Illustration by Katya Roxas
We have met the news that Canada will be getting its own version of The Great Pottery Throw Down with mild trepidation. The charming British TV show pits amateur potters and ceramic artists against one another. But we’ve seen what happens when producers here attempt to Canadianize a hit from abroad: “cultural cringe.” To learn more, read Alex Tesar’s “The Great Canadian Baking Show Is a Pile of Wet Dough”:
When one of the hosts announced the technical challenge—maple cream sandwiched between two maple-leaf cookies—she declared that “the only thing more Canadian than that is if Céline Dion rode in on a moose drinking a brewski!” But there is, in fact, one thing more Canadian than that, which the camera immediately cut to—a scathing polite chuckle. While the contestants are generally likeable and diverse (although not geographically—50 percent of the contestants have been from Ontario for the past two seasons), many seem, like the country as a whole, as though the thing that unites them most strongly is the happenstance of being in the same place. Rather than showing us what Canada is and what it could become, it reveals profound insecurities about what sticks us together besides maple syrup. [Read more]
You may have seen the eccentric, cat-centric New York magazine cover story on polyamory or the recent critique of the upper crust’s fascination with the topic in The Atlantic. We’ve also explored relationships outside monogamy, with Natalie Zina Walschots’s essay on intimacy and belonging, “Love, Additionally”:
As an innately polyamorous person who has been, for the most part, in primarily monogamous relationships, the romantic primacy of Valentine’s Day always sat funny with me. I always wanted to be a member of a superhero team. I’ve always been looking for my community. If February 14 was a day about love, why was it something I should only share with my partner at the time? In the past, I’ve been ridiculously, obsessively in love with someone, but often I had a friendship that was deeper and more enduring. I’ve thought my boyfriends were cool, but sometimes, if I’m honest, I thought their ex-girlfriends were cooler. I’ve been happy being part of a couple, but my deepest joy often came from being a part of a community. [Read more]
There’s buzz about little blue checkmarks in Atlantic Canada. No, not verified accounts on X, but the Marine Stewardship Council’s mark of sustainability on your can of tuna or frozen salmon filets. Fishing industry groups aren’t too happy with the council’s new standards. But is there really such a thing as sustainable fish? Laura McDonnell explained why she’s stopped eating them altogether:
Researchers have found that when given the choice between natural and microplastic food items, fish tend to choose the plastic. For most aquatic animals, finding food while avoiding predators is a struggle, so being picky or discerning is not evolutionarily beneficial; most species grab their desired snack quickly and head right back to their hiding place. As a result, aquatic animals often ingest floating bits of plastic, either by confusing colourful microplastics for something else, or by ingesting plastic-contaminated prey. [Read more]
Sheila Heti is everywhere, thanks to her new book Alphabetical Diaries. Nearly a decade ago, Lisan Jutras profiled the writer in “Hard to Read”:
Over the course of her relatively short career, Heti has become a symbol of different things to different people: she’s the embodiment of a certain of-the-moment whimsical faddishness; a globally relevant artist who broke free of the usual Canadian constraints and never looked back; a feminist admirable for depicting women’s psyches honestly; and the cool kid who made of her charmed life a myth, and thus became someone to envy and emulate—or to envy and disdain. [Read more]