to record just before Christmas. We revisit the topic of Twitter and we hear about Pontus’ trip to New Zealand. After a few short interviews with skeptics in Australia we go to TWISH for the birth of Uri Geller and to the Vatican for the latest mishaps of pope Frankie. Then we turn t...

This week in Pontus' absence we lament overt the possible future of Twitter and the stupidity behind the Reichsbürger movement before being joint by Ralf Neugebauer who enlightens us about the legal situation of homeopathic remedies in Germany with special regard to Meditonsin. We commemorate the birthday of the late British star astrologer (pun intended)Jonathan Cainer before moving on to the new...

- with the Bent Spoon Award & a happy birthday to VoF!We start by exploring the anthroposophic connections of the Griffins, the founders of Canberra, then move on to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Swedish skeptical organisation Vetenskap och Folkbildning. Then Pontus Pokes the Pope for all the mess his minions like Becciu have caused in the Vatican Bank before we turn to the...

– Brisbane Skeptics in the Pub! Our two-week long tour to Australia is soon coming to an end, but we have been lucky enough to be welcomed by lovely people in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast. On this week’s episode we are releasing a recording we made before a lovely audience in Brisbane, where we had a panel discussion about our thoughts on the present and future of the skeptic movemen...

– Sydney Skeptics in the Pub! Our two-week long tour to Australia has begun, the main event of which will be the Australian Skeptics National Convention (SkeptiCon) in Canberra between 3rd and 4th December. But beforehand, we will have a few stops along the way where local branches organised events for us that we can’t wait to attend. The first event of our tour has now concluded. It was a Skeptic...

– plus, the Princess who will never be Queen – and why that’s a good thingShould we all abandon Twitter and move to Mastodon? Call us contrarians, but we’ll wait and see! Preparing for our Australian trip to Skepticon we may need an umbrella or two due to the severe weather, but if you are based in Europe and like to go to a great conference, why not head down to Leiria in Portugal for ComceptCon...

– Czech / Slovak Skeptical TV-series ‘Investigátori’ renewed for second season! The gang is reunited and there’s so much to talk about – memories of QED, the Ockham Award, the Rusty Razor and our upcoming Australian Tour. With sadness we note the passing of Kendrick Frazier and then we talk to Claire Klingenberg and Peter Pokorný regarding the second season(!) of their skeptical TV series ‘Investi...

– Claire and Brian joins us, while Luna fills in for AndrásAs we are joined by Claire Kroulik-Klingenberg and Brian Eggo, Luna steps up to fill the shoes of András who to everyone’s deep disappointment had to cancel at the last minute. To celebrate our 350th show and enjoy our live recording at QED in Manchester, we take some liberty with the normal format. So, brace yourself for mythical tales of...

– and BTW, Elvis really has left the building – no matter what psychic mediums sayThis week we first chat about a “psychic medium” who is friendly with Elvis and touch on the Tories in the UK who apparently is friendly with no one, not even themselves. Then Kevin Davies of the Canberra Skeptics joins us and tells all about the Australian Skeptics National Convention 2022 where we will be in Decemb...

– and get your flu shot, people! This week the full crew is back and we urge you to take the flu seriously. We recommend a video of a presentation by Germany skeptic Amardeo Sarma about critical thinking, find out how to pronounce ‘that town’ in the Netherlands and feel sad that Robbie ‘Hagrid’ Coltrane passed away. In TWISH we celebrate 100 years with the BBC, and then it’s time for the news:RUSS...

– Lauterbach takes on pseudoscienceBrian Eggo steps in to save the day as he covers for both András and Annika this week. We talk about listener reactions to last week’s episode and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the last of this year’s Nobel prizes in the natural sciences. In TWISH we reminisce about QED 2018 as we prepare attending the next one. Pontus Pokes the Pope for his failure to handle the...

– we’re back in the Dark AgesWe start this week with commenting on the winners of the two first Nobel Prizes this year – Svante Pääbo who won the prize in Medicine or Physiology and the trio of Aspect, Clauser and Zeilinger who shares the Physics prize. We also celebrate the first ever female European commander of the ISS, Samantha Cristoforetti, before we travel back in time with our TWISH-machin...

– don’t listen to the fish and chips physicianThis week we have several things to get through before the actual show – the Swedish Skeptics at the international book fair in Gothenburg, the Hungarian Skeptics at the upcoming HungaroCon, the new book from the SGU (The Skeptic’s Guide to the Future), a listener question about organic farming and reactions to the Italian elections. In TWISH (This Wee...

– Frankie has found his own 007!This week we reveal further plans about our travels and about Skepticamp at QED. We also have listener feedback about air quality in planes regarding last week’s Really Wrong. No TWISH this week, but Pope Frankie has found a super Cardinal to drop behind enemy lines for covert operations. And then we look into this week’s news:GERMANY: Honorable mention of HomöopaTe...

– but at least the bees were informed of the death of their queenWe’re back from ESC in Vienna! Thanks to all who came up and said hi to us, that was a blast! This week we reflect on what Charles III, the king of SCAM, may mean for skepticism and what there is to say about the Swedish election results. For TWISH we get to learn about Foucault and his pendulum, a simple but brilliant demonstration...

– a carnival of Cardinals says it’s permittedThis week we are packing our bags for the ESC Vienna – hope to see you there! But we also have plans for QED – András and Pontus will both talk at Skepticamp, and BREAKING NEWS! – live recording of the ESP has now been announced! In TWISH we celebrate 200 years of “cardinal” permission of the heliocentric model and in more current Vatican news, Pope Fra...

– and Francis flips the birdAndrás is back and we chat about next week’s upcoming European Skeptics’ Congress in Vienna – the ESC, and we’re looking forward to go! Mikhail Gorbachev died and we comment a bit on what he meant for Russia and the contrast Putin is compared to him. Going back to the autumns events there is also QED where the winners of the Ockham Award and the Rusty Razor will be anno...

– speaking of cults, Mother Teresa wasn’t much of a saintTurns out the “hunger stone” found in Elbe is not a photo from this year. It’s almost like you cannot trust the internet any more… Climate change is here to stay, regardless. In TWISH (This Week in Skeptical History) we hear about Mother Teresa, probably the best known modern saints of all, and we learn that she was in fact pretty mean and c...