Robert Sapolsky, an academic who looks like Moses and sounds like 'a hugely knowledgeable yet stoned west coast slacker' (I'm quoting not judging), makes the case that science has progressed to the point where it has swallowed free will, which puts an interesting spin on the concept of accountability.

Boundaries are in the Zeitgeist at the moment - I summon the Stoic philosophers and the game of chess to help us figure out how to change what we can, live with what we cannot, and summon the courage and humility to figure out the difference.

I review Ken McGoogan's recently published Shadows of Tyranny: Defending Democracy in an Age of Dictatorship, which draws a chilling parallel between pre-World War II circumstances and our present geopolitical situation.

Murray Sinclair died in November '24, shortly after his memoir came out. I muse on his teachings about what constitutes Elders, as opposed to people who just get old. 

The concept of trauma has become mainstream in our lives, which is a relatively new way of considering how challenges impact character. I prefer the perspective, exemplified by Vera Britten's experience in WW2 and in peace negotiations following, And the suggestion of a New Yorker writer that not everything needs to be explained, not in life, not, for sure, in writing.

Nipon was, maybe still is, a Thai monk; he shared his world view during a week-long billet long ago. Three steps to changing the world he said: articulate intent, imagine the solution, protect progress. 

Contemplating the arrival of a new year that promises to be challenging, I mine my professional history to find a grounding perspective. I find it in the words of Senator Landon Pearson who urged us to focus on fixing the world and trusting that people would use that to 'fix' themselves. 

I joined Sandy with the At Home in Muskoka Podcast to talk Places for People, social tipping points and more.

Land, language, lineage and loved ones: the four L's that underpin our health and gird the loins of hope. As the world warms, we need to (re)learn to love the land on which we live and treat it with the respect it requires. 

Reproductive rights are once more in the crosshairs of some who don't have wombs, and some who do. Atwood reminds us she always claimed her novel was reflection realism rather than imagination and warns us to remain vigilant. 

I visited with the hosts of the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project podcast to discuss caring for a partner with dementia.

The authenticity of first-person experience deserves its place on the page, but a failing mind describing how his mind is failing is a sorrowful story. 

Having a roof over one's head is a matter of survival; acquiring it may require a bit of working the system. O Henry spoofs how it works in an old story but not much is new. 

The collective power of singing together can be used for good or ill. National anthems tend to blood, violence, and exclusionism of all sorts, and yet we sing them as if they somehow represent us.  David Pate finds that only 10 countries in the world have anthems that would be suitable for an elementary school play, and suggests we should do better. 

There is evidence that mankind as a whole is better off now than ever before, but simultaneously we seem to be embracing nastiness, incivility, hatred. Science explains this trend and literature shows us the way out. 

Dr. Jane Philpott says Canada has an insurance system, not a health system, and proposes a radically alternative approach parallel to the public education system. She poses spiritual health as fundamental to physical and mental health and shares some wisdom.

Our community has recently gained profile for successfully completing a community bond raise in jig time, to support affordable housing. The exposure, which included CBC TV National News, set the table for an invited op ed in the Saturday Star.

Pretty much everyone agrees we need to do something about our housing problem. But what's the right move? Depends on what you want to achieve...

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail, which makes a conversation between a hammer and a wrench -- or between generations -- difficult. But what if we tried to bridge the gap?

Celine Dion told Adrienne Arsenault that she would sing again, and she did -- flawlessly, they say, although she looks liminal -- at the opening of the Paris Olympics. This column examines that process through a Freire lens.