Q with Tom Power

William Stanford Davis is a veteran actor who waited 40 years until his dream of becoming a series regular finally became a reality. He’s the breakout star of the hit sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” on which he plays the school’s enigmatic janitor Mr. Johnson. William joins Tom to share how he landed the role at 70, what his story can tell us about persistence, and how he managed to keep the faith for...

Old Man Luedecke is one of Canada's most beloved folk musicians. The two-time Juno winner became known for playing the banjo, but on his latest album, “She Told Me Where to Go,” he puts the banjo away. Old Man Luedecke talks to Tom about his decision to trade the five-string for the six-string, how it changed his approach to making music, and what working on a scallop boat during the pandemic taug...

When a band kicks off their career with a hit single about getting stoned and watching TV, it might be surprising to see them 30 years later as one of the biggest bands on the planet. Green Day has beat those long odds. All three members — Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool — talk to Tom about the 30th anniversary of their breakthrough record “Dookie,” how they wanted to create a monume...

Visual artist Kapwani Kiwanga represents Canada at this year’s Venice Biennale, the Olympics of visual art. Her installation, “Trinket,” uses seven million conteria — small glass beads from Venice — to not only shimmer, but to interrogate a deep history of labour, cultural exchange and class dynamics. She joins guest host Talia Schlanger to discuss how she uses small beads to tell a big story and...

The Oscar-nominated actor June Squibb is living her dream at 94 years young. Decades into her career as a character actor, June is now enjoying her first leading role in the action-comedy movie “Thelma.” She joins guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on the passage of time, the benefits of being an older actor, and why sometimes you need to have a little patience to reap the rewards of your hard...

The Montreal pianist Alexandra Stréliski was working at an ad agency when the late director Jean-Marc Vallée discovered her music and started using it in his work. That gave her the push she needed to quit her job and pursue music full-time. This year, Alexandra was nominated for album of the year at the Junos. Just before that, she joined Tom to talk about the nomination and chasing her dreams.

Carol Burnett is one of the most adored comedians of all time. In 1967, she broke up the boys club that was network television with her freewheeling variety hour, “The Carol Burnett Show.” Now, more than half a century later, she’s still flexing her quick wit and comedic acting skills on shows like “Better Call Saul” and “Palm Royale.” In this special interview from Los Angeles, Carol sits down wi...

When a wildfire ripped through Lytton, B.C., in June 2021, the town burnt almost entirely to the ground. Meghan Fandrich lost her small business, the Klowa Art Café, and turned to writing poetry for the first time in her life to help her cope with the loss. The result is her first collection of poetry, “Burning Sage: Poems from the Lytton Fire.” She joins Tom to talk about it and read a poem from...

Last summer, Sam Smith joined Tom to talk about the release of their latest album, “Gloria.” Since then, the singer-songwriter has announced the re-release of their debut album, “In the Lonely Hour,” which earned them four Grammys when it came out a decade ago. We revisit Tom’s 2023 chat with Sam about their start in music, learning to centre joy in their life, and the highs and lows of finding th...

Before making her name as a singer-songwriter, Jennifer Castle worked at a restaurant in Toronto with celebrity chef and restaurateur Matty Matheson. Now, nearly 20 years later, Matty is an executive producer and actor on the hit series “The Bear” and Jennifer has a song featured in the new season. She joins Tom to set up the song, titled “Blowing Kisses.”

Ten years after immigrating to Canada from India, the rapper and singer Karan Aujla made history as the first Punjabi artist to ever win a Juno Award. But he was a global superstar well before then, topping the charts with his blend of Punjabi music over hip-hop and trap beats. Now, Karan is the latest Global Apple Music Up Next Artist, which makes him the first Punjabi artist to join the initiati...

Jodie Comer is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor who you may know as the assassin Villanelle on the show “Killing Eve.” Though she’s been acting since childhood, Jodie treats every role with the intense work ethic of someone who’s still gunning for their big break. In her new film, “The Bikeriders,” she stars opposite Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and Michael Shannon as a woman who married into a bi...

The Canadian director Brendan Healy has taken on an epic project: a new production of Matthew López's seven-hour play “The Inheritance,” which has been called the most important play of the 21st century. Brendan sits down with Tom to tell us how the play represents a conversation between generations of gay men, what happens when you don't learn about the past, and how that conversation played out...

The Canadian musician Jamie Fine first found success with the duo Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine after they won the singing competition show “The Launch” in 2018. But after realizing something wasn’t sitting right with her, Jamie decided to start fresh with a solo career. Now, she’s released her sophomore EP, “if this is it.” Jamie sits down with Tom to share some hard-earned wisdom from her journey in...

You might know E.R. Fightmaster from their groundbreaking role as Dr. Kai Bartley on “Grey's Anatomy” or you may be familiar with their music. Earlier this month, the actor and musician released their second EP, “Bloodshed Baby” under their stage name Fightmaster. E.R. joins Tom to set up a song off the record and shares what it was like being cast as the first non-binary doctor on “Grey's Anatomy...

Last year was a big one for Gracie Abrams. The singer-songwriter released her debut album, got nominated for best new artist at the Grammys, and opened for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour. Now, she’s released her sophomore album, “The Secret of Us,” which she co-wrote with her best friend. Gracie joins Tom in studio to talk about the record, getting over her fear of performing, and what it’s like wo...

The Montreal singer-songwriter Dominique Fils-Aimé is back with a new single, “Moi je t'aime.” It’s the Juno-winning artist’s first song in French, despite French being her first language. Dominique joins Tom to set up the track and explain what singing in French gives her as an artist.

Dr. Shirley Cheechoo is one of Canada’s most prominent voices in Indigenous film and theatre. At this year’s annual Weengushk International Film Festival, Dr. Cheechoo is giving back to her community with a special event called Blanket of Stars: A Tribute to Resilience, which is dedicated to Canada’s residential school survivors — or as she calls them, residential school warriors. Dr. Cheechoo joi...

The legendary Canadian actor Donald Sutherland has died at age 88. Over the course of his six-decade career, he was in more than 150 films and TV series, and more recently he was honoured with his very own Canadian stamp. Today, we revisit Tom’s conversation with Donald about his stamp, his early days as an actor, and why he didn’t want dual Canadian and American citizenship.

Lily Gladstone is having an incredible year. She was nominated for an Oscar for her starring role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and she became the first Indigenous actor to win a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award. In her latest film, “Fancy Dance,” Lily brings another Indigenous character to screen. She joins Tom to talk...

Elisapie was jogging and listening to ABBA when she got the idea for her latest project, “Inuktitut.” It’s a 10-track covers album of classic pop and rock hits that each represent a special childhood memory for the Inuk singer-songwriter. What makes the album unique is that each song is translated into Inuktitut. Elisapie joins Tom to talk about the project and how reclaiming some of her most pain...

The comedian Paul Scheer has had roles on some of the biggest sitcoms ever, including “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation” and “The League.” He also co-hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the world, “How Did This Get Made,” which takes on the worst movies of all time. But in his new memoir, “Joyful Recollections of Trauma,” Paul writes about the abuse he and his mom suffered at the hands of his...

Weyni Mengesha is an award-winning Canadian theatre maker and the artistic director of Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Company. Five years ago, she reworked Tennessee Williams’s historic play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” which was a resounding hit for Canadian theatre. Now, Soulpepper has remounted the production. Weyni joins Tom to talk about the changes she made to “A Streetcar Named Desire,” its le...

When she was just 17, Chappell Roan signed her first record deal with a major label and moved to Los Angeles. But when the deal fell through, she returned home to Missouri where she began soul searching and trying to figure out her next steps. Chappell talks to Tom about being discovered on YouTube, how she responded when she was dropped from her record label in 2020, and what inspired her critica...

The Canadian artist Miles Greenberg says flesh is his medium. He’s no stranger to pushing his body to the extreme for his art. Some of the things Miles has done include standing on a plinth dripping in fake blood, embracing a stranger while naked and blind, and walking on a conveyor belt all day. For his latest work, “Respawn,” he wrestles and stabs versions of himself in front of a live audience...