Not such a violent world after all
Posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 12:52 pmPick up a newspaper and you can be forgiven for thinking that acts of violence are on the rise. Celebrated psychologist Steven Pinker, BA’76, DSc’99, says it just isn’t so.
Recommended reading and listening – Fall-Winter 2011
Posted on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 11:41 amThe Long Way Back by Chris Alexander, BA’89 Few westerners have a better grasp of the steep challenges that stand in the way of a stable, peaceful Afghanistan than Chris Alexander. The recently elected Conservative MP spent six years in that country, first as Canada’s ambassador, then as a senior UN representative. In his new [...]
Out to change the world? Think it through first
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 3:23 pmYouthful idealists traveling abroad to improve the lives of others should carefully evaluate what they can realistically accomplish, caution a pair of seasoned vets.
Crass Struggle: Greed, Glitz and Gluttony in a Wanna-Have World
Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:29 pmIn Crass Struggle, McGill economics professor Tom Naylor shatters any illusion that really, really rich people are smarter than the rest of us, or have lifestyles to be envied
A Gentleman of Pleasure: One Life of John Glassco, Poet, Memoirist, Translator, and Pornographer
Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:29 pmAfter dropping out of McGill, frustrated poet John “Buffy” Glassco (1909-1981) left the well-feathered family nest to flit around Europe, where he rubbed shoulders (and possibly more) with a who’s-who of the ex-pat arts scene. He shot the breeze with Man Ray. He got an earful of scorn from Gertrude Stein (for championing Jane Austen). He drank with Joyce, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. He watched porn with Peggy Guggenheim. Most of those things, however, never happened.
Soundcheck: Montebello
Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:28 pmPatrick Watson, Socalled and Plants and Animals are among the prominent Montreal musical acts that have recruited Katie Moore for their own albums, confident that her rich, earthy vocals will add just the right je ne sais quoi to their releases.
The Last Act
Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:28 pmThirty years ago, amidst “rudeness and rancor,” Canada took a last, long-delayed step towards national adulthood. Although it had shed British rule, Canada was still unable to change its laws without approval from Westminster—a humiliating situation then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau vowed to change.
The case against media empires
Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 3:16 pmFor many authors, it would be the stuff of a particularly pleasant daydream. Let’s say you published a well-received book that dealt with the issues that concerned you, and then somebody in a position of power tapped you on the shoulder and said, “Don’t you want to do more than just write about it?”
Turning a profit by going green
Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011 at 3:58 pmAuthor Andrew Heintzman, BA’89, MA’92, argues that smart entrepreneurs can make plenty of money by being environmentally responsible.
On the Proper Use of Stars
Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011 at 2:32 pmOn the Proper Use of Stars by Dominique Fortier Dominique Fortier, PhD’93, is a bright new light on the literary scene, as dazzling as any constellation described in her debut novel, On the Proper Use of Stars. Originally published in French in 2008, Du bon usage des étoiles was immediately hailed for its originality and [...]
