'Field Notes from a Pandemic' updates: I wrote in the CBC about China, etc.
Essay in CBC, excerpts in the Walrus, Literary Hub; Reddit Ask Me Anything on Oct. 13; CBC's The Current upcoming
The past week, I wrote an essay in the CBC, “Pandemic is an opportunity for Canada to reduce economic dependence on China”:
There is no time more apt than now for Canada to re-examine its economic relationship with China. Increasingly, signs are showing that China is taking advantage of the COVID-19 chaos to extend its influence globally. Post-pandemic, it will likely only get more powerful and assertive against a Western world mired in social and economic mayhem.
In my book Field Notes from a Pandemic, a chief argument is that China will rise further through the pandemic's geopolitical upheaval. For those like Canada, with citizens detained and virtually held hostage by China, it will only get worse.
The book is among the Globe and Mail’s “best picks,” the CBC’s “books coming out this season we can't wait to read,” the Winnipeg Free Press's “fascinating fall titles” and Kobo’s “most anticipated books.” If you’ve read it, I hope you can review it. The book, incidentally, is now 10 per cent off.
Excerpts
My book has been excerpted in the Walrus, “Why We’re So Bad at Disaster Planning”:
We are fundamentally bad at gauging threats. Research shows that we view danger not with our calculated, higher-order thinking but with base and instinctual hunches. We were designed for threats up-close and carnivorous: the short-faced bear in the tall grass and the sabre-toothed Smilodon stalking the plains. Abstract dooms hovering above us, waiting for a spark? Not so much.
This other excerpt of Field Notes from a Pandemic is published in Literary Hub, “On Riding Out the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Heart of the Old Holy Roman Empire”:
Experts say that during crises, our minds gravitate toward times we associated with peace and safety. Amid the pandemic, like everyone else, I was trying to grab onto something, yearning for the familiar amid the strange, the simple amid the complicated. Of course, eventually, I would find that none of the comfort to be derived from this quaint little town [in Germany] could shield or even distract me from what was going on in this country, this continent and the world.
Field Notes from a Pandemic is also an audiobook, read by me. You can listen to a sample on Audible, and if you don’t yet have an account, the book is free with a trial.
Upcoming public appearances, all times Eastern
Pictured is my appearance on CTV’s Your Morning. It can be watched here. I thought of rounding up all the previous public appearances, but it’s been hard to keep track of them. If you’re really interested, you can Google for them. Otherwise, the following are upcoming appearances. Please note these can be subject to change. I also don’t yet have links for all of them. For more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Reddit Ask Me Anything on r/Canada, Oct. 13, specific time to be announced
Wordfest, Oct. 15, specific time TBA
U.K. SkyNews, Oct. 23, 11:45 a.m.
Toronto International Festival of Authors, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary Public Library, Nov. 18, 9 p.m.
Global Television British Columbia, TBA
CBC’s The Current, TBA
CTV’s In Isolation With Richard Crouse, TBA
CTV Saskatoon, TBA