Also ‘homeophobia’ and the virulence of Ben Goldacre.
Category: Latest News
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
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Mark Bauerlein on an Anthology of New Criticism
The disappearance of the New Critics isn’t just another evolution in intellectual history. It’s a critical gap.
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Discover’s Top 100 Science Stories
Pollution, consciousness, planets, arctic thaw, dark matter, drought.
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Farrukh Saleem on Truth and Denial
Who will take the honour out of these killings? Who will expose the horror from under the hijab?
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Ramin Jahanbegloo at World Philosophy Day
‘Philosophy teaches you, and you teach others, how to think otherwise. To question and to criticize.’
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Jonathan Derbyshire on The Philosophy of Insults
We should see certain kinds of offended feelings as being among the costs of free thought and inquiry
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Grayling Replies to Dalrymple on ‘New’ Atheists
The old arguments have been forgotten by the reviving, resurgent, insistent, assertive-to-the-point-of-bombing religionists.
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Life as a Fundamentalist Mormon
Married off at 18 to a man of 50 – then things deteriorated.
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The Pressures Inside Mr Parvez’s Head
The question is how to deal with people who believe the laws of God should trump the laws of humans.
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A Stunning Performance in Mental Gymnastics
Madeleine Bunting has taken the floor to wild applause.
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We Are Allowed to Use Reasons in Voting
We can even decide not to vote for X because we disagree with X’s religious views. Imagine that.
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Eric Hobsbawm Interview
Excerpts translated for the German-challenged.
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Cosmopolitan Courage on the Subway
A Muslim Bangladeshi student risked injury to help three Jewish people who were being beaten up.
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Saudi Rape Victim ‘Pardoned’
Now all she has to fear is murder by male relatives. She will be allowed to live in a state shelter.
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Theo Hobson Gives the Argument from Xmas
Carols make Theo Hobson lachrymose, therefore Dawkins is a bad man. See?
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King’s Pardon as Arbitrary as the Justice System
The king remains certain the verdicts were fair. The pardon is just because…whatever.
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Egyptian Beheaded for ‘Sorcery’ in Saudi Arabia
A useful and fun way of scapegoating foreigners.
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Scholars Hook Up With Data on Facebook
A new way of doing social science, says Harvard sociologist. Predecessors could only dream of such data.
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Mukhtar Mai Still Being Harassed
These tactics are clear obstacles in her efforts to help the poor women of rural Pakistan.
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Daily Mail Has a Good Idea
But the EU got there first.