If, like me, you’ve ever been fortunate enough to hike in the U.K., you’ve probably marvelled at the civilized manner with which farmers allow hikers access to their land as they walk along centuries-old historical trails. It’s all due to the “right to roam,” which doesn’t exist in Canada as it does in other countries. In today’s The Conversation Canada, Matthew Robert Anderson of of Concordia University, who has hiked paths in Saskatchewan once used by Indigenous warriors and colonizing settlers alike, issues a passionate call for public access to some of Canada’s most historical trails.

Have you ever heard of soft power? It’s essentially a form of diplomacy that rests on a state’s ability to shape other nations’ preferences and to gently and persuasively get them to follow its lead. This may not surprise you, but U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t so great at it. As Sara Greco of Queen’s University explains, Trump’s soft power weaknesses will likely result in a new international political order.

And speaking of Trump, it’s hard to keep up with his relentless spew of tweets. But mathematics academics Anthony Bonato and Lyndsay Roach of Ryerson University have attempted to make sense of Trump’s Twitter feed by using math to obtain a historical view of the topics that matter to him. Don’t miss the visual breakdown of Trump’s tweets in the story – it’s fun and fascinating.