Q with Tom Power

Samuel D. Hunter is the award-winning playwright and screenwriter behind “The Whale.” His latest play, “A Case for the Existence of God,” is about an unlikely friendship between two men who have one thing in common: they’re single fathers of young daughters. Samuel was inspired to write the play after he adopted his own daughter and realized that as a parent he no longer had "the luxury of being c...

Mike Burkett, also known as Fat Mike, is the lead singer and bassist of NOFX, which is not only one of the most influential and successful punk bands of all time, but also one of the longest-serving. They’ve been together for 41 years, but just last month, it all came to an end when they wrapped up the last few shows on their final tour. In this chat with guest host Talia Schlanger, Mike opens up...

The Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Logan Staats has had one heck of a month. He performed alongside Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and Allison Russell at a Robbie Robertson tribute concert in Los Angeles, and then he took part in the inaugural Reverie Indigenous Music Residency presented by CBC and the SOCAN Foundation. Ahead of a special performance at Massey Hall in Toronto, Logan sits down wi...

Anna Marie Tendler is a multidisciplinary artist known for her evocative self-portraits that explore grief and isolation. In 2021, following her high-profile divorce with comedian John Mulaney, Anna checked herself into a psychiatric facility, seeking treatment for self-harm and suicidal ideation. She details that experience in her new memoir, “Men Have Called Her Crazy,” which is her reintroducti...

Before he started working on his new album, the rapper Tristan Grant (also known as Wolf Castle) suffered a concussion following a skateboarding accident. The long recovery process got him thinking about his life and the man he wants to be. Tristan sits down with Tom Power to talk about that personal growth journey and how it impacted his latest record, “Waiting for the Dawn.”

What’s our individual responsibility when we see atrocities happening in our world? That question is the central premise of the new film “Small Things Like These,” which sheds light on Ireland’s infamous Magdalene laundries. Set in a small Irish town in 1985, the film stars Cillian Murphy as Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father of five girls who discovers that the local convent in his communit...

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 Season 3. She joins Tom Power to talk about waiting tables in her 20s, reuniting with her old friend, and her new so...

The Oscar-winning British film director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) is renowned for his cinematic portrayals of difficult realities. His latest film, “Blitz,” is a war drama that follows George, a young Black boy living in London during the Blitz — Germany’s bombing campaign against the U.K. during the Second World War. Steve joins Tom Power to talk about the film and why he thinks thi...

Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram are a married Canadian comedy duo who have teamed up to create a new stage show called “Big Stuff.” It’s part storytelling, part duo stand-up and part improvised — but most importantly, it’s a personal reflection on the treasured keepsakes and unresolved emotions that are left behind when we lose someone we love. Naomi and Matt join Tom Power to tell us more about the...

For decades, the Canadian visual artist Marcel Dzama has been attracting attention for his drawings, films, sculptures and installations. Earlier this year, Tom Power spoke with the Brooklyn-based artist about his new solo show, “Ghosts of Canoe Lake,” which opened at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario. Now, the exhibit is making its way to Marcel’s hometown of Winnipeg at the galler...

Back in April, the award-winning Canadian writer Ian Williams was named this year’s Massey lecturer. Since 1961, the Massey Lectures have invited distinguished writers, thinkers and scholars to present their ideas in a five-part lecture series across Canada. In this conversation with Tom Power, Ian tells us how to have better conversations with one another,  why it’s important to have difficu...

Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket) is an award-winning filmmaker whose work often explores the lives of people living on the fringes. His latest film, “Anora,” follows a sex worker who quits her job after a whirlwind romance with a Russian billionaire, but soon realizes her fairytale ending isn’t all she’d hoped. Sean joins Tom Power to tell us why this story spoke to him, how...

The Juno-winning Canadian jazz singer and pianist Laila Biali is back with a new album, “Wintersongs,” which was inspired by some time she spent in Banff. She says the album brings her back to her roots as a classical pianist — a path that was cut short after a car accident changed her life at 15. Laila sits down with Tom Power to talk about the record, how it blends different sides of herself, an...

If you’ve ever thought it was too late for you to try something new, you should listen to Sindhu Vee. She’s one of the most talked-about comics in the U.K. right now, but just a few years ago, she was an investment banker who was trying to figure out what to do with her life after having kids. Sindhu joins Tom Power to tell us how she got her start in comedy without ever having seen a live stand-u...

The Canadian acting legend Saul Rubinek has returned to the stage to explore one of theatre’s most controversial characters: Shylock, the Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s comedy “The Merchant of Venice.” Saul stars as a fictionalized version of himself in Canadian Stage’s new production of “Playing Shylock,” which takes a poignant yet comedic look at cancel culture, representation and anti-Semi...

When the award-winning author Jason Reynolds was visiting a juvenile detention centre, he asked what kind of books young boys checked out the most. The answer really surprised him: romance novels. Jason realized that young men have a real hunger to learn about love, sensitivity and intimacy. That sparked the idea for his latest book, "Twenty-Four Seconds from Now,” which follows a Black teen boy w...

One of the most famous tenors in the world, Andrea Bocelli, is celebrating three decades in music. In addition to a concert film and a new album called “Duets,” he’s the subject of a new documentary about his life, “Because I Believe.” It traces his journey from a rural farming village in Tuscany to sold-out stadium concerts with tens of thousands of fans. Andrea joins Tom Power to discuss his jou...

After signing a major recording contract at age 12, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque shot to the top of the pop charts with hits like “Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little, Too Late.” She was on track to become one of the biggest pop singers of the 2000s — and then she seemingly disappeared overnight. In this interview with Tom Power, JoJo opens up about the betrayals she endured as a child star, the label issu...

The Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter and producer k-os is kind of like the Forrest Gump of popular music — he’s been everywhere. On the 20th anniversary of his smash hit album “Joyful Rebellion,” k-os sits down with Tom Power to share some wild stories from his life and career, like the time he hung out with Prince and how he has Shaquille O'Neal to thank for his first hit in the U.S.

A few years ago, the musician Tia Wood moved to Los Angeles from her home of Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta. Though she comes from a musical family (her mom is in a drum group, her sister is a Juno winner, and her dad is a founder of the award-winning group Northern Cree), Tia has managed to find her own sound. Now, she’s the first Indigenous woman to be signed to Sony Music Canada, and she’s...

When the Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Lindsay Ell moved from Calgary to Nashville, she found success, but she didn’t feel like she was being her authentic self. So she took a risk, left her record label and started getting more personal in her music, opening up about her experience as a victim of sexual assault and her recovery from an eating disorder. Now, she’s released her new EP, “...

The Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara Quin have been in the public eye for more than 25 years, during which they’ve released 10 studio albums and sold more than a million records. But for nearly 15 years, they’ve been quietly grappling with an elaborate catfishing scheme that’s changed their lives, careers and relationships. Now, they’ve decided to go public about it in a new documentary, “Fanatical...

A few years ago, the Canadian musician Brendan McLeod and his band The Fugitives wrote a collection of songs inspired by the real-life experiences of soldiers who fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War. Now, The Fugitives are getting ready to perform those songs in a new stage show, “Ridge,” at the Firehall Hall Arts Centre in Vancouver. Brendan joins Tom Power to talk about...

The actor, writer and comedian Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Obvious Child) isn’t afraid to bare it all in projects that are vulnerable, frank and touching. In her whimsical new book of essays, “Lifeform,” Jenny writes about meeting her husband and having her first child during the pandemic. Jenny joins Tom Power to talk about the book and her thoughts on motherhood. Plus, she reads...

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 Power to share how he landed the role at 70, what his story can tell us about persistence, and how he managed to keep the fai...