Ian Kershaw severs ties with tv producers out of an eccentric concern for accuracy.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Evolution and Information
‘I just can’t sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it’s nonsense!’ Our kind of guy.
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Prison for Female Genital Mutilation
Clwyd and Blunkett are clear: mutilating girls’ genitals is not a practice that can be justified by custom or on cultural or any other grounds.
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The Kurds are Pleased, At Least
Not surprising after three decades of persecution, Luke Harding says.
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Hitchens on Naipaul, Fallaci and Others
Islam needs stringent criticism, he says, but not the kind Fallaci applies.
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Rousseauish Myths About Baby Care
All nonsense, and part of a worshipful but patronizing view of indigenous cultures.
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The Rudest Man in Britain?
Surely not! I thought we had that title sewn up right here on B & W.
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Consumption R Us?
A new history of consumption in the US breaks with one academic convention but adheres to another.
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Oversimplifying Does Not Help
Bush bill of goods may be dodgy but so is Chirac Double Standards Emporium, says David Aaronovitch.
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Good Idea
Bill in Parliament seeks to archive web pages for posterity. B & W will be immortal.
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Designer Babies?
Not likely, says Steven Pinker, because the genetics of behavior is far too complicated.
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Conspiracy Theories
Why conspiracy theories persist in the face of the facts.
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Drought Finished the Maya
Droughts in 810, 860, 910 C.E. may be what ended the Mayan civilization, evidence suggests.
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Education Gap
John Ogbu’s study suggests some painful reasons for the black-white gap in education. Critics say he downplays social factors.
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Do Fish Have Free Will?
Carlin Romano reviews Daniel Dennett’s Freedom Evolves.
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Carpe Diem
Seconds from becoming gefilte fish, a carp shouts warnings in Hebrew. According to two witnesses. David Hume, anyone?
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Paradigm Shifts in Medicine
A doctor on the ever-moving target of medical knowledge.
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More Weeds, Spiders, Bird Food
New research indicates GM crops may be beneficial for environment in some ways.
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Theory, Theory Everywhere
How do people manage to generate ‘theory wars’ out of teaching a basic skill that should be learned before university?
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Would an SAT Help?
Would an aptitude test like the ones used in the US help recruit working class students to university in the UK?