The Conversation Piece

We all decide how we want to show ourselves to the world. But who gets to define who you are? In her talk, Samra Habib wants us to own our identities--even if it means not always being accepted by the greater community we belong to. As a queer Muslim woman, she’s reimagined her community to go beyond geographical borders. And at a time where we’re online more than ever, community connections...

Everybody has their own origin story. Whether that was crossing a sea, or moving around Turtle Island, we each have our own beginning that brought us here. So why we do we make anyone feel like an outsider? In her Talk, Carol Off urges us to take a step back and look at where we came from. In this time when we can’t get on a plane, travel to see loved ones, or start our next adventure, we can stay...

In a world obsessed with instant gratification, Teva Harrison reminds us that there is potential in the quiet moments, the ones without goals or deadlines. She urges us to look at nature and appreciate the small successes of each day: the kindness of a stranger, a chance to do a good deed, a laugh shared with a friend—these are all achievements. Harrison compares the realization of our potential t...

Is there a straight line between healthcare and housing in Canada? Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician who has an on the ground perspective on healthcare in Canada as we navigate this pandemic. In his Talk, he has a lot to say about that line, where we fall short and the magnification of these failures when faced with a pandemic. Boozary is also the Executive Director for social medicine an...

As the weather outside becomes snowier and the holidays approach, it gets easier to recognize privilege - right in front of our eyes. The warm home, family gatherings (no more than 10), the ability to give gifts. But, what's not so easy to see are the full shelters, the nursing homes that can’t have visitors, and long lines for the food bank. At a time when we’re all suffering at different levels,...

Canadians represent 0.48% of the global population, and we’re on track to get even smaller on the world’s stage. In her talk, Shari Austin proposes that Canada’s population needs to triple in less than 100 years. If it doesn’t the country could be facing an onslaught of economic problems. So what do we do? Shari Austin is a consultant and former CEO of Century Initiative, she spoke at The Walrus T...

It wasn’t that long ago that cannabis was illegal in Canada. To many detractors, it was seen as a drug that promotes laziness and was more popular among youth rather than a legitimate medicine that can reduce suffering. But tens of thousands of Canadians have regained their ability to function because of medical marijuana. People who were once bedridden are now going outside, playing with their ki...

Canadians sometimes congratulate themselves on being “better” in comparison to other countries - more democratic, less violent, more open to new ideas. But when topics like racism, violence against women, and sexual abuse get brought up, the room - and the Zoom, goes silent. Julie S. Lalonde is a women’s rights advocate and public educator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

Our thinking about where people live and why has been entirely flipped by this pandemic, but it could just as easily flip right back if a vaccine becomes readily available. In 2015, people were rushing to the city, giving up big houses and spacious yards for small condos and convenience. The cost of their time spent commuting to and from the city outweighed the benefits of living in the suburbs. N...

LIVING ROOMS is our new digital series looking at the transformation in where and how we live. Read, listen, and watch at thewalrus.ca/livingrooms. You can’t talk about homes and housing without talking about homelessness. It’s a problem that has plagued Canada for too long. Short term solutions cannot eradicate a problem so deeply rooted in our society. In her talk, Kaite Burkholder Harris says t...

We train machines for a particular task but you modify the task just a little bit and they fail. Intelligence, it turns out, is hard to recreate. Yann LeCun is a CIFAR fellow, an AI Engineer and a VP at Facebook. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season Two of The Conversation Piece launches next week, and with The Walrus Talks at Home in full swing, we have even more ideas (in under 10 minutes) to treat your ears to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's hard not lose ourselves in our own thoughts, especially in an extended state of isolation with no end in sight. How many friends have you lost touch with since this all started? How are you keeping hope alive until we’re be able to feel those connections again? This is CIFAR fellow and UWO professor Adrian Owen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People from all over the world call Canada home, weaving together cultures from across the globe to create the Canadian identity. But, with this blended cultural identity that we are so proud of, what does it mean to understand your own cultural history? Is it time to redefine multiculturalism? Filmmaker Atom Egoyan spoke at The Walrus Talks National Tour: We Desire a Better Country in May of 2017...

Learning requires exploration of one's identity, and according to our next speaker, this is a First People’s principle of learning that applies to all of us. So on this international day of translation, and at this time when we can’t greet each other in person and with physical contact, this is an opportunity to communicate better with each other. To identify each other and ourselves with clarity...

We’ve all had to change and adapt in different ways during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Deena Hinshaw is the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Province of Alberta and has been the trusted voice for Albertans during the pandemic, calmly delivering daily briefings on the virus. And telling Albertans what measures they should take to prevent the spread of COVID-19. One of the biggest less...

Sports is a universal language in the world. From Halifax to Hydrabad, Nunavut to Nairobi. And what also seems weirdly universal is the support of men’s teams over women’s. Instead of wallowing in this vast discrepancy, Brenda Andress wants us to see it as a place to grow from. A rallying cry to mobilize in support of women in sports. This is Brenda Andress - former commissioner of the Canadian Wo...

As many kids head off to school - in whatever form that takes for them in the midst of a pandemic - it’s easy to pass off the issue of education to the actual humans involved - the parents, the kids and the teachers. But according to Annie Kidder, we all need to be thinking about educating the next generation of Canadians. Annie Kidder is the Executive Director of People for Education and she...

Writing is a responsibility in many ways, perhaps none more so than when we think about the cultural expectations inherent in writing as a minority - of any kind. As a woman, as LGBTQ, as a person of colour, as a person with a disability. As writers, what is our responsibility to the rest of our culture? And why does it seem so much heavier than that of CIS-male writers? Noor Naga is a writer...

Natural talent is overrated - at least according to singer-songwriter Corb Lund. He works hard to create it and believes that work - that constant challenge to focus and refine - is what separates the artists from the rest. And that art itself needs to be accessible to everyone, even the people that don't see country music as art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're all creative creatures, but what can we do when our creativity feels stalled? Join us in this hilarious pillow talk with the muses as Emma Donoghue shares the playful, demanding, sexy, unexpected sides of creativity and the ways we can strengthen our connection to making the things we love. This is Emma Donoghue from The Walrus Talks Creativity in London, Ontario. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

Lauren Voisin was a scientist, innovator, entrepreneur, and all before she graduated high school. When she was only 8 years old, Lauren founded her own robotics company. By age 13, Lauren was a U.N. speaker. She was a champion of inexpensive access to technology and stable internet for Canadian youth. She believed in introducing kids to subjects like robotics and coding early on. She passed in Apr...

It’s hard, as we go into the triple digits of days that some of us have been at home, isolating from friends and society, to maintain hope. When Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller talks about the health issues endured by the Indigenous people of Canada, she emphasises that hope is what gets her through. Her mother taught her that. She was a Hope-maker. Here’s Waneek Horn-Miller speaking at The Walrus Tal...

Anger is one of those emotions that transcends age, race, and political affiliation. Everyone is angry. Feeling trapped in a global pandemic will do that to you. But we can get so caught up in expressing our anger. To balance that, maybe our optimism has to be outrageous. Almost unreasonable… because the bad things in our lives are more reasonable than we know, teaching us lessons we may not...

The barriers to building inclusion can feel insurmountable. Especially when people are trying to be politically correct by ignoring differences. According to inclusion professional Ritu Bhasin, we need to notice the differences between us and learn about them, rather than deny that they exist. Ritu Bhasin is a speaker, author, and a leadership and inclusion specialist and she spoke at The Walrus T...