Pop Life

This week on thr Pop Life Podcast: an in-depth interview with culinary legend Lidia Bastianich. The television host, author, and restaurateur stopped by the Pop Life bar to talk about how growing up on her grandparents' farm affected her relationship with food… how she ended up in New York City working with a soon to be very famous actor and what dish every household should know how to make. 

Later in the show the “Pop Life” panel, celebrity chef Selwyn Richards, foodie and television host Pay Chen and The Globe and Mail’s national food reporter Ann Hui, talk about the intersection of food and community.

This week on “Pop Life” we’re talking about rock and roll with a panel of rock and roll heroes, Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley, Headstones’ Hugh Dillon, Moist’s David Usher and The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin. They stopped by the “Pop Life” Bar to talk about their new tour–The Saints and Sinners 2020 Tour visits 19 cities between June 26 and July 30–life on the road, meeting Jimmy Page, dental work and much more.

This week on the Pop Life Podcast neuroscientist and author Daniel J. Levitin stops by the “Pop Life” bar to discuss his latest book “Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives.” He looks at the science behind what we all can learn from those who age joyously, as well as how to adapt our culture to take full advantage of older people’s wisdom and experience. Throughout his exploration of what aging really means, using research from developmental neuroscience and the psychology of individual differences, Levitin reveals resilience strategies and practical, cognitive enhancing tricks everyone should do as they age.

Then Levitin joins the “Pop Life” panel, Paul Mason a.k.a. Fashion Santa and Juno nominee Jay Douglas, to talk about the future of aging, lying about their ages and how much of defying aging is mental.

This week on the Pop Life Podcast we meet a classic musician who first performed in public when he was just five years old and is still making music, most recently releasing an album of his interpretations of classic standards called True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter. Harry Connick Jr stops by the Pop Life bar to talks about his earliest musical memories, the massive success of his When Harry Met Sally soundtrack and how he narrowed down Cole Porter’s library of hundreds of songs to the 13 that appear on the record. 

Then, listen as Antoni Cimolino, the Stratford Festival’s Artistic Director, Simon Rivard, RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and Alina Solomon the Chef/owner of the restaurant Tutti Matti… and also a wizard of classic Italian cooking.. break down why the classics are not only important but often just as timely today as when they were first created.

You can catch Pop Life every Saturday night at 8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel and midnight on CTV… we’d love you to join us.

This week on the Pop Life Podcast: Cynthia Loyst visits the Pop Life bar. We know her as one of the hosts of the CTV talk show The Social but did you know she’s also an expert in how to find pleasure in your life? She is the creator of Find Your Pleasure, an online hub to help readers find pleasure in their lives and recently authoured a book… a road map to happy living called Find Your Pleasure.

The book shines a light on: the importance of guilt-free pleasure, the mental health benefits, the pleasure gap between men and women, how to prioritize pleasure while parenting, and the inclusivity of pleasure and how to find it in a resourceful way.

In this interview the self-described professional sensualist we talk about how she “quietly suffered” through what looked like a perfect life, what it means to be a “professional sensualist” and the keys to pleasure.

Then, the Pop Life Panel, Cynthia, Licence To Grill host Rob Rainford and Del Rollo, Senior Director, Arterra Wines Canada, talk about turning their pleasures and passions into thier jobs, the best meal they’ve ever had and the big difference between knowing what to do to find pleasure and actually doing those things.

Pop Life runs every Saturday at 8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel and midnight on CTV…  we’d love you to join us.

This week on The Pop Life Podcast: The #1 New York Times bestselling author of “Tuesdays With Morrie,  Mitch Albom. His new book, “Finding Chika,” is an intimate and heartwarming memoir about the young Haitian orphan whose short life changed his life, and it’s his most personal story to date in a career filled with important and touching stories. We talk about the inspiration for Tuesdays with Morrie, the book he says changed the way he thought about his life and career, about how he became involved with the orphanage in Haiti and, of course, about Chika, the little girl who inspired his new book and who taught him about living life. 

Then, the “Pop Life” panel… publisher, broadcaster, philanthropist Denham Jolly, musician Egbo Egbo Thompson and Jen McCain, Entrepreneur, granddaughter of McCain Foods Limited co-founder Wallace McCain, discuss giving as a way of life.

Pop Life runs every Saturday at 8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel and midnight on CTV…  we’d love you to join us.

February 3, 1959 and February 9, 1964. The day the music died and the date it was reborn on the Ed Sullivan Show, both days burned into the collective memories of pop culture fanatics everywhere. But what about May 25, 1977?

If you were a teenager then chances are you felt the earth shift. It was the day Star Wars opened, kicking off a cultural phenomenon that continues to this day. On the eve of the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and the final episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga," we welcome the droid you’ve been looking for… Anthony Daniels. As C-3PO he is the only actor to have appeared in all of the episodic films in the series, as well as many of its spin-offs, including television shows, video games and radio serials.

We talk about his first stage appearances, the uncomfortable nature of the gold suit that made him famous and how he once felt like a “secret outcast” from the rest of the cast. 

Then the Pop Life panel of Star Wars fans and friends… Ken Lashley, Marvel, DC, Lucasfilm and Hasbro artist… CTV NewsChannel anchor and Star Wars superfan Todd Van Der Heyden and Roger Christian the Academy Award winning Set Decorator and Production Designer for Star Wars--he created the lightsaber and R2D2 and decided to put dice in the film as a nod to Han Solo gambling. Here’s the panel on why Star Wars is still important forty two years after its initial release…

Later in the show the “Pop Life” panel, songwriters Marc Jordan, Amy Sky and Domanique Grant discuss the alchemy behind creating new music.

First up though…  an in-depth interview with one-half of one of the most successful and prolific songwriting duos in the history of popular music… he’s the man Elton John calls his “soul mate…”

As the lyrist to Elton John, Bernie Taupin is responsible for more than 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, 30 consecutive U.S. Top 40 hits, has sold more than 255 million records worldwide, and holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, Candle In the Wind ’97, with more than 33 million copies sold…

He stops by the Pop Life bar to discuss writing some of the greatest songs of not one but several generations… we talk about what he told Elton John when they first met, why he doesn't like to explain his songs and how he now spends his days creating visual art including abstract and contemporary mixed-media pieces.

Later in the show… the “Pop Life” panel, musician Jason Sniderman (a.k.a. Ensign Broderick) and YouTube Influencer Jillian Danford discuss life’s only constant–change.

But first… an in-depth interview with Arlene Dickinson, Canadian businesswoman, investor, television personality and author of, “Reinvention: Changing Your Life, Your Career, Your Future.” She is a dragon investor on CBC television’s Dragons' Den, she owns one of Canada's largest independent marketing and communications firms and is someone who has shaped and reshaped her life. Arlene stops by the “Pop Life” bar to discuss her new book, and how to make meaningful changes in your life at any age.

On this episode of the Pop Life Podcast we have a look at telling stories. Later the Pop Life panel, “The Gown” author Jennifer Robson and journalist True Daley, talk about the art of storytelling…

But first we welcome Mo Rocca, correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and author of  “Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving.” It’s a book that asks, "Why should it be only the rich-and-famous who get obits?” It celebrates extraordinary people whose names you may not remember, plus sitcom characters, historical epochs, and even snack foods that have all bitten the dust.

He stops by the “Pop Life” bar to discuss his new book, the art of the obituary and how a good obituary is about the person’s life, not their death.