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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Teaching is not propaganda *

Sep 11th, 2002 | Filed by

Education professor propounds eccentric notion that teachers may know more than students.… Read the rest



End the excuses *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Ian Buruma argues that it is time that people stopped hiding behind a sloppy relativism as a way to excuse the inexcusable.… Read the rest



Kennewick Man to be studied *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

A federal magistrate judge has ordered the US government to let scientists study the bones of Kennewick Man, an ancient skeleton discovered on the banks of the Columbia River.… Read the rest



Fantasy beats reason every time *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Philosopher Simon Blackburn in despair at humanity’s capacity for self-deception.… Read the rest



Perhaps not so radically different *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Margaret Talbot takes Carol Gilligan to task for her claim that there are radical differences between male and female minds.… Read the rest



Uncertain terrain *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Skeptic editor Michael Shermer explains the difference between science and pseudoscience, and explores the intermediate area where the jury is still out.… Read the rest



Blunt opinions *

Sep 10th, 2002 | Filed by

‘Naipaul has always eschewed the rhetoric of marginality.’… Read the rest



Get real about human nature *

Sep 9th, 2002 | Filed by

Steven Pinker on the fears that lead to people embracing an erroneous conception of human nature.… Read the rest



Oxymoron? *

Sep 4th, 2002 | Filed by

The evolution of the scientific creationist.… Read the rest



Will Lingua Franca be back? *

Aug 20th, 2002 | Filed by

Intellectual arguments and personal bile make a compelling read.… Read the rest



Doug and Dave *

Aug 15th, 2002 | Filed by

Where crop circles come from.… Read the rest



Reputation *

Aug 10th, 2002 | Filed by

One of the three most important English language literary critics of the 20th century? Or is that a bit inflated.… Read the rest



Sums on snails *

Aug 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Francis Galton counted silly things.… Read the rest



Dawkins on Sanderson *

Aug 2nd, 2002 | Filed by

A Headmaster’s hatred of any locked door which might stand between a boy and some worthwhile enthusiasm shows what real education is.… Read the rest



Power to the Rich *

Jul 29th, 2002 | Filed by

Perhaps the most pro-business presidency the US has ever endured.… Read the rest



Amateur Journalism *

Jul 19th, 2002 | Filed by

What was lost in judiciousness was gained in verve.… Read the rest



Berkowitz on Rawls *

Jul 3rd, 2002 | Filed by

‘How can the moral law be both a fact of reason and in need of justification by faith?’… Read the rest



Philosophy and Biography *

Jun 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Is there any connection between the way we think and the way we live? Surely yes, but do biographers know what the connections are?… Read the rest



Dawkins or Gould *

Jun 9th, 2002 | Filed by

What is and what is not at issue in the disagreements.… Read the rest



Darwin and Jesus mix? *

May 10th, 2002 | Filed by

Michael Ruse says they can.… Read the rest