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. 

Pharis and Jason Romero are a folk/bluegrass duo behind both their Juno Award-winning music and their wildly in-demand banjos. In their workshop in the tiny, remote B.C. town of Horsefly, they make highly sought-after banjos, so coveted there are years-long waitlists for them. Pharis and Jason talk to Tom about raising their little family in the wilderness, the workshop and recording studio where the magic happens, and how a love story that started with music is now raising a sixth generation in a very special place. 

It’s an understatement to say Tatiana Maslany has range. She’s known for playing 17 characters in the 2013 show, Orphan Black. Since then, she’s acted in Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, a couple Broadway plays, and a host of animated projects, horror films and other genre-bending works. Now, she stars in the dark comedy thriller, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, as a mother embroiled in a sex work scam turned murder investigation.

Toronto-born MICO introduces his new song, DREAMBOY, in Q’s recurring New Music segment. His debut album, When the lights turn on, is out June 26.

You might not know the name Annie Mumolo but chances are you have seen her work. She’s co-written films with Kristen Wiig, including Bridesmaids and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Annie has been writing and performing all her life, but it’s her latest breakout role in the HBO show Rooster that’s got people talking. Annie sat down with Tom Power to talk about how much fun she had making that show, what it’s like to act with Steve Carell, and her thoughts on the Bridesmaids phenomenon.  

Country music legend Vince Gill had more than a hundred unreleased songs stock-piled. When the Country Music Hall of Fame star realized that it’s been 50 years since he began his career, it felt like the perfect time to share this music with his fans. Now, he’s in the middle of a year-long project called 50 Years From Home, which involves releasing a new EP every month. He joins Tom Power to talk about what it’s been like to reminisce as all these songs are put out into the world.

If you watched TV in the ’90s in Canada, chances are you’ve seen Heritage Minutes. They are those 60-second dramatizations of Canadian history that would pop up like public service announcements during commercial breaks. From 2012 to 2021, Davida Aronovitch produced them. She has also edited the Canadian Encyclopedia and worked for the Department of Canadian Heritage. All this work inspired her new web series, Pioneer Girl. She tells guest host Garvia Bailey about the satirical show and how it has a lot to say about the way Canada constructs its history.

In the 1880s, journalist Nellie Bly faked insanity to reveal the treatment of women in an American asylum, and how many of the patients were not sick at all, but just trapped in a misogynist system. Now, a new opera is bringing that story to the stage and Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Hannah Moscovitch is the librettist. She joins Tom Power to talk about the Luminato Festival production, and why Nellie Bly’s story still resonates in the 21st century.