October 2009

Cause and Effect

Fetal alcohol syndrome is preventable, incurable, and surprisingly common. Still, it brought me Boop, who has redefined my life

Memoir · by Lynn Cunningham

Requiem for a Union Town

How the fight went out of Windsor

Industry · by Christopher Shulgan

The Secret

The Group of Seven’s infatuation with the occult mysticism of Madame Blavatsky

Visual Art · by Brett Grainger

Q&A: Buck 65

An interview with CBC Radio 2 host Rich Terfry about his hip hop alter ego

Online Exclusive · by Dave Morris

Long Live Annie B.

Beware of too much laughter, for it deadens the mind and produces oblivion.
— Talmud

Fiction · by Lee Henderson

The Glad Scientist

A Vatican astronomer explains why science and religion are a match made in heaven

Profile · by Dan Falk

The Age of Breathing Underwater

Environmentalists have long struggled to save Nature from humanity’s negligence — and still we’ve reached the brink of catastrophe. How can we learn to thrive in the climate we’ve created? The answer begins beneath the sea…

Environment · by Chris Turner

Gaga For Gags

Behind the scenes of Canada's hidden-camera hit, Just for Laughs Gags

Field Notes · by Nicholas Hune-Brown

This Right Here Is Rich Terfry

The man also known as rapper Buck 65 becomes the voice of CBC Radio 2’s endlessly controversial makeover

Radio · by Dave Morris

How to Read a Masterpiece

Coming to terms with Marie-Claire Blais

Books · by Marianne Ackerman

The Most Hated Name in News

Can Al Jazeera English cure what ails North American journalism?

Media · by Deborah Campbell

Editor’s Note

Introducing the October 2009 issue of The Walrus

Editor's Note · by John Macfarlane

Analyze This

Selections from the dream diary of Conrad Black

Comedy · by Kevin Chong

Biblio Tech

The public library takes browsing back from Chapters

Frontier · by Alex Hutchinson

Forty-five

Arriving at the age of looking back

Firsthand · by Lisa Moore