"Pitching, Pitfalls, Soundbites and Historians: Lessons from the Lake Ontario Naming Dispute" is a conversation between our two editors @maryeb.bsky.social and @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social about Macfarlane's recent Lake Ontario media attention. niche-canada.org/2026/09/05/p... #envhist #cdnhist

Pitching, Pitfalls, Soundbites and Historians: Lessons from the Lake Ontario Naming Dispute

After a controversial presidential proposal regarding Lake Ontario, historian Dan Macfarlane gained sudden media attention, sharing advice on handling press.

niche-canada.org

I was on CBC's The Current this morning talking Lake Ontario www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.

cbc.ca

Thanks to The Walrus for running this excerpt from my Lake Ontario book thewalrus.ca/lake-ontario...

Lake Ontario Has Bigger Problems than Donald Trump | The Walrus

Forget the fight over its name. The Great Lake is being threatened by pollution, development, and decades of neglect

thewalrus.ca

jim901.substack.com/p/lake-ontar...

Lake Ontario by Any Other Name is Lake Ontario

A Great Lakes Interloper

jim901.substack.com

I was on CBC radio this morning talking about Lake Ontario again share.google/JwIUeth1yVkF...

Fresh Air with Ismaila Alfa | Live Radio | CBC Listen

Every Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., Fresh Air brings you a showcase of voices, stories, events and ideas that make Ontario lively and interesting.

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"[Trump's] executive order Thursday renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' had me spitting out my morning coffee." The latest from @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social: https://wapo.st/4zNLkcA

My oped in the Washington Post about "Lake America" www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | ‘Lake America’ won’t happen. But Trump’s insult is foreboding.

The lake is Canadian in every way that matters. No U.S. executive order can change that.

washingtonpost.com

“Calling it Lake America is kind of ridiculous,” Macfarlane said. “It’s ridiculous, ludicrous for other reasons. … It’s far more a Canadian lake and far more important to Canada than it is to the U.S.” www.detroitnews.com/story/news/n...

Trump order renames Lake Ontario to Lake America

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America.

detroitnews.com

“But there was never, never really been any serious contestation by America or by Canada,” said Macfarlane, adding that renaming the lake is “erasing Indigenous fact and heritage.” www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

‘Outraged, appalled, shocked’: First Nations leader reacts to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

Wendat Nation Grand Chief Pierre Picard said the U.S. president “is attempting to eradicate our history” with his order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”

thestar.com

“Calling it Lake America is kind of ridiculous,” Macfarlane said. “It’s ridiculous, ludicrous for other reasons. … It’s far more a Canadian lake and far more important to Canada than it is to the U.S.” Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America.

Another interview I did about Trump’s ludicrous threat to rename Lake Ontario Source: The Globe and Mail

I appear in this Global News story - that's one of the national TV broadcasters in Canada, for those in the U.S. unfamiliar with the Canadian media landscape - about Trump renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America" globalnews.ca/video/120351...

‘Lake America’: Trump threatens to rename Lake Ontario amid trade war with Canada | Watch News Videos Online

Watch ‘Lake America’: Trump threatens to rename Lake Ontario amid trade war with Canada Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

globalnews.ca

I'm impressed that my amazing friend Dan didn't say "fucking idiot" here, but he does say "facepalm" which I think is sort of the same thing. Also, Dan's book is great and you should read it.

Daniel Macfarlane@danielmacfarlane.bsky.social · 4w ago

I was interviewed for this PBS story about "Lake America" share.google/oX5xf1cdEpgp...

I was interviewed for this PBS story about "Lake America" share.google/oX5xf1cdEpgp...

Trump's pitch to rename Lake Ontario belies its history

President Donald Trump mused on social implied the name of the lake is tied to the Canadian province, instead of the other way around.

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@danielmacfarlane.bsky.social did your bat signal go off?

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 4w ago

Well, he posted it, so I guess it’s the legal name now

I wrote a piece for Made By History (though disappointed they are no longer published by Time Magazine since that would have been cool!) about the history of crossborder air pollution in the context of the recent Canadian smoke debacle www.inquirer.com/health/wildf...

The border can’t block air pollution—but environmental diplomacy can

The history of U.S.-Canada cooperation to reduce air pollution across the border

inquirer.com

"All historians, regardless of experience in environmental history or history of science, can bring the climate emergency into their classroom." - @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2021/09/21/t... #envhist #cdnhist #climhist #energyhistory #climatechange #teaching

The Climate Crisis and the Canadian Classroom

Climate change, as well as our other big ecological problems, is tightly linked to how we use and consume resources.

niche-canada.org

"Electrifying everything and developing 'green' power – solar and wind especially – might be the closest thing humanity has to a technological silver bullet in the face of the climate change threat." - @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/05/13/h... #envhist #climatechange

Hydro Power, Energy Transitions, and the Onset of Canada's Great Acceleration

Canada’s hydroelectric history suggests its "Great Acceleration" began in the early 1900s, driven by symbiotic energy growth rather than transitions.

niche-canada.org

Today we have "Hydro Power, Energy Transitions, and the Onset of Canada’s Great Acceleration" by @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social This is the second post in our Canada's Great Acceleration series. The posts in this series are cross-posted with @activehist.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/05/13/h...

Hydro Power, Energy Transitions, and the Onset of Canada's Great Acceleration

Canada’s hydroelectric history suggests its "Great Acceleration" began in the early 1900s, driven by symbiotic energy growth rather than transitions.

niche-canada.org

For the second post of the Great Acceleration series, Daniel Macfarlane discusses Canada's hydroelectric history and the role of energy in the Great Acceleration. This is a cross-posted series with @nichecanada.bsky.social

Hydro Power, Energy Transitions, and the Onset of Canada’s Great Acceleration

Daniel Macfarlane This is the second post in a series exploring the potential of the Great Acceleration as a framework and reconnaissance of Canadian environmental history. The posts in t…

activehistory.ca

Our next NiCHE Conversation will be on Mon, May 11th, at 3pm ET on Instagram Live @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social will join @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social to chat about the new @acsus.bsky.social special issue on US–Canada Energy & Environmental Relations NiCHE on Insta: www.instagram.com/niche.canada

Today we are highlighting the new special issue of American Review of Canadian Studies @acsus.bsky.social on US–Canada Energy and Environmental Relations, edited by @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/04/29/s... #envhist #cdnhist #uscanada #borderstudies

Special Issue - US–Canada Energy and Environmental Relations

Canada–US relations revolve around a core paradox: economic prosperity through resource exports versus maintaining national autonomy.

niche-canada.org

New in Paperback! The Lives of Lake Ontario examines the myriad ways Canada and the United States have used and abused this remarkably resilient and uniquely vulnerable resource. buff.ly/3yepJ7D

1) "Finding Environmental History in 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald'" - @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social - niche-canada.org/2025/11/07/f... #envhist #greatlakes #musichistory

Finding Environmental History in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 ballad immortalized the 1975 Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck, linking Great Lakes industry, Indigenous history, environmental change, and enduring cultural memory.

niche-canada.org

A good Kalamazoo turnout in rainy weather to protest ICE - especially personal to me since I'm an immigrant (and now that I'm a citizen I can't be deported for taking part in civil disobedience

A good Kalamazoo turnout in rainy weather to protest ICE - especially personal to me since I'm an immigrant (and now that I'm a citizen I can't be deported for taking part in civil disobedience

And the poster for my talk at Queen's on December 11

Daniel Macfarlane@danielmacfarlane.bsky.social · 10mo ago

If you're in Kingston on December 11 and have $18 burning a hole in your pocket (sorry about the cost but at least it goes to supporting the museum). I'll also be giving a talk about the book at Queen's University that afternoon

And the poster for my talk at Queen's on December 11

Daniel Macfarlane@danielmacfarlane.bsky.social · 10mo ago

If you're in Kingston on December 11 and have $18 burning a hole in your pocket (sorry about the cost but at least it goes to supporting the museum). I'll also be giving a talk about the book at Queen's University that afternoon

If you're in Kingston on December 11 and have $18 burning a hole in your pocket (sorry about the cost but at least it goes to supporting the museum). I'll also be giving a talk about the book at Queen's University that afternoon

Once more on the actual anniversary. Toward an environmental history of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. thecurrentowdm.substack.com/p/disaster-o...

Disaster on Gichigami

What if the most famous disaster on Lake Superior never really ended?

thecurrentowdm.substack.com