Archive for category Skeptics in the Pub
Robin Ince – The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity
Posted by Marsh in Skeptics in the Pub on October 7, 2021
When: Thursday, October 21st 2021, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Where: Frederiks, 32 Hope Street
Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world’s most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world’s greatest thinkers. In his latest book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Through interviews with astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more – as well as Robin’s own journey with science – he explores why many wrongly think of science as distant and difficult.
Robin Ince co-created The Infinite Monkey Cage and has been hosting it with Brian Cox for 12 years. It has won numerous awards including the Sony Gold Award and the Rose D’Or award. Robin has won the Crick Science Journalism Award, numerous Chortle awards AND Celebrity Mastermind, though he forgot that calcium was the main element of chalk. His books include How to Build a Universe (part one) , The Bad Book Club and I’m a Joke and So Are You.
More information:
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**COVID Security**
This is our first event back in public and we take the threat of COVID very seriously.
Here are some things you could do to help look after yourself and our other attendees (if you like):
• If you have access to a lateral flow test, why not take a test before you join us? If it’s positive for COVID-19, please stay at home.
• If you have new symptoms of COVID-19, even if a lateral flow test is negative – we’d prefer you stay at home. We’ll have other social events in the future that you can join in when you’re feeling better.
• If you feel comfortable and able to wear a mask while moving around the venue then please do wear one. We’ll bring some spares if you’d like to wear one but forgot to bring one.
• We’ll also bring some hand sanitiser that you’re free to use any time you want to.
• Please be respectful of other people’s boundaries. Give each other plenty of space and be considerate. If you need to cough or sneeze, cough into your elbow or a tissue and throw the tissue away before sanitising your hands.
**NHS COVID Pass trial**
For our first event back, we are trialling use of the NHS COVID Pass and we would really appreciate our attendees help in this trial. In order to ready your NHS COVID Pass there are a number of steps you can follow.
1) Download the NHS app on your smartphone. This is a separate app the NHS Covid app. Once you are registered with the NHS app your COVID pass can be viewed under “Get your NHS COVID Pass” – click continue, then domestic. This will show a QR code that we can scan.
2) From the NHS app you can also download a PDF copy or receive a copy by email in case you do not have access to the internet from your smartphone.
3) If you do not wish to install the NHS app, or you do not have a smartphone – you can get a paper copy of your COVID Pass by mail by following this link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-pass/get-your-covid-pass-letter/ the paper copy will take at least 5 days to arrive.
The COVID Pass will confirm to us that you have either: had two COVID vaccines, had a positive antigen test within the previous 6 months, or that you have conducted a lateral flow test within the preceding 48 hours and the test was negative (for the online COVID pass only). We will not be informed which of these is the case for you.
If you have conducted a lateral flow test in the 48 hours before the event, you will need to register it with the NHS. To do so, you can follow the instructions at this link: https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result
Please try to make sure you have your NHS COVID Pass ready to scan before you enter the venue so we can minimise delays to entry.
When we scan your NHS COVID Pass, we will retain no information from you – we are only using it as a pre-event check.
Thank you for helping us keep our attendees safe!
Alice Howarth – The Vagina Mystery: Science, Pseudoscience and Sales
Posted by Marsh in Skeptics in the Pub on September 13, 2021
When: Thursday, September 16th 2021, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Where: The Casa Bar, 29 Hope Street
In 2013 when Alice Howarth joined the Merseyside Skeptics Society’s podcast, Skeptics with a K, to talk about unsubstantiated or pseudoscientific claims in the media, she quickly realised the volume of claims made about the vagina are insurmountable. Over the past five years she’s considered countless claims from a variety of different types of people about how exactly you “should” care for a vagina, should you ever encounter one. These claims might seem light and fun, but they can have damaging consequences for people who have vaginas and the wider society. In this talk Alice will take us through some of these claims, the sources they come from and the wider impact of those claims.
Dr Alice Howarth is a scientist and skeptical advocate who has been a board director of the Merseyside Skeptics Society and podcaster at Skeptics with a K for over five years. She’s a researcher in clinical and molecular pharmacology at the University of Liverpool and has written for publications such as The Guardian.
More information:
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**COVID Security**
This is our first event back in public and we take the threat of COVID very seriously.
Here are some things you could do to help look after yourself and our other attendees (if you like):
• If you have access to a lateral flow test, why not take a test before you join us? If it’s positive for COVID-19, please stay at home.
• If you have new symptoms of COVID-19, even if a lateral flow test is negative – we’d prefer you stay at home. We’ll have other social events in the future that you can join in when you’re feeling better.
• If you feel comfortable and able to wear a mask while moving around the venue then please do wear one. We’ll bring some spares if you’d like to wear one but forgot to bring one.
• We’ll also bring some hand sanitiser that you’re free to use any time you want to.
• Please be respectful of other people’s boundaries. Give each other plenty of space and be considerate. If you need to cough or sneeze, cough into your elbow or a tissue and throw the tissue away before sanitising your hands.
**NHS COVID Pass trial**
For our first event back, we are trialling use of the NHS COVID Pass and we would really appreciate our attendees help in this trial. In order to ready your NHS COVID Pass there are a number of steps you can follow.
1) Download the NHS app on your smartphone. This is a separate app the NHS Covid app. Once you are registered with the NHS app your COVID pass can be viewed under “Get your NHS COVID Pass” – click continue, then domestic. This will show a QR code that we can scan.
2) From the NHS app you can also download a PDF copy or receive a copy by email in case you do not have access to the internet from your smartphone.
3) If you do not wish to install the NHS app, or you do not have a smartphone – you can get a paper copy of your COVID Pass by mail by following this link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-pass/get-your-covid-pass-letter/ the paper copy will take at least 5 days to arrive.
The COVID Pass will confirm to us that you have either: had two COVID vaccines, had a positive antigen test within the previous 6 months, or that you have conducted a lateral flow test within the preceding 48 hours and the test was negative (for the online COVID pass only). We will not be informed which of these is the case for you.
If you have conducted a lateral flow test in the 48 hours before the event, you will need to register it with the NHS. To do so, you can follow the instructions at this link: https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result
Please try to make sure you have your NHS COVID Pass ready to scan before you enter the venue so we can minimise delays to entry.
When we scan your NHS COVID Pass, we will retain no information from you – we are only using it as a pre-event check.
Thank you for helping us keep our attendees safe!
Natalie Bennett – Universal Basic Income
Posted by Laurie Phillips in Skeptics in the Pub on January 7, 2020
When: Thursday, January 16th 2020, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Where: The Casa Bar, 29 Hope Street
Natalie Bennett was the leader of the Green Party from 2012-2016. Over that time she and the party became known as champions of the policy of universal basic income – a guarantee that people’s basic needs will be met by an unconditional payment to meet their essential needs.
She argues that it is a guarantee of the basic human right to life, a way of providing people with the chance to use their talents well, and ends benefit traps. No one would be left penniless, as far too many are being left now by zero-hours contracts and swingeing benefit sanctions. And it might mean that sewer cleaners are paid more than bankers – as they probably should be.
Trials are underway now in Finland, Holland, Canada, the US and Kenya – it is an idea that is catching on fast, in part because of fears about the impact of automation on jobs.
More information:
Daniel Artus – Vaccine Hesitancy, Confidence and Empathy
Posted by Laurie Phillips in Skeptics in the Pub on January 6, 2020
When: Thursday, February 20th 2020, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Where: The Casa Bar, 29 Hope Street
Vaccines are a commonly held to be a cornerstone of global public heath, preventing sickness at enormous scale and even eliminating or near-eliminating deadly or debilitating diseases. What, then, leads many people to reject or doubt the safety of a medical procedure that many easily accept?
This talk explores these issues by looking at two large-scale fluctuations in vaccine uptake. Looking at both the Nigerian polio vaccine boycott in 2003 and recent concerns over the safety of the HPV vaccine, both scenarios highlight the complexity of drivers behind different vaccine positionalities.
Alex Clegg – Ask for Evidence: The 12 claims of Christmas
Posted by Laurie Phillips in Skeptics in the Pub on November 6, 2019
When: Thursday, Dec 12th 2019, 7.30 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Casa Bar, 29 Hope Street
Dubious claims are on Santa’s naughty list this year as the Ask for Evidence campaign comes to Liverpool.
Join Alex Clegg, campaigns and communications coordinator at Sense about Science, on a festive campaign trail to uncover claims about alcohol consumption, beauty products and detox diets among others, and what happens when you ask for the evidence behind them.
The Ask for Evidence campaign has kick-started conversations between members of the public, businesses, public services and the media about the evidence on issues ranging from supplements and speed limits to IVF and alcohol.
As Christmas draws near and companies invite us to bag one of their ‘wonder products’ for our loved ones, celebrities plug the post-holiday diets they swear by and social media insists we all ditch the turkey for veg to save our health or the planet, it’s important to know if those claims are based on reliable evidence.
So, expect exaggerated claims, evidence hunting tips and campaign freebies.
More information:
Anthony Warner – The Truth About Fat
Posted by Laurie Phillips in Skeptics in the Pub on October 15, 2019
When: Thursday, November 21st 2019, 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Where: The Casa Bar, 29 Hope Street
The Truth About Fat – Why obesity, weight gain and health are more complex than everyone thinks
We are getting fat and sick in increasing numbers and it’s placing a devastating burden on our healthcare systems. Scientists in every field are desperate to explain this epidemic and stave off a modern health disaster. But what’s to blame? Carbs, fat or sugar? Gut microbes or genes? Laziness or poverty?
In this talk, Anthony Warner (The Angry Chef) will scrutinise the explanations of experts in every field, laying out the best evidence available. But most of all, he will rail against quack theories preying on the desperate and consider whether we are blaming our own bodies for other people’s ignorance and cruelty.
What remains is the unvarnished truth about one of the great preoccupations of our age.
More information: