Q with Tom Power

Across three decades at MuchMusic, CBC and beyond, George Stroumboulopoulos has shaped the Canadian cultural landscape and become a defining generational voice, interviewing everyone from punk legends and sports stars to politicians and royalty. Now, in the new CBC Gem documentary Stories That Made Us, he travels across the country to explore the foundational film and television that forged our national identity.

In this conversation with Tom Power, Strombo makes the case for why Canada’s weird and wonderful CanCon era needs a comeback, pointing to shows like The Hilarious House of Frightenstein and Hammy Hamster. He also looks back on his formative years at MuchMusic, and tackles some pressing cultural questions — like whether the dog from The Littlest Hobo was secretly a narc.

Before Heated Rivalry became an international phenomenon, Quebec singer-songwriter Peter Peter had never scored a film or TV show in his life. That changed when creator Jacob Tierney slid into his Instagram DMs looking for a signature sound. Fast-forward to now, and Peter Peter has just been awarded the Global Impact Award at this year's SOCAN Awards for his work on Heated Rivalry. He joins Tom Power to tell us what happens when your first big composing gig becomes a massive hit, how he approached translating Ilya and Shane’s iconic romance into music, and the story behind the fan-favourite track, It’s You.

You might know actor and filmmaker Jordan Firstman from his viral pandemic-era conceptual “impressions” or his turn as Charlie on HBO’s I Love LA, but his latest project is turning heads for an entirely different reason.

This year, Jordan became the talk of the film festival circuit with his directorial debut, Club Kid — a sharp, funny and deeply personal project that he also wrote and stars in. The story follows Peter, a gay 30-something nightclub promoter 10 years deep into the New York party scene. When he unexpectedly discovers he has a son, he’s forced to grow up fast and navigate a massive shift in his life.

Jordan sits down with Tom Power to talk about bringing Club Kid to life, the psychic reading that predicted the movie’s success, how an experience with toad venom gave him the courage to make the film, and why he’s drawn to exploring the complex inner lives of gay men.

Nobody speaking English today is free from the influence of the King James Bible. Back in the early 1600s, dozens of male scholars and clergymen gathered under royal mandate to translate the Bible into English. Their word choices would come to shape modern literature, music and everyday speech. But when flawed human beings set out to record the "Word of God," whose voices actually end up on the page?

Dora Award-winning playwright Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman examines this question in her latest stage work, The King James Bible Play. Fresh off a sold-out run at the Stratford Festival and heading to Ottawa’s National Arts Centre on Nov. 11, the play unfolds across two distinct eras. The first act looks at the political and religious pressures faced by these 17th-century translators. The second act introduces a modern meta layer, following a group of contemporary women trying to stage a production about those very men and the lasting impact of their decisions.

Charlotte joins Tom Power to discuss the big questions raised by The King James Bible Play, the messy politics of translation, and her own story in theatre.

Bryan Adams is one of the world's biggest rock stars and a Canadian cultural icon. But after four decades in the business and 100 million albums sold, he’s done something he’s never done before: made an entire record dedicated to Canada. From the story of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope and the tragedy of Lundy's Lane to pushing back against threats of becoming America’s "51st State," Bryan is telling Canadian stories at a moment when many are reflecting on what this country means to them. He joins Tom Power to break down his new album, How’s It Goin’, his unlikely journey to global superstardom, and how a chance backstage encounter launched his legendary collaboration with Tina Turner.

Canadian hip-hop pioneer k-os is back with his first new album in more than a decade, BLackneck. It was funded by longtime fan Drake, who wanted to give his early musical hero the freedom to make a “classic k-os record.” Joining Tom Power in the Q studio, k-os shares the unlikely story behind the album, and explains why, after two decades breaking musical boundaries, he’s still determined to do things his own way.

Shiv Scott grew up listening to her family play Irish rebel songs. Today, she’s channeling that rebellious spirit with her own band, Shiv and the Carvers. Discovered at Toronto’s legendary Sneaky Dee’s and quickly earning the endorsement of Bif Naked, the exciting new punk rock band has just released their debut album, Always Watching. Shiv joins Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about the record, her Northern Irish roots and how she formed a band through roller derby. Plus, she sets up the story behind the band’s new track, Screens, which is an anthem for anyone who can't stop doomscrolling.

Nearly 40 years ago, Ann-Marie MacDonald shook up Canadian theatre with Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), an irreverent comedy that flipped the script on two of Shakespeare’s most tragic heroines. But when she first penned it, she wasn’t thinking about love, tragedy or even comedy — she was out for revenge against Shakespeare's "cry-and-die" roles for women. Now, Canadian Stage is remounting the production in Toronto with Ann-Marie starring in the lead role as Constance Ledbelly. She joins Tom Power in the Q studio to reflect on the groundbreaking play, what it took to champion its controversial lesbian kiss in the 1980s, and what it feels like to step back into the role of Constance for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Teagan Johnston is a multidisciplinary singer-songwriter with a knack for writing evocative, beautiful lyrics. She’s toured North America, Japan and Europe, and even performed at director David Lynch’s private nightclub in Paris. Teagan joins Tom Power to talk about her new album, Big Time, and what it took to make it entirely on her own terms. She shares how themes of identity and family shape her lyrics, how teaching kids music helped her fall back in love with making it, and the dream that inspired her song Take Me to the Trailer.

Forget the crooked nose and the bubbling cauldron. For her new Crave series YAGA, award-winning Canadian playwright and director Kat Sandler turns Slavic folklore upside down, reimagining the mythical witch Baba Yaga as a complex, sexually liberated woman who turns the tables on bad men. The eight-part murder mystery series is an adaptation of Kat’s celebrated play of the same name. She sits down with Tom Power to talk about reclaiming the narrative of the crone, channeling overlooked female rage into a TV anti-hero, and what it took to bring her hit stage play to the screen alongside stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Hudson Williams. YAGA is streaming now on Crave.