Hello, and welcome to the weekend.
Grab your cup of coffee or tea, and sit down with a selection of this week’s great reads from The Globe. In this issue, reporter Gayle Macdonald tries to find out what’s messing with our sleep. While wrestling with her own sleep issues, she had a hunch she wasn’t the only one. And she was right. Experts estimate that half the Canadian population now struggles with some sort of sleep-related problem. There’s even a name for the pandemic phenomenon: “coronasomnia.” Macdonald looks at what’s keeping us awake at night and why that has governments concerned.
We also look ahead to next week’s midterms in the United States, where Republicans are poised for a romp up and down the ballot, and what the elections mean for President Joe Biden’s agenda. And we crunch the numbers on the rising cost of living as consumer prices and borrowing costs continue their upward trajectory.
If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Great Reads and more than 20 other Globe newsletters on our newsletter sign-up page. If you have questions or feedback, drop us a line at greatreads@globeandmail.com.
Canadians are not getting enough sleep – and that’s a big problem
Illustration by Audrey Malo
When COVID-19 descended in early 2020, sleep issues went from being a serious health concern to something bordering on a crisis, writes Gayle Macdonald. Suddenly, routines were upended and many were grappling with the terrifying unknowns of a virus that had thrown the planet into disarray. The good news? Governments are finally opening their eyes to the fact that sleep is important for our overall health.
Will Biden’s presidential agenda and legacy sink him post-midterms?
With Republicans poised to win control of the House of Representatives in next week's midterms, they will almost certainly block the rest of Joe Biden's social-policy agenda.MARCO BELLO/Reuters
Joe Biden has defied expectations that his presidency would be a bland one. Domestically, he has pushed through hefty legislative packages aimed at building infrastructure and tackling the pandemic. Internationally, he has led a loose coalition of democratic countries in helping Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. But if he hopes to make the most of his term’s second half, Adrian Morrow reports, Biden will likely have to rely more heavily on executive orders and turn to areas where he can act independently of Congress.
Twice bitten: As cost of living soars, Canadians feel the pinch
The Bank of Canada’s goal in pushing interest rates higher is to force consumers and businesses to rein in spending and borrowing.Irina Werning/The Globe and Mail
These days, getting by has gotten a lot more expensive. Signs of the financial double bite are everywhere, whether you’re at the grocery store picking up pantry staples or poring over your latest mortgage statement. Canada, like many other countries, is in an uncomfortable zone where borrowing costs are mounting, inflation remains stubbornly high and people’s wallets are caught in the middle. Though the impact of inflation and rising rates varies depending on a variety of factors, including spending habits, some simple math makes it easier to grasp the size of the financial double hit.
‘Can you feel it? This is Uganda.’ 50 years after fleeing Idi Amin, my family sees home on our own terms
Omar Sachedina, left, and sister Nafilia, right, walk with their mother through her hometown of Nabusanke in July of 2022 on a trip to see the Ugandan communities their family fled in the 1970s.Courtesy of Shelley Ayres
Omar Sachedina’s parents were among as many as 80,000 Ugandan Asians who were expelled by a ruthless dictator in 1972. Forced to leave behind everything they owned, they moved to Canada, where they were welcomed. In many ways, his parents’ story is representative of the Canadian story – one of flight, and of finding a new home. And yet, the expulsion of Ugandan Asians, as well as its impact on Canada and its immigration system, remains a story largely untold. This year, his family went back to explore the places they left behind.
In Montreal, a city of translators, language forms the divide between historic solitudes
Illustration by Wenting Li
For Montreal residents, every day is a collection of countless exchanges that hop between French and English. That mental exercise is such a feature of life that it has become second nature. It’s probably no wonder then that Montreal is where interesting things are happening with literary translation, Eric Andrew-Gee observes. A recent collaboration between two novelists shows the creative possibilities of bridging the linguistic gap.
Essay: What reconciliation looks like
Reconciliation raises basic questions: What exactly does it mean? Whose responsibility is it to reconcile?Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Even as more people are recognizing that they have parts to play in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, they’re struggling to translate that increasing awareness and desire into tangible action, says Jody Wilson-Raybould. Answers to issues that feel intractable, she says, are sometimes elusive at a time of transition and transformation. That’s why Wilson-Raybould set out to provide an answer to the question she’s most often asked: What can I do?
One Canadian company is on a mission to drive humanity’s lunar journey
A prototype moon rover drives over a lunar test environment at Canadensys Aerospace in Stratford, Ont., on Aug. 15, 2022.Patrick Dell/The Globe and Mail
With NASA’s Artemis program around the corner and more than a dozen other missions hoping to hit the launch pad, there’s a rush to be part of the next wave of lunar exploration. Ontario-based Canadensys wants to ride that momentum. If the enthusiasm endures, the moon could be on the verge of becoming a permanent outpost for robots – and astronauts – to roam.
Drama, intrigue and bongclouds – yes, bongclouds – are redefining chess
If chess is having a moment, chess.com is where people are going to have it, Cathal Kelly writes.Chris Donovan/The Globe and Mail
In the wake of a seismic cheating scandal spurred by accusations from the world’s leading player, Magnus Carlsen, against a much younger American opponent, Chess.com came to Toronto to hold its first live tournament in nearly three years, with airport-level security. But as YouTube content creators swarmed the viewing room – an inevitable result of the game’s increasing popularity – the cheating scandal is proving to be the least interesting thing about the sport.
Thanks for reading this week’s issue of Great Reads! Let us know what you think by e-mailing greatreads@globeandmail.com, and see you next weekend.
– Beatrice Paez and Emerald Bensadoun