Q with Tom Power

Constance Wu stars in a new sci-fi thriller, The Outer Threat, filmed right here in Canada. Constance is most recognizable for her role in Crazy Rich Asians, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She’s also the bestselling author of her memoir, Making a Scene. She joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the new film, her craft, and her memoir. 

Halifax-based duo Moira & Claire introduce their song, no hesitation, in Q’s recurring New Music segment. Their new album, it’s all a mess!, is out now.

What’s in the perfect party lunch? What movie was bad enough to make you walk out of a theatre? And would you DJ your own afterparty? Filmmaker D.W. Waterson answers these very important questions — and more — in a rapid-fire round of Getting to Know Q with Tom Power.

Carisa Hendrix a magician, comedian, fire eater, and the creative force behind the character Lucy Darling, a glamorous socialite who’s become an internet sensation. Guest host Gill Deacon speaks with the multi-talented Carisa as she prepares for a performance at Just for Laughs Montreal. She talks about finding a community of magicians in Calgary, breaking into the male-dominated field of magic, and the unlikely journey from sideshows and circus stages to the Guinness World Records and the legendary Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Oliver Jones died this week at the age of 91. In 2024, Tom Power visited the Canadian jazz legend at his home in Montreal to talk about his legacy in Canadian music, his relationship with his hero and role model Oscar Peterson, the time he played for Nelson Mandela, and the secret to playing music into your 90s. 

Weird Al Yankovic is a pop culture icon known around the world for his parodies of mega-hits by artists like Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Michael Jackson. His most memorable hits include Amish Paradise, Eat It, and the platinum-selling White & Nerdy. With five Grammy awards and seventeen nominations, he's one of only three artists to chart in the Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 in four consecutive decades — the others being Madonna and Michael Jackson. Weird Al joins guest host Ali Hassan to look back on his illustrious career and discuss his current tour, Bigger & Weirder.

For his latest film, Canadian director Clement Virgo adapted the true story of a teenage girl who escapes the Antebellum South into an Afrofuturist fairytale. The film is called Steal Away and focuses on the relationship between a sheltered teenage girl named Fanny and a Black refugee named Cécile, who’s taken in by Fanny’s family. As their relationship deepens, obsession and jealousy arises, and picks at themes of class, immigration and womanhood. Clement stops by the Q studio to chat with guest host Garvia Bailey about why he wanted to challenge himself to tap into feminine energy to tell this story.

Ron Funches has built a career turning the things that once made him feel different into his greatest strengths. Once bullied in school for his soft and higher pitched voice, it’s now his trademark in standup, and helped launch his voice acting career. Ahead of a performance at Just for Laughs Montreal, Ron reflects on how fatherhood, his son’s autism diagnosis, and his own recent autism diagnosis after appearing on The Traitors, have changed his understanding of himself and the unique gifts that shape his comedy. 

As an actor and theatre director, Rebecca Northan is all about being alive in the moment. She’s known for inviting the audience into her creative process, pulling them on-stage and getting them to improvise with her. Rebecca joins Q guest host Ali Hassan to talk about bringing that spirit of spontaneity to Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach festival with two shows, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Goblin: Oedipus. Plus, she talks about the joy of giving up control, trusting the crowd, and how improvisation has made her a “nicer human being.”

Luke Wilson stars in the new Netflix TV series, The Hawk, where he and Will Ferrell play rival pro-golfers. When the two work together, Will usually leads the scenes; but for the Hawk, Luke got to take charge. Q guest host Gill Deacon speaks with Luke about playing a smug pro-golfer on The Hawk and why working with Will Ferrell is both joyful and panic-inducing.

After blending traditional Indigenous perspectives with shoegaze music to create the unique “moccasin gaze” genre, Zoon is back with their third studio album, Happy Thought School. Speaking with guest host Gill Deacon, Zoon talks about how they use their creative expression to process childhood racial trauma and the legacy of the Canadian residential school system. 

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, the actor you might know best as Appa in Kim’s Convenience, or perhaps Captain Carson Teva in The Mandalorian, is returning for season two of another massive franchise: the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today on Q, he sits down with guest host Gill Deacon to talk about how he got his role, how he adapted a beloved animated character into live action, and how he remains humble.

Vancouver Island pianist and songwriter Elysia Biro introduces her new single, Reignite, in Q’s recurring New Music segment.

Shania Twain is one of the best-selling artists to ever come out of Canada. Her new album, Little Miss Twain, revisits her early years growing up in Timmins, Ontario, performing in bars, and being managed by her mother. Tom Power travelled to Los Angeles to sit down with Shania in a career-spanning interview that starts in Timmins and traces her path to global stardom. Shania opens up about the difficulties of her childhood, losing both her parents in her early 20s, and why Timmins is still in her no matter where she goes.

When Adam Gontier resigned as the frontman of Three Days Grace back in 2013, he couldn’t have imagined coming back to the band — and fronting it with his bandmate Matt Walst. Tom Power speaks to Adam and Matt about their reunion and the band’s new lineup, as well as how generations of fans fueled their massive Spotify success.

Not long ago, Misan Harriman was working a job in recruitment that just didn’t feel right. But when he picked up a camera and started sharing his photos online, they went viral. Misan is a British photographer and activist, whose photographs of both the Black Lives Matter and Palestine solidarity movements have been seen by millions. Now, there’s a new documentary about his work called Shoot the People. Guest host Ali Hassan talks to Misan about the documentary and why capturing these social movements is so important to him.

After 11 years, Alexander Shelley has stepped down as the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s music director. Alexander sits down with Tom Power in Ottawa’s Southam Hall to talk about how he was able to use music to tell stories that showed so many different sides of the country, as well as how he created performances that reflect the world we live in today.

Fiona Sauder has made a name reimagining classic literature for the stage today. The multi-Dora Award winner is now turning their attention to Kenneth Grahame’s novel, The Wind in the Willows. Fiona joins guest host Gill Deacon in the Q studio to talk about her new Shaw Festival production, and why they think kids’ worldviews are a superpower that adults need to tap back into.

David Wain is an American comedian, director and actor, best known for the 2001 cult classic film, Wet Hot American Summer. His new movie, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, is about a small town girl who travels to Hollywood to settle the score with her fiancé. David speaks with Q guest host Gill Deacon about making this new film, and celebrating the 25th anniversary of Wet Hot American Summer.

In a special Q recording, Tom Power interviewed Jesse Armstrong at the Banff World Media Festival in front of a live audience. Jesse talks about his award-winning writing, directing, and showrunning on hits like Succession, Peep Show, The Thick of It, and Mountainhead. Plus, Jesse opens up about why he left his career in politics for TV, why he is so drawn to writing about power, and why satire isn’t the potent weapon some may think.

Montreal-born, Nashville-based Allison Russell is a Grammy- and Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, and human rights advocate. Her new album is called In the Hour of Chaos, and on it, she taps friends and collaborators to help her make sense of a world in chaos, and to find solace in the joy of creating. Allison joins Tom Power to talk about the album and to look back on performing a tribute to Joni Mitchell at the 2026 Juno Awards.

Michael Cloud Duguay and his collaborators toured rural towns in Newfoundland looking for something very specific to record: old organs in churches that are experiencing dwindling attendance. The result is a haunting album that serves both as rich sound art featuring the remaining organs of Newfoundland, but also as documentation of community, memory and faith — both religious and otherwise.

Zoe Whittall is constantly changing her writing. She’s written novels, short story collections, memoir, and TV. And now she’s switching genres again — to romance. But her first romance novel, Chasing Summer, comes with another change: her name. Zoe wrote this book under the pseudonym Frankie Scott. Tom Power talks to Zoe about how she’s constantly changing her writing style, her name, and even her life.

Andy Hines talks to Tom Power about his feature film Little Lorraine, based on a true story about a drug smuggling ring in 1980s Nova Scotia. He gets into why it was important for his first movie to take place in the Maritimes (where he’s from), and how he got Colombian singer J Balvin involved — and all the way to Cape Breton Island.

It’s André Sills’s biggest season yet at Ontario’s Stratford Festival. The award-winning actor is taking on two of Shakespeare’s most iconic roles: Oberon, the King of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the title role in Othello, one of Shakespeare’s most powerful and controversial tragedies. André joins Tom to talk about travelling to Italy, Cyprus and Morocco to prepare for Othello, and how a church production first set him on the path to a career in theatre.

Mae Martin has made us laugh with their stand-up comedy, made us cry in shows like Feel Good, and now they're being honoured with the Creative Voice Award at the Banff World Media Festival. Before the big honour, Mae sat down with Tom Power for a fast-paced round of Getting to Know Q, answering everything from Banff-inspired hiking questions to their karaoke pick and which Canadian TV show they'd reboot.

Carole Pope is one of Canada’s first queer female rock stars. In the ’70s and ’80s, Carole’s band Rough Trade was known for their political outspokenness, sexually charged lyrics and bold live performances. Rough Trade broke new ground and faced both censorship and acclaim. Now, a new documentary traces Carole’s story from shy, bookish adolescent to international queer icon. Carole tells Tom Power about her early days performing with Rough Trade in Toronto, their hit song High School Confidential, paving the way for artists like k.d. lang and Peaches, and why she’s so outspoken about the challenges of being an artist today.

Evanescence has released their sixth studio album, Sanctuary, and some fans are calling it their best work since their breakthrough record in 2003. Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee tells Tom Power about finding new creative energy within the band, taking artistic risks at this point in her life, and learning to fall in love again with the music that changed everything for her 23 years ago.

A new Canadian play is reimagining the ancient Greek myth of Medusa and giving the gorgon a voice. Oyin Oladejo is playing the snake-haired lead in the Toronto production of Medusa. Oyin joins Tom in the studio to talk about the play, and why this show stares deeply into female fury.

Jack Innanen has tapped into the zeitgeist with his viral TikTok sketches, earning him the title of “the internet’s boyfriend.” His millions of followers have since watched him make the leap into acting with roles in comedies like Adults and Big Mistakes. As Jack tells Tom Power in a special interview in Banff, Alberta, it’s collaborating with fellow Canadians on projects with deeper meaning that brings him the greatest personal satisfaction.

Gail Maurice wrote and directed her latest film, Blood Lines, with her hometown of Beauval, Saskatchewan, in mind. Some of the film's dialogue is spoken in Michif — a Métis language spoken fluently by fewer than 2,000 people — so Gail cast family and friends from her 700-person village, creating a deeply personal portrayal of her culture. She joins Tom Power in studio to discuss what it was like working in her language and casting her own mother to act alongside her.

Anna Lambe almost walked away from acting before landing her starring role in North of North. She had headed to Ottawa to study international development, deciding to focus less on acting and more on her activism for Indigenous rights. But it was the pull of North of North’s characters — with their genuine depth and nuance of Indigenous experiences — that finally brought her back to the screen. And as she explains to Tom Power in a special interview from Banff, none of her projects have felt more personal than this show and its current success. 

Vancouver duo True Mountain Laurel introduces their debut album’s title track, Angel So Bad, in Q’s recurring New Music segment. The album is out everywhere on August 28.

In November, we took the show on the road all the way to Tom Power’s hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador! This special live taping of Q took place at the historic St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, featuring performances and interviews with musician Alan Doyle formerly of Great Big Sea, opera singer Deantha Edmunds, comedian Rick Mercer, actors Allan Hawco and Joséphine Jobert, and many more. 

Deborah Cox is one of the most celebrated voices in music, with a career that spans chart-topping hits, Grammy nominations, acclaimed performances on screen and on stage. She’s back on Broadway in the Tony-nominated hit Titaníque, playing the Unsinkable Molly Brown. The story is a funny retelling of James Cameron’s Titanic, told through the perspective and music of Céline Dion. Deborah joins Tom Power to talk about why the role is a full circle moment — from singing backup for Céline in the early ’90s, to singing one of her most powerful hits, All by Myself, on stage.

Vancouver’s bbno$ has racked up millions of followers across platforms for his funny raps and witty commentary on internet culture today. After going viral in 2019, he’s managed to keep the success going with a string of hits that have landed him two Juno Awards, a slot on Jimmy Kimmel Live and the ability to tour the world. bbno$ joins Tom Power in studio to talk about how a rugby injury led to him starting his music career, the cost of being online all the time, and why he thinks his work resonates with audiences. 

The Canadian comedian Tom Green has been a huge presence in the comedy world for decades — from his cable-access days doing The Tom Green Show, to his almost 20 years in Los Angeles with his late-night at-home talk show, to his many stand-up tours and his movie Freddy Got Fingered. Now, Tom has a new series on Crave called The Tom Green Farm, where he interviews guests on his farm in rural Ontario. Tom (Green) joins Tom (Power) in the Q studio to talk about his long love of talk shows, getting back into skateboarding in his 50s, and what it takes to gain a mule's trust. 

Carley Fortune says she had one firm line when it came to the Amazon Prime adaptation of her debut novel: it had to stay in Canada. In the end, the series Every Year After stayed rooted in the same country as her books. In a special interview from Banff, Alberta, Tom Power sits down with the bestselling author behind Every Summer After and Our Perfect Storm to talk about why the setting is never just a backdrop in her love stories, and what it’s like watching the worlds she imagined on the page come to life on screen.

Tillie Walden is a prolific and award-winning American graphic novelist. Her 2017 graphic memoir, Spinning, won the prestigious Eisner Award. Now, she’s back with her 15th publication, Charity and Sylvia, which takes readers into rural Vermont in the early and mid-1800s to tell the story of one of the oldest documented queer relationships in America. Tillie tells Tom Power about the true love story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, how their story made her reflect on her own life, and what it’s like to draw 240 pages in just eight months.Clarification: The headline on this story has been edited for clarity and precision.

Diljit Dosanjh has become the face of a global Punjabi music wave. From the Met Gala to the Billboard charts, he's taking the language, culture, and sound of Punjab to the biggest stages in the world. In a rare English conversation, Diljit joined Tom Power to reflect on his journey from singing hymns at his local gurdwara in Punjab to becoming the first Punjabi artist to sell out Madison Square Garden. They talk about his ambition, faith, and how he always knew he'd be famous.

Celebrated academic and Indigenous historian Georges E. Sioui introduces a new song, The Eyes of a Child, in Q’s recurring New Music segment. His debut album, For All Tomorrows, is out now.

After 20 years on Broadway, Caissie Levy has finally won her first Tony Award. The Canadian actor and singer has made a name for herself both in New York and on the West End after starring in productions such as Frozen, Ghost, and Next to Normal. Fresh off her big win, she joins Tom Power to talk about her award-winning performance in Ragtime, and what it felt like to finally achieve a lifelong dream.

Klô has gone through some big changes since being shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize in 2021. She wrote her latest album, Abracadabra, after becoming a mother for the first time, which completely changed her relationship to music and the world. Klô joins Tom Power to discuss how she’s rediscovering herself as an artist. Plus, she sets up a song, Lettre à une jeune poète, and talks about the challenges of being a francophone musician in Canada. 

Lara St. John was sexually assaulted by her aged instructor when she was a teenager at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. After she went public in 2019, Lara was inundated with messages from others who said they had suffered similar abuse in the classical music world. Now she’s telling their stories in a new documentary, Dear Lara. She joined Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about this darker side of classical music and the changes she hopes her film can help make. 

In Q’s recurring New Music segment, Nigerian Canadian R&B and soul musician, THEHONESTGUY, introduces his new song, Sugar Water. His new album, Don't Disturb the Groove, comes out in July.

Jack Antonoff is one of the most successful producers working today. Known for his work with Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and Sabrina Carpenter, he has crafted some of the biggest songs of the 21st century. As his career gets bigger and bigger, Jack has felt the need to chronicle his origin story to keep track of where he came from. Everyone for Ten Minutes is the new album from his band, Bleachers, that looks at his lineage and how leaving home at 15 to tour the country in a van impacted him. Jack joins Tom Power in the studio to talk about the new album and his production work.

Canadian Folk Music Award winner AHI performed his new song, Chosen, on stage at the FIFA World Cup 2026 countdown concert in Toronto. And if that moment wasn’t special enough for the lifelong soccer fan, he got to do it with one of his idols, Wyclef Jean. AHI stopped by the studio to chat with guest host Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe about what it was like collaborating with the Fugees rapper.

One night, Jenn Harper had the most vivid dream of three smiling Indigenous girls covered in colourful lip glosses. That dream, along with her newfound sobriety, led her to launch the company Cheekbone Beauty, which aims to bring positive representation of Indigenous folks into the beauty space. Lauded as a trailblazer in both sustainability and diversity, Jenn is now one of the cosmetics industry’s most influential Canadians, and her groundbreaking beauty brand is sold in Sephora locations across the country. Back in December, Jenn sat down with Tom Power to talk about her long, hard road to success, why Indigenous joy is the cornerstone of her business, and why representation is at the forefront of everything she does.

After 45 years together, the Canadian band Rheostatics decided they needed a new challenge. So they enlisted the help of Rush’s Alex Lifeson, who joined them for four hours as they improvised music and spoken word pieces inspired by the Great Lakes. The only problem is they forgot to hit record. Dave Bidini and Kevin Hearn of Rheostatics sat down with Tom Power back in December to tell us what happened next, and how it all led to their new album, The Great Lakes Suite.

Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade is one of the most influential voices in modern Latin music. She tells Tom Power about the life-changing moments that shaped her career — from the robbery that led her to pick up a guitar, her time living in Canada, and how a song she wrote a decade ago became an anthem for anti-ICE protesters.