Passages

Canadian historian Harold Innis devoted the years before his death in 1952 to the question of communication–its bias, its relationship with empire, its capacity to foster thought styles so dominant as...

15 Maj 1h 36min

To lift oneself up against the gravity of common sense, it takes a probing mind and searching spirit. It takes focus and scope, it takes dialogue with people who have real experience, and it perhaps a...

27 Feb 58min

There are a number of ways that one could describe Tonya K. Davidson’s new book, Ottawology. On one level, it’s a synthesis of sociological theory and research about Canada’s capital. It is also to so...

1 Jan 53min

Annie Dillard is verbally vibrant and deadly in description. But it’s the nature of the solstice season too, impeccably balanced, a knife’s edge of mortality and vitality. Passages featured in this so...

21 Dec 202510min

A great work, like a great river, has many tributaries. In the case of Plato’s Republic, American classicist James Romm divines one such buried stream, exploring Plato’s encounters with tyranny on his...

7 Nov 202558min

Ed Broadbent’s political thought and action was based on a desire for a fuller and richer democratic life, and a basic respect for his fellow Canadians. In one of his final years, Broadbent wrote that...

30 Sep 20251h

Democracy is both a lofty ideal and a humble collection of practices, institutions and dispositions. Dave Moscrop’s writing travels between these two poles. Moscrop brings gentleness to his judgment o...

1 Sep 202556min

Dennis Lee's poems sound the depths of human interiority, but also show that interiority has external (and political) correlates. The poems featured in this summer reading bonus episode are collected ...

4 Aug 20256min