Ah, the joys of hosting your family for the holidays: passing down traditions, feeding big groups with many dietary needs and getting everyone to leave at a decent hour. With Thanksgiving around the corner, former editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak sits down with editors Erica Lenti and Chantal Braganza to talk family functions in this special bonus episode of Group Chat.

Then, Fall 2026 guest editor and host of CTV’s The Good Stuff Mary Berg joins Maureen to dig into Thanksgiving dinners, pleasing a crowd at your next dinner party and her Friendsgiving feast favourites.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Mary Berg @mary_berg3
• Erica Lenti @ericalenti
• Chantal Braganza @cbraganz

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

In the season finale of Group Chat, we’re talking Sliding Doors moments: last-minute or split-second, unexpected decisions that led us to where we are in our professional and personal lives (inspired, of course, by the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow classic Sliding Doors). Host Maureen Halushak chats about her unlikely foray into journalism alongside creative director Sun Ngo and executive editor Erica Lenti.

Then, Summer 2026 guest editor Meredith Shaw joins Maureen to share her own Sliding Doors moment: being scouted as a model in line for a Sarah McLachlan concert. Plus, Meredith shares the inspiration behind her all-Canadian summer lookbook for Chatelaine.

Editor’s note: This is our last episode of Group Chat Season 1! We’ll be back after a summer hiatus. Until then, binge all of Season 1 on YouTube.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Meredith Shaw @meredithshaw
• Erica Lenti @ericalenti
• Sun Ngo @sunngo.studio

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

There’s endless advice—from every corner of the internet, your friends and gym buddies—about how to work out in midlife: change your routine, get your strength training in during perimenopause, get your heart rate up, walk more, run more, do more. But how do you stay motivated to exercise at all? Personal trainer and menopause fitness expert Samantha Montpetit-Huynh (better known as Sam Core Trainer) joins Maureen Halushak in the Group Chat this week to talk about fitness in your 40s, changing how you view exercise (it’s not all about weight loss!) and the secret to staying consistent.

Plus, FASHION senior fashion, beauty and wellness editor Julia McEwan and Today’s Parent editor-in-chief Vanessa Grant enter the chat to talk about their favourite ways to work out, and how that’s changed over the years.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Samantha Montpetit @samcoretrainer
• Julia McEwan @juliapjmcewan
• Vanessa Grant

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

Is it a happy ending? A sizzling summer romance? A compulsively readable storyline? All of the above? Books columnist Alicia Cox Thomson joins the chat with editor-in-chief and host Maureen Halushak in Episode 6 of Group Chat to talk all things summer books—including the three reads she says you won’t be able to put down this season.

Also in this episode: executive editor Erica Lenti and senior editor Andréanne Dion join Maureen to talk favourite spots for hot-weather reading, our all-time favourite summer books and a deep dive into “smooth-brained” reads.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Alicia Cox Thomson @aliciacoxthomsonwrites
• Andréanne Dion @andreannewrites
• Erica Lenti @ericalenti

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

Stuck in a style rut? This week, fashion stylist and personal shopper Jenn Park Krulik enters the Group Chat with editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak to talk all things style—including her best tips for summer dressing, and finding hidden gems in your own closet.

Also in this episode: creative director Sun Ngo and senior style editor Andréanne Dion join Maureen to talk about their favourite summer fits, iconic childhood summer looks and a very controversial take on sandals.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Andréanne Dion @andreannewrites
• Sun Ngo @sunngo.studio
• Jenn Park Krulik @stylingwithjenn

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

What if the Real Housewives franchises have been misunderstood all along? What if the TV shows so often deemed cage matches between wealthy, privileged women from cities across the globe are actually venues for midlife women to explore their identities, make lasting friendships and be unapologetically themselves? That’s the takeaway for Laura Hensley, author of the Bravo-loving Substack That’s My Opinion. She joins editor-in-chief (and reality-TV hater) Maureen Halushak for Episode 4 of Group Chat to talk all things Housewives—and maybe even convert Maureen into a Housewives lover by the end of their conversation.

Also in this episode: executive editor Erica Lenti and senior editor Andréanne Dion talk about their earliest reality-TV memories and why Mormon wives seem to be taking over our screens.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Chantal Braganza @cbraganz
• Sun Ngo @sunngo.studio
• Christine Flynn @christineanneflynn

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

How do you get the vibe right at a dinner party? For bestselling cookbook author Christine Flynn, it’s pretty simple: “I am the vibe,” she jokes in Episode 3 of Group Chat. Flynn—a recipe developer, restaurant veteran and regular Chatelaine contributor—joins editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak to discuss her longstanding career in food, how she entertains and just how important food is at your dinner party. (Flynn’s new cookbook, Easy Does It, is out now, and you can preview some of her recipes in our Spring 2026 issue.)

Also in this episode: Maureen, deputy food editor Chantal Braganza and creative director Sun Ngo talk entertaining styles, disaster dinner parties—and how to get people to leave at the end of the night.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests.

Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

You can watch the podcast on Chatelaine’s YouTube channel or listen wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you to our official furniture partner IKEA Canada.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Chantal Braganza @cbraganz
• Sun Ngo @sunngo.studio
• Christine Flynn @christineanneflynn

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada

In Episode 2 of Group Chat, Alexandra Gater—home decor superstar and Spring 2026 guest editor of Chatelaine—joins editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak to talk all things interior design, from her early days as the Chatelaine home editor to her wildly successful DIY makeover series on YouTube.

Also in this episode, executive editor Erica Lenti and senior style editor Andréanne Dion join the chat to discuss their earliest decor memories (and regrets) and how to navigate decorating a shared space with a partner.

Group Chat is new biweekly podcast that gets up close and personal with the editors of Chatelaine—and some very special guests. Each episode, hosted by editor-in-chief Maureen Halushak, will explore one of the many topics, big and small, that matter to Canadian women—from menopause to weight bias to reality tv.

Featuring:

• Maureen Halushak @maureenhalushak
• Andréanne Dion @andreannewrites
• Erica Lenti @ericalenti
• Alexandra Gater @alexandragater

Production:

• Maureen Halushak: Producer
• Erica Lenti: Producer
• Ryan Carter: Director / Editor
• Natasha Zoccoli: Editor / Camera Operator
• Corey Misquita: Director of Photography / Motion Graphic Designer / Camera Operator
• Masnoon Zarif: Camera Operator / Gaffer

Furniture partner: IKEA Canada