The next morning, which is really just hours later, we arrive at Monte’s county hospital room which is located in the prison wing. He is being guarded by two members of the Los Angeles Police Department. Before we enter the room they nonchalantly tell me pieces of my brother’s story: We thought he was on […] More »

As a queer young woman fresh out of university entering the workforce, Jeanette Stock had several challenges to navigate. “The biggest barriers were my own about me being queer. I had never been schooled in workplace 101 on being queer,” says Stock. Challenges included coming out at work and getting comfortable with speaking about her […] More »

I am standing in a cemetery eating a breakfast burrito, Kyla. In its aesthetic wisdom the city irrigates this cemetery by pumping water through black tubes so that our dead, however problematically they lived, god rest them, will reincarnate as big dead trees with burgundy rotting blossoms. Don’t worry, Kyla— I know how death works. […] More »

Language is a living, breathing phenomenon that informs culture. Individual and societal identities are forged through the spoken and written word. It is a unifying force, “an invisible line from the heart into the past,” as Art Napoleon, a First Nations cultural educator of the Cree Nation, describes it. Warm greetings in a variety of […] More »

The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History By Aida Edemariam Knopf Canada, $34.00 The Wife’s Tale is an uncommon memoir that reads more like an epic, spanning decades of Ethiopia’s rich and tumultuous history, as well as one woman’s journey. It’s written by Aida Edemariam, a Canadian-Ethiopian journalist and the granddaughter of the book’s protagonist, who collected years’ […] More »

I was writing a quiz in organic chemistry when you texted me. It was the first time I ever missed a test. Technically, I didn’t miss it because there were five quizzes per term but only the four best counted toward the final mark. You thought it was funny that I was there when you […] More »

Poetry isn’t a vocation associated with typical career paths, but even so, Toronto-based poet Sabrina Benaim’s journey has been unusually meteoric. In 2014, she performed a poem called Explaining My Depression to My Mother at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California. “Mom, my depression is a shapeshifter,” she begins in the video that has […] More »

In a city known for cowboys and conservatism, a new initiative aims to commemorate its lesser-known history with a physical monument. Launched in 2017, the YYC Legacy Project sprang from Calgary city councillor Evan Woolley’s interest in ongoing endeavours, like Kevin Allen’s Calgary Gay History project. “I’m a fourth-generation Calgarian, I’m very proud of my […] More »

The National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames need a new stadium. At least their owners say they do. The 35-year-old Scotiabank Saddledome is perfectly functional, but the team owners’ dream project was CalgaryNEXT, a new Bow-riverside complex home to the Flames and the Canadian Football League’s Stampeders that may also pull in more concert revenue. The […] More »

“Hey hey, ho ho, corporate Pride has got to go!” “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re fabulous, don’t fuck with us!” The chants pierced the hot night air of June 24, 2013, accompanied by tambourines and drums—including a makeshift drum, made from a red frying pan with a wooden spoon for a drumstick. A crowd of […] More »

Individual news organizations tweet upwards of 100 times per day—a content diet even the most obsessive tweeter can’t digest. Instead, we pick out small bites, our personal interest and bias helping us choose what tweets we see and which accounts aren’t worth a follow. With each retweet and mention, Twitter’s algorithm goes to work, shaping […] More »