Gregory P. Marchildon
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gmarchildon.bsky.social
Gregory P. Marchildon
@gmarchildon.bsky.social

Writer, researcher, thinker, and doer who also loves cycling, paddling, walking, and just having fun.

Economics 27%
Public Health 26%
‘Although Cecil Rhodes talked of securing the future, power for him was not a means to an end but the expression of a need to treat people as objects to “quicken and control”.’

@michaelledgerlomas.bsky.social on what drove Cecil Rhodes:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Michael Ledger-Lomas · Wriggling, Wriggling: Ruthless Cecil Rhodes
Cecil Rhodes saw the ‘native question’ very differently from imperial officials and missionaries who tried to...
www.lrb.co.uk
‘The art of Eno’s “unfinished theory” is instant-hit art, browse art, mood-lighting art. Which also, conveniently, describes a lot of what Eno himself does.’

Ian Penman on Brian Eno: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Ian Penman · Infinite Wibble: Brian v. Eno
At a time when most conversation about the arts remained stuck in an Oxbridge common room, Eno was a one-man laboratory...
www.lrb.co.uk
Old Soviet joke for today:

A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.

After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”

“I’m looking for the obituaries.”

“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”

“Not the one I’m looking for.”
‘Some opponents of Assad chose to ignore these latest killings. They were turning away from atrocities not because they had stopped seeing them, but because they had learned their lesson: don’t speak out.’

Loubna Mrie on Syria before and after Assad: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Loubna Mrie · ‘We were tricked’: Assad and the Alawites
For a long time, it had seemed that Assad might outlast everything. Then, almost overnight, it was over. And with his...
www.lrb.co.uk

Had a great time talking with @gmarchildon.bsky.social about my new book for the Champlain Society’s podcast Witness to Yesterday.
The Jesuit Relations - Champlain Society
Greg Marchildon speaks with Micah True about his book, The Jesuit Relations.
champlainsociety.utppublishing.com
‘These people are all Hayek’s bastards in their different ways and it’s not hard to imagine them eventually ripping each other’s throats out.’

David Runciman last month on Hayek’s legacy and the populist right:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Runciman · Hokey Cowboy: Is Hayek to blame?
Hayek suspected that nothing about the vindication of neoliberalism was likely to be straightforward. Some magical...
www.lrb.co.uk

@gmarchildon.bsky.social interviews Lloyd Axworthy in the latest episode of Witness to Yesterday. Listen here: champlainsociety.utppublishing.com/digital-cont...
On Friday April 4 at 7pm, join Gregory Marchildon (@gmarchildon.bsky.social) for the Winnipeg launch of Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada (@uoftpress.bsky.social), hosted by Gerald Friesen - mailchi.mp/grant/gregor...
Gregory Marchildon to discuss the legacy of Tommy Douglas
Join Gregory Marchildon for the Winnipeg launch of Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada (University of Toronto Press). Featuring a conversation hosted by Gerald Friesen, followed by a bo...
mailchi.mp
‘Musk needs to feel, always, that he has “narrative control” – a quick tweet (Musk has said that he typically posts when he’s on the toilet) was the easiest, most immediate way for him to attack whatever it was that he didn’t like.’

Deborah Friedell on Musk and Twitter
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Deborah Friedell · Delete the workforce: Musk’s Twitter Takeover
Trump praised Musk for being so good at firing people: ‘You’re the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do....
www.lrb.co.uk
‘By styling himself as a warrior against antisemitism, Trump packages a highly repressive – and discriminatory – campaign as a crusade against bigotry.’

Adam Shatz on Columbia’s surrender, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...
Adam Shatz | Submission
There’s nothing surprising about Trump’s attack on the universities, or on the liberal law firms that he also...
www.lrb.co.uk
It's time for Canada, and Canada's resources to flow in a new direction.
Why Canada Should Apply for Full European Union Membership
As the global political landscape shifts, seemingly by the hour, the European Union could offer Canada long term security and prosperity…
justinbeach.ca
Best Jersey ever.

#Canpoli
#Canada
#Hockey

Please RSVP: Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare Book Launch RSVP
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has much bigger things than tariffs to worry about now -- a health care scandal alleging there were procurement deals with friends of the UCP that cost more than comparable options, by Gary Mason www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Danielle Smith has much bigger things than tariffs to worry about now
A former Alberta Health Services CEO has made stunning allegations of government interference on behalf of private companies in health care deals
www.theglobeandmail.com
‘Hamas was founded to pursue armed resistance against the occupation, but in practice violent confrontation was always in tension with political calculation.’

@tomstevenson.bsky.social on the history of Hamas: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Tom Stevenson · Illusions of Containment: Versions of Hamas
Hamas had been able to take power in Gaza because Israel had failed to circumscribe Palestinian politics within the Oslo...
www.lrb.co.uk
‘Everything talks in Brady Corbet's films, especially the scenes and objects that are silent.’

Michael Wood watches 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Michael Wood · At the Movies: ‘The Brutalist’
Despite the importance of the architectural meaning of the film’s title, the other meaning, the wrong meaning, is also...
www.lrb.co.uk
Like the Library of Parliament, the Library of Congress is an inspiring place. Today that inspo is a touch bittersweet.
"The inquiry, knowledge and belief of truth is the sovereign good of human nature"
1/ Trump has announced plans to withdraw from @who.int This decision threatens to weaken WHO, isolate the US, and undermine global health diplomacy when unity is most needed. We respond @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/388/...
https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r116🧵
@gmarchildon.bsky.social will be touring Maritime universities (Mount A Jan 28, St FX Jan 29, and UNB Jan 31) about his new book Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada. See the posters for details.
Everyone is welcome to attend the book launch at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick on 31 Jan at 3:30 p.m. And I interviewed @gmarchildon.bsky.social for the Witness to Yesterday podcast. Listen here: champlainsociety.utppublishing.com/digital-cont...
“Though Clarence Darrow lost the legal case, it is tempting to feel satisfied by his brilliant rhetorical triumph over William Jennings Bryan. But ominously similar divisions still run through our country, deeper than ever.” —Adam Hochschild
Evolution in the Dock | Adam Hochschild
We’ve seen many skirmishes in America’s culture wars over the decades; one recent round, over abortion, was on the ballot in ten states during the 2024
buff.ly

In this latest episode of the Witness to Yesterday podcast, I interview my fellow podcaster (and older brother!) Greg Marchildon about his magnum opus - Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada. Listen here: champlainsociety.utppublishing.com/digital-cont...

#canadianhistory #medicare
‘Here was a player always ready to strike up on mandolin or harmonium, a navvy briefly excavating the Panama Canal, a government draughtsman in a Tahiti planning office, an anti-government political satirist.’

Julian Bell on Gauguin
Julian Bell · Grizzled Eagle: Gauguin’s Lives
The provocations were the sharper because he was scratching at his own sores. You don’t need to warm to Gauguin...
www.lrb.co.uk
‘Pétain’s new myth plastered over the fact that Vichy and its policy of keeping the Germans contented had been accepted, with intense and bitter reluctance, by most of the population.’

Neal Ascherson:
Neal Ascherson · What Can Be Called Treason: Pétain’s Defence
The trial of Marshal Pétain began on 23 July 1945 and lasted until 15 August. The small Paris courtroom was crowded...
www.lrb.co.uk

Yeah, back to the municipal doctor plans of the 1930s and 1940s.

Given the events of the last few days, you might be interested in this podcast. I conducted the interview a couple of weeks but this is the perfect time for its release.