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It's been just over a year since we launched the Weekender, the Tyee’s weekend magazine for art, life and ideas.
Since the Weekender’s debut on Nov. 29, 2024, we have published over 230 articles that offer sharp analysis, fresh perspectives and a panorama view of the arts in our region, and in February 2025, we launched a newsletter. About 1,500 people signed up out the gates, and we now have 3,836 subscribers.
We’ve been proud to showcase the work of some of the top culture writers in B.C. They’ve surfaced the political tensions at the heart of our evolving digital culture and offered fresh perspectives on the major trends shaping how we live. They have taken us into thriving subcultures and fun pathways to self-expression that invite us to delight in the creative spirit of everyday life.
None of this would have been possible without culture editor Dorothy Woodend, who has written for The Tyee since its earliest days and laid the groundwork for culture writing to thrive in The Tyee. The success of the Weekender is due in large part to her presence as one of the most respected culture writers in the city.
We are grateful for the support of Tyee Builders who are crucial to the Weekender and the Tyee at large. Consider signing up to support The Tyee today.
Below are the 12 best-read Weekender stories of 2025. We’re excited for what’s ahead in 2026 and beyond.
1. In Alberta, the Punks Are Taking Over
The scene is galvanizing against a common enemy: the United Conservative Party. By Liam Hodder
A feature on Alberta’s punk and hardcore scene by University of Alberta student journalist Liam Hodder netted over 26,000 pageviews. Readers eagerly shared the article across Alberta’s harm reduction communities online.
“In what I’ve witnessed of punk and hardcore in Alberta, I’ve found that while people are driven to it now in response to their feelings of anger towards the UCP, there’s also a striking sense of tenderness and solidarity across the community,” Hodder wrote.
“In the mosh pits and at the many mutual aid events organized by the community, there’s a felt sense of care towards each other. As well an aura of mutual respect among all within the scene. A punk show is the only place I’ve seen someone get punched in the face and respond by shrugging it off with a smile to keep moshing.”
2. Goodbye, Musk. The ‘X-odus’ Is Here
A great social media shakeup is in full swing. But why is it so hard to break up with Zuck? By Mel Woods
In an article that garnered over 20,000 pageviews and was shared enthusiastically across the social web as users ditched X for BlueSky and Mastodon, Mel Woods traced the downfall of the micro-blogging platform owned by Elon Musk alongside a major cultural reckoning. “The social media infrastructure upon which we’ve built our society suddenly feels a lot less stable,” they wrote. “Users are fleeing, or at least re-evaluating their relationships to, these platforms at rapid rates.”
Woods noted how the day after the U.S. presidential election saw the largest exodus of users from X since Musk purchased the platform.
“It’s like that Community meme — we can forgive the tech oligarchs for taking our data and selling it to nefarious companies (or arguing that “cis” is a slur), but we draw the line at neo-fascism. Which is fair! Despite the many powerful people in America who seemingly believe the opposite right now, we should be drawing the line at fascism!”
3. The Triumph of Stupidity
Fools pose the biggest threat, warned an Italian historian. We’re living proof. By Andrew Nikiforuk
As we plunged deeper into the first months of Donald Trump’s second presidency, Tyee contributing editor Andrew Nikiforuk revisited a 1976 book by historian Carlo Cipolla. “His book explained the bafflingly deplorable state of modern life,” Nikiforuk wrote. “Stupidity, warned Cipolla, wields more power than any organized gang or industrial military complex and seems to be a constant force in history. In other words, the non-stupid should never underestimate the role of stupidity in world events.”
His essay on Cipolla’s work struck a nerve with readers, who viewed the piece over 11,000 times.
4. The Curious Case of the Harry Potter Experience
A ‘Forbidden Forest’ is coming to Stanley Park, to the chagrin of J.K. Rowling detractors. By Jackie Wong
The outdoor interactive fantasy production based on the “Harry Potter” series is pitched for winter holidaying, and ticket sales seem to have been going well. But back when the “Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience in Vancouver” was announced in September, the event drew the ire of the city’s queer and trans community and its allies. The Vancouver Park board later apologized for the event, a decision that in turn drew a clapback from series author J.K. Rowling. A perfect storm, some might say, for the local atmospheric rivers swirling about.
5. The Uncomfortable Appeal of Bruno Mars
The pop musician’s resounding success raises questions about code-switching, Blackness and who it serves. By Harrison Mooney
The chart-topping pop musician is a superstar beloved across many communities. In an August 2025 Weekender essay, Tyee associate editor Harrison Mooney set out to understand why. Mars, he argues, is a gifted “code switcher.” His mass appeal says much about how the general public consumes, and misunderstands, Blackness.
6. ‘Six-Seven’ Is Funny. It Doesn’t Need to Make Sense
Young people love it, and adults are in tangles. Its evolution from an inside joke to an outside one is nearly complete. By Harrison Mooney
It makes sense that an essay about a viral joke among young people was a hit among Tyee readers. But, cautioned author Harrison Mooney, “if you’re reading this, it’s probably too late. The evolution of six-seven from an inside joke (yay!) to an outside joke (boo!) is nearly complete.”
7. Is There Hope for America? Heather Cox Richardson Thinks So
The time is now to band together, says the celebrated author and historian. By Dorothy Woodend
American historian and author Heather Cox Richardson has written near-daily essays about the state of politics in her newsletter Letters from an American, which had 2.5 million subscribers as of this summer; she has a Facebook following of over 3.2 million. Tyee culture editor Dorothy Woodend interviewed Cox Richardson ahead of a hotly anticipated public lecture she gave in Vancouver this spring.
“I do think that there is real hope for the future,” Cox Richardson told Woodend in their wide-ranging conversation. “I see it in the art.”
8. Inside the Labour Struggle at Massy Books
Nearly a year after unionizing, the beloved bookstore has few staff and no contract. By Isaac Phan Nay
The Tyee’s labour reporter Isaac Phan Nay traced the challenges that have faced the workers and owner of Massy Books, a beloved Vancouver independent bookstore, for the past year. A majority of bookstore workers voted to unionize in September 2024, and as of Phan Nay’s writing in November, there was no collective agreement, with tensions high.
9. The Nature of David Suzuki
The celebrated Vancouver scientist turns 90 next year. And shows no signs of slowing down. By Christopher Guly
Tyee contributor Christopher Guly caught up with Vancouver-born scientist, broadcaster and environmental activist David Suzuki this fall, ahead of his 90th birthday on March 24, 2026. He has a busy year ahead; he will tour the country as an actor in a play, and a documentary film and biopic about him are in the early stages of production. Guly’s profile traces Suzuki’s life and work, and he speaks with those closest to him to paint a portrait of an extraordinary person. Suzuki’s guiding wish for this year is humble, however: “I just want to live through 2026,” he told Guly, with a wink. “Then I don’t give a shit.”
10. Trump Is Using Culture to Reshape Society
Here in Canada, we have a unique opportunity to fight back. By Dorothy Woodend
On the heels of the closure of the Public Broadcasting Corporation, Tyee culture editor takes stock of what the Trump administration is doing to arts and culture in the U.S., and why it matters to us here in Canada.
“Here in little old Canada, we have an interesting opportunity to rise to the challenge of the moment,” she wrote. “Whether that means attending a city council meeting, supporting artists and cultural events in your own community or simply refusing to back down and shut up as authoritarian forces seek to use the arts for their own purposes.”
11. Here’s an Inconvenient Truth: Disease Is in the Air
We ignored the science of airborne transmission for over a century. Carl Zimmer tells us why. By Crawford Kilian
Tyee contributing editor Crawford Kilian walks us through the history of medicine in a powerful review of science writer Carl Zimmer’s latest book, Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. “Zimmer’s book demonstrates that even when we understand the science of disease, governments often reject science on purely political grounds,” Kilian writes. “In the self-styled “advanced” nations, clean water is considered essential, but we tolerate foul air in our homes, workplaces and classrooms, despite a century of evidence that it is harming ourselves and our children.”
12. ChatGPT and Me
I spent a day with the popular app. It left me questioning everything I thought I knew about the benefits of AI. By Max Wyman
Arts writer Max Wyman jumped onto the ChatGPT bandwagon late, but this summer he caved when a free offer to try the app popped into his inbox. He spent a day with the multimodal large-language model and was surprised by what he found.
“It’s programmed to intrigue, flatter and to satisfy: the ultimate kind of clickbait. But don’t for a moment believe that it has your interests at heart. It answered my simple questions with a cascade of lies and misinformation that were all the more disturbing for the fact that they were delivered with the calm, reassuring plausibility of the practised prevaricator,” he wrote.
“If you want my opinion, it’s an artificial lying machine without morality, a potent disruptor in the hands of anyone who wants to shape the way we engage with the world. And we need to be very wary of how we engage with it.”
Happy holidays, readers. Our comment threads will be closed until Jan. 5 to give our moderators a much-deserved break. See you in 2026! ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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