When your job involves showing erotic films, explains Meredith Chivers, director of the Sexuality and Gender Lab, or SageLab, at Queen’s University, it helps to reassure test subjects if you dress plainly and professionally. “I’m wearing a lab coat; I’ve pulled my hair back into this little ponytail; I’ve no makeup on whatsoever,” she says, laughing.
Read moreSeven things every woman should know about the elusive O from someone who literally wrote the book on female pleasure. This article appeared in Chatelaine on August 9, 2016. Three years ago, I became curious about why female sexuality is so often described as a mystery. Are women really “complicated” — or do we tend to […]
Read moreThis article originally appeared in The Toronto Star, Feb 2014. When Janet Mock set out to write a memoir of her quest of self-discovery as a young, transgender woman, she knew it would be full of adversity, bravery and heartache. What it really needed, though, was romance. “Oftentimes when we discuss the politics of LGBTQ […]
Read moreThis article originally appeared in Canadian Business, October 2015. Up high in the air inside the Cirque du Soleil headquarters, trained staff step gingerly on taut metal wires. “Each cord can support 2,000 pounds,” says technical whiz David Charbonneau, reassuringly, but numbers are little comfort. Standing up here is enough to make your stomach lurch—nothing but a […]
Read moreThis article originally appeared in Maclean’s magazine, May 2014 After a recent speed-dating session, Lisa Zimmerman vented on Facebook. “Very awkward conversation for 2½ minutes,” she wrote. “Date ends. He turns to girls at the bar and says loudly, ‘Well, that went terribly.’ ” Zimmerman has to reveal her squeamish dating details online; those are her […]
Read moreThis article originally appeared in Canadian Business, July 2013. It is a wintry December day in Montreal, and a film crew in tattoos and toques is waiting patiently for a three-year-old tropical parrot named Isa to fly. Aimed squarely at the bird is the Phantom, a camera originally invented for ballistics research that can produce ultra-slow […]
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