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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


What Became of Intellectuals on TV? *

Nov 23rd, 2003 | Filed by

Ayer, Berlin, Russell, Miller, Sontag, Magee, Bronowski – not much of that on the box now.… Read the rest



The Cultural Turn *

Nov 23rd, 2003 | Filed by

Breathless celebration of the fact that these people are human should give way to finer-grained questions.… Read the rest



Darwin and Hooker and Botany *

Nov 23rd, 2003 | Filed by

An intellectual collaboration in letters.… Read the rest



Book Reviews That Say No *

Nov 23rd, 2003 | Filed by

‘It is a real pity that argued dissent is regularly caricatured as “hatchet job”, “savage attack” and other such bulking agents.’… Read the rest



What is a ‘Jewish Intellectual’? *

Nov 22nd, 2003 | Filed by

And what is a ‘Muslim intellectual’? Is there a double standard in France?… Read the rest



Is Religion Adaptive? *

Nov 22nd, 2003 | Filed by

Not so you’d notice, Richard Dawkins says.… Read the rest



‘Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science’ *

Nov 21st, 2003 | Filed by

And other strange frontiers funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.… Read the rest



Stephen King Rebukes Grisham-Avoiders *

Nov 21st, 2003 | Filed by

Because if it’s a best-seller there can’t possibly be any good reason not to read it, right?… Read the rest



Mind Body Spirit – the Snake Oil of Psychology *

Nov 21st, 2003 | Filed by

You discover your new friend owns 50 self-help books. What to do? Escape.… Read the rest



Istanbul, Again *

Nov 20th, 2003 | Filed by

Bomb attacks on bank and consulate leave at least 25 dead including the British Consul-General, and devastate Turkey.… Read the rest



BHL Irritates People *

Nov 20th, 2003 | Filed by

Showing up the unreality of conventional world views tends to infuriate.… Read the rest



‘Ghost Ships’ Not All That Spooky? *

Nov 19th, 2003 | Filed by

In fact no more dangerous than most ships. Crying wolf is not clever.… Read the rest



Institutes of Technology Thrive in India *

Nov 19th, 2003 | Filed by

Engineers and computer scientists more admired than lawyers and academics.… Read the rest



They Were Murdered for Being Jews *

Nov 18th, 2003 | Filed by

Hitchens on the Istanbul synagogue bombing.… Read the rest



Gurcharan Das on Martha Nussbaum *

Nov 18th, 2003 | Filed by

‘The Sangh Parivar’s idea of a Hindu nation goes against this basic tenet of our Constitution.’ … Read the rest



Amartya Sen on Democracy *

Nov 18th, 2003 | Filed by

It’s more than public balloting, it’s the ‘exercise of public reason.’… Read the rest



Open-Access Science Publishing *

Nov 17th, 2003 | Filed by

It’s not a plot to destroy capitalism, it’s a different way to make research available.… Read the rest



Wetlands Cause Pollution *

Nov 17th, 2003 | Filed by

If the research irritates developers, well, get new researchers!… Read the rest



‘Berlusconism’ for Short *

Nov 16th, 2003 | Filed by

Money has contempt for the life of the mind, George Steiner says.… Read the rest



Insiders and Outsiders *

Nov 16th, 2003 | Filed by

Can minority communities be studied only by their own members?… Read the rest