House of Crouse

On the Saturday October 17 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet filmmaker David Greaves. His father William produced more than 200 documentaries and wrote and directed more than half of these. He garnered many accolades for his work, including four Emmy nominations. In 1972 he assembled gathering of artists, writers, musicians, and organizers at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse to film their to recollections on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement of the 1920s and 30s known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Shot verité-style, the footage isn’t just a record of an extraordinary event, it’s also a tribute to the legacy of change ushered in by the people who assembled that afternoon.

That footage sat, unreleased for fifty years until William’s son David, who was one of the camera operators on that August afternoon in 1972, restored some 60,000 feet of 16mm film and completed Once Upon a Time in Harlem.

Then, Zoë Roberts, one of the co-creators of the hit musical "Operation Mincemeat" stops by to talk about the show and how a dead body, a fake love letter, and — of all people — Ian Fleming turn the tide of WWII?  

Then, we’ll meet Brad Schiff and Jacob Tremblay of the new film “Wildwood.” The dark fantasy based on Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s book comes from the stop motion animation wizards at a company called LAIKA, whose other films Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link are all classics.

On the Saturday October 10, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Kelly Peterson, widow of the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, and the driving force behind the preservation and celebration of his extraordinary musical legacy. Today she joins me to discuss Oscar Peterson: World Tour, the expansive new centennial collection featuring previously unreleased live performances spanning nearly three decades, accompanied by a richly illustrated book of never-before-seen personal materials.

Then, get to know Wild West author Mark Anthony Jarman. Mark is often considered a writer's writer – he’s won every award going, was short-listed for Best American Essays, the O. Henry Prize and his 2023 collection of short stories Burn Man was a New York Times Editor’s Choice

In a sense Wild West, his first full length novel in decades, reimagines what " The Great Canadian Novel " looks like nowadays - and gives new meaning to the phrase "Go West Young Man."

Finally, Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson stops by. After years working alongside Mike Post and Hans Zimmer in Los Angeles, he has become one of the most distinctive voices in screen music—crafting scores that range from high-octane action to intimate drama. Today we talk about his haunting, BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated music for Silo, the Apple TV+ series about a ruined and toxic future where thousands of people live in a giant underground silo. Atli brings a unique blend of orchestral depth, experimental electronics, and profound emotional resonance to the show.

On the Saturday October 3, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet First let’s meet Robert Mark Kamen, screenwriter of 23 movies, including The Karate Kid, Taken and many others. Yup, he’s the mind behind lines like Wax On Wax Off and Liam Neeson’s famous, “a very particular set of skills” speech.

His latest project is The Karate Kid: The Musical, which will be playing on Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre until November 1. See Mirvish.com for more details.

Then, Canadian blues-rock legend Colin James, eight-time Juno winner, multi-platinum artist, and one of the most electrifying guitarists this country has ever produced, joins the show. From the prairies of Saskatchewan to stages around the world, he’s earned a devoted following and collaborations with some of music’s greatest names. Now he shares a whole new side of the story with Playing the Changes: A Musician’s Memoir—a funny, open-hearted, and deeply moving account of his early years, the road that led him to open for Stevie Ray Vaughan at eighteen, and the making of a lifelong musician, all the way up to the release of his debut album.

Finally, Duncan Fremlin, musician, banjo player, singer, and frontman of the country-folk group Whiskey Jack stops by. Today we talk about his new book “Stories Not Fit for the Stage - An Anthology,” a collection of tall tales, confrontations, anecdotes and encounters—some accidental, some not—with music and entertainment figures.

On the Saturday October 10, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Kristen Joiner. She is a writer, activist, and producer. After two decades in nonprofit and human-rights work, she was asked to co-author the memoir of disability rights leader Judy Heumann—a collaboration that became “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist,” and later the YA book “Rolling Warrior.”

Judy was blunt from the first meeting: Kristen had spent a career in social change and still had not understood disability as a civil rights issue. That tension—between a nondisabled writer and one of the movement’s central figures—shaped both the book and what followed. Kristen is now an executive producer on the feature film “Being Heumann,” directed by Oscar winner Siân Heder and starring Ruth Madeley as Judy and now playing on theatres.

Then we meet Teagan Johnston. She is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist whose work moves fluidly between music, film, and writing. Born in the Yukon and raised across South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada’s West Coast, she first emerged under the name Little Coyote before stepping forward under her own name with the critically acclaimed 2022 album Sentimental Ballad—a raw, piano-driven portrait of heartbreak. Her new album, Big Time was written during a period when she had stepped back from music and was questioning her future in the industry after spending her twenties trying to “hit the big time.” Her relationship with music was also reignited through teaching piano to children; watching her students develop their own relationships with music reminded her why she fell in love with it in the first place and gave her a renewed perspective that nothing is set in stone and not everything needs to be taken so seriously.

then, Sean Menard and Darrel Fox of the film Run Terry Run stop by. Terry Fox’s 1980 run across Canada to raise money for cancer research is a well-documented story, familiar to many Canadians. Despite our familiarity with the tragic story, ehe new documentary “Run Terry Run” offers up new footage that packs an emotional wallop. The story of a plainspoken but philosophical twenty-two-year-old everyman whose mission, driven by compassion and courage, was cut short by cancer, is tragic. But it’s refreshing and necessary to have a movie like “Run Terry Run” provide an up close and personal look at what Canadian unity and heroism look like.

On the Saturday September 26, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse we meet Alex Spring, a bold new voice in crime fiction whose debut novel, Lower City, is in fine bookstores everywhere.

Set in Hamilton, Ontario, during a tense October 2025 marked by job insecurity, rising rents, and social polarization, the novel follows 26-year-old steelworker Danny Clarke as a series of abductions plunges the city into chaos. Blending the gritty realism of S.A. Cosby with the page-turning pulse of Louise Penny, Lower City is a riveting yet warmhearted story about community, connection, and what it means to grow up and do the right thing.

Then, Anna Lambe, Canada’s newest breakout star from the Arctic and lead of North of North, the hit Arctic-set comedy TV series from APTN, CBC and Netflix, now in Season 2 joins the show.

Rising to prominence with her breakout role in the film The Grizzlies—which earned her a Canadian Screen Award nomination—she has gone on to deliver standout performances in series such as Trickster, Three Pines, and HBO’s True Detective: Night Country alongside Jodie Foster. In 2025 she took the lead in the critically acclaimed comedy North of North, a groundbreaking series set in the Arctic that has captivated audiences worldwide.

Season two builds on Season 1’s mix of heartfelt comedy, family dynamics, small-town gossip, cultural authenticity, and personal growth.

On the Saturday September 19, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet award-winning Canadian journalist Greg Hudson. He is the author of the memoir “The Missionary: A Memoir of Superheroes, Sin & Saving Souls for the Mormon Church,” a witty and heartfelt account of growing up Mormon in 1980s Edmonton, serving a mission in Ontario, and ultimately finding his own path.

Then, we meet art curator, consultant, and author Anne Ewen. Today she’ll talk about a new book CANOE: A Collection of Canadian Art. It’s a sweeping visual history, which is both a landmark art publication and a love letter to the iconic vessel that persists as a source of artistic inspiration and environmental connection.

Finally, we speak to Desmond Sean Ellington, who is currently playing Davis in the North American tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen, the hit musical from 17-time Grammy® Award winning Alicia Keys — inspired by her life, her music, and her community. We talk about his start working as a background vocalist for gospel/R&B artists before taking up musical theatre and much more.

On the Saturday September 12 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet best-selling author Anita Rau Badami. an acclaimed Indian-Canadian novelist whose work explores family bonds, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience spanning India and Canada.  She moved to Canada in 1991 and is best known for novels including the bestselling Tamarind Mem, the award-winning The Hero’s Walk, Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, and Tell It to the Trees.  A recipient of the Marian Engel Award, she lives in Montreal, which is the backdrop for her latest novel Asha In Her Garden. It’s the story of Asha Mohan, an Indian immigrant in Montreal whose backyard garden (shaded by a beloved old maple tree) has long been her personal sanctuary amid family struggles and daily life.  As the aging tree must finally be cut down, Asha reflects on a violent incident from twenty years earlier, an earlier tragedy in India that prompted her family’s move to Canada, and the complexities of her relationships, finding new clarity about her life.

Then we’ll meet meet award-winning composer, sound designer, and classical music provocateur Matthew Reid. Best known for a decade as music director and composer for The Second City, he has created scores for film, television, theatre, games, and live performance. His ambitious piano cycle Moods of Limited Transposition explores emotion through innovative harmonic language across a planned 36 short works.

Finally, we spend some time with Mundy McLaughlin, a Canadian author, former labour and human rights lawyer, and artist. Her debut novel, Blue Life, is a coming-of-age story set against the vibrant, gritty art, punk, and club scenes of late-1970s New York City and New Jersey.

On the Saturday May 23, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet award-winning comedian, actor, and author Eric Johnston. His book “Run with the Bull: Three Generations of Sports and Entertainment” chronicled his journey as he broke away from his family’s legacy of professional wrestling to pursue stand-up comedy and acting. The book draws inspiration from the challenging lives and untimely deaths of his father Bullwhip Johnson and grandfather Bull Johnson, Johnson navigates the shadows of mental health and addiction that plagued his predecessors.

The book inspired a docuseries, also called “Run with the Bull,” which you can watch on Bell Fibe TV, that chronicles his mission to get healthy for the sake of his newborn son.

Then, we get to know Victor Wallace, who you can see in a new production of Mamma Mia, the jukebox musical that touches down at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto until August 30.

Victor is an experienced stage actor with credits that include shows on and off Broadway and touring productions of The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and many others.

Today we’re talking about his career and Mamma Mia, the ultimate feel-good show that iss often credited with popularizing the jukebox musical genre.

On the Saturday August 8, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet filmmaker, director, producer, and podcast host Pete Ferriero. Pete gained recognition for his documentaries The Price of Fame (about wrestling legend Ted DiBiase) and Her Name Is Chef (streaming on Hulu), which was praised by Padma Lakshmi for spotlighting women in the culinary world. He’s also the creator and host of the popular Beverly Hills, 90210 Show podcast, where he dives deep into the iconic series alongside its original producers and cast. His latest project, the feature documentary The Best Pizza is in LA, makes the bold case that Los Angeles is home to the world’s best pizza — complete with celebrity chefs and unforgettable pie tours.

Then we meet Jake David Smith, a Broadway and national-tour musical theatre veteran. who made his Broadway debut in Disney’s Frozen, starred as Marius on the national tour of Les Misérables, and originated Prince Oliver in the Off-Broadway (and Amazon Prime) production of Between the Lines.

Today we talk about his career and playing Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, a extravaganza that Entertainment Weekly said explodes with life and energy. It’s playing at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto until August 23.

On the Saturday August 8, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet stand-up comedian Andrew Barr. A recovering addict who turned his struggles into powerful, hilarious material, Barr has built a reputation for fearlessly tackling tough topics like addiction, sobriety, and everyday absurdities in a way that connects with audiences.

Today we talk about his comedy special ”Andrew Barr Goes Nowhere,” streaming globally on YouTube in partnership with ComedyBarMAX.

The premise of the special is unusual: Barr ran continuously on a treadmill for 12 hours straight—covering exactly 104 kilometers (the equivalent of two and a half back-to-back marathons) and burning over 7,000 calories—before immediately stepping off the machine to deliver a live, hour-long stand-up comedy performance. Beyond the grueling physical challenge, the 12-hour feat carried profound personal significance and we’ll talk about that in this interview.

Then, we meet Don Levers, a Vancouver-born author who dives deep into one of Canada’s most audacious and mysterious crimes inn his new book "The (Almost) Perfect Heist: The Incredible True Story of the Vancouver Safety Deposit Robbery.”   What began as research for a novel became a years-long investigation into a bold caper involving seasoned criminals, an impenetrable vault, and millions in unrecovered loot. Part true-crime thriller, part investigative memoir, this book explores how close the thieves came to pulling off the perfect crime — and why so many questions still remain decades later.