Sometimes comedy gets too real. — Well, here we are again. Another Netflix comedy special, another hour of jokes about Christianity, Islam, AIDS, obesity, Chinese people, Tourettes, the Holocaust, dwarves, Eskimos, and punching disabled toddlers, and another slew of articles focused exclusively on transphobia. Whether it’s Dave Chappelle, Bill Maher, or most recently, Rick Gervais’ Supernature…

At least stop acting surprised. — The beauty of Bill Murray’s 1993 classic, Groundhog Day, is that it never explains why he gets stuck reliving the same day. Murray’s character, Phil Connors, wakes up over and over again in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, at 6:00 am, and it’s always February 2nd. Groundhog Day. He can’t leave town, he…

Anti-abortion is not pro-life. — Ireland, October 2012. 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar, 17 weeks pregnant with her first child, is admitted to University Hospital Galway. She complains of intense pain that she describes as “something coming down." …

Are we fighting gender stereotypes or upholding them? — About a year ago, while I was diligently procrastinating on YouTube, I discovered that I have a condition called aphantasia; otherwise known as the inability to form images in my mind. For example, if you ask me to picture an apple, I’ll nod and pretend that I’m doing as you…

The twisted psychology of the “white saviour”. — Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s troubles began when she was just three months old. Her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, was convinced that Gypsy had sleep apnea and took her to the hospital for tests. When doctors found nothing wrong, Dee Dee self-diagnosed her daughter with a chromosomal defect that required her to…

Honesty, Elon Musk, and the risk of causing offence. — On December 26th, 2021, a modest scandal unfolded on Instagram. Users who uploaded a specific quote by Thomas Paine, discovered that their posts were being automatically removed. Facebook users allegedly received 24-hour account suspensions for the same transgression. …

The trials and tribulations of talking about race. — If you didn’t love your kids, you wouldn’t want to talk to them. They suck at telling stories. They‘re too young to gossip about your favourite TV shows. Their social circle is people who wet their pants and put crayons up their noses. And worst of all, none of this…

What if you don’t need to be angry to save the world? — Anger is like a drug; the adrenaline, the singular focus, the occasional loss of bladder control. As James Averill, a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts put it: …anger is one of the densest forms of communication. …

Let’s demistify the “w” word. — From time to time, I like to grapple with life’s big questions. What happens after we die? Why do Adam and Eve have belly buttons? And, most perplexing of all, what is a woman? This last, seemingly innocent question has become a political landmine in recent years. Ketanji Brown-Jackson claimed…