“This is not a landmark”: Downtown London bustles with cheer for cultural festival Nuit Blanche 

London’s downtown core has suffered in the last few years from a bad reputation. Between the many Farhi-shuttered storefronts and an unhoused population neglected by an overloaded shelter system, it’s a sad state of affairs. London’s softest suburbanites quiver in fear at the idea of a casual stroll down Dundas, lest they be faced with the visual evidence of our failing systems.  Nuit Blanche is the answer to our mid-sized Canadian town’s downtown void. A cultural festival pitched annually by the London Society of Architects from 2010 to 2017 and revived in 2025, this year’s theme is This is not…

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Author Sam Demma brings good will to London

On Thursday, Bestselling author and Canadian speaker Sam Demma comes to London as part of his cross-country tour dedicated to his new book Return on Goodwill.  The tour, dubbed Return on Goodwill Live, sees Demma sharing stories and the impacts of the goodwill he has received from others throughout his life, and championing the world he hopes to be part of. One that focuses on “return on goodwill” rather than return on investment. For Demma, the fundamental difference between the two is expectation. “Return on investment, there’s always an expectation. When you give money to a financial advisor, you’re not…

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Open letter: Western University community demands action for colleagues in Gaza

The following is an open letter from hundreds of students, staff, faculty, and alumni addressed to Western University President Alan Shepard demanding support for students in Gaza admitted to Western University. It was provided to Antler River Media Co-op by members of the Western University community. Dear President Shepard, We, the undersigned, are Western University students, staff, faculty, and alumni who are concerned about the plight of students in Gaza admitted to Western University’s graduate programs. These students are passionate, scholarly, highly qualified, and keen to begin their studies after surviving three years of genocide during which they completed, against…

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PERSPECTIVES – Tragedies of Dundas Street: Homelessness, Inequality and Canadian Neoliberalism

Scenes from Zombie-Land: London Ontario, Dundas Street If you don’t know already, ask any local Londoner: they are likely to tell you that downtown London and especially Dundas Street is the “no-go zone,” “the zombie land.” What they mean is the daily unfolding of the human tragedies of homelessness and rampant drug addiction that have marred the face of downtown. You see numerous people lying unconscious on the side of the street, some going through the notorious fentanyl fold, needles and drug pipes left on the sidewalks. The sad news is that London is not an exception in comparison to other Ontario cities; it is just one of the worst ones.  When you look at the numbers, you start to fathom the depth and urgency of the problem. A 2025 report by Western University Centre for Research on Health Equity shows…

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“MARIAN’S BIG DIG” by Laura Bontje, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

The mind of a child is a truly wondrous thing: full of curiosity and a different way of seeing the world. That is made manifest in “Marian’s Big Dig”, the most recent publication by local author Laura Bontje and award-winning illustrator Scot Ritchie. The story follows Marian, an adventurous and imaginative child who follows her true passion: rocks and fossils. When she makes a discovery that leads her to believe she’s found a fossil, she’ll use every ounce of her curiosity and determination to show her discovery to everyone she knows. In an interview with Antler River Media, Bontje explained…

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Abbas Wahab’s “Dialed In” Comedy Special

September 19 saw London comedian Abbas Wahab return for a stop in his “Dialed In” to a delighted crowd at Aeolian Hall. The born and raised Londoner of Sudanese descent began his comedy career 10 years ago after leaving an engineering career in the Detroit automotive industry. Since then, he’s worked on developing his craft as a comedian and has also branched into acting in television and film, featuring in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and M. Night Shyamalan’s “TRAP”.  “Dialed In” finds Wahab two years after his last tour “No New Regrets”, following a profound period of change. Since…

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