Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.

We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.

A note about links

Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.


Philosophy Needs Social Science *

Dec 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

And vice versa: to clarify what disadvantage is, and figure out how to fix it.… Read the rest



The Libet Experiment Revisited *

Dec 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

Does that 1.5 second gap matter? … Read the rest



Noam Chomsky Interview *

Dec 1st, 2003 | Filed by

‘He recognises little distinction between conspiracy and cock-up.’… Read the rest



What to do With Evidence? Bury It *

Dec 1st, 2003 | Filed by

Report by Human Remains Working Group forces science to defer to mystical beliefs.… Read the rest



A Much Too Long Biography of Jung *

Dec 1st, 2003 | Filed by

‘There is nothing quite like esoteric windiness for creating a penumbra of profundity’… Read the rest



Colin McGinn on Bookworminess *

Nov 30th, 2003 | Filed by

Dorian Gray and horror novels as a child, illiteracy as an adolescent, then philosophy.… Read the rest



Terry Eagleton the Insider-Outsider *

Nov 30th, 2003 | Filed by

Students have gone from uncritical, reverential essays on Flaubert to uncritical, reverential essays on ‘Friends.’… Read the rest



B&W auf Deutsch *

Nov 30th, 2003 | Filed by

Tom DeGregori’s ‘Shiva the Destroyer’ in the German magazine Novo.… Read the rest



Tyranny is Tyranny *

Nov 29th, 2003 | Filed by

Even when the tyrants are not US puppets, so the left should not be silent.… Read the rest



Hey! Where’s my Nobel Prize?! *

Nov 29th, 2003 | Filed by

If the Nobel committee somehow overlooks you, make a stink, demand your prize! Or perhaps not.… Read the rest



Atheism not in the Running *

Nov 28th, 2003 | Filed by

Democrats refuse to ‘cede spirituality to the Republicans,’ so secularism is not an option.… Read the rest



Root Causes *

Nov 28th, 2003 | Filed by

There are always a lot of them – which do we choose to focus on and why?… Read the rest



Hugh Kenner *

Nov 28th, 2003 | Filed by

The Guardian obituary.… Read the rest



US Voters Want Even More Religion *

Nov 28th, 2003 | Filed by

Only 21% want less, so secularists are just out of luck.… Read the rest



Rising Anti-Semitism in Europe *

Nov 27th, 2003 | Filed by

Is criticism of Israel merely a screen? Or is criticism of criticism of Israel the screen?… Read the rest



Stanley Fish Makes an Excellent Point *

Nov 27th, 2003 | Filed by

‘The only respectable intellectual goal is the pursuit of truth’… Read the rest



Hugh Kenner *

Nov 26th, 2003 | Filed by

The New York Times obituary.… Read the rest



Can Aesthetic Standards be Grounded? *

Nov 26th, 2003 | Filed by

Or are they imposed by the powerful for political purposes.… Read the rest



GM Propaganda War Not Helpful *

Nov 25th, 2003 | Filed by

If each side leaves out important facts, conclusions are obscured and the public is confused.… Read the rest



Karachi *

Nov 24th, 2003 | Filed by

William Dalrymple on what Lévy got wrong in his book on the murder of Daniel Pearl.… Read the rest