Are multiculturalism and cultural identity really such brilliant ideas?… Read the rest
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Kenan Malik Reads Meera Nanda 
Oct 30th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nanda is ‘particularly astute in demonstrating the reactionary consequences of anti-science relativism for the peoples of the Third World.’… Read the rest
Ruse Reviews Dawkins
Oct 29th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And asks some rather odd questions in the process.… Read the rest
Review of Breaking the Spell of Dharma
Oct 29th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Siriyavan Anand discusses Meera Nanda’s plea for secularising India.… Read the rest
Crooked Timber on Bad Writing
Oct 29th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Intentions are disentangled from results, to amusing effect.… Read the rest
Science for Sale
Oct 29th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Are market values compatible with academic values?… Read the rest
Colin McGinn on Harnessing Mental Energy
Oct 28th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What I liked most about philosophy was its extremely non-local character.’… Read the rest
Oh If Only Chiang Had Won…
Oct 28th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Counter-factuals are easy to win, David Stanway points out.… Read the rest
Culture Meets the Market
Oct 27th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Sarastro couldn’t sing the low notes, but could swing on a trapeze.… Read the rest
Silly Ideas About Compensation
Oct 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Paying executives 532 times as much as the bottom workers is not actually all that useful.… Read the rest
A Credulous People
Oct 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Only 5% of Americans realize there is no life after death.… Read the rest
What the Mind Does
Oct 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Consider the link between thinking and inferring.… Read the rest
The Big Read
Oct 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ew, reading is solitary – quick, let’s get the group involved!… Read the rest
Spiked on Eagleton
Oct 25th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He is fed up with cultural theory, but not quite fed up enough.… Read the rest
Globalisation Means Americanisation
Oct 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sonja Hegasy has fallen for the Enlightenment myth, Mona Abaza says.… Read the rest
Ian Buruma on the Israeli Left
Oct 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Left is rich and Ashkenazi, the working class is Sephardic and religious – so the left dwindles.… Read the rest
Fanonian Rhetoric on Globalisation
Oct 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The wretched of the earth like new music and clothes, just as the rich do.… Read the rest
Vandalism Drives Scientists Out of UK
Oct 23rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why would sub-Saharan Africa need drought-resistant plants, after all?… Read the rest
New University Subject: Underpaying Labour
Oct 23rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If administrators want to talk of truth and justice, they should talk about low wages for staff, too.… Read the rest
Ma Teresa a Celebrity, Yes, But Not a Saint
Oct 23rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
India’s Science and Rationalists’ Association held a demonstration to protest against the beatification… Read the rest
