A&S scholars sharing their expertise in the media

From the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to surveillance tools, experts from a range of disciplines across the Faculty of Arts & Science are sharing their expertise on a variety of issues in the media.

Here’s some of what they had to say this week.

October 10

• Centre for Comparative Literature PhD candidate Zichuan Gan talks to CBC Radio: Ideas and CBC Ideas online about the intersections of Chinese science fiction and digital technologies.
• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton warns TechCrunch and Politico that U.S. ownership of NSO Group could pose serious counterintelligence and surveillance risks.
• Department of Political Science assistant professor, teaching stream Donald Kingsbury comments for CHCH on Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Department of Psychology associate professor, teaching stream Suzanne Wood co-authored a study that found cognitive gaslighting is a learning process that exploits trust, as covered by La Presse Canadienne.

October 12

• Department of English professor Randy Boyagoda reviews The Unveiling by Quan Barry for The New York Times (paywall).
• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professor Jason Stanley talks to MSNBC: Velshi about U.S. president Donald Trump.
• Department of History professor Dimitry Anastakis tells The Globe and Mail (paywall) that sycophancy in power hierarchies leads to poor decision-making.
• Department of Geography & Planning professor and School of Cities Infrastructure Institute director Matti Siemiatycki tells CityNews and Bell Media radio that the transit system in Toronto is outdated and needs urgent improvements.

October 14

• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy senior fellow Akaash Maharaj talks to CTV News about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy affiliated faculty Aurel Braun talks to Bell Media radio about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
• Trinity College assistant professor Jack Cunningham talks to Bell Media radio about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professor and founding director Janice Stein comments for the Toronto Star (paywall) on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
• School of Cities director and Department of Geography & Planning professor Karen Chapple shares a study on cities vulnerable to U.S. tariffs with the Waterloo Region Record.
• Department of Earth Sciences and School of the Environment professor Miriam L. Diamond talks to the National Post (paywall) about government regulations of PFAS chemicals.
• Citizen Lab director and Department of Political Science professor Ron Deibert warns Mother Jones that surveillance tool Altamides enables stealth phone tracking through telecom networks.

October 15

• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professors Jason Stanley, Brian Rathbun and Nina Srinivasan Rathbun discuss on France 24 video their academic lives in Canada since leaving the United States.
• Department of Art History postdoctoral fellow Stephanie Azzarello talks to CBC Radio: The Current about her liver-transplant journey, which intersects with her academic journey, with comments from librarian Margaret English.  
• Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology associate professor, teaching stream Shelby Riskin talks to Global radio about her examinations of century-old soil.
• Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professor Timothy Snyder talks to MSNBC online video about the No Kings rallies planned against Donald Trump.
• Department of Political Science assistant professor, teaching stream Elizabeth McCallion discusses on CBC Radio: The Trailbreaker a senator appointed as an independent joining the Conservatives.
• Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources professor and director Rafael Gomez comments for CBC News online, The Guardian and France 24 on Canada’s auto industry.
• Department of Geography & Planning professor and School of Cities Infrastructure Institute director Matti Siemiatycki tells the Ottawa Citizen that parking conflicts reflect deeper tensions over how public space is shared.

October 16

• Department of Political Science professor Jessica Green shares insights with Bloomberg on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s approach to fossil fuels.
• Department of Philosophy professor Mark Kingwell gives Toronto Star (paywall) readers advice on navigating an offensive social interaction and practising gratitude.
• Department of Geography & Planning professor and School of Cities Infrastructure Institute director Matti Siemiatycki talks to CBC Radio: Metro Morning about construction on the Don Valley Parkway.