What a devastating loss. This man gave us three absolutely perfect records.
pitchfork.com/news/dangelo...
@simonlewsen.bsky.social
Magazine journalist. Kinda arty. Kinda science-y. Toronto / Ottawa.
What a devastating loss. This man gave us three absolutely perfect records.
pitchfork.com/news/dangelo...
This piece is still the one I'm most proud of in my career. (And @chloeellingson.bsky.social's photos are gorgeous.)
08.10.2025 21:06 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 2 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0From the #LocalArchives: The Annex is shrinking. The towers of Crescent Town are exploding. @simonlewsen.bsky.social on a tale of two cities, and how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created todayโs Toronto. thelocal.to/density-the-...
06.10.2025 13:32 โ ๐ 13 ๐ 8 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 2My piece on the death (and possible rebirth) of humanities education has been re-printed by @thelineca.bsky.social, one of the best places on the internet for lively writing and independent thought.
www.readtheline.ca/p/simon-lews...
These words from @cherilucasrowlands.com made me happy:
"After reading a series of articles lamenting the death of higher education and critical thinking in the age of ChatGPT, I tempered my despair with Simon Lewsenโs somewhat hopeful essay on the humanities"
longreads.com/2025/09/10/d...
"I didnโt expect any of this, and Iโm unsure what to make of it. But I wonder if the emerging threat of AI is restoring a sense of vitality to the humanistic mission."
@simonlewsen.bsky.social for @thelocal.to: thelocal.to/humanities-i...
For my Designlines column, I visited Biidaasigeโthe new adventure playground at the foot of the Don Riverโand let my toddler guide me around. She was ecstatic. Children need risky play. Long live Biidaasige.
@waterfrontoronto.bsky.social
www.designlinesmagazine.com/biidaasige-p...
The humanities have been in crisis for the entirety of @simonlewsen.bsky.social's career. But despite apocalyptic declarations about the death of the liberal arts, in his own classroom he sees signs of life. thelocal.to/humanities-i...
09.09.2025 13:22 โ ๐ 5 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0So, @thelocal.to is rolling out its Higher Education issue today. I wrote an essay about the supposed death of the humanities. Are the humanities really dying, though? In my own classroom at the University of Toronto, I see surprising signs of life.
thelocal.to/humanities-i...
The federal government is seeking to punish the City of Toronto for failing to legalize sixplexes. My hot take: When it comes to housing, the feds should throw their weight around even more. My latest column instalment for Designlines.
www.designlinesmagazine.com/sixplexes-in...
I'm jazzed to be included in the Sunday Long Read's 500th weekly editionโan essential round-up of the best long-form journalism.
mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...
In 2002, Ryan Wedding was a rising-star athlete. Today, he's an international drug lord running a billion-dollar enterprise. In @torontolifemag.bsky.social, I tell the story of how a cherubic kid from Thunder Bay, ON, became one of the world's most-wanted fugitives.
torontolife.com/deep-dives/b...
For @thestar.comโฌ, I interviewed Meghan Daumโpersonal essayist turned heterodox podcasterโabout her new book, the LA fires, the fertility crisis, what JD Vance gets right and wrong about family policy, and whether we've passed peak wokeness.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
My City Beat Columnโon art, architecture, and urbanismโfor Designlines magazine is a finalist for a Digital Publishing Awards (Best Column). And that's a nice little nod for a column in its first year.
06.05.2025 16:39 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0๐๏ธ The City Beat
Designlines Magazine
Finalist โ Best Column at the 2025 Digital Publishing Awards
Well done, @simonlewsen.bsky.social and team!
๐ zurl.co/It9q7
#DigitalPublishingAwards #DPA25
For the latest instalment of my City Beat column, I wrote about one of my favourite places in Torontoโthe Paradise Theatre. This is what the future of moviegoing looks like.
www.designlinesmagazine.com/paradise-the...
๐ Finalist | #NMA25
The Perilous Lives of International Students
@torontolifemag.bsky.social | By @simonlewsen.bsky.social
They come for education and a better futureโonly to discover the target on their backs.
๐ zurl.co/jxlTb
Here's my cover story for Report on Business magazine. DEI's fundamental premisesโbias is bad, diversity is goodโare as defensible as any premises have been. But foolish ideas and practices have been smuggled into the workplace under the guise of DEI.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/rob...
I wrote the cover story for the May issue of Report on Business magazine. It's about DEIโwhy people oppose it, where it went wrong, and what it could be .
@theglobeandmail.com
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/rob...
Great piece by @simonlewsen.bsky.social The hard working brass knuckles behind the sloganeering.
macleans.ca/longforms/je...
I'm on today's edition of CBC's Front Burner podcast, talking about Jenni Byrne, the controversial strategist behind Pierre Poilievreโand about the fierce infighting that's suddenly emerged within the conservative movement.
www.cbc.ca/radio/frontb...
Phenomenal story from Simon, it's essential reading this election season. Don't miss it!
10.04.2025 19:12 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 1High praise from one of my favourite journalists!
11.04.2025 18:23 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Really great #cdnpoli piece today in @macleans.bsky.social macleans.ca/longforms/je...
31.03.2025 22:59 โ ๐ 25 ๐ 8 ๐ฌ 2 ๐ 6A reminder for everybody mourning the death of Val Kilmer: The greatest celebrity profile of the 21st century is a profile of him. Honour his legacy by reading this extraordinary piece.
www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/m...
Besides offering us all a long-overdue closeup look at the woman behind Pierre Poilievreโs success, this is just a great example of a magazine profile by @simonlewsen.bsky.social macleans.ca/author/simon...
03.04.2025 13:14 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 2 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0For @macleans.bsky.social, I profiled Jenni Byrne, the mastermind behind Stephen Harper's game-changing 2011 victory, who's now trying to work her magic again for Pierre Poilievre. The plan was going perfectly. Until it wasn't.
macleans.ca/longforms/je...
Also, @simonlewsen.bsky.social talks to the @uhntoronto.bsky.social prescribing housing as a public health solution.
07.03.2025 18:37 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 2 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0I interviewed NYT columnist Ross Douthat about why all people should be religious, not because religion is good for your mental health or gives order to your life or whatever, but becauseโas he has itโthere's compelling evidence that God is real.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Can Olivia Chow solve the housing crisis? I'm optimistic, for two big reasons. And pessimistic, for one big reason. Here's the latest instalment of my City Beat column for Designlines magazine www.designlinesmagazine.com/toronto-hous...
30.01.2025 17:03 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0