May 2021 | The Walrus

May 2021 / Poetry

Asymmetry

April 23, 2021 - by Andreae Callanan

The next-to-smallest finger of my left hand, / embedding my ring in its bulging flesh, / a fat tree swallowing a chain-link fence

An illustration where, in the background, a woman walks into a house, her head tilted up. In the foreground, at the bottom of the front steps, her daughter looks towards her mother. The house has stained glass windows and light pours out from them onto the steps.

May 2021 / Memoir

The House That Mum Built

April 21, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Anubha Momin

Touring the homes of Frank Lloyd Wright helped me see what my architect mother had always wanted in life

An illustration, with the silhouette of a face flanked by men holding guns (one in a suit, one in army uniform). At the bottom, there are police and police cars moving towards a man sitting at a table.

May 2021 / The Walrus True Crime

The Rise and Fall of a Double Agent

April 20, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Justin Ling

Cameron Ortis was an RCMP officer privy to the inner workings of Canada’s national security—and in a prime position to exploit them

A two-panel comic. In the first panel, a person lies backwards in a boat on a river of black liquid, looking relaxed. The second panel zooms out, and we see the person is about to fall off a waterfall, which they don't see because their back is turned.

Ask an Expert / Environment / May 2021

Ask an Expert: What’s the Future of Oil in Canada?

April 19, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Imre Szeman

The Keystone XL pipeline has been cancelled. What happens next?

May 2021 / Poetry

Geese in Formation

April 16, 2021 - by Tim Bowling

You yourself are never an ending, / never collapse like the pinsetters’ set-up / or vanish like the smudged pencil

An illustration of a person typing at a desk and a family with luggage. In between them is a stack of paperwork, which leaves a Canadian maple leaf shadow.

Current Affairs / May 2021

How Immigration Really Works

April 14, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Kelly Toughill

Who will choose Canada’s next wave of newcomers? It could be someone in your town

A photo of a landscape, with trees, water, mountains, and a pink cloudy sky.

Environment / May 2021

The Hidden Cost of Rechargeable Batteries

April 13, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Caitlin Stall-Paquet

A burgeoning lithium-mining area in Quebec shows the complications of green tech

An illustration of two animals sitting together on a big rock. They both wear small hats.

Books / May 2021

How to Teach Kids about Impending Doom

April 12, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Harley Rustad

Award-winning children’s book author Jon Klassen on trusting four-year-olds with difficult realities

Illustration of a wall with 16 rows of charts and data and a woman with purple hair standing in front of them.

May 2021 / Media

How Do We Exit the Post-Truth Era?

April 7, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Viviane Fairbank

Why fact-checking alone won’t save us from fake news

Illustration of a kitchen on fire, with a man sitting at the kitchen table, holding a phone to his ear, with a laptop in front of him.

May 2021 / Memoir

When Death Is Preferable to Taxes

April 6, 2021June 8, 2021 - by Ken Babstock

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit helped me survive COVID-19’s first wave. Then the government tried to claw back the cash