Speaker: Tom Williamson

Skepticamp 2024 – Talk 8 – A Boney M to pick: debunking Rasputin – Tom Williamson

Skeptics in the Pub Online Podcast
Skeptics in the Pub Online Podcast
Skepticamp 2024 - Talk 8 - A Boney M to pick: debunking Rasputin - Tom Williamson
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This audio is a part of the Skepticamp 2024 event, that happened on October 18th 2024 in Mercure Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester and was livestreamed at https://www.twitch.tv/sitp

About the talk:
In 1978, German pop group Boney M released their single Rasputin. The lyrics cemented the reputation of one Grigory Rasputin, one of the most loathed men in Russia, for all time.

About the speaker:
One half of the Retrospecticus podcast, Tom is a PhD-trained scientist with a passion for modern history. Also known as skepticism’’s resident vexillologist (flag nerd), you’ll find him hanging out with The Merseyside Skeptics Society, blasting out some terrible karaoke or streaming on Twitch.

The music used in this episode is by Thula Borah and is used with permission.

The Skeptics’ Guide to Vexillology – Dr Tom Williamson

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Skeptics in the Pub Online Podcast
The Skeptics' Guide to Vexillology - Dr Tom Williamson
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Flags! They’re everywhere, from battlefields to Pride marches to the World Cup. But what secrets and mysteries do flags hold? Why do some people get upset if you say Union Flag instead of Union Jack? Are remainers right when they say they want their star back? Why do the bad guys have such well-designed flags? And just what does it mean to fly at half mast?Tom Williamson, whose fascination with the subject began with investigating his grandfather’s souvenirs, will attempt to answer these questions and more in this taste of vexillology, the study of flags. Every aspect of this diverse field will be covered, so look forward to history, politics and design. Flags: not just colourful pieces of cloth!
Graduating with a PhD in Systems Biology from the University of Manchester, Tom Williamson has decided to do nothing with it whatsoever and instead spends his days designing tills for some of the UK’s biggest charities. When he’s not doing that, Tom is one half of the Retrospecticus podcast, a show that examines The Simpsons and the events in modern history that surround it. Outside of that, Tom developed the word salad generator Wisdom of Chopra, a website that was used to win an IgNobel prize.

The music used in this episode is by Thula Borah and is used with permission.