The Walrus Talks: The Power of Animals

On September 23, 2025, I attended the session entitled: The Walrus Talks: The Power of Animals. It was held at the Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W, Toronto, from 7p.m. to 9 p.m.

How animal welfare is key to a sustainable future for all.

When animals thrive, we all do. This discussion explored the ethical, environmental, and scientific impacts of animal welfare in Canada and worldwide.

At The Walrus Talks The Power of Animals, seven expert speakers discussed how a sustainable future is shaped by how we treat animals.

How does better overall farm animal treatment protect humans from the development of antimicrobial resistance?
What are the economic advantages of advancing animal welfare?
And how can sustainable farming practices serve as an essential strategy for environmental conservation, promoting ecological balance, and protecting animal habitats?

It was a discussion on how transforming Canada’s food system can create benefits for animals, humans, and the planet.

This session featured seven-minute talks by:

· Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies

· Tricia Croasdell, Global CEO, World Animal Protection

· Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, MP, Beaches—East York

· Nital Jethalal, Executive Director, Institute for Future Food Systems

· Dr. Zahra Kassam, Staff Radiation Oncologist, Stronach Regional Cancer Centre; Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto

· Dr. Joseph LeBlanc, Associate VP, Equity and Inclusion and Assistant Professor, Indigenous Health at NOSM University; Vice-President, Social Accountability, Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada

· Dr. Scott Weese, Professor, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph

Personal Commentary: This session was informative. It provided insights on how animals impact and affect our human lifestyle. 

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard

On Friday, September 19, 2025, I attended the talk by author Agnes Callard at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St., Toronto. 

The following description is taken from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213395473-open-socrates?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=UYWrM8DBzi&rank=1

We all know something about Socrates, though we often reduce him to a paragon of mere “critical thinking.” We think we understand his remark that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” But in Open Socrates, Agnes Callard—who has emerged as one of our most dazzling and provocative public intellectuals—shows that in fact we understand almost nothing about the Socratic project. Socrates’ radical aim was to force us to confront the assumptions that prop up our lives and our worldviews, and to ask whether those assumptions are correct—or whether they hold us back. Teasing out the profound insights of the father of modern philosophy, Callard reveals that what we usually think of as “thinking” is in fact anything but. True thinking can only happen in a dialogue with another person; only through conversation can we inquire into the fundamental questions of our lives. And only by following Socrates’ model, she demonstrates, can we truly understand politics, love, death, and everything else that matters.

Personal Commentary: Many years ago, when I became interested in Philosophy, I gravitated towards the works of Socrates--his thoughts on "persuade and be persuaded" captivated my imagination. Another aspect of his thoughts was to continue asking questions to enable clear meanings. My enlightenment continues...

Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction - Non-fiction

The following description of Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction is taken from the following source: 

https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/linguistics-a-very-short-introduction/9780192801487.html

Linguistics falls in the gap between arts and science, on the edges of which the most fascinating discoveries and the most important problems are found. Rather than following the conventional organization of many contemporary introductions to the subject, the author of this stimulating guide begins his discussion with the oldest, 'arts' end of the subject and moves chronologically through to the newest research - the 'science' aspects. 

A series of short, thematic chapters examines various areas, including the prehistory of languages and their common origins, language and evolution, language in time and space (the nature of change inherent in language), grammars and dictionaries (how systematic is language?), and phonetics. An explication of the latest discoveries regarding language in the brain complements the coverage of all major aspects of linguistics from a refreshing and insightful angle.

Personal Commentary: On reading Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction, it appears that this examination of the topic explores and determines the concepts and uses of language as it relates to the differences between the arts and science. It enlightens the reader to a varied approach to the use of language in these two subject areas, as its uses evolve over time.  

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: Fiction

The following review is from:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58733693-remarkably-bright-creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tells the story of a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Personal Commentary: Remarkably Bright Creatures is an informative novel. It is a story about how various individuals react and behave as they move forward while coping with life's challenges.

The Tenant - by Freida McFadden - Fiction

In the novel, The Tenant, author Freida McFadden takes the reader into a world of thrills and suspense. The following review is taken from: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221733722-the-tenant?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=CWO5vbXxL6&rank=1

There’s no place like home…

Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancée, he's desperate to make ends meet.

Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?

Because something isn't quite right, the neighbours start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets...

Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set.

Personal Commentary: This novel was a distressing read for me.  It evoked unpleasant emotions, and yet I was able to read the whole story. 

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - Fiction

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction, and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Source: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/divine-rivals-a-novel/9781250857439.html

Personal Commentary: In the fantasy novel Divine Rivals, the author Rebecca Ross takes the reader to a world of magical connections through the interactions of two journalists from rival newspapers. The story evolves as the journalists go from enemies to lovers. The main character, Iris Winnow, worries about her brother, who is fighting on the front lines. She writes letters to her rival, who responds to her correspondence incognito.  Through their interactions, they become intimately involved and are faced with hope and heartbreak.  

Thinking Small and Large by Peter Forbes - Non-fiction

Thinking Small and Large reveals the ingenuity of microbes at key stages in life's 4 billion-year history and highlights their developing role in resolving our deepest problem: climate change, which is flooding and burning our world more menacingly every year. 

Ground-breaking ongoing research with some of the most ancient bacteria is leading to a parallel carbon economy using engineered bacteria for fuel, food and materials. This would enable rewilding on a vast scale, with the small land footprint of bacterial technologies solving the current conflict in land use between farming and fuel and materials production.

In this fascinating and illuminating book, Peter Forbes shines a light on this crucial technology and offers a tantalizing glimpse of what is possible. To solve the big problems, you have to think small.

Source: https://guardianbookshop.com/thinking-small-and-large-9781837731701/

Personal Commentary: Peter Forbes, author of Thinking Small and Large, takes the reader into the world of microbes. Forbes' vivid descriptions of bacterial technologies illustrate how human life is affected through the production processes of farming, and the use of fuel and materials in these processes.