I'll be thinking about this piece, coming back to it again and again, for years. harpers.org/archive/2026...

“Last November, we received a letter from a grade five student in New Kent, Virginia, asking for advice. The child wanted information on how to ‘save the walrus from extinction.’ He meant the wrinkled, tusked-and-whiskered mammal, not this organization.” thewalrus.ca/whats-a-walr...

We’ve been sold the lie that a perfect home equals a perfect life. Journalist Courtney Shea asks why mess feels like failure—and who benefits from the pressure to keep things tidy—in this sharp takedown of stress-cleaning culture. thewalrus.ca/how-to-keep-your...

Applications for the 2026 Wilderness Writing Residency are due very soon! Ten days. Six writers. Your own cabin in Port Renfrew, British Columbia. www.portrenfrewwritersretreat.com

From the publishing industry’s gambling problem to the World Sauna Championships, here are nine stories from 2025 that our editors can’t stop thinking about: thewalrus.ca/2025-surprising-...

Mark Carney has long been promising to make Canada an energy superpower. But what happens when “clean” energy growth is pursued alongside fossil fuel expansion? @arnokopecky.bsky.social reports on how the country’s climate ambitions have given way to politics: thewalrus.ca/no-matter-which-...

"There are so many ways in," opens Charlie Foran in this lovely essay on the creatures and critters that live in our homes, alongside us. No infestations here. thewalrus.ca/what-i-want-...

The Wilderness Writing Residency is back for 2026! Ten days. Six writers. Cabins in Port Renfrew, British Columbia. Writing about the natural world. Led by two faculty editors: award-winning authors Harley Rustad and Kate Harris. Applications are now open! www.portrenfrewwritersretreat.com

"Every media era gets the fabulists it deserves." Brilliant essay/investigation by @nickhunebrown.bsky.social into journalism scammers in the age of AI. thelocal.to/investigatin...

“Will our November issue create aftershocks? Maybe,” writes The Walrus editor-in-chief @cstarnino.bsky.social. “Each story asks the same question about power: who wields it, who keeps score, and who lives with the consequences?” thewalrus.ca/you-cant-always-...

“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” RIP Jane Goodall, 1934–2025 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

It was very special to work with six brilliant, thoughtful Indigenous writers — Michelle Good, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Eva Jewell, Janelle Lapointe, Anna McKenzie and Riley Yesno — on this series about truth and reconciliation, in print & online for @thewalrus.ca. thewalrus.ca/truth-and-re...

I tumbled down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why bags of A&W fries kept being delivered in the middle of the night for days and days to my neighbour's porch—and stumbled into all the markings of an international scam. My latest for @torontolifemag.bsky.social torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...

Have we been measuring mountains all wrong? Is it not height that is important but...grandeur? www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/ar...

They sting. They swarm. They spoil our picnics. But what if the insect we most hate to encounter outdoors is also one of nature’s unsung heroes? Here, The Walrus contributing writer @arnokopecky.bsky.social makes the case for the wasp. thewalrus.ca/in-defence-of-wa...

Lately, The Walrus contributing writer @michellecyca.com has been trying to make life harder for her children. Or rather, she’s trying to stop making it easier. Here, Cyca considers how obstacle parenting could help raise more resilient kids: thewalrus.ca/my-job-as-a-pare...

Thanks for picking my French fry mystery!

🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟

"By the time the fourth A&W bag materialized on her porch, she had gone from being curious about what she’d viewed as random littering to frustrated to shaken by the invasion of her privacy." @harleyrustad.com @torontolifemag.bsky.social torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

There's some incredible investigative journalism happening these days and I'm over here digging into why bags of A&W fries kept mysteriously appearing on my neighbour's porch in the middle of the night for days and days and days... torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

I tumbled down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why bags of A&W fries kept being delivered in the middle of the night for days and days to my neighbour's porch—and stumbled into all the markings of an international scam. My latest for @torontolifemag.bsky.social torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

How one company lobbied, undercut rivals, and built a monopoly on fire retardant in the US. As demand increased, so too did its prices. The US Forest Service has called the reliance on a single company a "massive risk." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/b...

Alec Luhn has been found alive after going missing in the Norwegian mountains. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

The celebrated ice-core science doc "For Winter" was produced by NatGeo and set to embark on a world tour when NatGeo pulled the doc at the end of January and scrubbed it from its site. Hm, what else happened just before then? Important report by @evaholland.bsky.social defector.com/why-did-nati...

It's tick season out there folks. Time to re-read this awesome, fascinating, goosebumpy feature by @stephanienolen.bsky.social. thewalrus.ca/invasion-of-...

The full story of that teacher who maybe possibly tried to sell his students' art as his own, by Sarah Treleaven. thewalrus.ca/did-a-montre...

I love this essay so much.

Fantastic investigation by @chloehadj.bsky.social into the million+ selling, award-winning memoir The Salt Path. Inaccuracies. Fictions. Inventions. Very troubling scandals. All is not what was written and loved. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Two captive orcas are currently stuck at a Marineland in France after it closed this year. Can the world's first marine sanctuary for whales, proposed in Nova Scotia, be their new home? Enter complication, politics, misinformation, greed. @jesstaylorprice.bsky.social‬ thewalrus.ca/marineland-o...

This brilliantly reported feature by Luc Rinaldi exposes the grim, infuriating, even predatory house of cards that is the music industry. There are echos across all the arts. thewalrus.ca/the-death-of...

New: After nearly $10-million was stolen from FACTOR's Scotiabank account last year, I spent months sifting through court documents trying to figure out how it happened Here's the most complete picture yet of the biggest heist in Canadian music history: www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/a...

Two captive orcas are currently stuck at a Marineland in France after it closed this year. Can the world's first marine sanctuary for whales, proposed in Nova Scotia, be their new home? Enter complication, politics, misinformation, greed. @jesstaylorprice.bsky.social‬ thewalrus.ca/marineland-o...

“Wanawī, which in English means ‘go outside.’ It’s not an order, it’s a teaching.” www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenti...

In the next 25 years we'll hit a global population of 10 billion and “a tragic mismatch of global food supply." Is it time for another Green Revolution? www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

pretty much every Pretendian discussion or media exposé is accompanied by the threat of a lawsuit. for @thewalrus.ca, I wrote about two (pretty wild) lawsuits that have materialized and what their decisions could mean for this fraught issue: thewalrus.ca/can-you-be-s...

An astonishingly beautiful essay by @arnokopecky.bsky.social on fathers and fireflies and life’s illuminations. It was such a pleasure having a tiny hand in this one. Please give it a read today. thewalrus.ca/a-son-a-scie...

This was one of the hardest things I've ever written. And also the easiest. It poured out of me after an emotional week with my 92-year-old father. I'm grateful to @harleyrustad.com for taking this on and treating it with such care. Happy Father's Day, dad.

A few years ago, a black bear tried to break into a cabin as I slept inside. The incident changed my relationship with bears forever. This is my attempt to reckon with my role in what happened -- and the many ways Ontario is failing our ursine neighbours. thenarwhal.ca/ontario-blac...

“Our fate flows with that of rivers—and always has.” In a time of ecological crisis, author @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social explores what we might learn or confront about the world we live in when we give natural entities like rivers rights: thewalrus.ca/if-rivers-had-ri...

For @thenarwhal.ca, I considered why people feel so entitled to parks. Public space! My tax dollars! Racism! Good news, I address all that here: thenarwhal.ca/bc-parks-fir...

On the ground, inside Guantánamo, by @michelleshephard.bsky.social for @thewalrus.ca. "More than any other president, Trump seems to have grasped its logic: the cruelty is the point." thewalrus.ca/guantanamo-b...

Rebels with a Vase: the dark side of the cut flower industry, by @toughcitywriter.bsky.social for @thewalrus.ca. thewalrus.ca/rebels-with-...

The @canadamediaawards.bsky.social nominations are here! We’re thrilled that The Walrus has received eight nominations across six categories. 🎉 Congratulations to all the nominees on this achievement. Read on to discover the stellar writing and art being celebrated this year:

If this new law is passed, people hoping to climb Everest will first have to prove they've previously climbed at least one 7,000+ metre peak in Nepal. The draft law also proposes that all guides be Nepali citizens, and that climbers declare any kind of record attempt. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Murder and misinformation in a Jamaican religious cult. Here's @rachelbrowne.ca with another sensational investigation for @thewalrus.ca. thewalrus.ca/is-your-bloo...

Mark it down as one of the most remarkable comebacks in Canadian history—maybe the most remarkable. Mark Carney has led the Liberal Party to victory. Here, writer @davidmoscrop.com examines how they clawed their way back from an electoral wipeout: thewalrus.ca/mark-carney-wins/

Who calls them woolly maggots?? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

🌎 Some green reads to celebrate #EarthDay! Find more on our website: houseofanansi.com/collections/... #booksky #canlit #bookrecs