Q with Tom Power

The CBC radio show and podcast “Under the Influence” just launched its 20th season. Show host and creator Terry O'Reilly joins Tom Power for a career chat about his early days as an ad man, his experience working with some of the biggest brands and celebrities of our time, and how he pitched a show about advertising to a network with no advertising.

The Canadian actor and playwright Ins Choi is best known as the creator of “Kim’s Convenience,” which started as a play in 2011 before it became a hit sitcom in 2016. This month, “Kim’s Convenience” is back at Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Company where it was first professionally staged in 2012. Ins sits down with Tom Power to talk about the ups and downs of adapting “Kim’s Convenience” for TV, th...

For a time in the ‘90s, there was no band on earth bigger than Bush. Their debut album, “Sixteen Stone,” had singles that were in heavy rotation on MuchMusic, MTV and every rock radio station. That record also turned singer Gavin Rossdale into a star. Ahead of Bush’s cross-Canada tour this spring, Gavin joins Tom Power to look back on the band’s early days, what it was like breaking out of Britain...

Mikey Madison is up for an Oscar for her role in Sean Baker’s Palme d'Or-winning film “Anora.” The story follows a sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch. But their fairytale romance is threatened after news of their shotgun wedding reaches his parents in Russia. A few months ago, Mikey sat down with Tom Power to talk about her deep research and preparation fo...

The Canadian actor Amrit Kaur is one of the breakout stars of Mindy Kaling’s HBO Max series “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” She joins Tom Power to talk about getting into acting for all the wrong reasons, being inspired by her character Bela, and how acting eventually helped her overcome her self-loathing.

When you were growing up, did you get along with your sibling? Did your parents want you to get along better than you did? When Leela and Jay Gilday were growing up in Northwest Territories, their dad wanted them to sing together more, but it wasn’t until decades later that they did. Leela and Jay both have distinguished music careers on their own, but more recently, they’ve come together as the c...

In Sook-Yin Lee’s new film, “Paying For It,” a couple whose romantic attraction is waning decide to open up their relationship. While Sonny explores dating, her introverted boyfriend, Chester, opts to hire sex workers. The story is based on Sook-Yin’s real-life former relationship with Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, who released a bestselling graphic memoir of the same name in 2011. It reflect...

Denis Villeneuve’s massive sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” is up for best picture at the Oscars this year. Last year, around the film’s Canadian premiere, the Quebecois filmmaker joined Tom Power to discuss his vision for the second installment, the challenges of shooting in the intense heat of the desert, and how politics and religion in Quebec play into the film more than you might think.

The Brazilian film “I’m Still Here” looks at one of the darkest chapters in Brazil’s modern history. It tells the true story of Eunice Paiva, whose husband was apprehended, tortured and executed by the military in 1971. The film’s star, Brazilian actor Fernanda Torres, is nominated for best actor at the Oscars for her performance. She joins Tom Power to talk about the responsibility of telling a r...

Jaylene Tyme is a Vancouver drag legend, a community leader, and a proud two-spirit Indigenous trans woman. She recently competed on Season 5 of “Canada’s Drag Race,” where she not only won the title of Miss Congeniality, but also used her platform to send powerful messages about truth and reconciliation, missing and murdered Indigenous women, and her experience as a survivor of the Sixties Scoop....

The Montreal comedian Sugar Sammy refers to himself as an “equal opportunity offender.” As a comic, he says the only thing worse than outrage is silence. Ahead of his 20-city Canadian tour, Sammy sits down with Tom Power to tell us what’s on his mind, why our changing world is a goldmine for new material, and how offensive jokes can actually unify us. Plus, he reveals the four components he believ...

Lita Fontaine is a Winnipeg-based artist who has a new exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq. It’s called “Winyan” (the Dakota word for “woman”) and it celebrates the role and influence of Indigenous women in their families, communities and cultures. Lita joins Tom Power to talk about her life and work, why the walls of her new exhibit are painted pink, and why she wanted to celebrate femin...

The Canadian comedy legend Tom Green has had an incredible career, from “The Tom Green Show” to “Freddy Got Fingered” to his many stand-up tours. Last year, he was honoured with the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award from the Banff World Media Festival. Tom Power caught up with him live on stage in Banff for a special career-spanning conversation about his journey in comedy, the terrifying cancer diag...

After playing bass and singing on tour for the likes of Lorde and Remi Wolf, Maddie Jay is finally going out on her own with her new album, “I Can Change Your Mind.” The Los Angeles-based Canadian musician sits down with Tom Power to talk about her journey in music, the surprising lesson she learned from playing with some of the world’s biggest artists, and how a visiting fiddle player to her smal...

At 29, Adrien Brody became the youngest person to win best actor at the Oscars for his role as a Holocaust survivor in 2002's “The Pianist.” Now, he’s received his second best actor nomination for “The Brutalist,” portraying a fictional Jewish Hungarian architect who emigrates to the United States in an effort to rebuild his life. Adrien joins Tom Power to discuss his critically acclaimed performa...

Two heavyweights of Canadian culture, acclaimed soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee and literary giant Margaret Atwood, have come together for an exciting new collaboration. On her new album, “Zombie Blizzard,” Measha sings musical interpretations of seven Atwood poems. She joins Tom Power to talk about the project and what she thinks it might be able to tell you about the future.

The British actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste first worked with director Mike Leigh on his 1996 breakthrough “Secrets & Lies,” which earned her an Oscar nomination. Now, she’s reunited with him for his new comedy-drama, “Hard Truths.” In the film, Marianne gives an explosive performance as Pansy, a woman consumed by rage and depression, who regularly lashes out at family and strangers. Marianne joi...

Tim Heidecker became known for playing bizarre or surreal characters in his breakout sketch comedy show “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” But now that he’s a dad in his late 40s, the comedian has decided to put aside the characters and lean into sincerity instead. His new folk album, “Slipping Away,” reflects on the grim state of the world, aging, fatherhood and the waning of creativity. Tim...

When Steven Soderbergh asked Lucy Liu to star in his new film “Presence,” saying yes was a no-brainer. The movie tells a haunted house story with a twist in that it unfolds from the point-of-view of the ghost. Lucy joins Tom Power from New York to talk about her experience working on “Presence,” how it differed from her previous work on big projects like “Charlie's Angels” and “Kill Bill,” and how...

A new documentary called “New Blood” chronicles the 10-year journey of the “New Blood Dance Show” — a high school theatre production based on the residential school experience of former Siksika Nation Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman. Peter Gabriel signed on as an executive producer of the documentary and even allowed his music to be used in it for free. “New Blood” director Adam Solway joins Tom Po...

The Canadian singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman, a.k.a. The Weather Station, is known for making music that confronts climate change and the damage we’ve inflicted on our planet. Just a few days ago, Tamara released her new album, “Humanhood,” which chronicles a difficult mental health period in her life when she felt like she had lost her sense of self. She sits down with Tom Power to discuss the...

Clarence Maclin spent 15 years as an inmate in Sing Sing Correctional Facility, one of America’s most notorious prisons. Now, he plays himself opposite Colman Domingo and Paul Raci in “Sing Sing,” a new film based on his experience in prison and the transformative theatre program that changed his life. Last year, around the film’s release, Clarence joined Tom to share what it was like stepping bac...

With four Grammys, 25 No. 1 songs and more than 10 billion streams, Keith Urban has solidified his position as one of the world's biggest names in country music. On his latest album, “High,” the Australian country superstar gets more reflective than ever, exploring themes like generational trauma and what it means to be alive. Ahead of his cross-Canada tour this year, Keith sits down with Tom Powe...

Lioness Kaur is a Canadian rapper who’s just released her debut album, "The Lion with Emerald Eyes." She sits down with Tom Power to talk about the challenge and triumph of breaking into the Canadian hip-hop scene as a young Punjabi Sikh woman, and how she found support from the likes of Drake and Lloyd Banks. Plus, she sets up her new song “Black Sheep.”

For decades, Pamela Anderson has been recognized as a pop culture icon, but she says she hasn’t recognized herself until now. Earlier this month, she earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her role as a fading Las Vegas showgirl in Gia Coppola’s new film, “The Last Showgirl.” Her critically acclaimed performance marks a new chapter of her career as a serious dramatic actor and bonafide artis...