Q with Tom Power

Before her sudden death in 2023, Lisa Marie Presley was working on a memoir with the help of her eldest daughter, Riley Keough. After her passing, Riley took it upon herself to finish her mother’s project, relying on hours of audio tapes that Lisa Marie left behind. The result is the posthumous memoir “From Here to the Great Unknown,” which looks at what it was like to grow up in the whirlwind of...

Elle Mills doesn’t want her life to be the product anymore. She was just a kid when she started posting zany videos about her life on YouTube, racking up millions of views in the process. But by 19, she was burnt out and tired of playing a character. By 24, she quit. Now, Elle has found a new love in directing. Her first short film, “Reply,” is up now on her YouTube channel (@ElleOfTheMills). She...

When the Canadian chef Matty Matheson was growing up, first in Nova Scotia and later in Ontario, he liked going to punk shows, he didn’t do particularly well in school, and he didn’t think he was athletic or cool like his brothers. But once he moved to Toronto to study cooking, he discovered what he was great at. With no big plan or ambition, Matty became one of the best-known chefs and restaurate...

When Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” came out nearly 50 years ago, the Toronto cartoonist Paul Gilligan (Pooch Café) remembers cowering in the theatre and having recurring nightmares about the movie’s animatronic shark. He was only 10 at the time, but his fear left him with countless questions about what it means to be a man. Ahead of the film’s 50th anniversary, Paul has released a new graphic memoir,...

After rising to fame as the world’s highest-paid model in the early ‘80s, Isabella Rossellini broke away from convention with daring and experimental film roles in “Blue Velvet” and “Death Becomes Her.” In recent years, she’s continued to follow her instincts by opening up her own hobby farm and only choosing to pursue projects that challenge her, like her new film, “Conclave,” which lifts the cur...

A year ago this month, Matthew Perry suffered a fatal ketamine overdose following a lifelong struggle with addiction. The news became a big Hollywood story, but it was a deeply personal tragedy for Matthew’s family. Tonight, in the actor’s hometown of Ottawa, his family and friends will launch the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada to support people recovering from addiction. Matthew’s stepfather,...

Ali Abbasi is no stranger to controversy. The Iranian-Danish filmmaker garnered a huge backlash from the Iranian government with his 2022 film, “Holy Spider,” and now his latest film, “The Apprentice,” is ruffling the feathers of Donald Trump. There’s no evidence that the former president has seen the film, but he’s already threatening to sue. Ali joins Tom Power to talk about “The Apprentice,” th...

Earlier this year, the Canadian singer-songwriter Billianne premiered her new single “Daydream” live on “The Today Show.” She joins Tom Power to talk about the song, her big network debut, and what it was like to find out Taylor Swift is a fan.

Céline Dion is having a moment. It’s not her first, and millions of fans are hoping it won’t be her last. While Céline’s international stardom seems obvious now, it was all so unlikely. Now, as a rare illness threatens to retire Celine’s more-than-four-decade long career, in Céline: Understood culture writer Thomas Leblanc reveals the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that create...

Kaniehtiio Horn (Letterkenny, Reservation Dogs, Alice, Darling) is making her feature-length directorial debut with her genre-bending horror film “Seeds.” She joins Tom Power in studio to talk about the challenge of not only being a first-time director, but writing and starring in her film, what she learned from the late visionary horror director Jeff Barnaby, and what makes the rez such a perfect...

Maev Beaty, the Dora-winning Canadian actor, is taking on the lead role in the Canadian Stage production of the hit Broadway one-person show “My Name is Lucy Barton.” The play is based on Elizabeth Strout’s bestselling Booker-nominated novel of the same name. Maev joins Tom Power in studio to talk about why she wanted to take on this 90-minute solo performance, the challenges of that as an actor,...

Not many bands get a second chance, but Brooklyn’s Nada Surf are one of the lucky few. They hit it big with the mid-‘90s smash “Popular,” but only a couple of years later found themselves dropped by their record label. They grabbed their second chance and evolved into one of the great indie-pop bands of the last three decades. Lead singer-songwriter Matthew Caws drops by the studio to chat about s...

Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan of the Canadian indie-pop band Stars drop by the studio to discuss the 20th anniversary of their landmark album “Set Yourself on Fire,” including how it launched their career and soundtracked weddings and breakups.

Sean Baker’s Palme d'Or-winning film “Anora” is generating major Oscar buzz this year and its star, Mikey Madison (Scream, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood), is already the talk of the town. 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. Mi...

In 2014, after a long battle with mental illness, Andy Jones's son Louis died by suicide at age 28. Now, the Newfoundland comedian has created a one-man play about his son and his life navigating the health-care system. He joins Tom to talk about the play, titled “Don't Give Up On Me, Dad,” and why he wanted to shine a light on his son’s mental health struggles.

The new romantic drama “We Live in Time,” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, is one of the most talked about films of the year. It’s about what it really takes to live a happy and fulfilled life. In this conversation from the Toronto International Film Festival, Florence tells Tom how “We Live in Time” made her rethink life’s big questions — like wanting children — and the surprising less...

Brothers Jae and Trey Richards are Canadian comedians who got their start making YouTube sketches about their lives. They even managed to catch Drake’s eye, which led to a few collaborations with the Toronto rapper. But when Jae and Trey were younger, before they found success, they had to spend a lot of time helping their dad as office movers at his company. That experience inspired the idea for...

Early in her career, Heather Graham (Drugstore Cowboy, Twin Peaks, Boogie Nights) was advised by a publicist not to discuss her estrangement from her parents. Now, she’s had the chance to open up about her family struggles with the release of a new romantic comedy that she wrote, directed and stars in. It’s called “Chosen Family” and it’s about recognizing the people who hold you up in life while...

The Reklaws are a Canadian brother and sister country duo who got their start performing on their family farm as kids. They’re known for making fun party music that can hype you and your friends up before a night on the town. But after losing their mom at the height of their success in 2022, they decided to open up about what was really going on behind the party. Their new EP, “Outliving (For Mom)...

In 1983, Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous) was an ambitious young music journalist who had just released his debut film: a documentary about Tom Petty, titled “Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party.” It aired once on MTV and was never seen again. Now, that lost documentary is arriving for the first time in cinemas. The Oscar-winning director joins Tom to discuss his first fi...

The Calgary indie folk group Reuben and the Dark has teamed up with Bullhorn Singers, a drumming and singing group from the Kainai Blood Tribe, to make a new collaborative music project called Reuben and the Bullhorn Singers. They call their music the conversation that happens after truth and reconciliation. Reuben Bullock of Reuben and the Dark and Billy Wadsworth of Bullhorn Singers join Tom to...

Jelly Roll’s origin story isn’t that of the average country singer-songwriter. While growing up in Nashville's Antioch neighbourhood in the ‘90s, Jelly Roll developed an interest in hip-hop music and learned to rap. But from 14 to 25, he began cycling in and out of prison for various offences, including some felony charges. In the years since getting out, he’s gone from rapping to singing, ultimat...

Last November, the Toronto-based singer Tafari Anthony dropped his debut album, “When I Met Your Girlfriend.” The album’s title was inspired by a new experience he had with polyamory, as well as the loss of a supportive friend. Tafari joins Tom to share his story and to set up a song off the record called “Evermore.”

Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Aviator, Tár) is one of the most respected actors of our time. She's an onscreen chameleon who transforms into whatever role she plays, taking on whatever accent is required of her, so much so that she says it’s easy to forget what she actually sounds like. Cate sits down with Tom for a thoughtful conversation about two of her most recent projects — the unique politi...

Amanda Peters is a Nova Scotian writer of Mi’kmaq and European ancestry whose debut novel, “The Berry Pickers,” became one of the most talked about books in North America last year. Now, she’s back with a collection of short stories, titled “Waiting for the Long Night Moon.” The book touches on heavy topics like residential schools, the fight for the right to clean water, systemic racism and abuse...