In his forthcoming book The Nerd Reich Gil Duran explains why tech billionaires have soured on democracy, how deeply they are rooted in contemporary politics and what that means for all of us.

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• Second City alumni Jayne Eastwood and Robin Duke reflect on 50 years of comedy and friendship
• Prescriptions for museums, galleries and concerts can tackle illness in ways healthcare providers can't
• Actor and activist George Takei talks about coming out at age 68 in his new memoir
• Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz

PLUS:

• Why everyone loved John Candy
• Documentary, The Eyes of Ghana, explores the lost films that helped inspire Africa’s liberation era
• An Ojibwe chef is re-writing the rules of fine dining
• As a radio DJ he helped popularize the song that made the Edmund Fitzgerald a legend

Chef, T.J. Conwi grew up in a household where food was sometimes scarce. So when he began to understand how much perfectly good food gets thrown out by the food industry, he built a social enterprise business to turn it into meals distributed by local charities.

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• Why a Chicago-area church turned its nativity scene into an anti-ICE protest
• Rogers v. Rogers: Meet the writer whose book inspired a one-man play about Canada's telecom empire
• How Canadian actor Kimberley Sustad built a career with Hallmark Christmas 
• How Inuit throat singing duo PIQSIQ scored a hit with The Last Frontier soundtrack

Ottawa has introduced changes to the criminal code meant to address gendered digital harm. Experts say there's still work to be done.

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• Why did Trump pardon a man who helped move 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.?
• Andy Richter says his unexpected run on Dancing with the Stars was a joyful gift
• The Day 6 list of books to gift and love for the holidays
• Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz

A view from Venezuela as tensions climb

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• Why Alberta separatists have an outsized influence on politics
• Meet the intimacy coordinator for the gay romantic hockey drama Heated Rivalry
• Former child influencer EvanTube reflects on lessons from his very online life
• Metroid Prime 4 is finally here. Should you play it? 
• Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz

A soccer fan explains why it was easier, and possibly cheaper, to travel to the World Cup in Qatar than to get tickets for this year's event in Canada.

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• BC struggles with how to care for people with severe mental illness
• What do we actually know about Shakespeare and his son Hamnet?
• How Whatever's podcast Dating Talk is radicalizing young men
• The basketball dynasty that helped shape Haida Gwaii identity 
• Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz

The Nation's Jeet Heer says Epstein built an influential global network fit for a warlord.

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• Vine gets a reboot
• Settler violence threatens the possibility of a Palestinian state
• The hidden history of a 1969 anti-racism protest in Montreal
• What happens when men opt out of university and college
• Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: A better way to run a U.N. climate conference; Why pro sports can't quit prop bets; Why more Canadians are facing rising debt and delinquency rates; Crisis or coup at the BBC?; and Riffed from the Headlines, our weekly musical news quiz.

PLUS: The case for government-run grocery stores; the decline of 24 Sussex; mass killings in Sudan; the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; and Riffed from the Headlines. 

PLUS: The Blue Jays bet on themselves; Intensifying tropical storms; Why women face more discrimination working in person; Building boundaries in your relationship with AI ; An Ojibwe chef re-writes the rules of fine dining; and a musical headline quiz.