Psychoanalyst Dr. Erica Komisar advises atheists to profess a belief in God for the good of their kids
Everyone remembers the children’s fable about a chicken called “Chicken Little” or “Henny Penny” who believes that the sky is falling when an acorn falls on its head. While the phrase “the sky is falling” is now something of a cliche, it pops up, now and again, especially during pandemic times. Raising or working with…
Much of what’s presented as news now is better described as narrative spinning
If you follow American news, you’ve probably come across many assertions that by mid-century the United States is set to become a “majority-minority” country. For the first time since its founding, whites will no longer form a majority of the population. This has been greeted with a range of reactions. Some people are dismayed, or…
A personal story of intergenerational trauma that was almost too painful to write
There were times Jordan Abel wished he’d never started Nishga, the memoir that earned him a nomination for Canada’s biggest non-fiction honour, the Hilary Weston Prize. Writing the book was just too painful, he said. It probes the darkest moments of his family’s history, particularly “the wake of violence that ripples outwards” from the Coqualeetza Industrial Institute,…
An appetite for empirical data and a willingness to challenge received wisdom
Among the activities associated with moving house is the trawl through possessions you haven’t seriously looked at in years. Books are a prime example. In the process, I reacquainted myself with American social scientist Christopher Jencks. Born in 1936, Jencks began his career working at the liberal magazine The New Republic and the left-leaning Institute…
Marie Henein is unapologetic and controversial, largely due to her defence of Jian Ghomeshi
If you buy criminal defence lawyer Marie Henein’s new memoir hoping for the inside scoop on her high profile cases, you’ll be disappointed. Ethically, she considers those details off limits, confined there by the parameters of the lawyer-client relationship. However interesting the stories might be, Henein believes they aren’t hers to tell. They belong to…
Multiple nations are jockeying for power
International politics expert Andy Knight is working on a new book about the changing face of global governance and the transition to a new world order. Tentatively titled International Organization Today, the book will examine how the world has evolved from a simple system of international governance, driven mainly by the United Nations, to its current state of multilateral…
Adapting to a changing climate is the only feasible option
Drawing heavily from physicist Steven Koonin’s recent book – Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters – my last column looked at some of the challenges involved in getting to global carbon-free by mid-century. Koonin actually calls it “a practical impossibility.” Now let’s talk about contingency planning. If carbon…
If aspirations and reality collide, always bet on reality
If you’ve been following international news lately, you’ll have noticed a new development. Europe and Asia are suddenly worried about energy. With winter coming, costs are soaring and there’s even concern about shortages that might trigger industrial shutdowns and endanger people’s ability to heat their homes. From an object of loathing and scorn, fossil fuels…
Research shows men are given second chances much more than women
Indira Samarasekera and Martha Piper have been leaders in post-secondary education every step of the way, right up to the presidencies of two of Canada’s top research universities. They explore what they’ve learned in a new book, Nerve: Lessons on Leadership From Two Women Who Went First. Samarasekera made University of Alberta history in 2005 as…
A profile of someone who has been in the public eye most of his life but achieved little of note isn’t a worthwhile subject
Prince Harry is writing a book. Hmm. The crickets are pretty loud today. All kidding aside, it’s true. “The Duke of Sussex is to publish an intimate memoir of his life,” the Daily Telegraph’s Victoria Ward wrote on July 19, “which he has vowed will be ‘accurate and wholly truthful.’” The book will be published by…