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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Unoriginal, and False *

Mar 7th, 2003 | Filed by

Colin McGinn disagrees with Damasio’s version of the James-Lange theory of emotion.… Read the rest



Two Books on Islam Reviewed in Dissent *

Mar 7th, 2003 | Filed by

One makes lucid distinctions, the other leaves too much out.… Read the rest



So Far So Good…Maybe *

Mar 6th, 2003 | Filed by

But what happens when the results are bad? When students mark teachers down for not being entertaining enough?… Read the rest



Born or Made? *

Mar 6th, 2003 | Filed by

Is gayness in the genes or in the will, and who thinks which, and why.… Read the rest



Life Explained *

Mar 5th, 2003 | Filed by

ALDaily on Difference Feminism, or anyway on Difference.… Read the rest



And He Wasn’t Even Cool *

Mar 5th, 2003 | Filed by

Sometimes a teacher can change lives.… Read the rest



The Therapy-Science Gap *

Mar 4th, 2003 | Filed by

Therapists and clinical psychologists believe things that evidence has shown to be false, and there is danger in that.… Read the rest



Outrage Inflation *

Mar 4th, 2003 | Filed by

No more of those petty little conspiracy theories, now it’s time for the big stuff.… Read the rest



Just Don’t Talk About It *

Mar 4th, 2003 | Filed by

Maybe dwelling on one’s problems isn’t all that curative after all?… Read the rest



Golden Rice *

Mar 3rd, 2003 | Filed by

Critics of GM are missing the point.… Read the rest



Literature Subverts Dogmatism *

Mar 3rd, 2003 | Filed by

Irving Howe’s taste for the complication and open-endedness of literature played hell with his Marxist certainties. … Read the rest



Galen Strawson Reviews Daniel Dennett *

Mar 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

Dennett on the evolution of freedom.… Read the rest



Part History Part Polemic *

Mar 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

And marred by bad arguments, Simon Wessely says of this book about science and the chemical weapons industry.… Read the rest



Midgley Reviews Dennett *

Mar 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

‘He tries much harder than he has before to show that he understands the importance of our inner life.’… Read the rest



Honderich Reviews Williams *

Mar 2nd, 2003 | Filed by

And does not desire to be somplace else.… Read the rest



Warning Signs of Fakery *

Mar 1st, 2003 | Filed by

We all need to be able to detect bogus claims, Robert Park says.… Read the rest



Fear of the Improvised, Ambiguous or Indeterminate *

Mar 1st, 2003 | Filed by

Writing is always profane and promiscuous, Terry Eagleton says. … Read the rest



What Spinoza Knew *

Feb 28th, 2003 | Filed by

Scientific American reviews Antonio Damasio’s Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain.… Read the rest



Teachers Win a Decision *

Feb 28th, 2003 | Filed by

The law lords in the UK decided teachers may refuse to teach students who have been expelled for violence then reinstated.… Read the rest



What Teachers Have to Face *

Feb 28th, 2003 | Filed by

Violent students and low-level bad behavior drive teachers out of teaching.… Read the rest