Simon Lewsen

I write the City Beat column for @DesignlinesMag. I also write scandal-y things for @TorontoLife, business-y things for @ROBmagca, & arty things for @TheWalrus.

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

Today, we diagnose mental illness based on symptoms, not brain biology. This is unhelpful. If we were to diagnose shortness-of-breath the way we currently diagnose depression (by the symptom alone), we'd conflate anemia with heart disease. My June cover story for @thewalrus.

[The Walrus @thewalrus]

The science of mental illness is based on the study of symptoms. Fundamentally, scientists lack a biological understanding. Neuroscientists like Sean Hill (@wake_sleep) are trying to change this and get to the root of mental illness. https://t.co/MWdGlTnZXR 2/5 #mentalhealth

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I'm on CBC's Here and Now, talking with host @FarrahMerali about Deepak Paradkar, the self-styled "cocaine lawyer" who went to work for Ryan Wedding. https://t.co/INlgNtWBTw

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

For @torontolife, I profiled Deepak Paradkar, the “cocaine lawyer” who represented accused drug kingpin Ryan Wedding. Parakdar says he was doing normal lawyer stuff for Wedding. The FBI says he was basically a member of Wedding's criminal enterprise. https://t.co/oplRZgecyx

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

Post

Yesterday, I was nominated for a National Magazine Award (Best Profile), for my @macleans feature on Jenni Byrne, the tactician behind Pierre Poilievre. This was a brutal piece to report—folks were terrified to talk—but I hope it's a fun one to read https://t.co/BoKYYbQDcg

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

My longform interview with @kerathink—one of my favourite radio shows—is out in the world today. I spoke about how kids need risky, unchaperoned play, and about how our perceptions of childhood danger are often at odds with reality.
https://t.co/WAXQh74YSu

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I went on NPR's Here and Now to make my case for why children need unsupervised, risky play. In your favourite childhood memories, you were probably outside with friends, feeling exhilarated and free. We should all want our children to have that same joy
https://t.co/CRXdaJ0HoS

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I've interviewed @JeffreyASachs in the past. He's one of those people who thinks carefully and generously about everything he says. Here are his thoughts on Jesse Brown's piece in @TheAtlantic.

[Jeffrey Sachs @JeffreyASachs]

OK I have thoughts on this. Overwhelmingly, Jews are safe and protected in Canada. Using the word "pogrom" to describe what's happening is offensive and needlessly sidetracks the conversation. That said, our synagogues are getting shot up. 1/
https://t.co/n7togIXfoc

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

For @torontolife, I wrote about the city’s vicious tow-truck wars—a world of violence, arson, shifting allegiances, and paranoia. https://t.co/rkNaVvOVRO

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I talked to @ShayeGanam, on QR Calgary & 880 CHED Edmonton, about how safety culture is making childhood less active and exciting. Shaye and I were both amateur bomb makers as kids. We still remember the recipe for gunpowder. Listen here: https://t.co/eFSIOZIOyN
@thewalrus

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

As I wrote in @thewlarus, "Parenting is an unwinable game. We'll be better at it if we accept this fact. "

[The Walrus @thewalrus]

What does it mean to raise independent kids in a culture obsessed with safety? In his latest essay for The Walrus, @SimonLewsen examines the risks, contradictions, and consequences of free-range parenting: https://t.co/Ggef1EJcdZ

[The Walrus @thewalrus]

What does it mean to raise independent kids in a culture obsessed with safety? In his latest essay for The Walrus, @SimonLewsen examines the risks, contradictions, and consequences of free-range parenting: https://t.co/Ggef1EJcdZ

[The Walrus @thewalrus]

What if childhood risk isn’t just unavoidable but necessary? Research from University College London reveals that children allowed to wander alone play longer, burn more energy, and build richer social lives than their supervised peers. https://t.co/Ggef1EJcdZ

[Dr. Mariana Brussoni @mbrussoni]

Don't miss @SimonLewsen's article for @thewalrus on free range parenting
https://t.co/WJr51bpSMs

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

My latest essay for @thewalrus. As a parent, I understand the impulse to protect kids. Danger is real. And on the other side of danger? Unimaginable loss. But safety, I've come to believe, is inversely correlated with freedom—which, for kids, is sacrosanct
https://t.co/0N3zfsYzJP

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

At 5 pm, I'll be on CBC's Here and Now talking with host Farrah Merali about Ryan Wedding, Canada's most famous (former) fugitive, who was arrested yesterday in Mexico City. For a primer on this crazy story, read my Toronto Life feature from last year: https://t.co/WJJvWwCSsX

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I spoke today with Jayme Poisson on CBC's Front Burner, where I defend an old-fashion idea: institutional neutrality. Should universities have opinions? I vote no. Opinions are for students and professors and instructors, not administrators.
https://t.co/Akb5bTb6Se

[Geoffrey Sigalet @GeoffSigalet]

This @macleans article on the recent judicial challenge by some of my colleagues to @UBC's politicized DEI hiring, land acknowledgements, and political statements, is well worth reading. But Prof. Irvine does not wear tweed (alas)! https://t.co/5SvECSzxht

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

Ryan Wedding—the Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin turned celebrity fugitive—is back in the news today. If you want a primer on the darkest, wildest, most Vince Gilligan-y story in Canada right now, give my @torontoLife feature on Wedding a read.
https://t.co/WJJvWwCSsX

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

@BarbaraRKay Thanks for reading—and for the kind words!

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

I wrote an essay for @macleans. It's a defence of institutional neutrality on campus. If university administrators value the work that students and professors do, they should get out of the way and let them do it.
https://t.co/Xwl5DSPrqJ

[Simon Lewsen @SimonLewsen]

If university administrators believe in academic work, they should get out of the way & let professors/students do it. That means renouncing the dirty business of censorship. And it meanings refraining from making PR-ish statements about current events. https://t.co/Xwl5DSPrqJ

[Maclean’s Magazine @macleans]

UBC prof Andrew Irvine believes Canadian universities take too many political stances—and that they're abdicating their rightful role as free and open places of debate. He's taking his own employer to court to prove it. https://t.co/j5Sl5mma3I