Mark Medley

Mark Medley

@markmedley.bsky.social

Deputy Opinion Editor, @theglobeandmail.com. Former Globe and Mail/National Post Books Editor. Author of Live to See the Day, a national bestseller. https://linktr.ee/mark.medley

5.3K followers854 following183 posts

Mark Medley reposted

Simon Houpt
@simonhoupt.bsky.social

A haunting dispatch from Margaret Atwood on the Steven Galloway affair, and why she insisted on standing up for due process in the face of ostracism. “If you’ve ever tut-tutted about Mao’s Red Guards and said “It can’t happen here,” take a look.” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: You called me a bad feminist. I was actually Sherlock HolmesWhy was I interested in the case of Steven Galloway? Because there were so many questions that needed to be answered

Mark Medley reposted

Lynn Coady
@lynncoady.bsky.social

This prize should only go to writers who are absolute sweethearts, like the man himself

Mark Medley@markmedley.bsky.social

This is an incredibly meaningful prize in honour of an incredibly wonderful friend and writer. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/book...

theglobeandmail.comWriting prize to honour late Canadian thriller author Andrew PyperWinners will receive $20,000 and must write in the same genres that writer produced: horror, thrillers and other types of speculative fiction
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

"My years of experience as a rapper have somehow turned me into an attractive potential political candidate today." @cadenceweapon.bsky.social on the wave of rappers-turned- politicians, and what it says about hip hop: www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: How did electing former rappers become politics as usual?As hip-hop becomes more enmeshed in mainstream culture, rappers are becoming viable political candidates. What does that say about the state of hip-hop, and us?
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

I actually used the phrase “A small riot ensued” in my book (citing him, of course) to honour his work.

Mark Medley@markmedley.bsky.social

Just seeing this news. His Ricky Jay profile, below, features my favourite lede of all-time.

Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

Just seeing this news. His Ricky Jay profile, below, features my favourite lede of all-time.

Michael Schulman@michaelschulman.bsky.social

Another sad loss today: the longtime New Yorker writer Mark Singer. Here's his marvelous profile of Ricky Jay, from 1993. www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...

newyorker.comRicky Jay’s Magical SecretsFrom 1993: The magician’s deft illusions flout reality, and he rejects the notion that magic is a suitable entertainment for children.
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

As good a magazine story as you’ll read this year.

Ed Caesar@edcaesar.bsky.social

In the fifth year after the full-scale invasion, Ukraine is under ever-more devastating drone and missile attacks. For @newyorker.com, I flew with a Ukrainian stunt pilot who--with a crew of other daredevils--now hunts Shaheds from an old skydiving plane. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

newyorker.comThe Stunt Pilot Hunting Russian DronesA Ukrainian flying ace is leveraging his aerobatics skills to protect his countrymen from nightly attacks.

Mark Medley reposted

Barry Petchesky
@barryp.bsky.social

Freelancing is hard enough already, and inflation sucks. Defector is raising our base freelance rates by 20 percent. Great time to pitch us. Email me or pitches@defector.com

Mark Medley reposted

Richie Assaly
@rdassaly.bsky.social

NEW: The Giller Prize boycott has ended. The embattled literary prize confirmed that it is no longer sponsored by groups with ties to Israeli occupation and genocide. I spoke to previous Giller winners and nominees about the news for @thegrindto.bsky.social. www.thegrindmag.ca/organizers-e...

thegrindmag.caOrganizers End Giller Prize Boycott, Say Demands Have Been MetThe embattled literary organization is no longer sponsored by Scotiabank, Indigo or the Azrieli Foundation, organizers confirmed. The Grind spoke to several authors about what this means for the…
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

This is why AI will never win.

RedruM@dorsalstream.bsky.social

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Mark Medley reposted

Michael Schulman
@michaelschulman.bsky.social

This is all reminding me of a conversation I had recently with an old friend who works in tech and extremely gung-ho about AI. When I told him about my process for writing a long New Yorker piece, he was absolutely sure that AI could make it more "efficient." / www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

theguardian.comThe New York Times drops freelance journalist who used AI to write book reviewWriter and author Alex Preston said he “made a serious mistake” after a reader spotted similarities between his review and one that appeared in the Guardian
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

"Live to See the Day, at its core, is a meditation on mortality. Human life is limited by time, yet people are oddly reluctant to restrict their ambitions within its bounds. We build, restore, protect, write, teach and imagine toward futures we may never see" www.theseaboardreview.ca/p/live-to-se...

theseaboardreview.caLive to See the Day: Impossible Goals, Unimaginable Futures, and the Pursuit of Things That May Never Be by Mark MedleyReviewed by Chris Reed

Mark Medley reposted

Ed Zitron
@edzitron.com

Free newsletter: Why're we still doing this? Despite $1tr+ in investment, every AI company is unprofitable, LLMs have yet to provide tangible productivity benefits, and private credit-backed data center debt may be the next great financial crisis. www.wheresyoured.at/why-are-we-still-doing-this/

wheresyoured.atWhy Are We Still Doing This?Hi! If you like this piece and want to support my work, please subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere fro...
Mark Medley
@markmedley.bsky.social

“When my three-year old niece scribbles with her broken crayons on a piece of paper … she is producing an image that is perhaps less coherent or realistic than what ChatGPT could output … but it’s still her artwork that I stick on the fridge.” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: AI doesn’t make it betterIt’s a familiar story now: artificial intelligence has embedded itself into yet another thing that people loved, and made it worse

Mark Medley reposted

Thomas Juneau
@thomasjuneau.bsky.social

My new op-ed for The Globe and Mail. Canada needs a realist foreign policy, but the government also needs to be coherent and transparent about it. To understand Carney's foreign policy, too many people focus on his words - look at his actions instead. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: Canada’s rhetorical support for the war on Iran has an audience of one: Donald TrumpOttawa’s most important priority remains managing relations with its only and much more powerful neighbour

Mark Medley reposted

Leonard Pierce
@leonardpierce.bsky.social

This is so real. It’s about hip-hop, about capitalism, about the way that marginal cultures are erased, and about a million other things, all integrated into a cohesive thing, and it’s why I keep being a loyal DEFECTOR subscriber.

defector.comLost Recipes | DefectorIn 1991, Spin magazine took the Compton rap collective N.W.A out to eat for a profile at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan. The white author presents gangsta rap as a cynical enterprise, no different ...

Mark Medley reposted

Simon Houpt
@simonhoupt.bsky.social

US Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, requests an apology from The Globe and Mail for a column by Cathal Kelly about the US men’s Olympic hockey team at the State of the Union. www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/artic...

theglobeandmail.comU.S. ambassador to Canada requests apology for Globe and Mail columnIn a letter to The Globe and Mail, Pete Hoekstra said he was ‘disappointed and outraged’ over Cathal Kelly’s column on U.S. men’s hockey team

Mark Medley reposted

Greg Sargent
@gregsargent.bsky.social

This is striking: Trump's deranged attacks on Canada have caused a big drop in Canadian visits to states like Michigan, hurting the state's economy. There are 3 vulnerable House Republicans in Michigan. So this lunacy could help cost GOP the House. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2071...

newrepublic.comTrump’s Fury at Canada Backfires in Surprise Blow to GOP’s 2026 HopesThe number of Canadians visiting the U.S. fell off a cliff in 2025. It’s pretty clear why. And this fall, the GOP should be made to pay a political price for it.

Mark Medley reposted

Nate Rogers
@naterogers.bsky.social

After Jason Lee opened a camera shop in Eagle Rock, I thought, man, that'd be a fun story to do. I did not know that it would eventually lead to him threatening to take me to court. For @defector.com, the whole bloody affair: defector.com/a-compliment...

defector.comA Complimentary Profile Of Jason Lee That Was Surprisingly Difficult To Publish | DefectorIf you walked down Colorado Boulevard in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles at some point in the past three years, you might have noticed a modest, pueblo-style beige building with “PHOTO” pai...

Mark Medley reposted

Anna Mehler Paperny
@mehlerpaperny.bsky.social

Rehabilitation is a core principle of criminal sentencing in Canada. Canada is poised to get rid of its prison libraries. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... by @tanyatalaga.bsky.social

theglobeandmail.comOpinion: By threatening to get rid of prison librarians, Canada is not going by the bookEliminating educational programs and the jobs of federal prison librarians hollows out potential rehabilitation services – not to mention Canada’s humanity

Mark Medley reposted

n+1
@nplusonemag.com

Very big news: n+1 founding editor Chad Harbach’s new novel—his first since 2011’s beloved and bestselling THE ART OF FIELDING—is coming soon! THE BRIGHTNESS is out in October from @littlebrown.bsky.social. Read all about it—and preorder your copy—here: shop.nplusonemag.com/products/the...

shop.nplusonemag.comThe Brightness, by Chad HarbachThe follow-up to n+1 founding editor Chad Harbach’s beloved and bestselling debut novel The Art of Fielding—coming this October!