You can never predict what slant a science reporter will produce after interviewing you for a piece—especially a piece on evolution. The truth of evolution, and the solidity of the modern “neo-Darwinian” version, is old news, and reporters are always looking for some new “hook” to sell their stories. What better hook can there be […]
I have neither the heart nor the time to reprise or analyze the latest salvo of attacks on New Atheists, so I’ll just list them here (with a brief quote from each) if you’re interested. These have, in fact, all appeared in the last few days, so something is afoot. As a palliative, there’s one […]
UPDATE: As reader Derek notes in the comments below, the Knight Foundation has issued an apology for paying Lehrer any fee at all—much less $20,000. Their apology includes this: In retrospect, as a foundation that has long stood for quality journalism, paying a speaker’s fee was inappropriate. Controversial speakers should have platforms, but Knight […]
Frank Bruni (who, by the way, was the first openly gay op-ed columnist at the New York Times), has a wonderfully refreshing op-ed piece in yesterday’s paper called “The God glut. “ The topic is the relentless incursion of religion into American politics and secular institutions. One of these institutions is the Army’s military academy, […]
Nicholas Wade is a science writer for the New York Times, and not one whom I much admire. Funded by the Templeton Foundation, he wrote a book on the origin of religion, The Faith Instinct, that I was asked to blurb but refused on the grounds that the contents were apparently vetted and approved by […]
UPDATE: Haskell has responded to this blog piece on his own website, “Ramble.” I’ve posted a question, asking him directly if he dissed RD. _______ Reader Diane G called my attention to a piece in the New York Times about David Haskell, an evolutionist and ecologist at The University of the South: “Finding Zen in […]
I’ve been asked to write for HuffPo but have always refused on two grounds: their “science” section is too mushy, unscientific, and sensationalistic, but mainly because their writers don’t get paid. When I brought up that issue, they told me very nicely that their budget did not allow writers any compensation, but I’d be more than […]
As Wikipedia notes, Project Syndicate “is an international not-for-profit newspaper syndicate and association of newspapers. It distributes commentaries and analysis (‘opinion pieces’) by experts, activists, Nobel laureates, statesmen, economists, political thinkers, business leaders and academics to its member publications, and encourages networking among its members.” I can’t remember how I came across an article featured […]
UPDATE: Over at The Daily Beast, disgraced journalist Jayson Blair offers a take on Lehrer’s sins and offers him some “advice”. ____________ At 31, Jonah Lehrer was a Wunderkind of popular science writing, with a regular gig at The New Yorker and three best-selling books on brain science under his belt (he was also a […]
The baying of the yellow hounds of journalism continues at other papers, with the Mail Online breathlessly reporting: “Revealed: how atheist Richard Dawkins’ family fortune came from the slave trade.” Note the use of the descriptive “atheist” instead of “biologist,” and the article’s complete neglect of the fact that the vast bulk of Richard’s “wealth” […]
