Dry January be damned, I am here to talk to you about the delights of dining - and drinking - alone. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

I’ve long felt the pull toward solo dining. It turns out I’m not alone

It provides a communal anonymity that asked nothing of me except to indulge and observe

thestar.com

Thanks for recognizing my story @longreads.com! Click through if you want to go on a trip through several decaying suburban shopping malls.

Longreads@longreads.com · 11mo ago

"For the liminal space curious, semi-abandoned suburban shopping malls are a perfect example of this phenomenon: something purpose-built that’s long-since lost that purpose, yet sits in limbo awaiting its next iteration." —@CuriousLana.bsky.social for @Hazlitt.bsky.social

In 2025, The Local published more stories than ever, with a higher readership than ever. Here are our most-read stories of the year. thelocal.to/the-locals-m...

The Local’s Most-Read Stories of 2025 | The Local

From features about health care and higher ed, to stories about tracking bunnies, scammers, and worms, these are our most popular stories of the year.

thelocal.to

Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea

My foster cat Elune went to her forever home yesterday, after living with me for almost a year. Who exactly is going to judge all my story ideas now?

The soaring atriums, the shuttered food courts, the plastic ferns. What does it all mean? I spent a year hanging around semi-abandoned shopping malls and the people who seek solace within them, trying to understand what it says about cities, change, and nostalgia. hazlitt.net/longreads/de...

The Dead Mall Society | Hazlitt

Standing in the wreckage of these spaces unlocks a sensation people often crave, but can’t name.

hazlitt.net

Great story from @curiouslana.bsky.social. “We don’t have enough social care, we don’t have enough supportive housing, and we have a lot of people under a lot of stress... So who is going to have to deal with that? At the moment it looks like the TTC." thelocal.to/ttc-mental-h...

On the TTC, With Nowhere to Go | The Local

With rising homelessness, decreased mental health support, and fewer public spaces than ever, the TTC and its workers are being asked to fill gaps in a dissolving social safety net.

thelocal.to

Best True Crime Stories is out now! Featuring a selection of moving, memorable and shocking stories, including one of mine. www.amazon.com/Best-True-Cr...

The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2025

Buy The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2025: Read Books Reviews - Amazon.com

amazon.com

You want me to "rest" *and* "be assured" at the same time? Seems like a tall order.

Hey @longreads.com, this piece about "goth seagulls" by @alexandrakimball.bsky.social is the story you never knew you needed.

The Local Magazine@thelocal.to · last yr.

Cormorants aren’t just birds, writes @alexandrakimball.bsky.social. “They're vectors for clashing ideas about cities, wildlife, and how humans co-exist—or don’t—with the aspects of nature that remain especially messy, visible, and resistant to our control.” thelocal.to/cormorants-t...

I wish I loved anything as much as People Magazine loves putting random words in quotations and making them sound unnecessarily dubious.

Elune has no concept of the news cycle.

Worried about a fascist takeover? This sheet-pan paella will make you feel like you’re in 1930s Spain.

We at The Chestnut Review are trying to raise $1,000 to subsidize a spot in our 2025 retreat, which will be held in Riga, Latvia. While a writing retreat can be transformative, it's also cost prohibitive for many. Please consider donating if you can: fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/chestnut-rev...

Chestnut Review Writers Retreat Scholarships!

Help send a writer to our 2025 Riga Retreat!

fundraising.fracturedatlas.org

New editorial intern alert.

just totted up all the substacks I pay for and found myself thinking ‘wow wouldn’t it be better if all these writers were in one place and I could just pay a flat fee’ so anyway that’s how today I invented the concept of the ‘newspaper’

"How long are we going to continue calling this SmartTrack?" Councillor Josh Matlow asks transit staff. "Do you really want me to answer that?" responds Derek Toigio of the Transit Expansion Office. "Maybe it should be PastTrack," says Speaker Nunziata.

Is your mom like, really into Luigi Mangione? Does she have a sympathy for him that you've found surprising or delightful or otherwise out of character? If so, I'd love to speak to you for a story!

Are you an early-career journalist or mid-career looking to learn some new skills? The CAJ Mentorship program is great. My mentor was Jim Rankin (@jleerankin.bsky.social) and he was/is a lifesaver. Also, the deadline has now been extended until Monday!

Fatima Syed@fatimabsyed.bsky.social · 2y ago

Paging all Canadian journalists! The best deal on the internet right now — in my biased opinion — is a brand-new edition of the Canadian Association of Journalists' mentorship program! This holiday season, give yourself the gift of a mentor! (We have 30!!) APPLY BY FRIDAY! caj.ca/programs/men...

Everything is a hellscape but I got to spend two weeks writing in the forest as part of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity 2024 Literary Journalism Residency. Highly recommend.

NEW: As word of his imminent departure spreads, Global News has learned that Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has been receiving a $12k/year car allowance -- but doesn't own a vehicle. globalnews.ca/news/1089752... #onpoli

Metrolinx CEO receives yearly vehicle allowance sources say he doesn’t use | Globalnews.ca

Phil Verster has consistently received a taxable benefit of between $12,575 to $13,392 on top of his taxpayer-funded salary of $838,097 as of 2023.

globalnews.ca

This whole statement has very "pivot to video" vibes. Just saying. A really tough time for members of the TVO editorial team - and others elsewhere who have also been laid off over the past few months.

Matt Gurney@mattgurney.bsky.social · 2y ago

Over on X, that's where I ended my original thread, but a few things to add here: - TVO says it will remain partially in the journalism business, via continuing some shows (including The Agenda), as well as some podcasts and documentaries. TVO's statement attached.

1/5: Hi! As I rebuild my digital footprint post-Twitter, I thought I'd share some of the work I've done recently. For @tvotoday.bsky.social I wrote about an affluent resort town in Ontario whose hospitality and service workers can no longer afford to live there. www.tvo.org/article/can-...

Reconnecting with the Twitter homies on Bluesky

In last Saturday's @torontostar.bsky.social I wrote about going to "mystery dinners" and got philosophical about how we define the value of social connections, and whether we even should. The print version has some gorgeous art, but you can read it online here: thestar.com/opinion/cont...