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Navneet Alang

@navneetalang.com
7.4K followers 745 following 4.2K posts

Editor on the Opinion team @ Toronto Star. Pitch me at nalang@thestar.ca. Writer, columnist, bylines all over. PhD. Anglo-Indo-Canadian, each in equal measure. navneetalang.com

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Reposted by Navneet Alang
David Rider @dmrider.bsky.social · 12h
Waymo, Google's sister company that operates driverless taxis in multiple U.S. cities, is launching in Toronto - with drivers at first www.thestar.com/news/gta/way...
thestar.com
Waymo announces plans to launch driverless taxis in Toronto, but humans will be at the wheel first
Autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo plans to start serving Toronto customers by 2028.
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
We recorded an episode today about the bike lane removals in Toronto and decided to text Ontario Premier Doug Ford to give him the opportunity to comment. (Yes, we have his real phone number.) He wrote back.
Hello, Premier Ford. We just interviewed Michael Longfield from Cycle Toronto and Bronwyn Roe from EcoJustice for the podcast and was hoping to get a comment from you on the bike lane removals in Toronto. Feel free to give me a call back whenever. We are releasing the episode on Tuesday and will love to have your voice included if possible. Thank you! - Doug Gordon, The War on Cars podcastThank you for the offer. I do not do podcast because if I do one I will be doing everyone. I love the title. The war on the car has going on since David Miller days! Good luck!
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 15/10/2026
Not my thinking of course. All the cognition I do -- what I want for dinner that's satisfying but healthy, what running shoes won't hurt my knees, which sheets to buy, how to pay less for auto insurance, what to invest in -- is a pure expression of human agency that I find fulfilling and gratifying.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 15/10/2026
Hot take: Some kinds of cognition are in fact an unnecessary and frustrating burden.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 15/10/2026
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Liz Renzetti @lizrenzetti.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
I'm gathering people's thoughts about TTC service for something I'm writing. Is it worse? Better? The same? How has the experience changed over the past few years? Is it one of the issues that will decide your mayoral vote? DMs are open!
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 14/10/2026
Dumb thought: sitting with a book or a newspaper is a sorta "ritual of technology." So too is sitting by a fire, or knitting, or cooking. It occurs to me that a ritual of technology I've lost in recent years is... sitting at a desk after dinner in front of a desktop computer, idly surfing.
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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 14/10/2026
“There is no perfect place to cry, although I would argue that crying while sitting in a shitty car in the drive-thru of an aging fast-food restaurant comes close to transcendent. There is no science to this, but there is history.” ICYMI I wrote about the Wendy’s emo EP for @weareravenous.com
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Mel Woods @melwoods.me · 13/10/2026
I'm working on a scan of the state of anti-trans hate in Canada, and am hoping to connect with other researchers/advocates working in this space. If that's you or someone you know, please reach out—I'd love to chat! And please share this amongst your networks! My email is mel@antihate.ca.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 13/10/2026
Used to read things about “going home for Thanksgiving to hear bigotry from family members” with detached bemusement… and now somehow it is my life too
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Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 13/10/2026
Huge, incredible, lifechanging news: We have an essay on @weareravenous.com from the one and only @nikostratis.com, about that emo album Wendy's put out www.weareravenous.com/wendys-emo-a...
weareravenous.com
Wendy’s Is Trading on Millennial Nostalgia With Emo
Wendy's released an EP, 'Songs to Listen to in a Wendy’s Parking Lot,' with a slew of emo heavy-hitters. It hopes to cash in on your memories of eating a Frosty after you were dumped.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 13/10/2026
You can get a flight from Toronto to New York for less than the price of the new AppleTV 4K.
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Cara Stern @carastern.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
New from me and @MikePMoffatt in Toronto Star today: Two-thirds of Canadians think governments should prioritize lowering home prices over protecting property values. Are Toronto’s mayoral candidates underestimating how much room they have to act?
thestar.com
Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford aren’t saying it. But even homeowners know their homes are too expensive
The third rail of property values may not be so untouchable.
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EL-P @el-p.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
hey i put my bluesky pants on one at a time just like you, man. regular guy. relatable. just getting by.
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area woman @explodingpiano.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
not el-p doing corny bsky memes 😭😭😭
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 11/10/2026
irl lol
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Manuela Vega @manuelavega.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Renters are vocal, organized and more influential than ever. Politicians are taking note. My piece today on how the tenant movement is influencing Toronto’s election: @thestar.com www.thestar.com/real-estate/...
thestar.com
Why Toronto’s next council could be decided by renters
Renters are vocal, organized and more influential than ever as tenant rights move to the forefront of the city’s housing debate.
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Wency Leung @wencyleung.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
When @royinori.bsky.social reports on something, she goes all in. Here's her incredible deep dive in search of what makes mayoral hopeful Brad Bradford tick. thelocal.to/brad-bradfor...
thelocal.to
Brad Bradford Seems Angry—He’s Betting Torontonians Are Too | The Local
Former staffers say he drove them to tears. Colleagues say he’s a bully. The Bradford campaign says his passion is just what this city needs.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 09/10/2026
hey did we know what Emily Wilson hates Canadian poetry? www.thenation.com/article/cult...
thenation.com
The Myths of Anne Carson
Throughout her long and prolific career, Carson has specialized in unexpected juxtapositions between modern life and ancient times, contemporary art and the literature of the past.
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The news just since I left work: -A planned livestream of an execution by firing squad -Trump basically trying to incite a pogrom against Somalis Nothing mysterious or complicated about what's happening.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 09/10/2026
At a total loss for words. How can this possibly continue?
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Charles Johnson @charles.littlegreenfootballs.com · 08/10/2026
I know everyone’s jaded and exhausted by the continual parade of madness, but this is the president of US openly inciting racist violence against an entire community of immigrants. (w/ alt text)
The once Great State of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali Immigrants. There is Violence, Murder, and Mayhem all over the State. The people of Minnesota must fight back. You have been robbed, and abandoned by your State Government. Your Governor is an incompetent thief who doesn't want to get involved. He just wants to get out of town with as much as he can steal, and then, lead a quiet life. The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they are doing.
They view you as weak and stupid people. Fight back Minnesota, fight back! If you need, the Federal Government will come to your rescue.
Governor Tim Walz, and Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, must immediately ask for Federal help — and leave the rest to us! President DONALD J. TRUMP
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 08/10/2026
wasn't I just railing against racism a few minutes ago? what can I say, I contain multitudes
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 08/10/2026
did you hear about the guy who created a visual, light-based system to alert you of things like someone being at the door? he was awarded the No Bell Prize
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 08/10/2026
We talk a lot about X on here but the anti-Indian racism on Canadian subs on Reddit is ubiquitous and normalized and completely infuriating.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 08/10/2026
Update: the former CEO has a garage of maybe 4 cars, and pulls up to his large house in a G Wagon. youtube.com/shorts/_zPXY...
youtube.com
009 3032 MarshallHaas NAM Acq EN UAC 1080x1920 82s MUSE M10 2015
YouTube video by Muse
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
On here this is a preaching to the choir thing to say, but the turn against Indian immigrants is the sharpest possible example of ‘real debate, fake debate’ wrt heritability of IQ. 90% of the guys Just Following The Science are now waxing rhapsodically about white indigenous ways of knowing.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 08/10/2026
Ad for Meta’s Muse on YouTube featured a guy who used to have an assistant but then sold his company so he was left sans assistant. But now he has Muse!
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John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Who cares about the corrupt failing Nobel prize for literature. Everyone knows that the FIFA prize for literature is the one that matters
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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 08/10/2026
spotted on the subway just now
a guy holding a blackberry and an ipod
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making-friendos @making-friendos.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
OH HELL YEAH IT'S THE PANTS BIRD
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
I knew it!
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
[my toddler, placing a piece of apple in her nose instead of her mouth] aw look, honey, she's being directionally correct
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
Lol
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
lol, "both" was supposed to include Substack, but then I checked and he doesn't say Substack
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
Casey Newton is returning to X after a high profile exit from both a couple of years ago. www.platformer.news/does-intelli...
platformer.news
Does intelligence need a hard cap?
Calls for a new kind of slowdown were the talk of The Curve. PLUS: Slinking back to X
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
Amazon's new smart lock apparently has a dial that, when twisted, charges the battery. I'm afraid in this case I do in fact "gotta hand it to them."
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
np at all. grad school hangover perhaps, but i do wonder about the possibility of something being non-ideological (though I can understand how economics or technical concerns might be more prominent or influential in a given moment, decision etc.)
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
Ah ok. My initial post was more about some of the audience for these companies' technologies, rather than the ideology of those creating them
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
How are we defining ideological here?
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 07/10/2026
How did this escape containment?
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bettina makalintal @bettina.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
i wrote about how even some restaurant owners are recognizing that prices have gotten bonkers and changing course to adapt to our economic reality www.eater.com/dining-out/9...
eater.com
The Fine Dining Flip
Across the country, some owners are doing the unimaginable: replacing their high-end restaurants with ones where diners can spend less
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Ben Spurr @benspurr.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Star, TMU and the United Way are hosting a mayoral debate between the two remaining major candidates tonight at 7 pm. You can watch here: www.thestar.com/news/gta/cit...
thestar.com
The Star hosts Toronto mayoral debate tonight at 7 p.m.
The debate will be moderated by Toronto Star columnist Edward Keenan and will begin shortly after 7 p.m. on CityNews and TheStar.com.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
This is super interesting. Not sure I've ever heard this argument before
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
oh but i didn't mean to assert that bots/AI etc. are above the constraints of subjectivity. i was talking about the desire for such
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
ah, i think the confusion is that I meant desire here as the un- or preconscious wish for something rather than the question "why would I want a chatbot?" that asks about its utility. the question already presupposes that people want it for obvious reasons.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
oh god, yes, i do
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
I don't remember that part! But I do remember how bananas they were -- just a pastiche of ideas and images and noise rammed together. I loved them!
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
Finally, machine consciousness I'm excited about! (Fun fact: writing about Bay's Transformers movie as a kind of apotheosis of postmodernism -- whether or not they were -- was kinda sorta the beginning of my career as a writer)
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 06/10/2026
don't really think that answers the question that was posed
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