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In opposing trans rights, free speech warriors recycle old talking points

In June 2017, the Canadian government passed Bill C-16. It's a law that expands the human rights code to include "gender identity and expression" as a prohibited ground of discrimination. This was a significant, if symbolic win for trans rights in Canada. But to hear a certain U of T psychology …

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The Sands of Mars Book Review

Arthur C. Clarke
This story was written in 1951, and it hasn't aged terribly well. There's the fascination with atomic science; the casting of Mars colonists as brave and intrepid pioneers; the rationality and cleverness of it all. When (spoiler alert) they discover Martians, the main character makes quick work of handing it over for scientific experimentation. They soon put the new species to work to benefit the colonial society. There's a naïve optimism running throughout this book that shares none of the darkness or doubt of Clarke's more famous work, *2001: A Space Odyssey*.

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The Disposessed Book Review

Ursula K. LeGuin
This story shines in its realistic, warts-and-all portrayal of a society founded on the principles of “mutual aid” — basically non-authoritarian communism. The stoic, socially outcast intellectual as protagonist felt a little two-dimensional. But Le Guin’s dramatic prose, the way she twists a common feeling into something sublime, makes you want to keep reading.

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Long live the blogroll

Buy local, eat local, ... read local? In today’s digital media landscape, there are a few giant tech companies that control most of what we read. Their algorithms are tailored to feed us the most sensational, cringeworthy, funny, viral stuff. They dredge up the popular posts from the slurry of …

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