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Friday, October 18, 2024
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Lisa Van Dusen

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least

The civilizing effect (touch wood) of lockdown on social media

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 18, 2020
  • For all the incalculable personal tragedy and economic disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has produced, there have been, if not entirely countervailing positives, at least
Casual consumption indicates that New Zealand actor Sam Neill isn’t the only one using his Twitter feed as a pandemic palliative, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/TwoPaddocks

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
In their Nov. 7 speeches in Wilmington, Del., U.S. Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden presented an end to rambling belligerence and a return to world-reassuring, principled coherence, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/PBS NewsHour

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the

The Joe and Kamala cavalry

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2020
  • As the world heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared the projected president and vice-president-elect of the
In their Nov. 7 speeches in Wilmington, Del., U.S. Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden presented an end to rambling belligerence and a return to world-reassuring, principled coherence, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/PBS NewsHour

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character hinges on the premise that it’s much easier to con people playing an imbecile than playing a genius, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Amazon Prime Video

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with

Performative politics and the redundancy of Borat

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 28, 2020
  • The buffoonish hamming, the slapstick vulgarity, the imbecilic racism, the bunko set pieces, the cartoonish misogyny, the elaborate dupery, the unseemly honeytraps … with
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character hinges on the premise that it’s much easier to con people playing an imbecile than playing a genius, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Amazon Prime Video

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
The reason there’s no sane debate to be had about which elephant Canada would be better off waking up next to on Nov. 4 is that Donald Trump himself has settled the question, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr image by DonkeyHotey

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to

The morning-after elephant: whom will Canada be sleeping (or not) next to for the next four years?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 21, 2020
  • There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to
The reason there’s no sane debate to be had about which elephant Canada would be better off waking up next to on Nov. 4 is that Donald Trump himself has settled the question, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr image by DonkeyHotey

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
The unprecedented factor in this recovery effort as opposed to 2009—domestically and internationally—is the exponential, inhibiting, and exploitable power of uncertainty, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Capital in the Twenty-First Century screenshot via Netflix

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack

Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 14, 2020
  • Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack
The unprecedented factor in this recovery effort as opposed to 2009—domestically and internationally—is the exponential, inhibiting, and exploitable power of uncertainty, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Capital in the Twenty-First Century screenshot via Netflix

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 3. The political, geopolitical, and intelligence interests currently using Trump, among other tools, to undermine and discredit democracy care about one thing: power, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of

Donald Trump, power tool of the new barbarians

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | October 7, 2020
  • During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of
U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 3. The political, geopolitical, and intelligence interests currently using Trump, among other tools, to undermine and discredit democracy care about one thing: power, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek won big at the Emmy's on Sept. 20, the show stars and creators Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy are pictured. Maybe when Governor General Julie Payette’s term is up in 2022, the questions of both successorship and the demand for more of Schitt's Creek could be solved by appointing Eugene Levy as Canada’s first Jewish governor general, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Schitt's Creek's Twitter

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show

Schitt’s Creek II: The Roses of Rideau Hall is the reality show the world needs

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 23, 2020
  • As much of the world takes up a new form of foxhole God-bargaining in which the divine intervention deliverable is ending the reality show
Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek won big at the Emmy's on Sept. 20, the show stars and creators Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy, and Annie Murphy are pictured. Maybe when Governor General Julie Payette’s term is up in 2022, the questions of both successorship and the demand for more of Schitt's Creek could be solved by appointing Eugene Levy as Canada’s first Jewish governor general, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Schitt's Creek's Twitter

In any normal election campaign

  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured during an indoor campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 13. As the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign enters its crucial final weeks, it’s hard to imagine what could upend this race, given the pre-existing horror show, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of C-Span

In any normal election campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,

In any normal election campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 16, 2020
  • To lead with an exotic platitude in a time of perpetual hyperbole: election campaigns contain surprises. Twelve years ago this week, on Sept. 15,
U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured during an indoor campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 13. As the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign enters its crucial final weeks, it’s hard to imagine what could upend this race, given the pre-existing horror show, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Screenshot courtesy of C-Span

The day the banality of evil died

  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
Aside from the enormous geopolitical and security consequences unleashed on that Tuesday morning, 9/11 was different from most terrorism because the logistics of the attack repurposed the element of surprise for maximum suffering, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Robert J. Fisch

The day the banality of evil died

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center

The day the banality of evil died

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 9, 2020
  • Nineteen years ago this week, two passenger jets loaded with hostages to history, self-styled martyrs, and weaponized jet fuel hit the World Trade Center
Aside from the enormous geopolitical and security consequences unleashed on that Tuesday morning, 9/11 was different from most terrorism because the logistics of the attack repurposed the element of surprise for maximum suffering, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Robert J. Fisch

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump gives his nomination acceptance speech at the White House during the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27. YouTube screenshot via PBS NewsHour

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think

It’s the economics, stupid: corruption, greed, and the war on democracy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | September 2, 2020
  • In “The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour work week,” a major essay in the Financial Times recently, anthropologist James Suzman soothingly offered an evolutionary rationale for a re-think
U.S. President Donald Trump gives his nomination acceptance speech at the White House during the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27. YouTube screenshot via PBS NewsHour

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
Former U.S. President Barack Obama shares a meal with the late Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam in 2016. White House photograph by Pete Souza

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of

Saudade for sanity: missing the rebels in an echo chamber of nonsense

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 26, 2020
  • Watching Anthony Bourdain lope his way around Lisbon the other night as a way of reconnecting with a mask-less, unrestricted, pre-pandemic reality, reminded me of
Former U.S. President Barack Obama shares a meal with the late Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam in 2016. White House photograph by Pete Souza

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
Clockwise from top left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Democratic vice-president pick Kamala Harris, and Vice-President Mike Pence. Flickr photographs by Gage Skidmore

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on

No time like the present: America’s unprecedented election

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 19, 2020
  • If you’re a columnist writing regularly about U.S. politics, one of your lazy, go-to tropes is the Schoolhouse Rock song I’m Just a Bill (on
Clockwise from top left, U.S. President Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Democratic vice-president pick Kamala Harris, and Vice-President Mike Pence. Flickr photographs by Gage Skidmore

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
After years of subterfuge and chicanery, today’s world war has now produced the perfect-storm crescendo of a transformation-rationalizing pandemic and a transformation-rationalizing American president in the process of staging a coup against his own country, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Tia Dufour

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for

The swindled and the vile: America’s bomb-less Blitz

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 12, 2020
  • Years ago, when I first lived in Washington, D.C., the city was so paralyzed by snow one January Saturday that friends who came for
After years of subterfuge and chicanery, today’s world war has now produced the perfect-storm crescendo of a transformation-rationalizing pandemic and a transformation-rationalizing American president in the process of staging a coup against his own country, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Tia Dufour

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa in June 2016. Mr. Wang recently compared American policies towards China as McCarthy-style paranoia, but today’s tension between the world’s democracies and Beijing over China’s totalitarian bullying isn’t about communism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. PMO photograph by Adam Scotti

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,

Welcome to the new McCarthyism

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | August 5, 2020
  • If Godwin’s law has been among the many casualties of reality-show fascism, it is quickly being replaced by the rule that, in any debate about China,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa in June 2016. Mr. Wang recently compared American policies towards China as McCarthy-style paranoia, but today’s tension between the world’s democracies and Beijing over China’s totalitarian bullying isn’t about communism, writes Lisa Van Dusen. PMO photograph by Adam Scotti

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
As anyone who grew up in the country knows, you never quite lose the hankering to climb a tree if it’s been too long, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat

Pining for outside during an indoor summer

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 29, 2020
  • One of the many ironies of life in this pandemic is that, while nature is probably the safest place for us, our default retreat
As anyone who grew up in the country knows, you never quite lose the hankering to climb a tree if it’s been too long, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, pictured in June 2017, followed a different path to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance than fellow icon Nelson Mandela, but their legacies are fittingly intertwined, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Mobilus In Mobili

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 22, 2020
  • John Lewis, whose scarred, unbreakable skull was a luminous monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not die on Mandela Day. But by the time
The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, pictured in June 2017, followed a different path to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance than fellow icon Nelson Mandela, but their legacies are fittingly intertwined, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Mobilus In Mobili

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
Vol de Nuit, the 1931 work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pictured near Montreal in 1942, stands out in COVID-19 quarantine as a paean to outside and for its empathy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Wikimedia Commons image

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in

The great escape: Vol de Nuit and the summer of our discontent

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 8, 2020
  • Sometimes, during the first two decades of this Jeremy Bentham-meets-Elmore Leonard century, I’ve feared that reality has spoiled me for fiction. That living in
Vol de Nuit, the 1931 work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pictured near Montreal in 1942, stands out in COVID-19 quarantine as a paean to outside and for its empathy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Wikimedia Commons image

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
Justin Trudeau’s rule-of-law orthodoxy in response to Beijing’s norm-obliterating hostage diplomacy has isolated him in a way that says far more about China’s role in our current global unpleasantness than it does about Trudeau’s entirely normal position, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, Flickr photograph by Janne Wittoeck

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest

Happy Canada Day! Pass the vodka cooler and thank God we’re a middle power

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | July 1, 2020
  • It’s tempting, at a time like this—not that there’s ever been, let’s face it, a time like this—to say that this is the weirdest
Justin Trudeau’s rule-of-law orthodoxy in response to Beijing’s norm-obliterating hostage diplomacy has isolated him in a way that says far more about China’s role in our current global unpleasantness than it does about Trudeau’s entirely normal position, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, Flickr photograph by Janne Wittoeck

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
The notion that the United States and China are now engaged in a classic great-power rivalry and new Cold War situates the dynamic between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping within a conventional geopolitical context rather than the unconventional one in which it exists, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to

Trump’s fake Cold War: the pre-election spin on China

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 24, 2020
  • Because Donald Trump has transformed the American presidency into less of a global leadership role than an anti-democracy propaganda vehicle, it was going to
The notion that the United States and China are now engaged in a classic great-power rivalry and new Cold War situates the dynamic between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping within a conventional geopolitical context rather than the unconventional one in which it exists, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

Bully versus pulpit

  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
At Washington National Cathedral, which overlooks the city as America’s unofficial church, ‘Black Lives Matter’ nightly illuminates the neo-Gothic façade of the landmark, in stark contrast to a president who goes around wagging a bible like some kind of medicine show huckster, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Victoria Pickering

Bully versus pulpit

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood

Bully versus pulpit

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 17, 2020
  • If Donald Trump were not worried about the supernatural status of some of his most potent opposition these days, surely he wouldn’t have stood
At Washington National Cathedral, which overlooks the city as America’s unofficial church, ‘Black Lives Matter’ nightly illuminates the neo-Gothic façade of the landmark, in stark contrast to a president who goes around wagging a bible like some kind of medicine show huckster, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Victoria Pickering

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
In Washington, an impeached reality-show president in a White House surrounded by perimeter fencing and rent-a-cops makes the 2020 election a choice between a performative authoritarian coup and Joe Biden stopping this lunacy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,

America’s reality show election: Trump versus anarchy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 10, 2020
  • Like many journalists, some of my earliest professional experiences involved dealing with the police. As a radio reporter working the late shift in Vancouver,
In Washington, an impeached reality-show president in a White House surrounded by perimeter fencing and rent-a-cops makes the 2020 election a choice between a performative authoritarian coup and Joe Biden stopping this lunacy, writes Lisa Van Dusen. White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Seattle, Wash., on May 30. The asymmetry of the power, disproportion of the force, and shamelessness of the racism on display during George Floyd’s murder explain the outrage being expressed across America, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Kelly Kline

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it

‘I have a nightmare’: Donald Trump’s racist whirlwind

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | June 3, 2020
  • As Donald Trump tweeted from his Pennsylvania Avenue lair last Saturday night about setting “vicious dogs” on protesters outraged over George Floyd’s murder, it
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Seattle, Wash., on May 30. The asymmetry of the power, disproportion of the force, and shamelessness of the racism on display during George Floyd’s murder explain the outrage being expressed across America, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Kelly Kline

The year of the fait accompli

  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, delivered a classic fait accompli message on Sunday, intended to expedite a new status quo through Beijing’s plan to install its national security agencies in Hong Kong under the new Basic Law. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. State Department

The year of the fait accompli

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the

The year of the fait accompli

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 27, 2020
  • Of all the trends in politics and governance being led by democracy-degrading actors this year—in addition to the usual lying, bullying, and careening shamelessness—the
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, delivered a classic fait accompli message on Sunday, intended to expedite a new status quo through Beijing’s plan to install its national security agencies in Hong Kong under the new Basic Law. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. State Department

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence pictured April 16 during a COVID-19 task force briefing. With a global pandemic being leveraged and a presidential election under attack by not just Russia and other usual suspects, but also by the incumbent himself, can the intelligence community marshal its formidable outcome-curating powers to thwart corruption, restore sanity, and save democracy? Photograph courtesy of The White House's Flickr/Joyce N. Boghosian

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented

Can the intelligence community save democracy?

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 20, 2020
  • Among the questions that loomed after September 11, 2001, was how intelligence agencies would handle the power they’d acquired through a confluence of unprecedented
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence pictured April 16 during a COVID-19 task force briefing. With a global pandemic being leveraged and a presidential election under attack by not just Russia and other usual suspects, but also by the incumbent himself, can the intelligence community marshal its formidable outcome-curating powers to thwart corruption, restore sanity, and save democracy? Photograph courtesy of The White House's Flickr/Joyce N. Boghosian

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
There is an entire genre of pandemic movies and shows out there, but watching a pandemic movie during an actual pandemic strikes Lisa Van Dusen as an act of karmic provocation comparable to licking every doorknob within 20-square blocks of the couch. Screenshot via Netflix

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,

Cinema Quarantena: what to watch (and not) in isolation

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 13, 2020
  • After so many weeks of Isolation Nation quarantine that snow is now as discombobulated as the rest of us about which season it is,
There is an entire genre of pandemic movies and shows out there, but watching a pandemic movie during an actual pandemic strikes Lisa Van Dusen as an act of karmic provocation comparable to licking every doorknob within 20-square blocks of the couch. Screenshot via Netflix

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
Now that the world is one big captive audience trapped with the nightly COVID-19 advisory stylings of a man touting the anti-viral benefits of Clorox ingestion, it’s time to adapt, by becoming the master of your mute, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum

Isolation tips: coping with long, annoying commercials

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | May 6, 2020
  • In this latest of my series of intermittent public service columns on how to cope with life in pandemic isolation, we’ll tackle the conundrum
Now that the world is one big captive audience trapped with the nightly COVID-19 advisory stylings of a man touting the anti-viral benefits of Clorox ingestion, it’s time to adapt, by becoming the master of your mute, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured in Ottawa in 2012, is likely one of many who would balk, but the binomial nomenclature of ‘Israel/Palestine’ is the only truly accurate and appropriate name for the conjoined entity that he now presides over, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions

Israel/Palestine and the Pottery Barn rule of toponymy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | April 29, 2020
  • As the infinity-loop melodrama of Israel’s political corruption capture careens on amid an amplifying pandemic crisis, it might be a good time to consider creative solutions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured in Ottawa in 2012, is likely one of many who would balk, but the binomial nomenclature of ‘Israel/Palestine’ is the only truly accurate and appropriate name for the conjoined entity that he now presides over, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
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Over the gun: the new faces of hope and change

  • On a balmy night in April 2008, I made my way at dusk with a throng of people through downtown Philadelphia to Independence Mall
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 28, 2018
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student and activist Emma González, pictured on screen, spent as much time on stage Saturday at the March for Our Lives in Washington as it took the gunman who changed her life and ended 17 others Feb. 14 to begin and end a massacre with an AR-15. Photograph courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili

Over the gun: the new faces of hope and change

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 28, 2018
  • On a balmy night in April 2008, I made my way at dusk with a throng of people through downtown Philadelphia to Independence Mall

Over the gun: the new faces of hope and change

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 28, 2018
  • On a balmy night in April 2008, I made my way at dusk with a throng of people through downtown Philadelphia to Independence Mall
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student and activist Emma González, pictured on screen, spent as much time on stage Saturday at the March for Our Lives in Washington as it took the gunman who changed her life and ended 17 others Feb. 14 to begin and end a massacre with an AR-15. Photograph courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili

Amid tech’s dark days, wisdom from a mayor

  • Amid the considerable coverage churn of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the resulting widespread neurosis over what people have told shadowy Facebook quizzers about
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 21, 2018
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, pictured in 2016, gave a keynote speech at the South by Southwest festival in Texas last week linking the technological revolution, economic unease, political engagement, and social cohesion. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in London

Amid tech’s dark days, wisdom from a mayor

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 21, 2018
  • Amid the considerable coverage churn of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the resulting widespread neurosis over what people have told shadowy Facebook quizzers about

Amid tech’s dark days, wisdom from a mayor

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 21, 2018
  • Amid the considerable coverage churn of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the resulting widespread neurosis over what people have told shadowy Facebook quizzers about
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, pictured in 2016, gave a keynote speech at the South by Southwest festival in Texas last week linking the technological revolution, economic unease, political engagement, and social cohesion. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in London

What Middle East peace looks like in Trump’s world of winners and losers

  • A few years ago, a friend with a crafty streak surprised me with a pair of geopolitical hand puppets. They have papier-mâché heads adorned with
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 14, 2018
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Despite political and legal problems at home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems emboldened, notably due to U.S. President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

What Middle East peace looks like in Trump’s world of winners and losers

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 14, 2018
  • A few years ago, a friend with a crafty streak surprised me with a pair of geopolitical hand puppets. They have papier-mâché heads adorned with

What Middle East peace looks like in Trump’s world of winners and losers

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 14, 2018
  • A few years ago, a friend with a crafty streak surprised me with a pair of geopolitical hand puppets. They have papier-mâché heads adorned with
Benjamin Netanyahu
Despite political and legal problems at home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems emboldened, notably due to U.S. President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Donald Trump’s tactical trade belligerence

  • Nobody ever said Donald Trump was subtle. But his lack of subtlety is easy to lose sight of, obscured as it gets by his
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 7, 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump is pledging tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Given Canada’s status as a major source of both U.S. steel and aluminum imports, this seems designed to at best leverage and at worst sabotage the NAFTA renegotiation, writes Lisa Van Dusen. U.S. Department of Homeland Security photograph by Barry Bahler

Donald Trump’s tactical trade belligerence

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 7, 2018
  • Nobody ever said Donald Trump was subtle. But his lack of subtlety is easy to lose sight of, obscured as it gets by his

Donald Trump’s tactical trade belligerence

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | March 7, 2018
  • Nobody ever said Donald Trump was subtle. But his lack of subtlety is easy to lose sight of, obscured as it gets by his
U.S. President Donald Trump is pledging tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Given Canada’s status as a major source of both U.S. steel and aluminum imports, this seems designed to at best leverage and at worst sabotage the NAFTA renegotiation, writes Lisa Van Dusen. U.S. Department of Homeland Security photograph by Barry Bahler

Runway Holiday: the Queen steals fashion week

  • At first, it seemed like one of those photoshopped memes where someone sticks Mr. Bean’s face on Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in the “Alas, poor
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 28, 2018
The Queen, writes Lisa Van Dusen, has avoided being upstaged by her clothes. Vanity Fair has described her 'steadfastness in dress' and her 'resolute sense of style.' The Hill Times file photograph

Runway Holiday: the Queen steals fashion week

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 28, 2018
  • At first, it seemed like one of those photoshopped memes where someone sticks Mr. Bean’s face on Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in the “Alas, poor

Runway Holiday: the Queen steals fashion week

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 28, 2018
  • At first, it seemed like one of those photoshopped memes where someone sticks Mr. Bean’s face on Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in the “Alas, poor
The Queen, writes Lisa Van Dusen, has avoided being upstaged by her clothes. Vanity Fair has described her 'steadfastness in dress' and her 'resolute sense of style.' The Hill Times file photograph

Spies like us: America and the covert war

  • In his address to the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reminded attendees that in front of the new NATO headquarters
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 21, 2018
United States President Donald Trump, right, speaks alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the May 25 unveiling of a 9/11 memorial in front of NATO's new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph courtesy of NATO

Spies like us: America and the covert war

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 21, 2018
  • In his address to the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reminded attendees that in front of the new NATO headquarters

Spies like us: America and the covert war

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 21, 2018
  • In his address to the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reminded attendees that in front of the new NATO headquarters
United States President Donald Trump, right, speaks alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the May 25 unveiling of a 9/11 memorial in front of NATO's new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph courtesy of NATO

The past is never dead: South Africa’s #Zexit and Mandela’s legacy

  • Feb. 11 marked 28 years since the moment Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison near Cape Town a free man. For the previous
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 14, 2018
South African President Jacob Zuma's near-decade rule is ending as he's facing a number of corruption charges. UN photograph by Loey Felipe

The past is never dead: South Africa’s #Zexit and Mandela’s legacy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 14, 2018
  • Feb. 11 marked 28 years since the moment Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison near Cape Town a free man. For the previous

The past is never dead: South Africa’s #Zexit and Mandela’s legacy

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 14, 2018
  • Feb. 11 marked 28 years since the moment Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison near Cape Town a free man. For the previous
South African President Jacob Zuma's near-decade rule is ending as he's facing a number of corruption charges. UN photograph by Loey Felipe

All the president’s madmen: making America crazy again

  • Browsing in a Montreal bookstore the other day, I came across the French version of All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s 1974
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 7, 2018
Veteran NBC News broadcaster Tom Brokaw, who covered the Watergate scandal under former U.S. president Richard Nixon, left, cited the White House of President Donald Trump, right, 'trying to create an alternative reality' as just one common theme between the two, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photographs courtesy of the U.S. National Archives & Records Administration and Gage Skidmore

All the president’s madmen: making America crazy again

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 7, 2018
  • Browsing in a Montreal bookstore the other day, I came across the French version of All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s 1974

All the president’s madmen: making America crazy again

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | February 7, 2018
  • Browsing in a Montreal bookstore the other day, I came across the French version of All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s 1974
Veteran NBC News broadcaster Tom Brokaw, who covered the Watergate scandal under former U.S. president Richard Nixon, left, cited the White House of President Donald Trump, right, 'trying to create an alternative reality' as just one common theme between the two, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photographs courtesy of the U.S. National Archives & Records Administration and Gage Skidmore

Navalny vs. Putin: Russia’s David-and-Goliath campaign

  • Alexei Navalny has been arrested so many times that it’s hard to find the number of times he’s been arrested. The tally gets updated
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, has long had lawyer and blogger Alexei Navalny, right, to contend with as his political nemesis. UN photograph by Cia Pak, photograph courtesy of VK.com/teamnavalny

Navalny vs. Putin: Russia’s David-and-Goliath campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
  • Alexei Navalny has been arrested so many times that it’s hard to find the number of times he’s been arrested. The tally gets updated

Navalny vs. Putin: Russia’s David-and-Goliath campaign

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
  • Alexei Navalny has been arrested so many times that it’s hard to find the number of times he’s been arrested. The tally gets updated
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, has long had lawyer and blogger Alexei Navalny, right, to contend with as his political nemesis. UN photograph by Cia Pak, photograph courtesy of VK.com/teamnavalny

The Donald is dead. Long live The Donald

  • Barack Obama’s first State of the Union was indelibly conveyed in its first moments by the visual of America’s first black president standing on
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
United States President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address in the House of Representatives on Jan. 30. NBC News screen capture

The Donald is dead. Long live The Donald

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
  • Barack Obama’s first State of the Union was indelibly conveyed in its first moments by the visual of America’s first black president standing on

The Donald is dead. Long live The Donald

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 31, 2018
  • Barack Obama’s first State of the Union was indelibly conveyed in its first moments by the visual of America’s first black president standing on
United States President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address in the House of Representatives on Jan. 30. NBC News screen capture

The Post: a brilliant reminder of what democracy looks like

  • Of all the things the Steven Spielberg Pentagon Papers drama The Post is, a period piece isn’t one of them. Yes, it’s set in 1971. Yes,
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 24, 2018
Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, played Tom Hanks, in the foreground, speaks with newspaper staff in a scene from The Post. Niko Tavernise photograph courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

The Post: a brilliant reminder of what democracy looks like

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 24, 2018
  • Of all the things the Steven Spielberg Pentagon Papers drama The Post is, a period piece isn’t one of them. Yes, it’s set in 1971. Yes,

The Post: a brilliant reminder of what democracy looks like

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 24, 2018
  • Of all the things the Steven Spielberg Pentagon Papers drama The Post is, a period piece isn’t one of them. Yes, it’s set in 1971. Yes,
Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, played Tom Hanks, in the foreground, speaks with newspaper staff in a scene from The Post. Niko Tavernise photograph courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Once upon a time, or how to talk to your children about Trump

  • One of the challenges of living in a time when attacks on democratic integrity have produced outcomes that defy long-standing notions of electability and
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 17, 2018
Any explanations about the mystery that is Donald Trump should start with the palate-cleansing fact that he comes following the historic election of former U.S. president Barack Obama, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Once upon a time, or how to talk to your children about Trump

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 17, 2018
  • One of the challenges of living in a time when attacks on democratic integrity have produced outcomes that defy long-standing notions of electability and

Once upon a time, or how to talk to your children about Trump

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 17, 2018
  • One of the challenges of living in a time when attacks on democratic integrity have produced outcomes that defy long-standing notions of electability and
Any explanations about the mystery that is Donald Trump should start with the palate-cleansing fact that he comes following the historic election of former U.S. president Barack Obama, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Fire and Fury, a.k.a. rich old white-guy entitlement run amok

  • While much of the armchair analysis of the portrait of Donald Trump delivered by Michael Wolff in his new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 10, 2018
Michael Wolff in his new book about U.S. President Donald Trump has said that 100 per cent of the people he interviewed, including members of the man’s own family, question 'his intelligence and fitness for office.' Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Fire and Fury, a.k.a. rich old white-guy entitlement run amok

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 10, 2018
  • While much of the armchair analysis of the portrait of Donald Trump delivered by Michael Wolff in his new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the

Fire and Fury, a.k.a. rich old white-guy entitlement run amok

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | January 10, 2018
  • While much of the armchair analysis of the portrait of Donald Trump delivered by Michael Wolff in his new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the
Michael Wolff in his new book about U.S. President Donald Trump has said that 100 per cent of the people he interviewed, including members of the man’s own family, question 'his intelligence and fitness for office.' Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Brexit, Trump and the value of resistance

  • There is a moment in Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour—a film that chronicles Winston Churchill’s literal tug of war between appeasement in the face of the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 20, 2017
In the throes of Brexit, Britain appears to be conducting a ‘belated do-over’ to lose the European continent that was averted by war-time prime minister Winston Churchill, pictured addressing the House of Commons in 1941. Photograph courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

Brexit, Trump and the value of resistance

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 20, 2017
  • There is a moment in Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour—a film that chronicles Winston Churchill’s literal tug of war between appeasement in the face of the

Brexit, Trump and the value of resistance

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 20, 2017
  • There is a moment in Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour—a film that chronicles Winston Churchill’s literal tug of war between appeasement in the face of the
In the throes of Brexit, Britain appears to be conducting a ‘belated do-over’ to lose the European continent that was averted by war-time prime minister Winston Churchill, pictured addressing the House of Commons in 1941. Photograph courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

And now for something completely different: a man who embraces weakness

  • It has become my habit, when the loopy cascade of previously unthinkable political headlines emanating mostly, but not exclusively, from Washington starts to harsh
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 13, 2017
Jean Vanier, pictured in an undated photo, provides an soothing balm in a soul-frying global relations desert, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Jean Vanier’s website

And now for something completely different: a man who embraces weakness

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 13, 2017
  • It has become my habit, when the loopy cascade of previously unthinkable political headlines emanating mostly, but not exclusively, from Washington starts to harsh

And now for something completely different: a man who embraces weakness

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 13, 2017
  • It has become my habit, when the loopy cascade of previously unthinkable political headlines emanating mostly, but not exclusively, from Washington starts to harsh
Jean Vanier, pictured in an undated photo, provides an soothing balm in a soul-frying global relations desert, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Jean Vanier’s website

I’m okay, you’re screwed: the inequality time bomb

  • As if the anecdotal evidence weren’t overwhelming enough, a study published Nov. 15 in the research journal Nature warned that record levels of income inequality, particularly in
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 6, 2017
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has framed his general economic thrust as ‘growing the middle class,’ in the belief that this grows the economy. Both the IMF and OECD recently vindicated that approach by raising Canada’s 2017 GDP growth forecast, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

I’m okay, you’re screwed: the inequality time bomb

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 6, 2017
  • As if the anecdotal evidence weren’t overwhelming enough, a study published Nov. 15 in the research journal Nature warned that record levels of income inequality, particularly in

I’m okay, you’re screwed: the inequality time bomb

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | December 6, 2017
  • As if the anecdotal evidence weren’t overwhelming enough, a study published Nov. 15 in the research journal Nature warned that record levels of income inequality, particularly in
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has framed his general economic thrust as ‘growing the middle class,’ in the belief that this grows the economy. Both the IMF and OECD recently vindicated that approach by raising Canada’s 2017 GDP growth forecast, writes Lisa Van Dusen. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Thin ice: the frosty furor over our Soviet-style birthday rink

  • My knowledge of sports is so abysmal that when I wrote the Associated Press editing test in Washington years ago, I got to the
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 29, 2017
The Canada 150 Rink being installed on Parliament Hill is set to be ready for skating on Dec. 7. The Trudeau government announced last week the $5.6-million rink would stay open until the end of February, rather than the end of December, as originally planned. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Thin ice: the frosty furor over our Soviet-style birthday rink

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 29, 2017
  • My knowledge of sports is so abysmal that when I wrote the Associated Press editing test in Washington years ago, I got to the

Thin ice: the frosty furor over our Soviet-style birthday rink

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 29, 2017
  • My knowledge of sports is so abysmal that when I wrote the Associated Press editing test in Washington years ago, I got to the
The Canada 150 Rink being installed on Parliament Hill is set to be ready for skating on Dec. 7. The Trudeau government announced last week the $5.6-million rink would stay open until the end of February, rather than the end of December, as originally planned. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Note to Zimbabwe: hold the champagne

  • The world reeled in wonder this week as the kleptocratic rule of Robert Mugabe came to an end in the face of Zimbabwe’s belated
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 22, 2017
ZImbabwe's Robert Mugabe, left, pictured with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in 2014, is clinging to his 37-year hold on power despite rejection from thousands of protesting Zimbabweans and his own party. UN photograph by Amanda Voisard

Note to Zimbabwe: hold the champagne

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 22, 2017
  • The world reeled in wonder this week as the kleptocratic rule of Robert Mugabe came to an end in the face of Zimbabwe’s belated

Note to Zimbabwe: hold the champagne

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 22, 2017
  • The world reeled in wonder this week as the kleptocratic rule of Robert Mugabe came to an end in the face of Zimbabwe’s belated
ZImbabwe's Robert Mugabe, left, pictured with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in 2014, is clinging to his 37-year hold on power despite rejection from thousands of protesting Zimbabweans and his own party. UN photograph by Amanda Voisard

The fundamental things apply: Casablanca in a time of Trump

  • On Sunday, I went directly from watching America’s weekly brunch of undaunted panellists attempting to dissect the latest instalment of incomprehensibility from their rogue
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 15, 2017
Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine in the famous airport scene in the 1942 film Casablanca. Casablanca film screenshot

The fundamental things apply: Casablanca in a time of Trump

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 15, 2017
  • On Sunday, I went directly from watching America’s weekly brunch of undaunted panellists attempting to dissect the latest instalment of incomprehensibility from their rogue

The fundamental things apply: Casablanca in a time of Trump

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 15, 2017
  • On Sunday, I went directly from watching America’s weekly brunch of undaunted panellists attempting to dissect the latest instalment of incomprehensibility from their rogue
Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine in the famous airport scene in the 1942 film Casablanca. Casablanca film screenshot

Trump isn’t the only norm-blaster

  • One of the more dangerous phenomena associated with the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States is that the bellicose president is revising
Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump is revising political and social norms with every tweet, decree, and viral outburst, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Trump isn’t the only norm-blaster

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2017
  • One of the more dangerous phenomena associated with the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States is that the bellicose president is revising

Trump isn’t the only norm-blaster

Opinion | BY LISA VAN DUSEN | November 8, 2017
  • One of the more dangerous phenomena associated with the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States is that the bellicose president is revising
U.S. President Donald Trump is revising political and social norms with every tweet, decree, and viral outburst, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

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