So often these days, I’m reminded not of historical parallels or lessons but of the fact that much about this US presidential election—and especially its broader context—is unprecedented. It’s a word that’s so overused it’s been stripped of urgency, so it’s worth spending a moment to figure out what it actually means. For me, broadly speaking, it’s the sensation of being unmoored from history. This doesn’t mean we’ve shed its weight. Rather, it’s a disconnect from how our current moment fits within historical paradigms. The disconnect lies in the fact that we are experiencing cataclysmic changes humans have never seen before, and at a scale that puts life on this planet at risk.

Read more about US politics here:

• For MAGA, Defeat Means Vindication
• Wait, Is Kamala Harris a Populist Now?
• Donald Trump Insulted a Room Full of Black Journalists. I Was There
• Kamala Harris’s Campaign Is Only Meme Deep. Can It Be Sustained?
• Why Canada Should Worry about Trump’s Second Coming
• Poilievre’s Dangerous Dance with MAGA‐Style Politics

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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 more than half the world’s population go to the polls, 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.

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