The Deep Dive from The Walrus

Credit scores are often the deciding factor for people’s most important financial milestones. Whether it’s getting approved for a mortgage, buying a car, or getting a loan, those three digits can make or break a person’s life. But what might surprise you is that finding errors in your credit score is extremely common, and trying to fix it brings a whole other set of issues.In this episode:We hear from award-winning journalist Emily Baron Cadloff, who wrote the cover story of the June issue of The Walrus.She explains how credit scores have grown to hold so much power over our lives.Baron Cadloff then debunks some popular misconceptions about credit scores and talks about how common credit-score errors are and how to avoid them. Finally, Baron Cadloff breaks down the main takeaways from her latest piece.Links:How Credit Scores Can Run—and Ruin—Our LivesCanada’s Middle Class Is on the Brink of RuinOwning Our PrivilegeCredits: This week’s episode was produced and edited by Yasmin Duale and Simran Singh. Thanks so much to Emily Baron Cadloff for joining us.Music Credits:“Impact Prelude” by Kevin MacLeodLink: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7565-impact-preludeLicense: filmmusic.io/standard-license“Inspired” by Kevin MacLeodLink: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspiredLicense: filmmusic.io/standard-license

Recently, we announced the authors shortlisted for this year’s Amazon First Novel Award. This is the forty-sixth time this prize is being given out, and The Walrus is thrilled to be part of it.For The Deep Dive, we spoke to Emily Austin, Lisa Bird-Wilson, Pik-Shuen Fung, Brian Thomas Isaac, Conor Kerr, and Aimee Wall. We asked each shortlisted author the same five questions, and we’ve taken some of their answers and woven them into this episode.In this episode:We ask five questions of the shortlisted authors:Why is this novel important now? (Answered by Connor Kerr, Emily Austin, and Aimee Wall.)Who is your protagonist? (Answered by Pik Shuen Fung and Lisa Bird Wilson.)Why are first novels special? (Answered by Aimee Wall, Brian Thomas Isaac, and Connor Kerr.)What advice do you have for someone writing their first novel? (Answered by Lisa Bird Wilson and Brian Thomas Isaac.)Finally, we asked what all of the shortlisted authors are reading right now.Links:https://thewalrus.ca/partnerships/amazon-first-novel-award/Credits: This episode of The Deep Dive was produced by Simran Singh and Angela Misri and edited by Angela Misri. Thanks so much to all the authors for joining us this week.Music for this podcast is provided by Audio Jungle. Our theme song is “This Podcast Theme” by Inplus Music. Additional music includes “Stay Cool” by Loops Lab and“Limit 70” by Kevin MacLeod.“Limit 70” by Kevin MacLeodLink: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5710-limit-70Licence: filmmusic.io/standard-license

Since 2015, Canada had deployments of ground troops in Ukraine, working to reform the country's military after the invasion of Crimea. In light of Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine, Sarah Lawrynuik wanted to take a look back at what the Canadian Armed Forces did there and how the training it provided has affected the country's ability to hold off Russian advancements. It’s the long view on a story that is still developing and a war everyone hoped could be avoided. Lawrynuik is a journalist who has written for Foreign Policy, the Toronto Star, and New Scientist.In this episode:Sarah Lawrynuik talks about her family and where her interest in covering Eastern Europe and Ukraine comes from.She then describes witnessing Russia’s recent invasion from Canada and contacting her sources in Ukraine as the war progressed.Lawrynuik then talks about her desire to travel back to Ukraine and how hard it is to know that there is little she can do to help (something many of her sources describe feeling as well).Finally, Lawrynuik describes why she wants to go back to Ukraine as a journalist when she gets the chance.Links:What Impact Did Canada’s Military Have on Ukrainian Resistance?Credits: This episode of The Deep Dive was produced by Simran Singh and Angela Misri and edited by Angela Misri. Thanks so much to Sarah Lawrynuik for joining us this week.Music for this podcast is provided by Audio Jungle. Our theme song is “This Podcast Theme” by Inplus Music. Additional music includes “Stay Cool” by Loops Lab and “Spring Thaw,” “Virtutes Instrumenti,” and “An Upsetting Theme” by Kevin MacLeod.Spring Thaw by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4409-spring-thawLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseAn Upsetting Theme by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3362-an-upsetting-themeLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseVirtutes Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4590-virtutes-instrumentiLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Bridging the distance between being a mom and being an artist can feel impossible at times. A new anthology edited by Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee explores “the fraught, beautiful, and complicated relationship between motherhood and creativity.”This week at thewalrus.ca, we excerpted Teresa Wong’s essay about her portrait series based on her toddler’s tantrums. It’s one of twenty essays in the new collection Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood. Teresa Wong is a writer-in-residence at the University of Calgary and the author of Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression. Stacey May Fowles is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and novelist, the author of four books, and the editor of four anthologies. Jen Sookfong Lee was a columnist for CBC Radio One, has taught fiction at Simon Fraser University, and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit with Dina Del Bucchia.In this episode:First we hear from Fowles and Lee about where the idea for this anthology came from and why they work well together as co-editors.Then Fowles and Lee describe the guidance they gave to the twenty authors in the collection, and Wong talks about the process of pitching and developing her essay.As Wong’s editor, Fowles discusses what drew her to Wong’s writing and to this essay in particular.Wong finishes by describing the absolute worst tantrum she has ever witnessed.Links:Screaming and Watercolours: I Turned My Toddler’s Tantrums into ArtCredits:This episode of The Deep Dive was produced by Simran Singh and Angela Misri and edited by Angela Misri. Thanks so much to Stacey May Fowles, Jen Sookfong Lee, and Teresa Wong for joining us this week.Music for this podcast is provided by Audio Jungle. Our theme song is “This Podcast Theme” by Inplus Music. Additional music includes “Stay Cool” by Loops Lab and “Oh My,” by Patrick Patrikilous and “Umbrella Pants” by David MacLeod.Umbrella Pants by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4559-umbrella-pantsLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license