Weekly Quiz: Stealthy Submarines, Workplace Surveillance, and Sauna Theatre

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const title = "Weekly Quiz: Stealthy Submarines, Workplace Surveillance, and Sauna Theatre"; const date = "November 15, 2025"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/Web_CanadaWantsNewSubmarines_Nov25.jpg", title: "Canada’s New Submarines Will Be Lethal, Stealthy, and Very UnCanadian", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-new-submarines-will-be-lethal-stealthy-and-very-uncanadian/", question: "For decades, Canadian submarines have been unable to operate safely beneath the Arctic ice. What technology will allow the next generation of non-nuclear submarines to successfully conduct under-ice patrols?", options: [ "Acoustic Cloaking Technology", "Air Independent Propulsion", "Adaptive hull architecture", "Advanced lithium-ion batteries", ], answer: "Air Independent Propulsion", correct: "The key is “Air Independent Propulsion,” which enables non-nuclear submarines to remain submerged for extended periods—long enough to make under-ice patrols feasible. Having Canadian submarines routinely patrolling the Arctic would, at last, give us a presence in waters where others have long moved unseen—and oblige our allies, at least in theory, to tell us when they’re there. (Right now, we are helpless if a country decides to sneak up to the Arctic coast of North America and fire a land attack missile. If we cannot prevent that, the US will do it for us, and they will enter our waters without telling us if they have to.)", incorrect: "The key is “Air Independent Propulsion,” which enables non-nuclear submarines to remain submerged for extended periods—long enough to make under-ice patrols feasible. Having Canadian submarines routinely patrolling the Arctic would, at last, give us a presence in waters where others have long moved unseen—and oblige our allies, at least in theory, to tell us when they’re there. (Right now, we are helpless if a country decides to sneak up to the Arctic coast of North America and fire a land attack missile. If we cannot prevent that, the US will do it for us, and they will enter our waters without telling us if they have to.)", }, { title: "Workplace Surveillance Is Here, Counting Your Mouse Clicks and Bathroom Breaks", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/workplace-surveillance/", question: "Canada’s legal protections have failed to keep pace with the speed and scope of workplace surveillance technologies. Which province stands apart from the rest of the country due to its unique civil-law framework?", options: [ "Alberta", "Ontario", "Quebec", "Nova Scotia", ], answer: "Quebec", correct: "In Canada, workplace monitoring is governed by a fragmented and uneven set of federal and provincial privacy laws, offering little clarity and even less enforcement. According to a 2023 report by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, approaches to regulating workplace surveillance vary widely—not only between provinces and the federal government, but also across sectors. The result is a patchwork system that leaves many workers confused about their rights and vulnerable to overreach. Quebec, however, stands as an outlier with its civil law framework, where the concept of dignity helps affirm certain worker rights, but that model hasn’t translated into other jurisdictions.", incorrect: "In Canada, workplace monitoring is governed by a fragmented and uneven set of federal and provincial privacy laws, offering little clarity and even less enforcement. According to a 2023 report by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, approaches to regulating workplace surveillance vary widely—not only between provinces and the federal government, but also across sectors. The result is a patchwork system that leaves many workers confused about their rights and vulnerable to overreach. Quebec, however, stands as an outlier with its civil law framework, where the concept of dignity helps affirm certain worker rights, but that model hasn’t translated into other jurisdictions.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_BookClubs_NOV25.jpg", title: "Forget Running Groups and Work Socials. Find a Book Club", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/find-a-book-club/", question: "The book club is having a comeback, especially among younger readers. Although social media platforms, like TikTok, have contributed to their resurgence, online bookish spaces have been around for decades. Who is commonly credited for helping popularize the online book club in North America?", options: [ "Reese Witherspoon", "Oprah Winfrey", "Margaret Atwood", "Dua Lipa", ], answer: "Oprah Winfrey", correct: "Though it’s difficult to track what the first online book club in North America was, many publications and scholars attribute the popularization of online bookish communities to Oprah. In 1996, the talk-show host started “Oprah’s Book Club,” a TV-based book discussion group that ran until 2010. Though readers had been using listservs, bulletin boards, and chat rooms to bond over a shared love of books, online groups specifically dedicated to reading started popping up more frequently after Oprah launched her book club.", incorrect: "Though it’s difficult to track what the first online book club in North America was, many publications and scholars attribute the popularization of online bookish communities to Oprah. In 1996, the talk-show host started “Oprah’s Book Club,” a TV-based book discussion group that ran until 2010. Though readers had been using listservs, bulletin boards, and chat rooms to bond over a shared love of books, online groups specifically dedicated to reading started popping up more frequently after Oprah launched her book club.", }, { title: "The Steamy, Sweaty, Towel-Spinning Weirdness of the World Sauna Championships", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/world-sauna-championships/", question: "The 2025 Aufguss WM—otherwise known as the world sauna theatre championship—was held at a spa in Italy, where public nudity is illegal. What temporary solution did the competition’s organizers implement in order to comply with local law while also upholding their own strict “no bathing suit” rule?", options: [ "They fenced-in the entire sauna", "They applied for a special permit", "They used frosted glass in the viewing area", "They required all performers and spectators to wear thin linen wraps", ], answer: "They fenced-in the entire sauna", correct: "While sauna nudity is commonplace in Germany and the Netherlands, where the Aufguss WM is normally held, “in Italy, it is forbidden by law to be naked in public—it’s a criminal penalty,” says local organizer and previous Aufguss WM competitor Paolo Dell'Omo. “This was a big nightmare.” The Aquardens administration didn’t want to fall foul of the law, he explains, but the Aufguss WM organizing committee didn’t want to tell the hundreds of ticket holders that they’d have to suit up. The solution: erect two-metre-high white fences around the sauna area and hire a security person to ensure the un-clothed stay in the secluded zone.", incorrect: "While sauna nudity is commonplace in Germany and the Netherlands, where the Aufguss WM is normally held, “in Italy, it is forbidden by law to be naked in public—it’s a criminal penalty,” says local organizer and previous Aufguss WM competitor Paolo Dell'Omo. “This was a big nightmare.” The Aquardens administration didn’t want to fall foul of the law, he explains, but the Aufguss WM organizing committee didn’t want to tell the hundreds of ticket holders that they’d have to suit up. The solution: erect two-metre-high white fences around the sauna area and hire a security person to ensure the un-clothed stay in the secluded zone.", }, ];