What does this mean for information and truth?

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

A note from our editor‐in‐chief:

I started writing this last night with the TV on and the New York Times Presidential Election page open on my laptop, refreshing for the latest ballot counts. Chances are you did something similar—juggling tasks through the evening with one eye on the latest developments. You now know what happened as well as I do: the stunning comeback of Donald Trump, a convicted felon who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. What made this political season especially exhausting, aside from Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, was the tidal wave of misinformation: it was hard to distinguish reality from distortion. Canada’s own national election could be called any time, and if you want a media source you can trust amidst the bots and billionaires with agendas, you’ve come to the right place. At The Walrus, we’re committed to delivering fair and accurate reporting that informs, engages, and provokes conversation—not just about Canada, but the US and around the world. But we can’t do it alone. With your support, we can remain an independent voice, delivering fearless, fact‐based journalism to Canadians and global readers. Stand with us to support a future where truth and integrity come first. Donate today.

Carmine Starnino

Yes, I'll help

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We’re Addicted to Being Right

How our need for certainty is poisoning politics

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This Is the Most Important Election in History

You have every right to be nervous

BY MELISSA J. GISMONDI

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An Acclaimed Canadian Playwright Faces Questions of Pretendianism

Jani Lauzon has maintained she is Métis and her play 1939—now touring Canada—is based on her father’s experience at a residential school. What if none of it is true?

BY MICHELLE CYCA

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Online Shopping Can’t Be Trusted

Counterfeits and junk fees are cheapening what you buy—and draining your wallet

BY VASS BEDNAR, DENISE HEARN

A Rock‐Star Researcher Spun a Web of Lies—and Nearly Got Away with It

Jonathan Pruitt was prolific, influential, and charming. Then academic sleuths started poking around

BY SARAH TRELEAVEN

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IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets

Every time the names of products or microcelebrities appear in a book, they prick us like a targeted ad

BY GRETA RAINBOW

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Canada’s $32.5 Billion Tobacco Settlement Is a Hollow Victory

As the smoke clears from epic lawsuits against three tobacco companies, who really won the day?

BY JOSHUA KNELMAN

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Today’s Scariest Movies Are Canadian

Too often, horror films confuse surprise with fear. A new class of directors is exploring darker places

BY KC HOARD

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Confessions of a Candy Hunter

The variety and inventiveness of American treats—it’s pure magic

BY MEREDITH HOLIGROSKI

Join us for The Walrus Talks at Home: Polarization to examine the increasing political, social, and cultural divide. Leading experts will discuss how and why politicians and public figures have ramped up the use of intense rhetoric to galvanize support and create wedge issues. We’ll take a look at the impact of social media platforms and how they amplify “rage bait” and dis/misinformation. We’ll also look at how the COVID‐19 pandemic intensified political divisions around health and science policies. In the closing days of a year that saw around half the world’s population go to the polls, following the conclusion of the contentious US election and in the lead‐up to an expected federal election, don’t miss this urgent discussion about what divides us and how Canadians can find common ground.

Join us

This week on What Happened Next, host Nathan Whitlock chats with Hannah Green, writer and poetry editor at the literary journal CV2. They talk about the photo from her book launch that went viral, about writing poetry before and after getting sober, and about the unexpectedly long break from writing she took after finishing Xanax Cowboy, her Governor General’s Award–winning debut collection.

Listen now

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