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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Aesthete *

May 8th, 2002 | Filed by

Cynthia Ozick believes stories occupy a realm separate from life, and that includes politics.… Read the rest



Hitchens on Amis Major *

May 2nd, 2002 | Filed by

Kingsley Amis thought of boredom as a form of tyranny.… Read the rest



Meritocracy *

Apr 20th, 2002 | Filed by

Philosophers and political theorists disagree with popular belief that special rewards are deserved.… Read the rest



Gitlin Meets Fallows *

Apr 15th, 2002 | Filed by

And they talk about media saturation.… Read the rest



Middle Mind *

Dec 10th, 2001 | Filed by

Funny, ruthless dissection of the ‘Fresh Air’ mindset.… Read the rest



Dwight Macdonald *

Nov 30th, 2001 | Filed by

Right when he said no, wrong when he said yes.… Read the rest



Lingua Franca *

Nov 20th, 2001 | Filed by

Judith Shulevitz on making a magazine weird.… Read the rest



Multiculti lite *

Nov 19th, 2001 | Filed by

A global education? Or merely a little Arundhati Roy here, a little Toni Morrisson there.… Read the rest



Magical energy in alternative medicine *

Nov 17th, 2001 | Filed by

Misuse of scientific terms gives credibility to woo-woo.… Read the rest



Germaine Greer on Women and Poetry *

Nov 4th, 2001 | Filed by

The interrelationship between rhyme and emphasis.… Read the rest



Nussbaum on Rawls *

Jul 20th, 2001 | Filed by

Martha Nussbaum on John Rawls in the Chronicle of Higher Education.… Read the rest



The Goddess is Bunk *

Feb 1st, 2001 | Filed by

Charlotte Allen looks at Wicca.… Read the rest



Freud and Fabrication *

Apr 13th, 2000 | Filed by

Freud’s stories.… Read the rest



Nagel on Rawls *

Jan 13th, 2000 | Filed by

Thomas Nagel on John Rawls in The New Republic.… Read the rest