Harley Rustad
LightNews LightNews
banner
harleyrustad.com
Harley Rustad
@harleyrustad.com
1K followers 190 following 90 posts
Senior editor @thewalrus.ca: [email protected]
Author of LOST IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH (2022) and BIG LONELY DOUG (2018)
Founder @portrenfrewwritersretreat.com

harleyrustad.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
harleyrustad.com
Harley Rustad @harleyrustad.com · Nov 26
Hello! I'm Harley—a journalist, author, and magazine editor. I write about our complicated relationships with nature, the environment, travel.
www.harleyrustad.com
HARLEY RUSTAD
Harley Rustad is the award-winning and bestselling author of LOST IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH and BIG LONELY DOUG
www.harleyrustad.com
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
We’ve been sold the lie that a perfect home equals a perfect life. Journalist Courtney Shea asks why mess feels like failure—and who benefits from the pressure to keep things tidy—in this sharp takedown of stress-cleaning culture. thewalrus.ca/how-to-keep-your...
On the left: Illustration of a tabletop with a bowl of cereal, keys, a plant, a coffee cup, a tea bag, and other assorted clutter. On the right: text that reads “How to keep your house clean. Your kids are sticky. Your partner leaves their shoes by the door. It’s fine.”
January 7, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
portrenfrewwritersretreat.com
Applications for the 2026 Wilderness Writing Residency are due very soon!

Ten days. Six writers. Your own cabin in Port Renfrew, British Columbia.
www.portrenfrewwritersretreat.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
From the publishing industry’s gambling problem to the World Sauna Championships, here are nine stories from 2025 that our editors can’t stop thinking about: thewalrus.ca/2025-surprising-...
On the left: a photo illustration of a man reading a newspaper against a yellow background. On the right: text that reads “2025: The stories that surprised us. These are the articles that our editors can’t stop thinking about”
December 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
Mark Carney has long been promising to make Canada an energy superpower. But what happens when “clean” energy growth is pursued alongside fossil fuel expansion? @arnokopecky.bsky.social reports on how the country’s climate ambitions have given way to politics: thewalrus.ca/no-matter-which-...
On the left: an illustration by John Konrad of Canadian prime minister Mark Carney depicted in a Rorschach test. On the right: text that reads “No matter which way you look at it, Carney has abandoned climate. It’s one thing to make compromises in times of national crisis. It’s another to twist the math on emissions.”
December 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
harleyrustad.com
"There are so many ways in," opens Charlie Foran in this lovely essay on the creatures and critters that live in our homes, alongside us. No infestations here.
thewalrus.ca/what-i-want-...
What I Want the Animals in My Home to Know | The Walrus
A love letter to the robins, rabbits, squirrels, and mice who live with us
thewalrus.ca
December 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
portrenfrewwritersretreat.com
The Wilderness Writing Residency is back for 2026!

Ten days. Six writers. Cabins in Port Renfrew, British Columbia. Writing about the natural world. Led by two faculty editors: award-winning authors Harley Rustad and Kate Harris.

Applications are now open!

www.portrenfrewwritersretreat.com
Port Renfrew Writers Retreat
A writing retreat and residency space in Port Renfrew, British Columbia
www.portrenfrewwritersretreat.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
harleyrustad.com
"Every media era gets the fabulists it deserves." Brilliant essay/investigation by @nickhunebrown.bsky.social into journalism scammers in the age of AI.
thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
“Will our November issue create aftershocks? Maybe,” writes The Walrus editor-in-chief @cstarnino.bsky.social. “Each story asks the same question about power: who wields it, who keeps score, and who lives with the consequences?” thewalrus.ca/you-cant-always-...
October 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM
harleyrustad.com
“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”
RIP Jane Goodall, 1934–2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
October 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
michellecyca.com
It was very special to work with six brilliant, thoughtful Indigenous writers — Michelle Good, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Eva Jewell, Janelle Lapointe, Anna McKenzie and Riley Yesno — on this series about truth and reconciliation, in print & online for @thewalrus.ca. thewalrus.ca/truth-and-re...
The Truth of Reconciliation | The Walrus
The TRC report, released in 2015, laid out ninety-four clear Calls to Action. Ten years later, Indigenous writers reflect on what has and hasn’t been achieved
thewalrus.ca
September 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
harleyrustad.com
I tumbled down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why bags of A&W fries kept being delivered in the middle of the night for days and days to my neighbour's porch—and stumbled into all the markings of an international scam. My latest for @torontolifemag.bsky.social
torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...
The Great French Fry Mystery: My dogged attempt to solve a baffling fast food whodunit - Toronto Life
When an A&W takeout bag appeared on my neighbour’s porch in the middle of the night—followed by another, then another—I became obsessed with solving a fast...
torontolife.com
August 11, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
tajjaisen.bsky.social
I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus
Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it
thewalrus.ca
September 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
harleyrustad.com
Have we been measuring mountains all wrong? Is it not height that is important but...grandeur?
www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/ar...
Have we been measuring mountains all wrong?
A new method for quantifying grandeur is reshuffling the pecking order of the planet’s most impressive peaks. Turns out Everest has steep competition.
www.nationalgeographic.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
They sting. They swarm. They spoil our picnics. But what if the insect we most hate to encounter outdoors is also one of nature’s unsung heroes? Here, The Walrus contributing writer @arnokopecky.bsky.social makes the case for the wasp. thewalrus.ca/in-defence-of-wa...
September 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
thewalrus.ca
Lately, The Walrus contributing writer @michellecyca.com has been trying to make life harder for her children. Or rather, she’s trying to stop making it easier. Here, Cyca considers how obstacle parenting could help raise more resilient kids: thewalrus.ca/my-job-as-a-pare...
August 28, 2025 at 12:00 PM
harleyrustad.com
Thanks for picking my French fry mystery!
August 25, 2025 at 2:58 PM
harleyrustad.com
🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟
August 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
longreads.com
"By the time the fourth A&W bag materialized on her porch, she had gone from being curious about what she’d viewed as random littering to frustrated to shaken by the invasion of her privacy."

@harleyrustad.com @torontolifemag.bsky.social

torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...
The Great French Fry Mystery: My dogged attempt to solve a baffling fast food whodunit - Toronto Life
When an A&W takeout bag appeared on my neighbour’s porch in the middle of the night—followed by another, then another—I became obsessed with solving a fast...
torontolife.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:27 PM
harleyrustad.com
There's some incredible investigative journalism happening these days and I'm over here digging into why bags of A&W fries kept mysteriously appearing on my neighbour's porch in the middle of the night for days and days and days...
torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...
The Great French Fry Mystery: My dogged attempt to solve a baffling fast food whodunit - Toronto Life
When an A&W takeout bag appeared on my neighbour’s porch in the middle of the night—followed by another, then another—I became obsessed with solving a fast...
torontolife.com
August 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
harleyrustad.com
I tumbled down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why bags of A&W fries kept being delivered in the middle of the night for days and days to my neighbour's porch—and stumbled into all the markings of an international scam. My latest for @torontolifemag.bsky.social
torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...
The Great French Fry Mystery: My dogged attempt to solve a baffling fast food whodunit - Toronto Life
When an A&W takeout bag appeared on my neighbour’s porch in the middle of the night—followed by another, then another—I became obsessed with solving a fast...
torontolife.com
August 11, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Harley Rustad
kingsbookstore.bsky.social
Peter Wohlleben - The Hidden Life of Trees Are trees social beings? In The Hidden Life of Trees forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration that he has observed in his woodland. Harley Rustad - Big Lonely Doug On a cool morning in the winter of 2011, a logger named Dennis Cronin was walking through a stand of old-growth forest near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. He came across a massive Douglas fir the height of a twenty-storey building. Instead of allowing the tree to be felled, he tied a ribbon around the trunk, bearing the words "Leave Tree." The forest was cut but the tree was saved. The solitary Douglas fir, soon known as Big Lonely Doug, controversially became the symbol of environmental activists and their fight to protect the region's dwindling old-growth forests. Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. This is the unforgettable story of how Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die.
August 9, 2025 at 10:32 PM
harleyrustad.com
How one company lobbied, undercut rivals, and built a monopoly on fire retardant in the US. As demand increased, so too did its prices. The US Forest Service has called the reliance on a single company a "massive risk."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/b...
How One Company Maintained a Monopoly on U.S. Fire Retardant
www.nytimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 12:56 PM
harleyrustad.com
Alec Luhn has been found alive after going missing in the Norwegian mountains.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Journalist missing in Norwegian wilderness found in good health
Alec Luhn set out on trek in Folgefonna national park last week and was reported missing on Monday
www.theguardian.com
August 6, 2025 at 12:48 PM
harleyrustad.com
The celebrated ice-core science doc "For Winter" was produced by NatGeo and set to embark on a world tour when NatGeo pulled the doc at the end of January and scrubbed it from its site. Hm, what else happened just before then? Important report by @evaholland.bsky.social
defector.com/why-did-nati...
Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist? | Defector
If you’re not a particular kind of mountain sports nerd, you might not be familiar with the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. But for people who live their lives in the overlapping circl...
defector.com
July 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
harleyrustad.com
It's tick season out there folks. Time to re-read this awesome, fascinating, goosebumpy feature by @stephanienolen.bsky.social.
thewalrus.ca/invasion-of-...
Invasion of the Ticks | The Walrus
Inside the quest to track one of humanity’s tiniest deadly predators
thewalrus.ca
July 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM