Stephen Marche
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
📤 2551
📥 997
📝 217
Novelist, essayist, AI optimist. Death of an Author, The Next Civil War, On Writing and Failure.
For no particular reason, I'm reposting this Atlantic piece about why America would not survive an attempt to conquer Canada.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
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The U.S. Threat Looming Over Canada
The consequences if Trump followed through on his belligerent rhetoric about a “51st state” would be catastrophic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/05/canadians-fear-war-trump/682674/
about 3 hours ago
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Nice to see Gloves Off on the best of Amazon podcast list and on a massive billboard at Dundas Square! If anyone else sees it, please send a pic.
16 days ago
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I wrote about Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau and I liked it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
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Opinion | What Katy Perry Gets About Justin Trudeau
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/opinion/justin-trudeau-katy-perry-couple.html
17 days ago
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Stephen Marche
Toronto Star
24 days ago
The United States has entered a very dangerous phase. Here’s how Canada must act
#Opinion
from
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
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Stephen Marche: The United States has entered a very dangerous phase. Here’s how Canada must act
The American World Order Donald Trump tried to build is over. Canada needs to play the long game
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-united-states-has-entered-a-very-dangerous-phase-heres-how-canada-must-act/article_32fc0cf2-0cfb-48c1-8a15-979e5e037ff1.html
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Tse Chi Lop, the greatest drug lord the world has ever known, has been sentenced to 16 yrs in jail. I profiled him in Toronto Life in 2021. The Jeff Bezos of methamphetamine. At one point, his personal annual profits were higher than Citibank. Why is this not a film?
torontolife.com/city/this-ma...
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This man is the Jeff Bezos of the international drug trade - Toronto Life
Tse Chi Lop, the suspected ringleader of a $21-billion crime syndicate, may be the world’s most innovative drug lord. And Toronto was his training ground
https://torontolife.com/city/this-man-is-the-jeff-bezos-of-the-international-drug-trade/
29 days ago
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Some stories come out at the wrong time. In 2021, I published a body horror piece about a Bank of England Governor who resembles, in some ways, the current PM. 17.1 % AI-generated, it was the first AI-generated piece of fiction ever published in print.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
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The Thing on the Phone | Los Angeles Review of Books
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-thing-on-the-phone/
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Stephen Marche
Paul ✍🏻 Dean
about 1 month ago
Almost a year now since I received this absolutely classic burn from the Canadian government.
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Stephen Marche
Savonian Fella 🇫🇮 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇺🇸
about 2 months ago
🇨🇦 Canada looks to 🇫🇮 Finland as defense model amid 🇺🇸 Trump uncertainty "Finland, you've been living next to this monstrosity your entire existence. That's why we're trying to learn from you," says author Stephen Marche Canada spends 1.5% GDP on defense vs Finland's higher rate
yle.fi/a/74-20194770
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Canada wants to learn from Finland
National security has been on Canadians' minds lately.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20194770
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"Gloves Off" made Apple's Best of 2025 list.
about 2 months ago
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I've always loved the Australian term "budgie-smuggler" for tight men's underwear. Now it's literally come true.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
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Man accused of smuggling protected parakeets in his underwear
Border agents say an American traveling from Mexico hid protected orange-fronted parakeets in his underwear and claimed the bulge was merely his natural appendage.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/11/16/man-parakeets-underwear-smuggling/
about 2 months ago
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The Nuzzi excerpt. I will just give my impression as a writer: It is brilliant (pointless denying this) exactly because, to understand America now, you have to get inside souls who have demolished their integrity, who have made deals with the devil for baubles, who know they richly deserve contempt
about 2 months ago
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Must-listen from CANADALAND and Jesse Brown.
www.canadaland.com/shows/what-i...
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What Is Happening Here
Anti-Jewish hate in Canada is off the charts. What is Happening Here is a raw, thorough, and honest examination of a vibrant, accepting society seized by a sudden crisis of hate.
https://www.canadaland.com/shows/what-is-happening-here/
about 2 months ago
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If you want to understand Canada, start here: A man who steals a city bus for a joyride refuses to let on a passenger with an expired monthly pass.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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Stephen Marche
New York Times Opinion
about 2 months ago
“During the Cold War, pop culture was an immensely powerful force on America’s side, and the U.S.S.R. had no answer” — but that era is over, Stephen Marche writes. “America’s global cultural dominance is diminished every day that Mr. Trump is in office.”
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Opinion | America Isn’t Cool Anymore
Pop culture exports have long been a potent source of American soft power. What happens when the U.S. is no longer the global capital of cool?
https://nyti.ms/4i0h9Gr
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Wrote for Sunday Opinion of @nytimes about the precipitous decline of American cultural power in the age of Trump.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/o...
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Opinion | America Is Losing the Fight for the Teenagers of the World
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/opinion/america-pop-culture-cool.html
about 2 months ago
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It is a privilege, in a way, to get your heart broken so deeply. Of all the years of being a fan, of all the teams, all the seasons, in all my life, this year's @BlueJays were the easiest to root for, the most fun to follow. I loved every minute until the last.
2 months ago
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Really enjoyed speaking with Sam Harris on his podcast today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQeV...
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The Threat of Civil War: A Conversation with Stephen Marche (Episode 441)
YouTube video by Sam Harris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQeVA3hsveY
2 months ago
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reposted by
Stephen Marche
Deborah Dundas
2 months ago
Thanks to
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
for this one: "Why poke the bear? If you’re dealing with a ranting meth-addled lunatic on the subway, the correct plan is to engage as little as possible."
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
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Stephen Marche: The right tactics when dealing with Trump? Ignore the impossible and look for the light within
The response mechanisms of the United States are so unpredictable that the consequences of any given action are fundamentally unknowable
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/stephen-marche-the-right-tactics-when-dealing-with-trump-ignore-the-impossible-and-look-for/article_cab12f2d-8afb-4a3f-990f-63eff55cbaa3.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=user-share
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Stephen Marche
The Rundown
2 months ago
Canada was once known as a peacekeeping nation, but that reputation has faded. In the age of Trump's America, what part should we play?
@jeyantvo.bsky.social
asks former UN ambassador Louise Blais and journalist
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
, host of the podcast "Gloves Off."
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Canada Without America: What's its Role in the World? | The Rundown
YouTube video by TVO Today
https://youtu.be/NHwbUZyr4y4?si=CYAHHcZzrWwaSDPv
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Stephen Marche
The Rundown
2 months ago
"What's the point in negotiating with a pirate? I mean any time that we come to an agreement, they'll just rip it up in the next five minutes." — journalist
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
on resuming trade negotiations with the U.S., at 8pm with
@jeyantvo.bsky.social
| Producer:
@britweaver.bsky.social
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French-Canadian baseball callers are just better.
www.threads.com/@derekvanvli...
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Derek van Vliet (@derekvanvliet) on Threads
good morning french grand slam callers
https://www.threads.com/@derekvanvliet/post/DQO1fP5Ar-8?xmt=AQF02TkWzNeemxMWQTpYQkBBsC4T3mj-dYiaTOi_eVsZ8A&slof=1
2 months ago
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I'm getting the impression that America doesn't want kings.
3 months ago
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This is Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays Ace, teaching his daughters how to ride bikes at the Evergreen Brickworks farmers market the day before the biggest start of his life. Everybody knew who he was. Nobody bothered him. Watch out Mariners. He looks happy and loose.
3 months ago
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Stephen Marche
Carter Lowe
3 months ago
The french call of the Vlad Guerrero Jr grand slam is absolutely electric
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How long till I can buy an "I'm built for this" t-shirt? I guess they'll probably be out by tomorrow lunch.
3 months ago
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I wrote for the @guardian about the best piece of advice I ever received. It was from my friend Gerry, who's 85, and it's simple: "Never lose a friend." He taught me that friendship, like exercise, is something you have to work at. Men need to learn this.
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
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Want more friends? A better social life? Be like my 85-year-old buddy Gerry
Friendship falters due to the belief it should just happen on its own. The solution: make a conscious effort to be social
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/oct/03/how-to-make-more-friends
3 months ago
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Last summer, I traveled to Bayreuth to see the full Ring Cycle at the Festspielhaus designed by Richard Wagner. As expected, among the greatest cultural experiences I have ever had. I didn't expect to encounter the origin of contemporary popular culture.
www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
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To see The Ring Cycle at Bayreuth is to see the origin of today’s popular culture
Each summer, Wagner’s famous opera works are performed in a theatre designed by the composer himself. His work foreshadowed how art is experienced today
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/article-wagner-the-ring-cycle-bayreuth-festival/
3 months ago
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reposted by
Stephen Marche
The Last Linda
3 months ago
Last week, I finished reading
#TheLastElection
by
@andrew-yang.bsky.social
&
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
. Given today’s “great spiritizing” of the highest ranks of the U.S. military by Hegseth and Trump, consider yourselves forewarned. Thoughts & quotes ⬇️.
#books
#AndrewYang
#StephenMarche
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Like, you mean, A Next Civil War?
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Stephen Marche
Matt (The Godzilla Remix)
3 months ago
My wife has entered the chat, literally, on the Jays game.
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Stephen Marche
Angry LeiaCat 🇨🇦
3 months ago
This book is a must-read, it's brilliant and well-researched. It's also terrifyingly accurate to how the next civil war could turn based on the events that have unfolded over the past 8 months - this was written in 2022.
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
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Stephen Marche
Alicia Wanless
3 months ago
Highly recommend The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future by
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
who still somehow manages to end it on a hopeful note. It came out in 2022 and remains shockingly prescient
www.cbc.ca/books/the-ne...
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The Next Civil War | CBC Books
A book by Stephen Marche.
https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-next-civil-war-1.6302066
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Good news: They're teaching The Next Civil War in a course in Seattle. Bad news: The title of the course.
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
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‘Politics of the End’ is a Seattle U class. It could be a study of last week’s news
What's happening with the Trump administration in the wake of a tragedy is the type of event that can tip political systems into collapse, says a Seattle U professor.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/politics-of-the-end-is-a-seattle-u-class-it-could-be-a-study-of-last-weeks-news/
4 months ago
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Stephen Marche
Canadian Curmudgeon 🍁
4 months ago
Just arrived: The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future, by Stephen Marche. Thought it was relevant to read it now.
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Stephen Marche
Atul Haria (immigrant)
4 months ago
This article by
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
is fantastic - it's an incredible read. "Militia pie is delicious; the crusts are richer, flakier. I think they use lard."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
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The America I loved is gone
It was a nation of dreams, built for the screen. Then it shattered
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/20/american-dream-trump-canada?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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Stephen Marche
Dr. Young-Leslie {use alt-text, humans} ElbowsUp! 🇨🇦🚲
4 months ago
Elbows up, Canucks. The Aug 31'25 episode of CBC Radio's The Current (Matt Galloway's interview with
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
) is essential listening. What *does* it mean to be 🇨🇦, how *do* we embody Canadian identity in this nefarious, autocracy-leaning world?
#CDNpoli
-
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
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© CBC/Radio-Canada 2025. All rights reserved.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16166789-stephen-marche-canada-defends-itself-russian-conductor-helping
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Stephen Marche
Victoria Dahl/Victoria Helen Stone
4 months ago
I’m reading THE NEXT CIVIL WAR by Stephen Marche, and just the introduction is making me nauseous. We are not okay.
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Stephen Marche
Crawford Kilian
4 months ago
A cogent argument by
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Canada finally faces a basic question: how do we defend ourselves? | Stephen Marche
For centuries, Canada hasn’t needed to prioritize its military. But the US transformation calls for a Finland-style approach
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/22/canada-military-defense-us-trump
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Stephen Marche
The Guardian
5 months ago
Canada finally faces a basic question: how do we defend ourselves? | Stephen Marche
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Canada finally faces a basic question: how do we defend ourselves? | Stephen Marche
For centuries, Canada hasn’t needed to prioritize its military. But the US transformation calls for a Finland-style approach
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/22/canada-military-defense-us-trump?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=bsky_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1755858903
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In
@theguardian.com
, I make the case for why Canada needs a whole society defence.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Canada finally faces a basic question: how do we defend ourselves? | Stephen Marche
For centuries, Canada hasn’t needed to prioritize its military. But the US transformation calls for a Finland-style approach
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/22/canada-military-defense-us-trump
5 months ago
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Stephen Marche
5 months ago
"We are a young country, indeed. You can still go and interview the leading canonical figure of our national literature." That 'leading canonical figure of our national literature,'
@margaretatwood.bsky.social
, gives some good lawn-care advice here.
#BookSky
#CanLit
🍁📚
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A bonus episode.
@margaretatwood.bsky.social
, unfiltered. From Canadian nationalism to Trump, “genocide of the poor,” and the future of democracy — this is the full-length Gloves Off interview. Watch now:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeAZ...
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Stephen Marche & Margaret Atwood Extended Interview
YouTube video by Gloves Off with Stephen Marche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeAZrTzN53A
5 months ago
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I wrote for the Globe and Mail about the weirdness of interviewing Margaret Atwood. She's funny as hell. She's optimistic because she feels she needs to be.
www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article...
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Like all writers, Margaret Atwood is a ‘chancer’ – but she’s always optimistic
Canada’s leading author is still working, taking risks and challenging the literary institutions she rules over
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-margaret-atwood-gloves-off-interview-canadian-literature-sovereignty/
5 months ago
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Stephen Marche
The Last Linda
5 months ago
I just finished
#TheNextCivilWar
by
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
. It took me a dispatch to get used to the format, but ultimately, the book paints the picture of an insurmountable divide. If this were a meme, Bugs Bunny already has his saw out; the only question is where to cut. More ⬇️.
#books
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@strombo.bsky.social
and I talked about Gloves Off. This conversation rips into the myths we tell ourselves about safety, power, and who’s really got our back. 📺 Watch it now on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ugz...
#Canada
#Strombo
#PoliticsUnplugged
#USCanada
#Authoritarianism
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Canada vs The United States - Are we strong enough? Stephen Marche gets into it
YouTube video by The Strombo Show / House of Strombo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgzgwLXBAg&t=288s
5 months ago
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Stephen Marche
Douglas Ogg
5 months ago
Be careful if you zoom in on the image of t-shirt. True, but, as they say, NSFW. (Or to wear when crossing the border.)
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Here's @MargaretAtwood in my house giving me a t-shirt. In the final episode of Gloves Off, I asked her what the title of a new dystopian novel about America would be. Her answer? "Genocide of the Poor."
shows.acast.com/gloves-off
5 months ago
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Stephen Marche
Steve Paikin
5 months ago
An excerpt from
@thepaikinpodcast.bsky.social
that’s hit 84,000 views on YouTube. An important convo between Janice Stein and
@stephenmarche.bsky.social
on how Canada should handle
@realdonaldtrumppar.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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Stephen Marche
VassB
5 months ago
"In response to America’s threats, Canada is in the middle of the greatest explosion of nationalism in the country’s history, far more substantial than the nationalism of the 1960s."
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Stephen Marche
Glass Half Empty 🇨🇦
5 months ago
Gloves Off is an excellent Canadian podcast. So is this article. 👇
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