Way in back 2003, my high school English teacher asked the class to define Canada. Our answers sucked. Now, 23 years later (lordy, I'm old) I'm trying to come up with better answers. My latest essay for @thestar.com bit.ly/4eMh2x9 .

Donald Trump is forcing us to answer a question: What is a Canadian anyway?

How is Canada defined? We have often had trouble answering that question but may no longer have the luxury of deferring.

bit.ly

I was very happy to win a National Magazine Award for my @macleans.bsky.social magazine profile of Jenni Byrne. The profile-writing prize is the one I've been after my entire career. macleans.ca/longforms/je...

For @torontolifemag.bsky.social, I profiled Deepak Paradkar, the “cocaine lawyer” who represented accused drug kingpin Ryan Wedding. Parakdar says he was doing normal lawyer stuff for Wedding. The FBI says he was basically a member of Wedding's criminal enterprise. torontolife.com/deep-dives/m...

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer - Toronto Life

The man who represented drug lord Ryan Wedding is unapologetically flashy—he has a Lamborghini and two Maseratis and wears $1,200 Louboutins. But did the...

torontolife.com

Yesterday, I was nominated for a National Magazine Award (Best Profile), for my @macleans.bsky.social feature on Jenni Byrne, the ruthless tactician behind Pierre Poilievre. This was a brutal piece to report—folks were terrified to talk—but I hope it's a fun one to read macleans.ca/longforms/je...

My longform interview with @think.kera.org—one of my favourite radio shows—is out in the world today. I spoke about how kids need risky, unchaperoned play, and about how our perceptions of childhood danger are often at odds with reality. think.kera.org/2026/04/14/f...

Freedom is good for kids and scary for parents - Think

Simon Lewson discusses the courage parents must drum up to allow children to have age-appropriate autonomy.

think.kera.org

I went on NPR's Here and Now to make my case for why children need unsupervised, risky play. In your favourite childhood memories, you were probably outside with friends, feeling exhilarated and free. We should all want our children to have that same joy. www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Helicopter vs. free-range parenting: What are the benefits of unsupervised play?

Unsupervised play, once a normal part of American childhood, has largely been superseded by screens, structured activities and safety culture.

wbur.org

For @torontolifemag.bsky.social, I wrote about the city’s vicious tow-truck wars—a world of violence, arson, shifting allegiances, and paranoia. torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone - Toronto Life

The towing industry has been hijacked by criminals and kingpins who fleece customers, beat up dissenters and shoot their enemies. How an unremarkable...

torontolife.com

I talked to Shaye Ganam, on QR in Calgary & 880 CHED in Edmonton, about how safety culture is making childhood less active and less exciting. Shaye and I were both amateur bomb makers as kids. We still remember the recipe for gunpowder. Listen here: pdst.fm/e/traffic.me... @thewalrus.ca

Here's my latest essay for @thewalrus.ca. As a parent, I understand the impulse to protect kids. Danger is real. And on the other side of danger? Unimaginable loss. But safety, I've come to believe, is inversely correlated with freedom—which, for kids, is sacrosanct. thewalrus.ca/is-it-danger...

Is It Dangerous to Let Kids Be Free? | The Walrus

From bus rides to playgrounds, we are raising our children in a culture of fear

thewalrus.ca

At 5 pm, I'll be on CBC's Here and Now talking with host Farrah Merali about Ryan Wedding, Canada's most famous (former) fugitive, who was arrested yesterday in Mexico City. For a primer on this crazy story, read my Toronto Life feature from last year: torontolife.com/deep-dives/b...

Becoming El Jefe: The story of Ryan Wedding, Canada’s Olympic snowboarder turned ruthless drug lord - Toronto Life

Before Ryan Wedding landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list as a high-level associate of El Chapo, he was a bright-eyed kid from Thunder Bay. The inside story...

torontolife.com

I spoke today with Jayme Poisson on CBC's Front Burner podcast, where I defended an old-fashion idea: institutional neutrality. Should universities have opinions? I vote no. Opinions are for students and professors and instructors, not administrators. www.cbc.ca/radio/frontb...

Should universities have opinions? | CBC Radio

What are the risks of universities taking public positions on controversial political and social issues?

cbc.ca

If you only read one piece on the life of Ryan Wedding, this should be it. Brilliantly done.

Simon Lewsen@simonlewsen.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Ryan Wedding—the Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin turned celebrity fugitive—is back in the news today. If you want a primer on the darkest, wildest, most Vince Gilligan-y story in Canada right now, give my @torontolifemag.bsky.social feature on Wedding a read. torontolife.com/deep-dives/b...

Wow. Brilliant writing, and impressive research! I feel like I just watched the film. Wow. I had no idea he was this infamous. Or evil.

Ryan Wedding—the Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin turned celebrity fugitive—is back in the news today. If you want a primer on the darkest, wildest, most Vince Gilligan-y story in Canada right now, give my @torontolifemag.bsky.social feature on Wedding a read. torontolife.com/deep-dives/b...

Becoming El Jefe: The story of Ryan Wedding, Canada’s Olympic snowboarder turned ruthless drug lord - Toronto Life

Before Ryan Wedding landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list as a high-level associate of El Chapo, he was a bright-eyed kid from Thunder Bay. The inside story...

torontolife.com

I take critiques of neutrality seriously. I'm unconvinced that there's some kind of perfect neutral state humans can attain. But I think neutrality is important as a guiding principle. If I were accused of a crime, I'd want to be tried in a court that strives, however imperfectly, for neutrality.

Mad (Social) Scientist 🇨🇦@jemburch.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I trained in the positivist tradition, in which, to the extent possible, one is to leave one's values at the door. Institutional neutrality reflects this paradigm. However, it also comes with a lot of baggage about what objectivity looks like and who is capable of it. macleans.ca/longforms/th...

I trained in the positivist tradition, in which, to the extent possible, one is to leave one's values at the door. Institutional neutrality reflects this paradigm. However, it also comes with a lot of baggage about what objectivity looks like and who is capable of it. macleans.ca/longforms/th...

The Battle for the Soul of the University - Macleans.ca

A group of University of British Columbia professors say their administration is taking too many political stances and should commit to institutional neutrality. They’re going to court to prove it.

macleans.ca

"Institutional neutrality on campus isn’t about renouncing social progress; it’s about protecting the intellectual conditions that make such progress possible" —me. @macleans.bsky.social

Maclean’s Magazine@macleans.bsky.social · 9mo ago

UBC prof Andrew Irvine believes Canadian universities take too many political stances—and that they're abdicating their rightful role as free and open places of debate. He's taking his own employer to court to prove it. https://macleans.ca/longforms/the-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-university/

Should universities serve as engines of social justice or spaces of independent inquiry? Can they be both? https://macleans.ca/longforms/the-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-university/

The Battle for the Soul of the University - Macleans.ca

A group of University of British Columbia professors say their administration is taking too many political stances and should commit to institutional neutrality. They’re going to court to prove it.

macleans.ca

I wrote an essay for @macleans.bsky.social. It's a defence of institutional neutrality on campus. If university administrators value the work that students and professors do, they should get out of the way and let them do it. macleans.ca/longforms/th...

The Battle for the Soul of the University - Macleans.ca

A group of University of British Columbia professors say their administration is taking too many political stances and should commit to institutional neutrality. They’re going to court to prove it.

macleans.ca

An essay I wrote three years ago is, for the moment, the number one trending piece at @thewalrus.ca. The largest art heist in Canadian history happened in 1972. In a world obsessed with art crime, why did Canadians basically shrug the whole thing off? thewalrus.ca/canadas-bigg...

What Canada’s Largest Art Heist Reveals about the Art World’s Shady Side | The Walrus

The stolen masterpieces have never turned up—and nobody’s really looking for them

thewalrus.ca

What a devastating loss. This man gave us three absolutely perfect records. pitchfork.com/news/dangelo...

D’Angelo, Groundbreaking R&B Artist, Dies at 51

From his 1995 debut Brown Sugar to his 2014 comeback Black Messiah, he helped define the neo-soul movement

pitchfork.com

This piece is still the one I'm most proud of in my career. (And @chloeellingson.bsky.social's photos are gorgeous.)

The Local Magazine@thelocal.to · 10mo ago

From the #LocalArchives: The Annex is shrinking. The towers of Crescent Town are exploding. @simonlewsen.bsky.social on a tale of two cities, and how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto. thelocal.to/density-the-...

From the #LocalArchives: The Annex is shrinking. The towers of Crescent Town are exploding. @simonlewsen.bsky.social on a tale of two cities, and how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto. thelocal.to/density-the-...

In the Annex and Crescent Town, Two Sides to a Density Dilemma | The Local

The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971. The towers of Crescent Town had far more. How the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto.

thelocal.to

My piece on the death (and possible rebirth) of humanities education has been re-printed by @thelineca.bsky.social, one of the best places on the internet for lively writing and independent thought. www.readtheline.ca/p/simon-lews...

Simon Lewsen: Despite tough times, the humanities aren't dead yet

And, in fact, in an era where everything is mechanized, including thought, they may be rebounding.

readtheline.ca

These words from @cherilucasrowlands.com made me happy: "After reading a series of articles lamenting the death of higher education and critical thinking in the age of ChatGPT, I tempered my despair with Simon Lewsen’s somewhat hopeful essay on the humanities" longreads.com/2025/09/10/d...

Longreads@longreads.com · 11mo ago

"I didn’t expect any of this, and I’m unsure what to make of it. But I wonder if the emerging threat of AI is restoring a sense of vitality to the humanistic mission." @simonlewsen.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/humanities-i...

"I didn’t expect any of this, and I’m unsure what to make of it. But I wonder if the emerging threat of AI is restoring a sense of vitality to the humanistic mission." @simonlewsen.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/humanities-i...

The Humanities Aren't Dead Yet | The Local

Enrollment in the liberal arts has been in freefall for years. But despite apocalyptic declarations about the end of the humanities, in my own classroom I see signs of life.

thelocal.to

For my Designlines column, I visited Biidaasige—the new adventure playground at the foot of the Don River—and let my toddler guide me around. She was ecstatic. Children need risky play. Long live Biidaasige. @waterfrontoronto.bsky.social www.designlinesmagazine.com/biidaasige-p...

Biidaasige Park Is a Triumph

Biidaasige transforms the Don River’s flood-prone, industrial canal into a restored delta and vibrant new park for Toronto.

designlinesmagazine.com

The humanities have been in crisis for the entirety of @simonlewsen.bsky.social's career. But despite apocalyptic declarations about the death of the liberal arts, in his own classroom he sees signs of life. thelocal.to/humanities-i...

The Humanities Aren't Dead Yet | The Local

Enrollment in the liberal arts has been in freefall for years. But despite apocalyptic declarations about the end of the humanities, in my own classroom I see signs of life.

thelocal.to

So, @thelocal.to is rolling out its Higher Education issue today. I wrote an essay about the supposed death of the humanities. Are the humanities really dying, though? In my own classroom at the University of Toronto, I see surprising signs of life. thelocal.to/humanities-i...

The Humanities Aren't Dead Yet | The Local

Enrollment in the liberal arts has been in freefall for years. But despite apocalyptic declarations about the end of the humanities, in my own classroom I see signs of life.

thelocal.to

The federal government is seeking to punish the City of Toronto for failing to legalize sixplexes. My hot take: When it comes to housing, the feds should throw their weight around even more. My latest column instalment for Designlines. www.designlinesmagazine.com/sixplexes-in...

Toronto Fumbled on Sixplexes—Now It Could Lose $30 Million

The Federal Government Might Refuse to Hand Over $30 Million in Housing Funds to the City of Toronto for its shortcoming on Siplexes.

designlinesmagazine.com