The Sunday Edition for October 13, 2019
Listen to this week's episode of The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright
Michael's essay - A papal injunction against adjectives and adverbs: "To crime novelist Elmore Leonard, their use is 'a mortal sin.' Graham Greene said they were 'beastly.' They have been called 'the lazy tool of a weak mind.' Drugs? Pornography? Vodka shots? None of the above. These and other illustrious writers were talking about adverbs and adjectives. Horror-meister Stephen King warned, 'The adverb is not your friend. I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.' The critics have been joined by no less than Pope Francis."
Religion and Canadian elections: The church and state officially are quarantined from each other in this country. But God, and what He or She would think of the issues, keeps creeping into our elections in debates about abortion, immigration and religious symbols among other things. Michael Enright discusses whether we can — and whether we should — keep religion out of our politics, with Trinity Western University professor Janet Epp Buckingham and author Michael Coren.
In praise of waiting: Cooling one's heels, holding one's horses or biding one's time is something of a lost art in the 21st century. In a world of instant information and gratification, we're just not accustomed to lining up and waiting for much of anything anymore. Renée Bondy thinks we may be saving time, but we're losing something more important in our hurry. Her essay is called "On Waiting."
Imaginary feasts in the bleakest of places: Canadian Ethel Rogers Mulvany was a prisoner of war in Japan-controlled Singapore from 1942 until the end of World War II. She endured torture and extreme deprivation, but she and her fellow prisoners nourished their souls with imaginary feasts — meticulously planned with lovingly detailed menus and recipes. Alisa Siegel's documentary is called "A Woman of Longing."
Diverse Canada grapples with the electoral politics of migration: It's not the biggest issue in this election, but the rhetoric around asylum-seekers and immigrants has often been heated and divisive. University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, one of Canada's foremost experts on migration law, will dissect the myths and misperceptions of immigration in Canada. And two of Canada's newest citizens will talk about voting in their first Canadian federal election.
Revisiting the Black Sox Scandal of 1919: A hundred years ago this past week, the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds met in an infamous World Series. Eight White Sox players conspired with gamblers to fix the Series and were later banished from the game for life. Jacob Pomrenke of the Society for American Baseball Research's Black Sox Committee details how the villains, victims and tragic heroes (think Shoeless Joe Jackson) may not be who we think.
Everything you could possibly want to know about Cornish pasties: Michael found himself in a spot of bother seven years ago when he betrayed his ignorance of Cornish pasties — what they are, what's inside them and how to pronounce them (they rhyme with "nasty," not "tasty"). Indignant letters from expatriate Brits swiftly ensued. Dr. Andrew Pocock — then the British High Commissioner to Ottawa -- set Michael straight in this rollicking interview from January, 2012.
Mail: Letters about last week's reconciliation panel and interview with British House of Commons Speaker John Bercow.
Music this week by: Antonin Dvorak, Tom Lehrer, The Del Vikings, Jenn Grant, Esmerine, Sultans of String, Scott Joplin, John Coltrane and the late Ginger Baker.