The ORL’s Salmon Arm Branch and BC Libraries Present invite you to an in-person and livestreamed author talk with Cory Doctorow and Vass Bednar.
When did the internet start to feel broken? Science fiction author, journalist, and digital rights activist Cory Doctorow has an answer (and a plan).
Join author Cory Doctorow and public policy expert Vass Bednar for a conversation about Doctorow’s latest book, Enshittification, which explores how digital platforms decay when profit overtakes user experience, and how we can reclaim a fairer, freer online world.
Doctorow first coined the term “enshittification” in 2022 to describe this decline, and the idea quickly went viral. It became the American Dialect Society’s 2023 Word of the Year and inspired the 2025 season of Black Mirror.
Expect a fascinating discussion about Big Tech’s impact on everyday life, what’s gone wrong in the digital landscape, and how we can begin to “disenshittify” the internet.
Event Details
Date: Friday, November 21, 2025
Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Locations:
In-person at the Salmon Arm Branch of the Okanagan Regional Library
Online via livestream — Watch on the BC Libraries Present Crowdcast channel
Hosted by: BC Libraries Present
About the Speaker
Cory Doctorow is an award-winning author and activist known for his science fiction, journalism, and work on digital rights. His books include The Lost Cause, Red Team Blues, Chokepoint Capitalism, and The Internet Con. He was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2020.
Vass Bednar is the Managing Director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute and co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians. She has served as Executive Director of the Master of Public Policy program at McMaster University and hosted Lately, a Globe and Mail podcast about navigating life in the new economy.
This event is part of BC Libraries Present, a virtual author series that connects readers across British Columbia with today’s most thought-provoking writers.
For more information, please visit the Events page.
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