May 2020 | The Walrus

May 2020 / Poetry

Stick

April 2, 2021April 1, 2021 - by M. Travis Lane

I’ve had my green leaves and my bloom. / Now dry, I sense the pull / of oceans I can’t navigate

Illustration of a doctor opening the door of a hospital so an elderly woman, pulling a suitcase, can walk outside. Beyond the door is a brightly-coloured village.

May 2020 / Society

Dementia Care Gets Its Own Village

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 - by Karin Olafson

Inside a new housing model for managing mental decline—one that prioritizes patient autonomy

Illustration of a person standing on the roof of a shed with their back to the viewer. In the distance are purple mountains and a lilac sky, in which a cloud in the shape of a curled-up person drifts past.

Fiction / May 2020

Shelter Seekers

May 1, 2020May 9, 2020 - by Georgina Beaty

A short story about climate anxiety and an anthropological research trip gone awry

Psychedelic-style illustration of a man wearing a white coat and large goggles to protect his eyes. In the goggles' reflection, we see two hands pouring brightly-coloured material from one into the other. His hair is a spectrum of brightly-coloured waves.

Health / May 2020

Why It’s So Hard to Legalize Recreational Drugs

April 28, 2020June 10, 2020 - by Jonah Brunet

Scientists believe that newly invented psychoactive substances might have untapped health benefits. Too bad none of us will ever get to try them

A photograph of the poet, Bronwen Wallace, in black and white. She is wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a scarf tied around her neck. Her hands are in her pockets and she is smiling at the camera.

Arts & Culture / May 2020

The Poet Whose Work Helped Set the Stage for #MeToo

April 24, 2020June 10, 2020 - by Anita Lahey

Twenty-seven years after her death, Bronwen Wallace’s feminist poetry feels newly relevant

A group of pilgrims pose in front of the Canadian Martyrs Shrine, a large stone building with two turrets topped with crosses.

May 2020 / Photography

Summer Service

April 22, 2020August 27, 2020 - by Randy Boyagoda

Every year, Sri Lankan Catholics from all over make a pilgrimage to Ontario’s cottage country

Illustration of a dark haired woman, crouching to pet a rooster. Around her are two other chickens.

First Person / May 2020

We Turned Our Pet Chickens Into Dinner

April 17, 2020 - by Yasuko Thanh

First we bonded over our unusual pets. Then we bonded over butchering them

Illustration of a woman in a head wrap and hoop earrings, holding a phone up to take a selfie. Around her are hands offering free products––boots, headphones, sunglasses, and a tube of cream.

Business / May 2020

We’ll All Be Social Media Sellouts Soon

April 15, 2020March 9, 2021 - by Tatum Dooley

Companies are turning to small-time influencers to promote their brands. Will any of us be able to resist the lure of free products and cash?

Illustration of a ghostly figure walking off a white grid and into darkness. Behind the person is a ghostly collage of all the data they've left behind––photos, passwords, location pins, emails, and text messages. The background is midnight blue.

May 2020 / Technology

The Digital Afterlife

April 8, 2020April 11, 2020 - by Brian J. Barth

The ongoing legal battle to decide who owns our data after we die

An illustration of a person peeking through their fingers. Their eyeball is the shape of the COVID-19 germ (a small round microbe with protrusions that look like the spokes of a crown).

Health / May 2020

Anatomy of a Pandemic

March 11, 2020June 2, 2020 - by Kevin Patterson

Like major contagions throughout history, the new coronavirus causes fear as well as illness. The remedy for both, it turns out, is the same