Lately, there has been a lot of news about declining alcohol sales in North America, and speculation as to why that might be. As director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, I consider this an important development and a topic worth exploring given its implications for health and…

In February 2025, the classical pianist Betsy Arakawa died in her New Mexico home from a virus most people had never heard of. Her husband, the actor Gene Hackman, died a week later of heart disease. The pathogen that killed her was hantavirus, almost certainly picked up from deer mouse droppings on the property. Fourteen…

Last week’s publication of Kate: The Courage, Grace and Power of the Woman Who Will Be Queen by renowned royal and celebrity biographer Christopher Andersen comes at a pivotal moment for the Princess of Wales and the British Royal Family. On the heels of King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s high-stakes visit to the United…

It was October 1963, She Loves You was at the top of the charts in the U.K., and the term Beatlemania was used for the first time in the British press. Someone at Pentax was thinking ahead: the company sponsored the four fabulous lads and gave them brand new SLR cameras to do with what…

Catherine O'Hara is Canada's contribution to the pantheon of seminal female comediennes – and like legends Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball, she could make you laugh without saying a word. A genius of funny faces, unique voices and wacky improvisation, O'Hara lit up every room she entered. Born into a "really, really funny" large Irish…

"I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.” It seems Coco Chanel was ahead of her time not only in matters of little black dresses. The bubbly has long been a preferred wine of the stylish set. Long before there was a Champagne Papi, and before Beyoncé…