Q with Tom Power

Riz Ahmed is an Oscar and Emmy-award winning actor and rapper, known for pushing for more nuanced portrayals of South Asians, and especially Muslims, on screen. In his most recent projects, he’s shaking the foundations of British cultural mythology by taking on two roles that have long been definitive for white actors: James Bond and Hamlet. He joins Tom to talk about his new series Bait, where he...

After winning the prestigious Polaris Music Prize for a second time, Jeremy Dutcher decided to do something he’s never done before: score a film. He composed music for the Canadian thriller At The Place of Ghosts, which follows two estranged Mi'kmaq brothers who become haunted by a malevolent spirit and must reunite to face their demons. Jeremy sits down with Tom Power to discuss the importance of...

During the pandemic, Kashus Culpepper learned to play the guitar on YouTube, and soon enough was performing covers for his fellow sailors in the United States Navy. Now, after sharing some of his covers online and moving to Nashville, Kashus’s soulful blend of Southern sounds has caught the attention of music veterans like John Mayer and Elton John. He joins Tom Power to talk about his unique jour...

Brittany Allen has been a working actor and composer for over 15 years. Her breakout role as Marissa on the long-running soap All My Children earned her a Daytime Emmy Award. Now, she’s getting a lot of critical acclaim for her role as a cancer patient on the second season of the hit show The Pitt. She joins Tom Power to talk about her acting journey, and how playing a cancer patient has impacted...

The Big Five answers the most pressing question of our time: what are the “Big 5” of any given category? Not the best 5. Not the top 5. Not anyone’s favourite 5. But objectively, the Big 5. In each episode, Donovan Woods, Tom Power, and a celebrity guest tackle new topics and debate things like: what are the Big 5 farm animals? Types of hats? Slang terms for “butt”? Ways to cook a potato? Guys nam...

Eight-time Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves is back with her seventh album, Middle of Nowhere. The record looks at where she’s from, transitions and being comfortable alone. Kacey joins Tom Power in the Q studio to chat about the new album, what it was like growing up in Texas, and her breakthrough fourth album Golden Hour.

Canadian songwriter Cat Clyde, known for blending rockabilly with modern Americana, just released her fourth full-length album, called Mud Blood Bone. She joins Garvia Bailey to talk about what inspired her new song off the album, Man’s World, which tackles the frustrating limitations of living in a patriarchal society.

Without Tiga, the vibrant dance party scene in Montreal wouldn’t exist. The DJ and record producer pioneered the first club, first parties and the overall EDM explosion in that city. Tiga tells Tom Power about his new record, his early childhood sneaking into raves in Goa, India, and what it’s like to see the world through its nightlife.

For decades, Parisa Karimi Molan was banned from singing publicly in her homeland of Iran because she was a woman. But, Parisa found her voice in Canada, and now she’s released her debut album Unveiled. She tells Tom about the secret singing she undertook in her homeland, and what it meant to sing in public for the first time after moving to Montreal.

Scottish actor Peter Capaldi drops by the Q studio to talk about his hit Apple TV police drama Criminal Record. He shares stories from his more than 40 years in acting, and why the secret to it all might just be being yourself. Plus, having just come back from being on the road with his music, Peter tells Tom what it was like to do his first-ever headline tour, and about the punk band he started w...

British Columbia’s Ora Cogan just released a new record, Hard Hearted Woman. She tells Tom Power about her spiritual approach to songwriting and what inspired her to write about anti-trans legislation in her new song, Honey.

After being the lead sex work consultant on the film Anora, Andrea Werhun tapped that film’s writer-director Sean Baker to executive produce her new autobiographical hybrid documentary. Modern Whore is part-talking head, part-reenactment and part-slap stick comedy, telling Andrea’s story from student to escort to exotic dancer. She sits down with Tom Power to talk about why she doesn't see herself...

Cadence Weapon, the Edmonton-born, Polaris Music Prize-winning rapper, author and producer is back with his new album, Forager. It’s an exploration of vintage styles and sounds, produced by Toronto’s Junia-T. In the Q studio, Cadence Weapon sits down with Tom to talk about working with Junia-T, incorporating live instruments and how some things are easier for the ones who come after the trailblaze...

In Season 1 of Netflix’s dark comedy Beef, the show’s creator Lee Sung Jin found a winning formula: an escalating feud ignited by a single road rage incident. Now, for its second season, the anthology series is introducing a whole new cast and a fresh conflict set in an elitist country club. But, it’s still a story of how the crushing pressure to succeed pushes people to the extreme. Lee Sung Jin...

Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe is a Canadian dancer and choreographer who brings First Nations storytelling to contemporary ballet. His new full-length ballet, Cikilaxʷm: Controlled Burn with Ballet Kelowna, touches on themes of Indigenous fire stewardship, climate change and wildfire management. Cameron spoke with Q guest host Garvia Bailey about cultural burns, creative collaboration and Indigenou...

At 85, Ringo Starr shows no sign of slowing down. The English musician’s new album Long Long Road is a return to country music — a genre he’s loved since he was a kid. Ringo joins Tom Power to talk about finding country music in Liverpool in the ’60s, returning to the genre now, and the upcoming Beatles biopic featuring Barry Keoghan as a young Ringo Starr.

Canadian writer-director Sophy Romvari’s debut feature film, Blue Heron, follows a Hungarian-Canadian family as they relocate to Vancouver Island in the ’90s, and struggle to deal with the eldest son’s increasingly dangerous behavioural issues. She joins Q host Tom Power to talk about the success of her semi-autobiographical feature, the current state of the Canadian independent film industry, and...

American-Canadian actor Jean Yoon, best known for playing Mrs. Kim on the beloved series Kim’s Convenience, is back on stage in a new play. It’s called Dance Nation, and it’s a dark yet funny take on adolescence, girlhood and female rage. Jean sits down with Tom Power to talk about why she walked away from acting in the early days of her career, the complicated legacy of Kim’s Convenience, and the...

P.E.I. actor and theatre director Mike Ross has been obsessed with the Don McLean song American Pie for decades. Now, he’s co-created a stage show about all the hidden meanings behind the generational tune, called Inside American Pie. He joins Tom to talk about why he wanted to make a whole show about this one song, and what he thinks of the riddles and references in the lyrics.

Following her buzziest — and busiest — awards season yet, Chase Infiniti is starring in Hulu’s The Testaments. Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, the TV series is a coming-of-age drama set in Gilead, 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. Chase sits down with Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about stepping into Margaret Atwood’s world, what she learned on the set of One...

When reading classic literature or watching Shakespeare plays, Erin Shields often finds herself drawn to the supporting characters we don’t hear much from — especially the women. In her new play Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, the Governor General’s Award-winning playwright considers what happens when four women who witnessed miracles are finally allowed to speak. She joins Tom Power in the Q studio to ta...

Dorothy Grant’s work as a Haida fashion designer combines art, ceremony and history. Her designs have been shown everywhere from runways in Paris and the Oscars red carpet, to legislative halls and prestigious museums. Now, Dorothy is receiving the first-ever Indigenous Fashion Award at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards. She joins Tom to talk about her approach to fusing traditional Northwest...

Montreal’s Edwin Raphael has opened for acts like Noah Kahan, and earned millions of streams from audiences all over the world. But for his latest project, inspiration struck rather close to home — in his dreams, to be exact. He sits down with Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about why he wanted to explore the reflections that can come from dreams, and to set up a song called Hymn for a Dragonfly...

Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack’s debut film I Like Movies was a huge hit, earning praise from folks like Adam Sandler and establishing Chandler as one to watch. Now, Chandler is back with her second film, called Mile End Kicks, that taps into her real-life story as a young music journalist coming up in Montreal. Chandler joins Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about mining her own life for art...

There’s a very personal story behind P.E.I. singer-songwriter Jenn Grant’s new song, Jim Cuddy Dress. Jenn sits down with Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about meeting Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo at the 2012 Juno Awards with her late mother, how she honoured one of her final wishes, and all the ways her mother turned some tough times in Jenn’s childhood into adventures.