An enthusiastic polemicist with no qualms about giving voice to his particular perspective on the world The English journalist Paul Johnson died on January 12 at the age of 94. In addition to being a columnist and author of popular histories, he was an enthusiastic polemicist with no qualms about giving voice to his particular…
After the Trudeau-Chretien wing of the party turned on him, an offer of help came from an unlikely source – Brian Mulroney My previous column was prompted by Steve Paikin’s new book – John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada’s 17th Prime Minister. But there’s more to Turner than I was able to address in…
Learning from the pros Learning from the Pros interviews professional entrepreneurs who are currently in the trenches growing their businesses. Through insightful conversations, we unpack their common business challenges and identify the lessons every business owner needs to learn so they can accelerate their own business growth. Learning from the Pros is produced by Amplomedia…
Students must be taught to listen better to people from other parts of the world Nothing is more tragic than a person looking back on their life and saying, “My God, what have I done?” Of course, there are people incapable of sincere self-reflection, but they are few and far between. Most of us seek…
The Pope’s face lit up and he smiled when presented with On the Eighth Day There is high praise indeed for a new book co-written by University of Alberta professor Matt Hoven. Almost the highest there is, in fact. It took a few seconds, but once Pope Francis realized what he’d just been handed by…
The vast majority of us get along with our neighbours Dutch historian Rutger Bregman is very good at asking questions and challenging deeply held beliefs. Many, for example, assume that humans are violent creatures out to destroy one another. In times of crisis, according to this narrative, we will cry out, “Every man for himself!”…
Sales of the book far outpaced expectations I was 12 years of age when I first became aware of reincarnation. And it came courtesy of the movies. That happened a lot. While it would be too pretentious to call our local cinema a theatre, the Sunday matinee was a staple and one Sunday’s featured film…
It would hardly have been a stretch for Amy Kaler to write a cogent social analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a sociologist, Kaler has a background in population health and the sociology of infectious diseases. As the pandemic advanced relentlessly in the early days of 2020, she received enough requests for media commentary that…
A labour shortage will reduce income inequality. But inflation will trend higher
Written by economists Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan, The Great Demographic Reversal is a provocative read. And with 81 diagrams and 23 tables, it’s chockful of data in support of its thesis. That thesis is simple: “Of one thing we are sure, the future will be nothing like the past.” Or at least nothing like…
Biblioasis has recently released two new books, one on baseball, the other on the origins of Covid
When I worked for the Windsor Star as an editorial writer and columnist, one of the stores I regularly frequented was Biblioasis. The independent bookstore was located in the city’s downtown core on Ouellette Avenue. It had an impressive selection of fiction and non-fiction titles for all ages and interests. I bought a few books…