Author Archives: bhaggart

Everybody knew. Nobody did anything.

Posted on July 9, 2024 by bhaggart

The revelations regarding the sexual abuse suffered by Andrea Robin Skinner at the hands of her stepfather, and the monstrous, sociopathic reaction of her mother, Canadian literary icon Alice Munro, were both horrifying and necessary to read. Horrifying for the damage that Munro and her husband inflicted on their children. Necessary because they’re a reminder that the impulse to privilege the perceived genius, the powerful and the famous at the expense of the young and the vulnerable continues to disfigure our society, including my profession, academia. We need to deal with these walls of silence. Continue reading →

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Some thoughts on sabbaticals

Posted on July 8, 2024 by bhaggart

I’m not sure there’s anything in academia with a greater air of mystery than the sabbatical. From outside the profession, it’s often seen as a year-long vacation and travel to exotic locales. Within, it’s treated as a chance to recharge … Continue reading →

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No Longer Liveblogging Sidewalk Labs’ MIDP, entry 12: The Master Plan: I Have Some Notes

Posted on September 11, 2023 by bhaggart

Last Friday, I attended a preview performance of The Master Plan, a play about the Sidewalk Labs-Waterfront Toronto Quayside debacle. The evening, which was hosted by Jim Balsillie, one of the higher-profile opponents of the Quayside project, served as a … Continue reading →

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New (co-written) from me: The Canadian government’s poor track record on public consultations undermines its ability to regulate new technologies

Posted on August 17, 2023 by bhaggart

Over at The Conversation, co-written with Natasha Tusikov. In which we express our ongoing frustration with what, at this point, can only be described as the federal government’s refusal to conduct meaningful public consultations on data-governance issues. The government’s just-announced … Continue reading →

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Some thoughts on platform governance and Bill C-18 (The Online News Act)

Posted on August 9, 2023 by bhaggart

Wrote this up on Twitter (y’all know what I’m talking about, so no need to call it something else), reposting it here. Basically calling for critics to engage with the past decade (and longer) of literature on platform governance, especially … Continue reading →

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