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Michelle Shephard

@michelleshephard.bsky.social
3.3K followers 109 following 87 posts

Journalist, NYT best-selling author, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Podcast host and producer. Co-president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (@CJFE.) May post photos of adorable dogs. www.michelleshephard.ca

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Reposted by Michelle Shephard
Connie Walker @conniewalker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When we finished our podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's in 2022, I knew that I wasn’t done with the story. Even though we had spent a year investigating my dad's experience at the St. Michael's Indian Residential School and uncovered a staggering level of abuse, the story felt unfinished.
contactingconnie.substack.com
Who is protected by the destruction of Indian Residential School records?
“There’s not a single Indigenous person in Canada, who has not been touched by the legacy of Residential Schools.” - Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Ten years ago this month, in my old job as Washington correspondent for the @thestar.com, I started what I believed would be a quick little side project: fact-checking underdog presidential candidate Donald Trump … “ writes @ddale8.bsky.social. Thank you DD! www.cnn.com/2026/09/27/p...
cnn.com
I started fact-checking Trump 10 years ago. Here are 15 things I’ve learned | CNN Politics
Ten years ago this month, in my old job as Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, I started what I believed would be a quick little side project: fact-checking underdog presidential candidate ...
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Wow. 25 years … 😞 And all that it wrought …
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
“We’re so sorry!” A great road tripping feature by @markcolley.bsky.social & 📷 by Sophie Bouquillon in as Lake Ontario, becomes “Lake America” for some… www.thestar.com/news/world/u...
thestar.com
On the American side of Lake Ontario, how Donald Trump has strained the ties that bind: ‘You guys don’t hate us, do you?’
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario ‘Lake America.’ We took a road trip along the New York shores to see the fallout.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 27/08/2026
#Developing Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America mrf.lu/2Q3-0
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National Media Awards Foundation @canadamediaawards.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
📰 @michelleshephard.bsky.social accepted Gold for Long-Form Feature Writing at the 49th NMAs for "Zakaria Amara's Second Chance" in @thewalrus.ca — her first piece for the magazine. Watch: zurl.co/h3OZn #NMA26 #CanadianJournalism
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Our relationship with our pets is so hard to put in words.. I tried in this short essay for @thewalrus.ca about our beloved Parker and what dogs teach us about loss and living. thewalrus.ca/the-trouble-...
thewalrus.ca
The Trouble with Loving a Dog | The Walrus
They will eventually leave you facing a grief few people know how to measure
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Now that’s how you clear our @aircanada.bsky.social flight for take off! 🫡 to you sir …
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
In its latest ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act, the Roberts Court has inverted the Reconstruction Amendments to justify the same racist devices and practices they were adopted to dismantle (🎁) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
What Kilpatrick wanted, and what the Roberts Court is making possible, is a country where white people can maintain their political dominance at the expense of Americans who are not white. The anticaste provisions of the Reconstruction amendments, intended by their authors to reverse the “horrid blasphemy” that America was a white man’s country, are being inverted to defend that dominance. This is not the color-blindness of Martin Luther King Jr., but what the scholar Ian Haney López has called “reactionary colorblindness,” the purpose of which is to maintain racial hierarchy through superficially neutral means. It takes the view that the Constitution’s “color-blindness” renders any attempt to remedy anti-Black racism unconstitutional, because by definition that would involve making racial distinctions. Similarly, the ruling in this case does not explicitly overturn the VRA’s ban on racial discrimination in voting so much as rewrite it to allow such discrimination.
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A.Ghost Pasquella 👻🎃 @agpasquella.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Happy National Canadian Film Day! Are you going to see a FREE movie today? 😃🍿 canfilmday.ca
canfilmday.ca
National Canadian Film Day
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
New media alert! Editor Alison Uncles 💛 at the helm. @be-giant.bsky.social 👇🏻👇🏻
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Such a great piece @cwarzel.bsky.social. “There is something disorienting, horrible, and somehow fitting in the timing of all of this. That one man with the means to do it would threaten destruction of a part of our planet at the same moment its beauty and fragility are on full display.”
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Alex Boutilier @alexboutilier.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Canada's procurement watchdog says he's never seen anything as bad as the federal government's management of Indigenous procurement. His report has some shocking details: globalnews.ca/news/1174619...
globalnews.ca
Watchdog finds little oversight over multi-billion-dollar Indigenous procurement program - National | Globalnews.ca
Procurement watchdog’s probe says Canada can’t 'credibly demonstrate' that Indigenous businesses are benefitting from multi-billion dollar procurement program.
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Looks like The Base is not dismantled as once believed.. Good @nytimes.com story here from @lizziedearden.bsky.social & Adam Goldman ...
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Nathan Whitlock @nathanwhitlock.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
An excerpt from the episode of my podcast in which I speak to @michelleshephard.bsky.social about Trump, reporting from difficult places, feeling rage in a Starbucks, and more, has been published as a Q&A by @thewalrus.ca.
thewalrus.ca
“The Cruelty Right Now Is Horrific”: A Veteran Reporter Recalls Her Most Challenging Assignments | The Walrus
Michelle Shephard has written from Guantánamo, Somalia, and Sudan. How does she cope with the violence she uncovers?
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19/03/2026
Following weeks of frequent blackouts, Cuba’s electricity grid suffered a “complete disconnection” on Monday, according to the energy ministry. Here is a closer look at the ripple effects of the energy crisis. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergfeed.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Latest: The new Southcom commander just punted a question on the Pentagon's cost of the ICE operation at Guantanamo Bay. Gen. Francis Donovan told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) pay the military's share. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Has Spent $40 Million to Jail About 400 Migrants at Guantánamo
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Across Canada, politicians are betting you don't care about restricting access to information. Prove them wrong. ijb.utoronto.ca/news/reflect...
ijb.utoronto.ca
Reflection: What's at stake in Canadian transparency tussles - Investigative Journalism Bureau
One of the best ways to lose friends at a party is to bring up freedom-of-information legislation.  Try it the next time you want to escape an awkward social interaction. “Oh, that is so interesting. ...
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran … Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/w...
nytimes.com
Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War
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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Canada’s #Oscars triumph means nothing if we don’t keep supporting our filmmakers. And right now, Mark Carney's social-media-easy support feels hollow. (And don't even start, Pierre Poilievre.) My morning-after Academy Awards take for @theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
theglobeandmail.com
Canada’s Oscars triumph means nothing if we don’t keep supporting our filmmakers
Homegrown artists triumphed in nearly every category in which they were nominated, for a total of four Oscar wins
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Katharine Lake Berz @lakeberz.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Canadian-Iranians sharply dis­agree on whether the U.S./Israeli strikes were jus­ti­fied, whether they will help ordin­ary Ira­ni­ans and what Canada’s response should be. #IranWar‌ www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... @thestar.com @smohyeddin.bsky.social
thestar.com
Katharine Lake Berz: A tyrant is dead and a region is in flames. One Iranian Canadian says celebration is in order — another says not so fast
Shermineh Esmati-Novak, CEO and founder of NOVASHER Ventures, helped organize a Toronto rally celebrating the strikes. She says the attack represents an overdue reckoning. Samira Mohyeddin, journalist...
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Nathan Whitlock @nathanwhitlock.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
A little late posting this, but: February was another great month for episodes of the WHAT HAPPENED NEXT podcast, where I talk to authors who are between books about being between books. thewalrus.ca/podcasts/wha...
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
The genocide in Sudan hasn’t been ignored or overlooked, it has been willfully ignored. My dispatch from the region … @thewalrus.ca @msf.ca @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social
thewalrus.ca
The Most Accurately Predicted Genocide in History | The Walrus
There was satellite imagery, survivor testimony, and mass graves. Still, the world looked away from Sudan
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
“C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon. Defense Department officials were present during the incident, one person said.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
nytimes.com
Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
And … now ban is lifted?
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Not since 9/11 … ???
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Nathan Whitlock @nathanwhitlock.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
"I thought, 'Oh, my God. How am I going to write like this guy?' We are opposite in every way. I'm this lefty Canadian agnostic. I don't even like cops." Author and journalist @michelleshephard.bsky.social on her initial reaction to being chosen to co-write a book with former FBI agent Scott Payne.
podcasts.apple.com
Michelle Shephard
Podcast Episode · What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books · 02/09/2026 · 30m
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 05/02/2026
Rupert Murdoch is now 94 and worth $23 billion. His empire continues to gaslight the world—but he’ll leave even his own kingdom darker than he found it. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
How the Murdoch Family Built an Empire—and Remade the News
Today, the name represents a story of profit and power unlike any other. But tracing the genealogy of Murdoch sleaze requires a long memory.
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
We’ve had three cats .. Woody, Bernie and DT (Woodward, Bernstein and uh, Deep Throat.) THAT’S the @washingtonpost.com legacy when you’re a journalism couple. But now, it’s this. (To @leloveluck.bsky.social & Lizzie Johnson ++ 💔 ) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
The Murder of The Washington Post
Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Nearly every sentence of U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes' 83-page ruling is an indictment of the Trump administration's attempt to end a visa program for 350,000+ Haitians legally living in the U.S. But these last paragraphs ...
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The political/governing systems in Minnesota have failed so profoundly that ordinary people are strengthening their own communities against a predatory official force. Perhaps it's time to think beyond the political compact known as the "United States of America." New at FOREVER WARS:
forever-wars.com
Your Leaders Were Lying. Now The People Are Driving
The depravity of ICE, the enthusiasm of Republicans and the cowardice of Democrats is breaking through hypernormalization
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Ta-Nehisi on Minnesota, and Culture War as war www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
When Liuzzo acquired this knowledge, when she got Woke, she was transfigured
into a traitor to her race and a menace to The Homeland. For being a menace, for
being Woke, she was killed—as was Renee Good. (As was Alex Pretti.) But
revelations have their blessings, too. In this case, a life, however brief, that is clean,
and does not depend on the oppression and debasement of others. The revelation
of deep human ties, a belief that we are all equally chosen, doomed Liuzzo, Good,
and Pretti, as revelation so often does. But it also immortalized them.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 17/01/2026
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News on Tuesday that President Trump would sue the news outlet if it did not air an interview with him in full.
nyti.ms
White House Warns CBS: Air Trump Interview in Full, or ‘We’ll Sue’
In previously unreported remarks, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that Mr. Trump would “sue” the news outlet if it did not air an interview unedited.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 17/01/2026
"They went to the Midwest to fight a phantom war against imaginary enemies. They ended up, within days, as an occupying force. In his first address as president, in 2017, Trump spoke of 'American carnage.' In Minnesota, in 2026, the carnage is finally here." #Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
thestar.com
Richard Warnica: I spent the week in Minnesota. The only thing I’m sure of now is that more people are going to die
As confrontations between ICE and protesters and activists grow more common, the tension only rises.
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
“The man Toronto police won’t stop stopping.” @jleerankin.bsky.social on a proposed class-action lawsuit over historic and racially skewed police practice of “carding” in @thestar.com www.thestar.com/news/gta/why...
thestar.com
Why the legacy of ‘carding’ is now a massive class action lawsuit — and why this man wants Toronto police to ‘leave me alone, please’
Dale James is “the man Toronto police won’t stop stopping.” Even after “carding” was abolished, he says he’s still regularly being stopped.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 03/01/2026
Read the indictment against Nicolás Maduro here.
nytimes.com
Read the Indictment Against Nicolás Maduro
The Venezuelan president was accused of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, among other charges. His wife, Cilia Flores, was also charged.
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Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) @msf.ca · 11/12/2025
#TalkAboutSudan: “Having lost almost everything, their stories are what they have left.” Michelle Shephard recently returned from the Chad-Sudan border, where she met MSF teams and heard from Sudanese refugees fleeing violence. Listen on CBC/Radio-Canada's The Current: ow.ly/BmbE50XHtuy
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Pentagon abruptly calls a press conference for 11 am. Or, since hard-pass holders are now right-wing orgs & influencers, something orchestrated but flavored like a press conference: "For in-person attendance, this briefing is limited to invited press only. There is no Zoom call dial-in available."
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realdougpetepiece.bsky.social @realdougpetepiece.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I Urge you to read #Journalist @markmackinnon.bsky.social superb in depth reporting from #Syria. In this "new media" world of sound bites_this is a truly comprehensive report full of rich detail one yr after the fall of murderous #Assad
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Alex Boyd @alexboyd.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
I wrote about a novel approach to tackling misinformation currently being discussed in Wales--and which some say Canada should try, too. What if we made a rule so politicians couldn't lie? www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
thestar.com
Is it time to make it illegal for politicians to lie to us?
That’s the question currently on the table in Wales, which has just released a draft of the “globally pioneering” sanctions for politicians.
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Grateful for the support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca, allowing me report on the war in #Sudan. Please give a listen to today's CBC Front Burner episode (and thank you Jayme Poisson and Matt Amha). www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNa... More stories to come:
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Grateful for chance to shed light on the war in #Sudan with support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca … stories coming soon.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 07/11/2025
"However terrible the war and its consequent famine in Sudan is today, it can still get much worse" From Alex de Waal, who knows Sudan better than anyone www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...
foreignaffairs.com
Terror Returns to Darfur
Only American pressure can stop the killing in Sudan.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12/10/2025
Hundreds of people have been doxxed, fired or threatened for social media posts that were seen as callous or celebratory after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In a Texas town, people flooded online feeds with attacks that spilled into the real world for a paramedic. nyti.ms/4n7CSND
A woman with tattoos and pink hair stands in front of green foliage. A headline reads: "She Despised Charlie Kirk. A Former Mayor Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay." Photo by Desiree Rios for The New York Times
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Thank you Criminal Podcast, for such a thoughtful episode. Appreciate the interview and care Phoebe Judge & @jackiesojico.bsky.social thisiscriminal.com
thisiscriminal.com
Criminal
A Podcast About Crime
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
“I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press and it is nuts that we aren’t paying more attention.” 🙏🏻 @jimmykimmel.com … Good piece by Allan Woods @thestar.com (And I hope he’s right ..)
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CJFE @cjfe.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Journalists should not face such harassment or threats for doing their job. Informed reporting or analysis is part of free expression and a cornerstone of democracy. #journalismisnotacrime
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Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
J6ers and militia leaders are newly energized in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. “I’m going to be rebuilding Oath Keepers,” vowed Stewart Rhodes, leader of the militia group. www.motherjones.com/politics/202... by @juliannemcshane.bsky.social and me
motherjones.com
Pardoned insurrectionists are using Charlie Kirk’s death to call for civil war
“Charlie Kirk's assassination pulled me out of retirement. More work must be done.”
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Michelle Shephard @michelleshephard.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
“(T)he President doesn’t care one bit about all those sanctimonious calls for healing,” writes @sbg1.bsky.social. “It is not a dialogue about the crisis of political violence in America that he wants right now but an aggressive new policy of political vengeance.”
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CJFE @cjfe.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
BREAKING: Canada has now joined a coalition of 27 other governments in calling on Israel to allow immediate foreign media access to Gaza and to protect journalists.
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