Alicia Wanless
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lageneralista.ca
Alicia Wanless
@lageneralista.ca
8.4K followers 800 following 1K posts
Information Ecologist exploring the information environment | Senior Fellow at @carnegieendowment.org and Director of @ieproject.bsky.social | PhD from KCL War Studies | Visiting Researcher @uniofbath.bsky.social | Author of The Information Animal 🇨🇦
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lageneralista.ca
Alicia Wanless @lageneralista.ca · Aug 22
A wee book page - "The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality" is finally out! theinformationanimal.com
The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality - La Generalista
Humanity has always craved, and feared, information. How should we understand our enduring, ever-changing relationships with technology and knowledge? Description Depending on the news you read, new t...
theinformationanimal.com
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
mathieulavigne.bsky.social
As teens increasingly use AI chatbots in their daily lives and documented harms have begun to surface, we surveyed 1,454 Canadians about their perceptions of risks, attribution of responsibility for harm, and support for specific interventions. @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/p4spweew
Canadians’ Perspectives on Governing AI Chatbots A Policy Brief — Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy
This report adds to an evidence-based mandate for AI chatbot regulation in Canada, drawing on nationally representative survey data from 1,454 Canadians and mapping public preferences onto established...
tinyurl.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:45 PM
lageneralista.ca
This episode offers up sad dad jokes and definitions - what more could anyone want? But seriously, explore how approaches from physical ecology can help build a field of information ecology fit for understanding the information environment theinformationanimal.substack.com/p/how-can-ph...
How can physical ecology help us understand the information environment?
This episode offers up sad dad jokes and definitions - what more could anyone want?
theinformationanimal.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:39 PM
lageneralista.ca
Am late in finding this article by @fox-e-laurence.bsky.social but it's an excellent overview of the Yukon and wider Arctic information ecosystem in Canada www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
The truth about the CBC in Northern Canada - CCPA
Around dinner time on the evening of May 10, 2024, communication services in the Yukon—internet, cell phone, and landline—wavered, guttered like a struck match, and  went out.
www.policyalternatives.ca
February 3, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social
I never met Catherine O’Hara. I have no charming Catherine O’Hara anecdote. I can’t even explain why the news of her death hit me so hard. But I know her memory will be a blessing to all who knew and loved her work, and the joy she brought to Canada and the world.
a woman in a black dress is smiling with #schitts creek written in the corner
Alt: A Gif from Schitt’s Creek of Catherine O’Hara as Moira, dressed in black and blowing us a kiss. May her memory be for a blessing.
media.tenor.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
hilltimes.com
Opinion: Canada needs a national strategy for the information ecosystem—not just its parts

www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/0...
Canada needs a national strategy for the information ecosystem—not just its parts
Sovereignty over specific technologies won’t address gaps in basic skills, social cohesion, or trust. That requires a national strategy that encompasses people.
www.hilltimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
number10cat.bsky.social
Let's hope this positive news gets as much attention as the people who try to convince us that the UK is a murder ravaged hellscape.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Homicides at lowest level in nearly 50 years, ONS statistics show
The 499 homicide cases in the year to September were the lowest in England and Wales since 1977.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 2:50 PM
lageneralista.ca
How the hell was this law still on the books in 2026? It's great it's being scrapped, but so depressing that it still exists at all.
andrewcutting.coe.int Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · 11d
After a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights, French women will no longer be obliged to have regular sex with their husbands👇

🔗 www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/4157dfa... via @telegraph.co.uk

Another example of how the ECHR has changed people's lives across Europe.

More👉 www.coe.int/ECHR
France to scrap law penalising spouses for refusing sex
Concept of ‘marital duty’ will no longer be valid grounds for fault-based divorce
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
hurstpublishers.bsky.social
This Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the Holocaust and other genocides around the world 🕯️ ⬇️
A group of five book mockups. The books overlap each other and the text on each of them is often cut off. The book jacket on the far left is a black and white cover with text reading ‘The People on the Beach’ It shows a large group of people standing on a ship with a banner flying at the top left. The cover next to this shows a cut off and pixelated image of Biljana Plavšić which has a blue wash over it. The middle book, where cover is fully visible is ‘A Thousand Miracles: From Surviving the Holocaust to Judging Genocide’ by Theodor Meron. The sub title and author’s name are visible in white and in between them, the main title is in red. The book shows a close-up, black and white image of Meron’s face looking towards the right of the camera. The fourth book is a white cover which shows a Rwandan mother with a scarf over her head, cradling a baby in a white blanket. Trees are visible in the background. The fifth book, on the far right is an orange cover showing a Star of David in the middle. The star is split into two triangles overlapping and within the first triangle on top is a diagonal image of two young girls standing next to one another with a building behind them. The second triangle which is upside down and behind the first one, shows a picture of a girl on the right side and some writing on a piece of paper on the left. Slightly cut off and all in white, the text reads: ‘Two Sisters: Betrayal, Love and Resistance in Wartime France’. The author’s name, Rosie Whitehouse, is also mostly visible. The background of the image is a light blue colour.
January 27, 2026 at 10:54 AM
lageneralista.ca
Given the costs of pursuing "digital sovereignty" technology by technology, it's time Canada takes a more strategic approach. If sovereignty is the fear, independence in AI ain't going to save us; instead, strategy needs to move up a few levels to encompass the national information ecosystem.
Canada needs a national strategy for the information ecosystem—not just its parts
Sovereignty over specific technologies won’t address gaps in basic skills, social cohesion, or trust. That requires a national strategy that encompasses people.
www.hilltimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:52 AM
lageneralista.ca
Wonder if Carney was reading Margaret MacMillan…
January 25, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
jammaj.bsky.social
On today’s #DogShirtTV, @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, Alicia Wanless @lageneralista.ca, @evegaumond.bsky.social & @tylermcbrien.com discuss #MarkCarney's speech on Canadian-American relations. #Canada 🍁🇨🇦

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOpt...
The Post-America Era
YouTube video by #DogShirtTV
www.youtube.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:09 PM
lageneralista.ca
And my colleagues ran with that quote… 😉
carnegieendowment.org Carnegie Endowment @carnegieendowment.org · 17d
“No matter how much a leader might behave like a character from Mean Girls, the world isn’t a giant high school.”

@lageneralista.bsky.social, @sophiabesch.bsky.social, @stevenfeldstein.bsky.social, & Stewart Patrick discussed Canadian PM Carney’s Davos speech: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Carney’s Remarkable Message to Middle Powers
And how they can respond.
carnegieendowment.org
January 22, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
reutersinstitute.bsky.social
We're looking for outstanding mid-career journalists to join our fellowship programme in 2026-27.

Explore the future of journalism through an immersive programme of seminars, events, discussions and a personal project.

Deadline to apply: 13 Feb
Our Journalist Fellowship
The Journalist Fellowship Programme is one of the world’s leading schemes for practising, mid-career journalists.
buff.ly
January 21, 2026 at 1:29 PM
lageneralista.ca
Not my favourite quote from this excellent speech. Here is to hope we and our allies rise to the inspiration.
mark-carney.bsky.social Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 18d
We can build walls or we can be more ambitious — and build something better, stronger, and more just.
Photo of Prime Minister Carney speaking at a podium in Davos, Switzerland. A quote from his speech is edited on top: “WHEN THE RULES NO LONGER PROTECT YOU, YOU MUST PROTECT YOURSELF. BUT LET US BE CLEAR-EYED ABOUT WHERE THIS LEADS. A WORLD OF FORTRESSES WILL BE POORER, MORE FRAGILE, AND LESS SUSTAINABLE.”
January 20, 2026 at 10:59 PM
lageneralista.ca
"I argue that middle powers must act together, because if we aren't at the table, we're on the menu."

www.youtube.com/live/dE981Z_...
Davos LIVE: Canadian PM Mark Carney speaks at World Economic Forum
YouTube video by Associated Press
www.youtube.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:33 PM
lageneralista.ca
Maybe they should start making drones, or satellites, or means to launch those satellites. Heck, I hear we need planes.
hilltimes.com The Hill Times @hilltimes.com · 20d
David Crane: Canada now needs a backup plan for our auto industry

www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/0...
January 19, 2026 at 2:34 PM
lageneralista.ca
Because who doesn’t want to start the day with some Kafka in this absurd world.
January 19, 2026 at 1:56 PM
lageneralista.ca
@22-minutes.bsky.social is better than SNL - yeah, I said it. youtu.be/npw7zZYSZcU?...
Hey ChatGPT, what is an intervention? | This Hour Has 22 Minutes
YouTube video by 22 Minutes
youtu.be
January 18, 2026 at 2:27 PM
lageneralista.ca
So has the movement begun for services and products made without any ICT? www.bbc.com/news/article...
Vastaamo hack: My darkest secrets were revealed to the world
Meri-Tuuli Auer told her counsellor things about her life she didn't want her closest family to know.
www.bbc.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:49 AM
lageneralista.ca
Statistics Canada is a gold star in data on this country, and it would be a very sad day for that knowledge to be compromised. It’s fundamental for the nation to be strategic. No idea if these deep cuts make it more efficient, that’s outside my lane. But I am worried.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Statistics Canada to trim 850 jobs as public servants, unions brace for more cuts | CBC News
Federal workers are starting to learn more about planned job cuts across the public service after Statistics Canada told employees on Monday that 850 positions will be eliminated from the department o...
www.cbc.ca
January 15, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
lorak.bsky.social
what we are losing: “The rise in forest fires is unmistakable. Four of the five worst years on record have occurred since 2020… 2024 was the 1st time major fires raged across tropical, hot and humid forests such as the Amazon, boreal forests, and those spanning Canada’s vast coniferous regions…”
January 15, 2026 at 12:29 PM
lageneralista.ca
The comments…
January 15, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
vapunkt.bsky.social
🔔The University of Vienna invites applications for at least 40 funded doctoral positions across the Social Sciences & Humanities to do your own research project and choose your preferred supervisor.
❗Application deadline: March 2, 2026
👇Check eligibility here:
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...
careers.univie.ac.at
January 14, 2026 at 10:27 AM
lageneralista.ca
It's a red-letter day, an interview, a chapter, and now this - a podcast on The Information Animal. Big surprise, it's about Charles. Maybe now I can stop. I'm told this episode is full of easter eggs of similarities between our timeline and Charles': open.substack.com/pub/theinfor...
So Cavalier: The Early Modern English Information Ecosystem
An episode from The Information Animal Podcast
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
ieproject.bsky.social
Information integrity is much discussed these days, but how is it defined, and can current uses be practically applied to messy, sprawling national information ecosystems? @kamyayadav.bsky.social, @samlai.bsky.social and @lageneralista.ca explore in this chapter: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Client Challenge
link.springer.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:16 PM