The Conversation Piece
Episodes
Ann Hui: Shifting the She-Cession
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Women have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Many have been forced to drop out of the workforce over the past year, with some people c...
Lauren McKeon: The Leadership of Women
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Female leadership has been front and centre during the pandemic. From New Zealand where COVID-19 infections have been managed under the leadership of ...
Wency Leung: The Toxicity of Loneliness
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s probably not surprising that so many of our speakers over this past year have focused on the loneliness of lockdown. Part of the reason it...
Anubha Momin: The Immigrant Settler
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that we as immigrants who were colonised can move to Canada and become settlers is an unsettling thought. But to the Indigenous peoples of Ca...
Eternity Martis: Sharing your Truths
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Personal storytelling has historically provided a new lens of experiences that challenge oppressive systems and introduced thousands of readers to the...
Waubgeshig Rice: World Book Day
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The words we choose to share, write, and speak can influence and change the narrative of stereotypes we see in Canada, encouraging for more accurate d...
Dianna Hu: Spoon Suckers
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Simple routines can suck up an incredible amount of time and energy for disabled people. Dianna Hu is a software engineer at Google, and she describes...
Daryl Haggard: Why Black Holes Have Excellent Manners
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of black holes, we think of a dark and terrifying unknown that distorts everything it touches. But, have we ever considered black holes ...
Krista Byers-Heinlein: The Value of Linguistic Diversity
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Children’s learning begins in the home - and the language spoken in the home is fundamental to a young child’s education.So, should parents be rai...
Anand Giridharadas: Giving, Getting, and Glorification
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are we equal in our praise for philanthropic acts? When you read news about support for something you believe in, how often do you read about the smal...
Kim Samuel: One Year of Social Isolation
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For many of us, this week marks a full year of social isolation. Urged to stay home and keep our in-person interactions to a minimum we continue to re...
Sally Armstrong: The Power of Inclusivity
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the majority of research conducted by men, it’s no surprise that most research favours men. So much that even the original ...
Graham Greene: Better Living through Kindness
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While Canada is far from a Utopia, we are trying to be peaceful and green and right our wrongs. We are trying to offer safety and clean water and home...
Irwin Adam: Your Mouth is Transforming the World
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do you eat? Your choices can transform the world. This applies to everything from the news you take in to the stores you shop at. But this is par...
Aimee Louw: What Would Life be like Without Ableism?
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Accessibility often doesn’t take into account different needs — if it is accessible for one person it might not be for another. Accessib...
Siri Agrell: How to Get Laid Without your Phone
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, Siri Agrell spoke at The Walrus Talks Humanity about the important steps in human connection that can be lost in the virtual world. That Talk...
Terry O'Reilly: Marketing to our Vices
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It feels like branding and marketing goes in cycles of themes, from earnest to snarky to authentic to sarcastic. At the beginning of the pandemic it a...
Sandy Hudson: Why Am I Waiting for Somebody Else to Do This?
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard, separated from each other, living under the threat of a pandemic, witnessing unrest and argument, to feel empowered. But the truth of us ...
Deb Saucier: The Glass Steeple Chase of Academia
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most of the discussion when it comes to education these days is whether students should be in classrooms or learning virtually, but who they are learn...
Samra Habib: Owning Our Identities
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We all decide how we want to show ourselves to the world. But who gets to define who you are? In her talk, Samra Habib wants us to own our identi...
Carol Off: This Campfire that is Canada
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody has their own origin story. Whether that was crossing a sea, or moving around Turtle Island, we each have our own beginning that brought us ...
Teva Harrison: Appreciating the Small Everyday Successes
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a world obsessed with instant gratification, Teva Harrison reminds us that there is potential in the quiet moments, the ones without goals or deadl...
Andrew Boozary: Housing and the Pathologies of Poverty
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a straight line between healthcare and housing in Canada? Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician who has an on the ground perspective on ...
Valérie Plante: Is There Privilege in Pandemic Times?
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the weather outside becomes snowier and the holidays approach, it gets easier to recognize privilege - right in front of our eyes. The warm home, f...
Shari Austin: We Need More Canadians
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Canadians represent 0.48% of the global population, and we’re on track to get even smaller on the world’s stage. In her talk, Shari Austin propose...
Hilary Black and the Fight to Legalize Cannabis
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It wasn’t that long ago that cannabis was illegal in Canada. To many detractors, it was seen as a drug that promotes laziness and was more popular a...
Julie S. Lalonde and the (uncomfortable) Canadian Conversation
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Canadians sometimes congratulate themselves on being “better” in comparison to other countries - more democratic, less violent, more open to new i...
Cherise Burda and the Cost of Location, Location, Location
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our thinking about where people live and why has been entirely flipped by this pandemic, but it could just as easily flip right back if a vaccine beco...
Kaite Burkholder Harris and the Context of the Homeless
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
LIVING ROOMS is our new digital series looking at the transformation in where and how we live. Read, listen, and watch at thewalrus.ca/livingrooms.You...
Yann LeCun and Artificial Intelligence VS Cats
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We train machines for a particular task but you modify the task just a little bit and they fail. Intelligence, it turns out, is hard to recreate. Yann...
Season Two Trailer
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Season Two of The Conversation Piece launches next week, and with The Walrus Talks at Home in full swing, we have even more ideas (in under 10 minutes...
CIFAR Fellow Adrian Owen
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard not lose ourselves in our own thoughts, especially in an extended state of isolation with no end in sight. How many friends have you lost to...
Filmmaker Atom Egoyan
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People from all over the world call Canada home, weaving together cultures from across the globe to create the Canadian identity. But, with this blend...
Historian Paige Raibmon
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Learning requires exploration of one's identity, and according to our next speaker, this is a First People’s principle of learning that applies to a...
Dr. Deena Hinshaw
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all had to change and adapt in different ways during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Deena Hinshaw is the Chief Medical Officer of Health for th...
Brenda Andress
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sports is a universal language in the world. From Halifax to Hydrabad, Nunavut to Nairobi. And what also seems weirdly universal is the support of men...
Annie Kidder
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As many kids head off to school - in whatever form that takes for them in the midst of a pandemic - it’s easy to pass off the issue of education to ...
Writer Noor Naga
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writing is a responsibility in many ways, perhaps none more so than when we think about the cultural expectations inherent in writing as a minority - ...
Singer-Songwriter Corb Lund
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Natural talent is overrated - at least according to singer-songwriter Corb Lund. He works hard to create it and believes that work - that constant cha...
Writer Emma Donoghue
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We're all creative creatures, but what can we do when our creativity feels stalled? Join us in this hilarious pillow talk with the muses as Emma Donog...
Lauren Voisin
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lauren Voisin was a scientist, innovator, entrepreneur, and all before she graduated high school. When she was only 8 years old, Lauren founded her ow...
Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard, as we go into the triple digits of days that some of us have been at home, isolating from friends and society, to maintain hope. When Oly...
Songwriter Bif Naked
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Anger is one of those emotions that transcends age, race, and political affiliation. Everyone is angry. Feeling trapped in a global pandemic will do t...
Inclusion Specialist Ritu Bhasin
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The barriers to building inclusion can feel insurmountable. Especially when people are trying to be politically correct by ignoring differences. Accor...
Spoken Word Poet Mustafa Ahmed
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe it was easier to avoid heated debates before we were all living under pandemic rules. Or maybe this is just the result of our small bubbles of s...
Social Entrepreneur Zita Cobb
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Something that gets brought into stark focus at a time like this is the value of things. The value of being able to hug a friend you haven’t seen in...
Host and Playwright Amanda Parris
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda Parris is a playwright and the host of CBC’s, Exhibitionists and Marvin’s Room and she spoke about her fear of being forgotten by a culture...
Actor Eva Greyeyes
21 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We've been talking about Inclusion and Diversity as a society for what feels like forever, with limited success in addressing either. But 2020 is shap...
Brittany Andrew-Amofah
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Canadians from Halifax to Vancouver protest against police brutality and racial discrimination, many are asking how do we make the necessary leap f...
Author Desmond Cole
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Across the country, Canadians are taking to the streets, protesting police violence. And while some are calling for reforms, others are questioning th...
Samantha Reusch of Apathy is Boring
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s impossible to miss the common thread in the images of protest on all our screens these days. People have reached their limit. They are sad. The...
Poet Rupi Kaur
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Resilience can be about coming to terms with the obstacles in front of you. As we minimize touching and practice social isolation, it's starting to fe...
Banff Centre's Janice Price
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Artists can’t give you a vaccine or tell leaders how to reopen the economy. But they do give you Netflix to binge-watch, music for your daily walk...
Lisa Moore + Pierre Kwenders + Lido Pimienta
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
These are some of our Walrus Talks that remind us of the powerful role mothers play and how their love can shape our future. Writer Lisa Moore talks a...
Innovator Kamran Khan
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Kamran Khan is the founder of BlueDot, a tech company that works with doctors, engineers, scientists and AI to predict outbreaks and track the spr...
Story-teller Margaret Atwood
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When Margaret Atwood’s dystopic worlds begin to appear in our real lives, we know we’re in trouble. Canada’s oracular writer has written some of...
UNESCO's Vivek Venkatesh
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Physical distancing has real-world repercussions, and sometimes that comes out in expressions of fear or hate. Concordia University's Vivek Venkatesh ...
Researcher Jennifer McGrath
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How well do you know your neighbours? Probably way better than you did a few months ago. According to Concordia's Jennifer Mcgrath, your neighbourhood...
Singer-Songwriter Christa Couture
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Christa Couture wants to turn the idea of "getting better" on its head. Everywhere we go, we’re confronted by the language of betterment. Everythi...
Broadcaster Shelagh Rogers
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Physical distancing has become our new normal —standing metres apart, avoiding public spaces and large gatherings has become crucial to flattening t...
Health Journalist Andre Picard
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We tend to think of loneliness as a state of mind. But what if we thought of it as a health issue? Andre Picard spoke at The Walrus Talks Healthy Ci...