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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Another Angle on the Hijab *

Apr 4th, 2004 | Filed by

What is France’s insistence on secularism about?… Read the rest



Carl Zimmer on Misunderstanding Science *

Apr 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

It’s about uncertainty, not certainty.… Read the rest



The Guardian’s Rwanda Page *

Apr 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Links to many aspects of Rwanda and the genocide.… Read the rest



Revisiting de Tocqueville *

Apr 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

‘Religious insanity is very common in the United States. We should not be surprised at this.’… Read the rest



A Mind as Speedy as an Eider Duck *

Apr 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

B.R. Myers says Jeffrey Masson’s amateurish style is persuasive, sort of.… Read the rest



Rwanda *

Apr 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

As the tenth anniversary approaches, Frontline takes a look.… Read the rest



Michael Foot’s 1000 Volumes of Hazlitt *

Apr 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

Will go to the Wordsworth Trust when he conks out. Not soon, let’s hope.… Read the rest



Heaps of All-round Stupidity *

Apr 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

John Quiggin has a harsh word or two for postmodernist nonsense about advertising.… Read the rest



Menand on McCarthy and Related Matters *

Apr 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

The difference between journalists and academics; narrow elections and how little they mean.… Read the rest



The Fun of Working for the Bush Administration *

Apr 1st, 2004 | Filed by

Leon Kass told Elizabeth Blackburn ethics panel would consider diverse views. But no.… Read the rest



Terry Eagleton on Edward Said *

Apr 1st, 2004 | Filed by

‘He is more interested in emancipating the dispossessed than in bending genders or floating signifiers.’… Read the rest



Ektopos Has its First Birthday *

Apr 1st, 2004 | Filed by

Excellent philosophy site reaches a milestone.… Read the rest



Honour Killings Averted *

Mar 31st, 2004 | Filed by

Pair from enemy tribes in Pakistan marry under police protection.… Read the rest



Astronomer on Importance of the Hubble *

Mar 31st, 2004 | Filed by

The telescope is needed for ultraviolet astronomy.… Read the rest



How Do You Apologize for Mass Murder? *

Mar 30th, 2004 | Filed by

In Rwanda people have to live next door to the people who murdered all their relatives.… Read the rest



Martin Seligman on Eudaimonia *

Mar 30th, 2004 | Filed by

It’s now possible to measure fuzzy states like sadness and schizophrenia.… Read the rest



Theory is Too So Still Relevant! *

Mar 29th, 2004 | Filed by

It has to figure out who will be famous twenty years from now, obviously.… Read the rest



Potential for False Abuse Claims *

Mar 28th, 2004 | Filed by

New child protection law could lead to problems being misinterpreted. Or not.… Read the rest



Hitchens Reviews Buruma and Margalit *

Mar 28th, 2004 | Filed by

Paranoid, reactionary, death-loving ideas underlie Occidentalism as well as Orientalism.… Read the rest



BBC on Laine Case *

Mar 28th, 2004 | Filed by

US scholar says case was brought for political reasons.… Read the rest