Stephen Marche

Wouldn't it be cool if Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare?

2011-10-23T08:03:00.001-07:00

Read it here.

Toronto: The Worst Sports City in the World

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

My Digital Sabbath

2011-09-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

How I learned to stop checking Facebook and love life offline. Read it here.

Amy Winehouse's 33 minutes

2011-08-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

How Osama Bin Laden Changed Terrorism

2011-08-08T03:29:00.001-07:00

Read it here.

More than Kin, Less than Kind

2011-07-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Shakespearean tragedy of Rupert Murdoch. Read it here.

How Can We Not Love Obama?

2011-07-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Because like it or not, he is us. Read it here.

Geek Odyssey -- Birdwatching in Costa Rica

2011-06-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

Harry Potter and the Hatred of Teachers

2011-06-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

His political fantasy and ours. Read it here.

Brilliance among the Mess

2011-04-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

My review of David Foster Wallace's The Pale King. Read it here.

What to do about the Windsors

2011-04-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Why Canada needs her own King. Read it here.

Why Tiger Woods Will Be Redeemed

2011-04-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

As much as we may have mocked him, we don't really care what he did. But he better start winning again. Read it here.

My Life as a Goy

2011-03-02T04:48:00.001-08:00

Read it here.

Is This (Finally) the End of the Kennedys?

2011-02-15T04:06:00.001-08:00

More than half a century later, it's almost time to stop worshipping Camelot. Almost. Read it here.

Is James Frey the most important writer in America?

2011-01-25T03:45:00.000-08:00

He's an arrogant opportunist who wants to take advantage of talented young writers. Basically, he's exactly what the publishing industry needs. Read it here.

Rain Man: The Next Generation

2011-01-25T03:44:00.000-08:00

The rise of the comic Asperger's hero. Read it here.

Snooki's "A Shore Thing"

2011-01-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

My review for the National Post. Read it here.

Euphemania

2010-12-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

The softest slurs. Why Human beings have always needed to avoid saying what they have to say. Read it here.

Consumer Products

2010-12-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

On celebrity as world religion. Read it here.

Is Jamie Oliver the Biggest Loser of All?

2010-12-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

He understands everything about America's public health crisis -- except why he can never fix it. Read it here.

Why Can't Kanye West Shut the Hell Up?

2010-11-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

Whether he's mouthing off about George W. Bush or Taylor Swift, the rapper is rewarded for acting outrageously -- in his public life and in his art. Now it's getting harder to tell the two apart. Read it here.

Why Is Clint Eastwood Still the Man?

2010-10-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

Because no other man's come along to unseat him. And even though he's eighty, we could use someone like him as the epitome of masculinity right now. Read it here.

Fudging the Truth: A Tradition as Old as Uncle Tom

2010-10-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

Kim III meet Hank Cinq: Shakespeare on North Korean Succession.

2010-10-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

Just How Crazy is Oliver Stone?

2010-09-20T04:36:00.000-07:00

He doesn't make smart, sensible films about smart sensible people, because that's not who he is. And neither are we. Read it here.

When words go up in flames

2010-09-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

In threatening to burn the Koran, that obscure Florida pastor evoked a horrible tradition with deep roots. Read it here.

The battle is over. Trouble begins

2010-09-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

What should we expect with combat concluded in Iraq? Read it here.

Tales of Confinement

2010-08-29T18:28:00.001-07:00

The story of the trapped Chilean miners taps into our primal fears of being buried alive. Read it here.

Might as well deal me in, Dalton. We're all gamblers, now

2010-08-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Gambling, like porn, has been completely normalized. Maybe not the thing to talk about at Sunday lunch, but not exactly a vice either. Read it here.

What's with all the secrets and lies?

2010-08-18T03:36:00.001-07:00

Leading a double life used to make you pretty interesting -- until we all got one. Read it here.

The Conrad Black-black bloc connection

2010-07-25T05:04:00.000-07:00

Some news stories transcend their mere information to become aesthetic performances, and the trial of Conrad Black long ago left its news value behind and transformed into expensive, elaborate public ritual. Read it here.

How a team loses actually matters

2010-07-22T13:36:00.001-07:00

Unlike the French, the Germans and Italians owned up to their losses. They will be champions again one day. Read it here.

Have we all gone completely nuts?

2010-07-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

If you think Mel Gibson is the worst of it, just turn on your television, which is making us all think we're crazy and, worse, that we can't be healed. Read it here.

In defence of the vuvuzela

2010-07-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

The vuvuzela is a gift, drowning out the real auditory garbage. Read it here.

Byrd and the Bard

2010-07-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

American politics loses more than just its greatest quoter of Shakespeare. Read it here.

Writing Here, Now

2010-07-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Canadian writers, poised on the edge of the world, have the best view. Read it here.

When Giants Stumble

2010-06-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Five of the world’s biggest soccer salaries are paid to English players—and now they’re eliminated? The answer may lie in the tension between club and national teams. Read it here.

When Ancient Grievances Are Played Out on the Soccer Pitch

2010-06-18T05:06:00.000-07:00

When the U.S. tied England, it was as good as a victory. Read it here.

(N)O Canada!

2010-06-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

Is our national anthem worthy of true patriot love? Read it here.

The Messi-ah

2010-06-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

Lionel Messi is the most feared and most admired man in the tournament. Could he be the best ever? Read it here.

Why in Hell Are We Back in the Eighties?

2010-06-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

Obama's hope-and-change gap has yet to be filled with anything better than Gaga and The Karate Kid. An exhausted battle cry for finally talking about our generation. Read it here.

A Few Acres of Snow

2010-06-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

Welcome to Soccer Town

2010-06-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Where is the best place on the planet to watch the World Cup--even better than South Africa? Read it here.

Pastiche Unleashed

2010-06-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

How Prim Victorian ladies invented our mash-up culture. Read it here.

The United States of Apocalypse

2010-05-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Finally the natural world is catching up with pop culture. Read it here.

The Return of Private Todd

2010-05-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Other wars saw tributes to the Unknown Soldier. In this war, the crowd along the Highway of Heroes knows each name. Read it here.

Why the Canadian Mosaic is in Crisis

2010-05-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

The Beauty of Birding on the Leslie Street Spit

2010-04-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

In praise of the city's prettiest dump. Read it here.

Re-emerge from a sex scandal stronger

2010-04-17T05:00:00.001-07:00

The rules for recovery from a sex scandal. Read it here.

How Jersey Shore Transformed America

2010-04-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

In the age of The Situation, Tracy Jordan, and Ari Gold, stereotypes have become meaningless. Read it here.

What would Buddha think?

2010-03-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

On the genius of fictional columnists. Read it here.

The Hollowness of 3-D

2010-03-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Tim Burton's wretched adaptation of Alice in Wonderland shows Hollywood's new emperor has no clothes. Read it here.

The Ridiculously Sexy Winter Olympics

2010-03-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

There were so many beautiful athletes at the Vancouver games, it's no wonder they had to send in extra condoms. Read it here.

A Tour of Junk Food's Ground Zero

2010-02-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Deep-fried Pepsi anyone? Or would doughnut upside down cake hit the culinary G-spot. Read it here.

The New Expo

2010-02-20T09:23:00.000-08:00

For the first time since Expo 67, we're showing the world a different face. Read it here.

Which War Are You Watching?

2010-02-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

If Afghanistan and Iraq are so terrible, then why does Hollywood keep taking us through hell? The solution may lie in the Hurt Locker's battle for the first Best Picture to honor gamers everywhere. Read it here.

Why You Can't Knock John Mayer's Hustle

2010-02-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

The whole race thing aside, Mayer whined his way into bed with the woman he's now scandalizing. But in America's obsession with wimpy rich men just like him, are we letting them all off the hook. Read it here.

Are the Olympics Ruining Everything?

2010-02-11T03:58:00.000-08:00

What's the problem with Vancouver that no one's talking about? The spectacle of the Winter Games isn't just ruining sports — it's killing our chance to be happy. Read it here.

In Defence of Mexican Gangster Polka

2010-01-30T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Narcocorrido. Read it here.

The Age of Precariousness

2010-01-23T04:21:00.001-08:00

The 21st Century and its inhabitants have been deformed by catastrophe. Read it here.

How Much Do We Owe Simon Cowell?

2010-01-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

Everything. Because we are all judges now. And even if he's leaving the most popular TV show in the history of pretty much ever, he brought us together more than Obama could. Read it here.

Aren't We Enjoying All This Celebrity Death a Little Too Much?

2009-12-21T17:14:00.001-08:00

Brittany Murphy's is just the latest public funeral from a year during which we preferred to spend time forgetting famous lives than remembering them. The next thing to die in our culture's selfish hands may be even scarier. Read it here.

Darwin vs. Genesis

2009-11-21T04:17:00.000-08:00

On the 150th birthday of The Origin of Species, putting two great works to the readability test. Read it here.

Why Puppets Are All the Rage

2009-11-10T16:38:00.001-08:00

Read it here.

The Book That Contains All Books

2009-10-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

The globally available Kindle could mark as big a shift for reading as the printing press and the codex. Read it here.

What's Really Going on With All These Vampires?

2009-10-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

From Twilight to True Blood and now The Vampire Diaries, is it vampires that so many American women love... or just gay men? Read it here. Read it here.

Why are you working so hard?

2009-08-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Americans are hooked on a habit we can't stand, but the recession offers a chance to find out how to kick it before our cultural obliviousness gets the best of us. Read it here.

"It's simply that we're no longer new"

2009-08-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

he NDP's national director is a big fan of dropping the first word of the party's name, but has he considered the unfortunate acronyms that would create? Read it here.

Where's Dave Chappelle When You Need Him?

2009-07-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

With race relations back on the front burner and all eyes on a bunch of guys drinking beer in the White House, Stephen Marche wonders where all the angry black entertainers have gone. Read it here.
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"Sexual intercourse began in nineteen sixty-three"

2009-07-25T03:38:00.000-07:00

Fifty years ago this week, the ban on Lady Chatterley's Lover was lifted, thus changing a culture that treated sex as a preposterous allegory to one overrun with naked videos of sportscasters. Read it here.

Messy life, clichéed death for prince of hispters

2009-07-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

Demise of Dash Snow, notorious in New York's downtown art scene, marks the end of an era. Read it here.

"We're not robots"

2009-07-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

Conservatives once appreciated the complexities of human life, but the Republican line at this week's Supreme Court nomination hearings in the U.S. Senate would make Edmund Burke sigh. Read it here.

The Diminishing Returns of Getting Even

2009-07-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

From Brad Pitt to John Rambo to the Bush administration's torture lawyers, America is growing more sophisticated at revenge with each eye-for-an-eye comedy. Read it here.

"You can't negotiate with yourself"

2009-07-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

David Miller's koan sums up the new reality of Toronto's garbage strike: When we become our own garbage collectors, we soon find there are truths about our waste we'd rather not learn. Read it here.

"Tell her what u think of snarky critics"

2009-07-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

Novelist Alice Hoffman's 27 angry tweets about a bad review -- including the posting of the reviewer's phone number -- portends an exciting new era of bloodshed in book reviewing. Read it here.

"Appalled and Outraged"

2009-06-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama's reaction to Iran's Green Revolution was an understatement, but what can he --or any of us -- say? The good guys are silent while the ayatollahs refuse to whisper. Read it here.

Why We Can't Let the Brunos and Madoffs of the World Play Us Anymore

2009-06-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

From Joaquin Phoenix and Sacha Baron Cohen to Jim Cramer and AIG, we need to stop blaming the golden-age pranksters and start getting responsible for our recession-era actions. Read it here.

"The prince always goes round the back to wield his influence"

2009-06-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

The architect Richard Rogers was understandably frustrated with Prince Charles's campaign against him, but the rest of us should be pleased: Finally, our potential king is acting in a regal manner. Read it here.

The Crow Procedure

2009-06-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

The surgery to give Mr. Dapple the wings of a crow was scheduled to take twelve minutes. Read it here.

"They should fuck off"

2009-06-13T03:58:00.000-07:00

In his impromptu response to Toronto's request for infrastructure funding, did John Baird speak the truth about Canada's largest city? Read it here.

"Let me make myself useful"

2009-06-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew Crawford's aim in Shop Class as Soulcraft is the opposite of lofty: To immerse himself in practical, manual work, in auto engines instead of search engines. Why is that such a taboo? Read it here.

"A period of reflection may now be in order"

2009-05-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Such was Oxford's reaction to the battle between two candidates for Professor of Poetry. Let's hope they realize that any poet worth his or her verse ought to be mad, bad and dangerous to know. Read it here.

"Green Shoots"

2009-05-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

You'd be hard-pressed to find men lining up for bread crusts during the current economic downturn, which seems to bear little in resemblance with the Great Depression's trials. Read it here.

"All of a sudden, out of the blue, I'm a criminal"

2009-05-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

Allegations against Brian Mulroney have never been proven in court - so why did he act like a wrongdoer if he did nothing wrong? Call him a doomer: a boomer with self-destruction in his soul. Read it here.

Funny People: Death comes for the sausage king

2009-05-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Funny People has all the makings of your typical Judd Apatow movie: juvenile hijinks, riffs on marijuana and masturbation, Seth Rogen. But it's also about death, and for the king of blockbuster comedy, it could be the beginning of something very serious indeed. Read it here.

"I'd love another NHL team in Canada"

2009-05-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Even the Prime Minister supports Jim Balsillie's plan, as well he should. But however it turns out, every red-blooded Canadian male knows it's really just another opportunity for heartbreak. Read it here.

Where have all the loose women gone?

2009-05-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

The days of Sex and the City's influence are long gone. From Tina Fey's fake prude to Sarah Palin's real power play, here's why strong women just aren't that into having sex with you anymore. Read it here.

"The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains"

2009-05-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just in time for May Day, Karl Marx's famous words came true, not in Russia, China or Cuba but rather in Detroit. But if the people finally did get the power, why do we feel so powerless? Read it here.

"Never been kissed. Shame... but it's not an advert"

2009-04-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Susan Boyle's arrival into pop culture coincided with the cougar renaissance, and as such the asexual spinster offers a stark alternative to the fortysomething woman as sexual aggressor. Read it here.

Why people who love conspiracy theories are part of the problem

2009-04-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

The difference between the millions obsessed withAngels and Demons and the whack jobs denying 9/11 and the Holocaust says a lot about Obama's hopes for a new era of responsibility. Read it here.

Longing for Great Lost Works

2009-04-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

From Shakespeare's "Cardenio" to Ovid's Getic poetry, missing texts hold tantalizing possibilities. Read it here.

"If there's something really wonderful, I'll buy one"

2009-04-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

With that philosophy, Michael Jackson amassed an amazing collection of fancy crap. Briefly seeing it all on the auction block was a reminder that, under the weirdness, he's actually quite a dull guy. Read it here.

How to calm a crying baby

2009-04-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

It may be five in the morning, but you've also got Dylan liner notes at your disposal. So relax, and take some advice from a dad. Read it here.

"You'd have to rethink many, many things"

2009-04-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

That was Tony Blair discussing his new faith's attitudes towards homosexuality with a gay magazine. Unfortunately for him, there is no third way when it comes to church and state. Read it here.

"I think we should thank Mr. Kenney for the publicity"

2009-04-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Indeed, George Galloway won the battle to get his nutty ideas heard, and Jason Kenney ended up looking like the enemy of a raving lunatic. So who really lost? The rest of us. Read it here.

"Do some yoga, paint some landscape and run on the beach"

2009-03-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Greg Gutfeld's infamous joke at the expense of our military was just the ugliest example of American television's new wave of humour at the expense of Canada. Too bad it's neither funny nor accurate. Read it here.

The demise of the overconfident jackass

2009-03-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

How's this for American resilience? Rahm Emanuel and his tough SOB brethren have officially replaced the douchebag. No excuses. Read it here.

"Jade Goody views sunset, asks for Coke"

2009-03-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

When you sell the rights to your final days to OK!magazine, that's the sort of headline you can expect. It's also the most extreme case of the celebrity culture that's taken over the world. Read it here.

"It is not night when I do see your face"

2009-03-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

So says Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and when the world sees yet another alleged portrait of her creator, we expect it to reveal something. The Bard's work explains why it never will. Read it here.

"I did big wooohoo for Justice Ginsberg"

2009-03-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

That was the substance of aU. S. senator's tweet and an explanation of why politicians are taking over Twitter: If you need to talk but have nothing of substance to say, 140 characters are all you need. Read it here.