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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Nicholas Kristof on Women and Girls in Pakistan *

Jun 22nd, 2005 | Filed by

Women punished for being raped, girls married at age 11, or 2.… Read the rest



Law School Dean Warns of Religious Influence *

Jun 21st, 2005 | Filed by

Faith challenges underpinnings of legal education.… Read the rest



Carlin Romano on Lying Cheating Philosophers *

Jun 21st, 2005 | Filed by

Semi-official commitment to truth entails some integrity.… Read the rest



Project Zero Encourages Students to Think *

Jun 21st, 2005 | Filed by

Good idea, let’s hope it has legs.… Read the rest



Review of Simon Blackburn on Truth *

Jun 21st, 2005 | Filed by

Take postmodernist inverted commas off things that ought to matter to us: truth, reason, objectivity and confidence.… Read the rest



Russell Jacoby on Higher Education *

Jun 21st, 2005 | Filed by

Best schools once promised alternative to selfish materialism but now proudly offer exactly that.… Read the rest



Aren’t You Sorry You Missed Luce Irigaray? *

Jun 20th, 2005 | Filed by

Remaining only in sameness or impersonal neutrality leads either to paralysis or to uncontrollable acceleration.… Read the rest



Murdered Nun Had Argued With Priest *

Jun 20th, 2005 | Filed by

Was locked up with no food or water for four days before crucifixion.… Read the rest



Gödel was Irked by Wittgenstein *

Jun 20th, 2005 | Filed by

Rebecca Goldstein on Gödel and Einstein, super-realism and Platonism.… Read the rest



Alan Wolfe on Jews, Assimilation, and Identity *

Jun 20th, 2005 | Filed by

Assimilation and influence, identity and isolation.… Read the rest



Marx Out in Front *

Jun 20th, 2005 | Filed by

Wittgenstein second. Wheen applauds, Blackburn and Grayling have doubts.… Read the rest



Sally Satel on ‘The Ethical Brain’ *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

Untangling how we arrive at moral and ethical judgments. … Read the rest



Michael Ruse Eyes the ‘Slippery Slope’ *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

‘Darwinism’ a threat to belief in a caring omnipotent deity.… Read the rest



Nicholas Kristof Phones Mukhtaran *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

She is free, but her passport is still confiscated.… Read the rest



Words Matter, Differences Matter, Truth Matters *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

Pavel Litvinov notes: exaggeration for the sake of attention is a bad move.… Read the rest



What’s All the Fuss About? *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

Romanian nun dies in ‘exorcism’; common practice, priest says.… Read the rest



Eve Garrard Asks: Why is Israel Singled Out? *

Jun 19th, 2005 | Filed by

It’s no good saying ‘Because we think it’s worse’ – that’s a circular argument.… Read the rest



Amartya Sen on the Argumentative Indian *

Jun 18th, 2005 | Filed by

Indians are not all ‘spiritual.’… Read the rest



Sartre Wanted to Be Both Spinoza and Stendhal *

Jun 18th, 2005 | Filed by

Easy and tempting to mock Sartre as poseur and hypocrite.… Read the rest



Martha Nussbaum on Henry Sidgwick *

Jun 18th, 2005 | Filed by

Insistence on ‘point of view of the Universe’ not as obtuse as had been thought.… Read the rest