Q with Tom Power

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.

The Governor General’s Award-winning performing artist Sandra Laronde is bringing her novel She Holds Up The Stars to the stage. The story, about an Indigenous girl who forms an unexpected bond with a spirited horse, is performed using multi-disciplinary elements like a full orchestra, movement and a muscular horse puppet. Sandra tells Tom how she saw her novel as a stage show from the very beginn...

The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show Scrubs was special for the way it balanced comedy, satire and surrealism, all while being grounded in a very real story about medical interns at a fictional hospital. Now, as the show returns for a tenth season, Tom talks to main cast member Sarah Chalke about the legacy of the show, her friendships with her castmates, and how it felt to step back into the h...

Nashville singer-songwriter Maren Morris is back with a new album, Dreamsicle. It’s her first release after her divorce last year, but it’s not just a breakup record. It’s an examination of the physical, mental and emotional changes that happen after a traumatic personal event. Maren joins Tom Power to discuss Dreamsicle, her 20 years of making music, and the importance of the collaborators on the...

Or Schraiber and Bobbi Jene Smith are two of the most important names in contemporary dance. They’re also a married couple. Or and Bobbi join Tom Power to tell us how their creative and personal partnership began while they were dancers at the Batsheva Dance Company, how the Gaga dance style influences their work, and their Canadian debut at the National Ballet of Canada, Procession.

You don’t become one of the most successful pianists of our time without a lot of practice. That’s something Lang Lang knows all about. Six years after the release of his celebrated record Piano Book, the virtuoso Chinese pianist is back with a new album, Piano Book 2. It’s designed to inspire people of all ages, levels and backgrounds. Lang Lang sits down with Tom Power at the Glenn Gould piano i...

What happens when you start to feel anxiety and self-doubt in the middle of chasing your dreams? The Canadian folk trio The Pairs don’t necessarily have the answer, but they are working through these feelings on their new album, Together on a Rock. While their songs don’t come with perfect endings, the stories they tell are incredibly honest and vulnerable. Renée Coughlin and Hillary Watson of The...

Greg Wells is a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and mix engineer who was recently made a Member of the Order of Canada. He sits down with Tom Power to talk about his early days playing in k.d. lang’s band, producing and writing hits for artists like Adele, John Legend, Ariana Grande, Celine Dion and Taylor Swift, and why he’s spent the last few...

Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak are a husband-and-wife duo who lead the acclaimed Montreal rock band The Dears. In the early 2000s, they put a heavy stamp on indie pop music in Canada. Now, they’re celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band with the release of a new album, Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Murray and Natalia sit down with Tom Power to talk about their...

After years playing U.S. President Donald Trump on the news parody show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, comedian Mark Critch has come up with a few ideas on how Canada should deal with him. He’s just released a new book, Sorry, Not Sorry, in which he argues that it’s time for Canadians to park their apologies and match the president’s bravado with some of our own. Mark joins Tom Power to share his unapo...