Field guide focuses on variety of architectural styles in Canada

Don Mikel is used to being compared to a bird watcher. The author and architectural enthusiast says he walked 40,000 steps in one day in downtown Winnipeg, his eyes peeled for our best examples of the Chicago School, Brutalism and quirkier, more regionally specific buildings.

Mixed-media artist works slowly to examine rapid ramifications of social media

Charlotte Sigurdson has her hands full. The 37-year-old mother, painter and sculptor is talking on the phone, while moments earlier she was sewing one.

American actor praises burgers at VJ’s Drive Inn

American actor Blake Anderson gave a glowing shoutout to VJ’s Drive Inn on a recent episode of the This Is Important podcast.

Series continues to mine later-life feminine reality for laughs, insight

The Judy Blumes of menopause are back.

Small Achievable Goals, the workplace comedy about menopause from creators, executive producers, writers and stars Jennifer Whalen and Meredith MacNeill (Baroness Von Sketch Show), returns to CBC tonight for a second season of boundary-pushing TV.

“It’s kind of like we’re always in labour,” Whalen jokes.

Season 1, which premièred last winter, put Whalen and MacNeill firmly in the menopause cultural zeitgeist. Here, finally, was a frank and funny coming-of-middle-age comedy, with relatable characters played by women roughly the same age — Whalen is 55, MacNeill is 50 — who weren’t making hackneyed open-freezer hot-flash jokes or wallpapering over reality with euphemisms.

While difficult stories dominated news feeds, caring and community were everywhere this year

Good news, everyone — 2025 wasn’t all bad!

Yes, plenty of horrific events transpired at home and abroad over the past 12 months — environmental disasters, humanitarian crises, economic uncertainty, political unrest, war.

But there were also many, many moments of human compassion.

If the goal of journalism is to shine a light on darkness, news organizations also need to cast a spotlight on lightness. Otherwise, we’re only telling one side of an exceedingly bleak story.

Family from the Democratic Republic of Congo navigates chilly firsts alongside IRCOM supports

All Clever Ganza wants to do this winter is build a snowman.

He’s not yet had the chance, as it hasn’t been the right kind of snow — although to the eight-year-old, all snow is snow.

It’s his second winter in Winnipeg after arriving in Canada with his parents and younger brother Travor, 5, in December 2024.

Clever has acclimatized pretty quickly.

Music ’N’ Mavens plans biggest season yet with addition of evening shows

It’s a full season of songs and speakers for Music ’N’ Mavens.

The annual series of concerts and lectures features 19 programs from Jan. 6 to March 26, including the debut of After Dark, a four-concert evening series.

Karla Berbrayer, Music ’N’ Mavens’ founding producer, says the evening concert series responds to popular demand, which has steadily climbed after a few rocky post-pandemic seasons.

“It’s just been quite remarkable. I mean, the biggest complaint we get is, ‘I can’t get tickets,’” she says.

Made you look: From tiny beads to sweeping statements, 2025’s art exhibitions had an impact

Winnipeg’s art galleries, large and small, played host to a ton of exciting, groundbreaking and thought-provoking exhibitions in 2025.

Top TV titles in 2025 kept us glued to our screens

Whether you like mind-bending sci-fi, high-stakes medical drama, thoughtful animation or deeply horny hockey romance, television in 2025 had something for all tastes. The Free Press arts team weighs in with their favourites from a variety of streaming services.

Shining stage moments: Theatre reviewers' highlights from 2025

Free Press theatre reviewers Holly Harris and Ben Waldman share their top theatre moments of 2025.

Table tennis dramedy Marty Supreme serves gold

Kinetic, frenetic, incredibly anxiety-provoking, this cynical sideways take on the underdog sports story delivers the kind of out-and-out chaos that actually requires a lot of cinematic precision.

Filmmaker Josh Safdie’s sardonic comic-drama, Marty Supreme, is both completely assured and slightly insane, and it’s held together by a tricky, nervy, live-wire performance by Timothée Chalamet.

Safdie has previously partnered with brother Benny on such films as Good Time and Uncut Gems, with the pair specializing in everyone-shouting-at-once havoc. Here Josh is solo director, while sharing a screenwriting credit with frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein.

Marty Supreme takes us back to the 1950s and New York’s Lower East Side, where Marty Mauser (Chalamet) is working at his uncle’s shoe store just long enough to make the fare to England for an international table tennis tournament.

Three local personalities share their traditions, from embracing kismet to herding everyone to the mall

What’s your holiday tradition?

For some it might be settling on the sofa with a box of chocolates ready to watch Home Alone on the first weekend of the winter break, for others it could be getting started on the holiday baking as soon as December comes round.

There may be families packing their suitcases to escape the frigid temperatures and celebrate with barbecue and potato salad instead of the classic roast turkey and trimmings, and more yet who will be rolling out their Christmas hosting plans with military precision, prepping to receive multiple guests in their homes over the next few weeks.

Whether your traditions are rooted in your own or your partner’s childhood, something you’ve experienced as an adult with your friends or something wholly new to you that continues to evolve every year, the holidays wouldn’t be the same without them.

2025’s top books by Manitoba authors

From new volumes by seasoned writers to new faces on the local literary scene, 2025 proved to be a banner year for books by Manitoba authors, many of which were bestsellers in the province and beyond.

Whether you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift or the next pick for your book club, here are 10 notable books by locals from the past 12 months, listed in the order they came out this year.

For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and HopeBy Scott Oake with Michael Hingston

The legendary local sportscaster’s memoir chronicles son Bruce’s struggles with drugs and addiction until his death at age 25 in 2011, as well as the work Scott and his late wife Anne put in to creating the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. The book was a national bestseller, and topped sales of all non-fiction titles at McNally Robinson Booksellers for 2025.

Some soundtracks have become synonymous with the season

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score isn’t the only one that has become popular outside of its original context.

Cast of RMTC’s Elf: The Musical weigh in with top picks for Yuletide flicks

The ho-ho-hottest ticket in town this holiday season is Elf: The Musical, on until Dec. 28 at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s John Hirsch Mainstage.

Earlier this week, there were fewer than 10 seats available for four of the remaining 11 performances, including a matinée on Christmas Eve and two shows on Boxing Day.

The show’s popularity with ticket-buyers shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

After all, Elf, the 2003 comedic film the stage adaptation is based upon, routinely ranks alongside 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life (“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”) and 1983’s A Christmas Story (“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”), when the topic of best Yuletide movie, all-time, is raised.