John Zada

Happy to share that a new book I’ve been working on, ‘The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey: An East-West Memoir’, a work of narrative nonfiction set in the Middle East, is out in the world today. Many thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council for their support. bit.ly/4o84UdH

If you travel westward far enough, you’ll eventually arrive in the east. The same may be true of many trajectories of effort. An essay on why human beings have such difficulty recognizing the point at which “more” becomes too much. www.johnzada.com/blog/progres...

‘The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey’, a work of narrative nonfiction I wrote set in the #MiddleEast, was awarded an Independent Book Publisher Award in the travel essay category. Many thanks to IPPY, the Canada Council for the Arts + the Ontario Arts Council for their support. bit.ly/4o84UdH

Human rituals—bizarre and seemingly pointless ceremonies—pervade every documented society, from handshakes to hexes, and from birthday parties to parades. In RITUAL, scientist Dimitris Xygalatas (@xygalatas.bsky.social) takes us on a journey through the rich tapestry of human rites. bit.ly/4vzo2EO

As digital culture consumes our lives, the number of people who are giving up on book reading, including younger people, seems to be on the rise. Does this presage a kind of cultural collapse or the readjustment to a different mode of learning? My latest for The Human Journey bit.ly/4erJO5L

Why does Vancouver—one of Canada’s most beautiful and desirable cities—so often get described as lonely, aloof, or hard to make friends in? I’ve wondered about this for years. This essay is my attempt to understand what’s really at play. www.johnzada.com/blog/why-is-...

Fraternity hazing on university campuses, though considered aberrant conduct, is likely rooted an evolved survival behaviour common to exclusive groupings across cultures and throughout history. invisibleundercurrents.substack.com/p/why-frater...

Around 1200 BC, the most sophisticated network of civilizations the ancient world had ever produced collapsed within a single generation. That late Bronze Age calamity, occurring violently and suddenly, affected Egypt, Anatolia, the Aegean, the Levant, parts of Libya, and the Balkans. 1/2

The fires of Mount Chimaera, flaming natural gas vents in southwest Turkey, are wrapped in history, mythology and magical surrounds. But its supernatural aura now flickers dimly beneath the press of too many feet.

Enjoyed my chat with John Bell on the #UpstreamPodcast about my latest nonfiction work, 'The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey: An East-West Memoir'—a travelogue and work of reportage about the #MiddleEast written from a dual-identity perspective. youtu.be/HhUusUpOeSA

Went into the Taurus Mountains of Turkey last week to the ancient city of Termessos—an unexcavated and little-known Greco-Roman era site obscured by the Mediterranean’s other archaeological wonders. bit.ly/49A1o6U

Can we move beyond the common human tendency to think in largely dualistic terms? The wellbeing of our societies, and even their survival, may in part, depend on it. bit.ly/3RZneWK

I wrote for the Globe and Mail about the rise of big box and corporate retail in our cities at the expense of indie brick and mortar businesses. It’s starting to have an impact on our communities and the way we relate to one another. bit.ly/4mHTU4R

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn. But in a rapidly changing world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to question our assumptions, rethink our beliefs, and change our minds. bit.ly/46K1CFJ

Jerry Dennis’s classic travelogue, 'The Living Great Lakes', captures the beauty, fragility, and mystery of North America's majestic inland seas. bit.ly/46rNKki

“A breathtaking travelogue that invites readers to rethink what ‘home’ really means.” From Kirkus Reviews on The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey. bit.ly/3I04Zjm

In her book, 'Jorge Luis Borges: Sources and Illumination', author Giovanna de Garayalde reveals strong parallels between the Argentinian writer Borges’ writings and the Sufi mystical tradition of Middle East and Central Asia. bit.ly/4lNguIC

Excited to share that ‘The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey: An East-West Memoir’, a work of narrative nonfiction set in the Middle East, will be released this September. Cover art by @michelvrana.com. Many thanks to Canada Council for the Arts + Ontario Arts Council for their support. bit.ly/4o84UdH

In Fluke, political scientist Brian Klaas explores the phenomenon of random chance and the outsize impact it has on shaping the future. Our latest review by @melraff.bsky.social bit.ly/4eNiKOd

The idea of multiple personalities is often associated with extreme clinical conditions, but we are all affected by a smaller version of this phenomenon which pays high dividends to understand and bring under greater control. My latest piece for The Human Journey project. bit.ly/43Z9IZJ

The idea of multiple personalities is often associated with severe clinical conditions, but as John Zada writes we are all affected by a smaller version of this phenomenon which pays high dividends to understand and bring under greater control. Our latest from the Human Journey blog. bit.ly/43Z9IZJ

Brazilian documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado passed away today at 81. No one used the medium better, I think, to capture both the difficulties of the human condition and the sheer magic of life. If you're not familiar with him, I urge you to find and explore his work in print form.

#sufism #psychology

A good read about the power of implicit meaning and metaphysical messaging in traditional stories and folklore bit.ly/3FX1Ijr from @andrewbodenwrites.bsky.social

The way in which different cultures describe and classify colors reveals differences in how they perceive the world. It also might help us better understand and navigate the increasingly polarized nature of our conversations, globally, into the future. bit.ly/4hwhsXB

A new piece I wrote on digital indoctrination for The Human Journey project.

A talented and award-winning author friend with 15 great books to his name, Robert Twigger, is giving a 3-day creative writing course in #Wigtown, Scotland next month—along with authors Jessica Fox, and Shaun Bythell. Check it out. bit.ly/4ks7LMu

El Cerro Tronador, "The Thunderer", an extinct volcano above the town of Bariloche, in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina.

An important read for @psychologytoday.com by friend and colleague Denise Winn on our reflex to jump to conclusions based on our lack of information—something we are so often oblivious to. bit.ly/3Q7h6eS

One of the most startling findings of modern science is that we don’t experience the world as it is, but as a virtual reality. It is an understanding that is crucial to so many disciplines, and to grasping a core aspect of our human condition. bit.ly/3WjIGZY

Give us our daylight back! I’m with you @johnzada.bsky.social!!!

I wrote a piece for @theglobeandmail.com about the enforced darkening of airplane cabins on some Air Canada day flights, and our preference for screens over the magical, big-picture window views of air travel. bit.ly/3ZLpXXX

In his two-volume book, ‘The Matter with Things', British scholar Iain McGilchrist argues that for humanity to thrive and survive we need to move from an understanding based upon the reality of matter to one based on process and flow. bit.ly/4iIZZgz

Sunday op-ed for the Globe and Mail on the situation in Syria.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 11 💙📚 @johnzada.bsky.social