Alexandra Kimball
@alexandrakimball.bsky.social
Journalist and author, Toronto
Pinned
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2025. All rights reserved.
www.cbc.ca
Thank you to CBC Nature and Ontario Nature’s Andrés Monge for this wonderful interview about Toronto’s double-crested cormorants! It’s a must-listen companion to my piece that explains the ecology of it all brilliantly:
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
daylight saving time is over. let’s leave it that way! as I wrote for @thenarwhal.ca, there are zero benefits and plenty of costs to changing the clocks twice a year: thenarwhal.ca/daylight-tim...
Is daylight saving time actually good for the environment? | The Narwhal
Canadian provinces have been waiting on the U.S. to quit changing their clocks twice a year. Is it time to just do it?
thenarwhal.ca
November 2, 2025 at 9:44 PM
daylight saving time is over. let’s leave it that way! as I wrote for @thenarwhal.ca, there are zero benefits and plenty of costs to changing the clocks twice a year: thenarwhal.ca/daylight-tim...
I’ve been listening to a lot of 80s-90s soft rock and the lyrics are so fing serious, I can’t believe this played constantly in anodyne offices and waiting rooms. So much blue collar tragedy!
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I’ve been listening to a lot of 80s-90s soft rock and the lyrics are so fing serious, I can’t believe this played constantly in anodyne offices and waiting rooms. So much blue collar tragedy!
Finally watched Mussolini: Son of the Century and thinking a parallel between Italian and contemporary global fascism is the rise of nonsense language (Marinetti = “Italian brainrot” on youtube)
September 29, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Finally watched Mussolini: Son of the Century and thinking a parallel between Italian and contemporary global fascism is the rise of nonsense language (Marinetti = “Italian brainrot” on youtube)
These racetrack photos by @chloeellingson.bsky.social are eerie, poignant, and elegaic — they perfectly capture the atmosphere of tarnished romance Nick builds (and mourns) throughout the piece. Just all so incredibly well done.
I spent the summer going back to Woodbine over and over again, often with photographer @chloeellingson.bsky.social, who gorgeously captured life on the backstretch and in the grandstands. Give the piece a read, then read the rest of @thelocal.to's Wild Wild City issue! thelocal.to/breakdown-at...
Breakdown at the Racetrack | The Local
Once a lucrative gambling business, Ontario's horse racing industry is now heavily subsidized by the government. As gamblers turn to online gaming, and ideas about animal welfare shift, a cluster of f...
thelocal.to
September 26, 2025 at 7:18 PM
These racetrack photos by @chloeellingson.bsky.social are eerie, poignant, and elegaic — they perfectly capture the atmosphere of tarnished romance Nick builds (and mourns) throughout the piece. Just all so incredibly well done.
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a magazine issue as replete with bangers as @thelocal.to’s summer animal issue. @nickhunebrown.bsky.social’s story on the rise and fall of Toronto horseracing deserves the King’s Cup for storytelling. RIP Patches O’Hoolihan. #longreads
I admire all of @thelocal.to reporting, and this piece on Woodbine racetrack is a banger. I love horse racing, even though it's a pretty dark sport. @nickhunebrown.bsky.social confronts the darkness, the economics, and the doomy shadow over the backstretch. Great writing too!
A quick 🧵 on my @thelocal.to feature on Woodbine Racetrack, the economics of horse racing, and how to think about racehorses as ideas about animal-human relations shift. #longreads 1/ thelocal.to/breakdown-at...
September 26, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a magazine issue as replete with bangers as @thelocal.to’s summer animal issue. @nickhunebrown.bsky.social’s story on the rise and fall of Toronto horseracing deserves the King’s Cup for storytelling. RIP Patches O’Hoolihan. #longreads
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
Doug Ford wants to control admissions criteria at Ontario universities, and which non-tuition fees students pay once they’re on campus. It may not seem overtly political, but Bill 33 is part of a broader right-wing crackdown on campuses, writes @royinori.bsky.social. thelocal.to/bill-33-onta...
Doug Ford Is Trying to Control How Universities Operate | The Local
Ontario’s Bill 33 mandates merit-based admissions and gives the province unprecedented power over university and college operations. Is it part of a broader right-wing crackdown on campuses?
thelocal.to
September 11, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Doug Ford wants to control admissions criteria at Ontario universities, and which non-tuition fees students pay once they’re on campus. It may not seem overtly political, but Bill 33 is part of a broader right-wing crackdown on campuses, writes @royinori.bsky.social. thelocal.to/bill-33-onta...
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
Good morning Friday! Welcoming the weekend.....
#Photography #FeatheredFriday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekJforJetBlack #Birds
#Photography #FeatheredFriday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekJforJetBlack #Birds
September 5, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Good morning Friday! Welcoming the weekend.....
#Photography #FeatheredFriday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekJforJetBlack #Birds
#Photography #FeatheredFriday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekJforJetBlack #Birds
Not all heroes wear capes!
Zach Helfand writes about fact checking at The New Yorker. “A joy of the job was that you became an expert for two weeks on some subject you’d never thought much about—rocket science, foreskin, sand.”
The History of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Checking Department
Reporters engage in charm and betrayal; checkers are in the harm-reduction business.
www.newyorker.com
September 5, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Not all heroes wear capes!
Equal chance of seeing a celebrity who is slightly shorter than they appear on screen though.
The Toronto International Film Festival, a beloved annual ritual that answers the question: What if seeing a movie was like going to the airport?
September 5, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Equal chance of seeing a celebrity who is slightly shorter than they appear on screen though.
I am also sourcing airshow survival tips from other ppl in #toronto (do hashtags even work on here? still not sure what bluesky is good for)
September 1, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I am also sourcing airshow survival tips from other ppl in #toronto (do hashtags even work on here? still not sure what bluesky is good for)
In honor of the first deafening, space-time-ripping, ozone-obliterating airshow performance of the day, I re-introduce my lived experience of working a waffle booth at the cne:
maisonneuve.org/article/2022...
maisonneuve.org/article/2022...
Vanity Fair
It’s not easy being hot and serving ice cream waffle sandwiches at the Ex, Alexandra Kimball knows—but someone has to do it.
maisonneuve.org
September 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
In honor of the first deafening, space-time-ripping, ozone-obliterating airshow performance of the day, I re-introduce my lived experience of working a waffle booth at the cne:
maisonneuve.org/article/2022...
maisonneuve.org/article/2022...
I live in a neighborhood that is 60% cannabis shops that are increasingly selling shrooms and various other loophole drugs. All of these drugs are available in increasingly “normal” formats, like energy drinks, ring pops, corndogs
September 1, 2025 at 5:03 AM
I live in a neighborhood that is 60% cannabis shops that are increasingly selling shrooms and various other loophole drugs. All of these drugs are available in increasingly “normal” formats, like energy drinks, ring pops, corndogs
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
The Ontario government is giving a portion of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park to the town to boost the local economy. @fatimabsyed.bsky.social visited on a late August weekend to understand the precedent this sets and how the piping plover and its summer home might fare.
thenarwhal.ca/wasaga-beach...
thenarwhal.ca/wasaga-beach...
The uncertain future of Wasaga Beach | The Narwhal
The Ontario government is handing part of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park over to the town, leaving many wondering what will be left to protect it
thenarwhal.ca
August 30, 2025 at 12:34 PM
The Ontario government is giving a portion of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park to the town to boost the local economy. @fatimabsyed.bsky.social visited on a late August weekend to understand the precedent this sets and how the piping plover and its summer home might fare.
thenarwhal.ca/wasaga-beach...
thenarwhal.ca/wasaga-beach...
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
With Premier Doug Ford announcing today that construction is set to start on Ontario’s Highway 413, here's a look at our story on where the controversial project stands in light of Bill 5 and a federal government also set on fast-tracking development: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-high...
Construction starting on Highway 413: what you need to know | The Narwhal
Construction is starting on Ontario’s Highway 413 as the federal government sets its sights on fast-tracking development through Bill C-5
thenarwhal.ca
August 27, 2025 at 9:22 PM
With Premier Doug Ford announcing today that construction is set to start on Ontario’s Highway 413, here's a look at our story on where the controversial project stands in light of Bill 5 and a federal government also set on fast-tracking development: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-high...
On queen..there is no one in the closing 75% off sale Club Monaco and in the crowded back racks of the reconstituting Artizia I hear verbatim: “I want REAL leather and I want to go to Italy!”. This is such a one-block metaphor for the current shift in urban space
August 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
On queen..there is no one in the closing 75% off sale Club Monaco and in the crowded back racks of the reconstituting Artizia I hear verbatim: “I want REAL leather and I want to go to Italy!”. This is such a one-block metaphor for the current shift in urban space
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
Whether to avoid crowds or extreme heat — or simply to gaze up at the stars — people are spending more time outside in the dark. On every continent except Antarctica, wildlife has become more nocturnal to avoid people. Where do they go next? thenarwhal.ca/outdoor-recr...
To avoid humans, animals turn to the night | The Narwhal
In the Canadian Rockies and elsewhere, grizzly bears and other wildlife are becoming more nocturnal as outdoor recreation hits record popularity
thenarwhal.ca
August 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Whether to avoid crowds or extreme heat — or simply to gaze up at the stars — people are spending more time outside in the dark. On every continent except Antarctica, wildlife has become more nocturnal to avoid people. Where do they go next? thenarwhal.ca/outdoor-recr...
This is such a bleak but important story about the state of public education in the city. Ugh.
Unbeknownst to many parents, on any given school day across Toronto, students are supervised by people who are not trained or certified as teachers. Last year, it happened more than it ever has before. thelocal.to/tdsb-emergen...
New Data Shows Dramatic Rise in Non-Teachers Filling in at TDSB Schools | The Local
Records obtained by The Local reveal the TDSB's use of unqualified emergency replacements jumped more than 1,100 percent since COVID.
thelocal.to
August 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This is such a bleak but important story about the state of public education in the city. Ugh.
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
This series is made possible by our readers, including one generous, anonymous supporter who has agreed to match all donations up to $10,000. Donate today and double your impact. thelocal.to/support/
Local Journalism Matters | The Local
Support a new kind of local journalism—in-depth, non-profit, from corners of Toronto too often overlooked.
thelocal.to
July 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This series is made possible by our readers, including one generous, anonymous supporter who has agreed to match all donations up to $10,000. Donate today and double your impact. thelocal.to/support/
If there’s any 90s marketing trope I love it’s definitely the Late Nite font
August 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
If there’s any 90s marketing trope I love it’s definitely the Late Nite font
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
I spent a night in a field an hour outside Kitchener getting an up-close look at the worm industry. Our tiny corner of the province exports all of North America's bait worms: it's a curious business run by families and powered by immigrant labour, and every fact I learned enchanted me a little more🪱
Southwestern Ontario is the worm capital of the world, home to all of North America’s bait worm supply. @royinori.bsky.social spends a surreal night picking wild earthworms for this niche local industry that today faces existential threats in labour and climate change. thelocal.to/ontario-nigh...
On the Hunt for Nightcrawlers in the Worm-Picking Capital of the World | The Local
Nearly all bait worms sold in North America are hand-plucked from farmland in this part of Canada. But with labour shortages and climate change, some worry we’re witnessing the final wiggles of a once...
thelocal.to
July 26, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I spent a night in a field an hour outside Kitchener getting an up-close look at the worm industry. Our tiny corner of the province exports all of North America's bait worms: it's a curious business run by families and powered by immigrant labour, and every fact I learned enchanted me a little more🪱
I gotta say, Facebook really upped its game with having AI breathlessly sportscast the comments sections on boomertrap public posts
August 5, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I gotta say, Facebook really upped its game with having AI breathlessly sportscast the comments sections on boomertrap public posts
Reposted by Alexandra Kimball
I’ve never seen anything like this. The apocalyptic smoke sun + endless cormorant lines. Some of the giant Vs break into a dozen smaller ones at once. It’s like the dogfights in Star Wars. The city is barely visible in the grey haze.
August 3, 2025 at 10:44 PM
I’ve never seen anything like this. The apocalyptic smoke sun + endless cormorant lines. Some of the giant Vs break into a dozen smaller ones at once. It’s like the dogfights in Star Wars. The city is barely visible in the grey haze.