TUESDAY OCTOBER 15, 2019
When Polish writer, Olga Tokarczuk, won a Nobel Prize in Literature last week, local television avoided mentioning her name, due to her being unofficially "blacklisted " by Poland's Ministry of Culture.

When two young Canadian film-makers took their documentary about Jordan Peterson on the road, they were not prepared for multiple cancellations from arthouse and indie cinemas reneging on their contracts to screen the film.

And when independent reporter, April Halley decided to investigate the practice of housing male bodied sex offenders in Canada's women's prisons, she was not prepared for the way in which government officials would dodge her questions.

Make sure you do not miss these stories and many more in this week's collection.


* * *


Culture
By April Halley
Independent reporter April Halley goes where other Canadian reporters are too afraid to go by investigating the practice of housing male-bodied sex offenders in women's prisons.


Philosopher Benedict Beckeld looks at the tendency towards cultural self-hatred and what it suggests about the life-stage of a civilisation.


By Michael Shellenberger
Heather MacDonald took to the streets of San Francisco to buy illegal drugs for herself. Michael Shellenberger interviews her about the experience and what she believes are the fundamental reasons for the Californian homelessness crisis.


By Douglas Murray
In an excerpt from his new book, Douglas Murray wonders why the same liberal attitudes that accept that consenting adults can do what they please do not also extend to fundamentalist Christians.


Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Amber Scorah talks to Jonathan Kay about leaving the Christian sect and her book  Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life.


Politics and World Affairs
Poland's most recent Nobel prize winner has been unofficially blacklisted by her own country for being critical of Poland's national history.


The retreat of American forces from northern Syria does not bode well for the Kurds, argues Brian Stewart.


By Candice Malcolm
Rules deciding who "is" and who "isn't" a journalist in Canada are partisan and divisive writes new media entrepreneur, Candice Malcolm.


Science
By Michael Shellenberger
Environmentalist and nuclear energy advocate, Michael Shellenberger argues that some forms of environmentalism today channel the misanthropic philosophy of Malthus, who believed that poor people should be left to die, in order to prevent over-population.


By John Barry
In minimising the biological factors which shape gender, feminism has inadvertently limited our understanding of how the sexes are both similar and different, as well as key areas in which women are disadvantaged.


It is not cold, hard data that is at the heart of the scientific process, but individuals who engage in speculation and creativity, writes Lucas Smalldon.




Greg Ellis reads  A Letter From Hong Kong , Peter Baehr’s essay about the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony and its impact on his students.
Review
By Carol Horton
"It’s sickly ironic that a film of such outstanding originality is being shut out of independent and arthouse cinemas, the very cultural institutions that should be most committed to supporting such creative work," writes Carol Horton.


By Samuel Forster
The real complaint that mainstream critics seem to have against The Joker is that film explores why people do bad things rather than simply engaging in denunciation, writes Samuel Forster.


By John Staddon
A new book takes a look at how the middle class is squeezed by meritocracy, but fails to acknowledge that natural talent is real, writes Emeritus Psychology Professor, John Staddon.


A review of Douglas Murray's new book on contemporary groupthink and social-media induced mass hysteria.





--Claire Lehmann, Editor-in-Chief