Q with Tom Power

For more than five decades, Canadian acting legend Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves, Killers of the Flower Moon) has worked tirelessly to bring nuanced Indigenous stories to the stage and screen — and she says there’s no turning back now. Back in June, Tantoo joined Tom Power to reflect on her remarkable career, and why she’ll never stop advocating for authenticity and accuracy when it comes to Indigenous representation.

As a kid growing up in Nipissing, Ont., Christian Allaire dreamed of being part of the glamorous world that he saw in his mother’s Vogue magazines. Now, he’s the senior fashion and style writer at Vogue in New York. Christian writes about that incredible journey in his new memoir, “From the Rez to the Runway.” Earlier this year, he sat down with Tom Power to talk about the book and how he learned to embrace his Ojibwe identity as his cool factor.

What happens when you build a career being a singer-songwriter and then you permanently lose your voice? That’s what happened to acclaimed musician Patrick Watson, whose life was completely upended for months due to that traumatic surprise. Without being able to sing his own music, Patrick turned his attention to writing and composing music for other people to sing. He thought he’d never sing again, but after saving his voice using a hyperbaric chamber, he decided to make a record with a variety of singers to help him out. Patrick joins Tom Power to tell the story of how losing his voice became a catalyst for his new album, “Uh Oh,” 

Sebastian Gaskin is a musician from Tataskweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba who fuses his culture with R&B, rock and pop music. Earlier this year, he joined Tom Power to talk about his debut album, “Lovechild,” how he came around to embrace his Indigenous identity in his art, and why writing joyful and hopeful songs is just as important to him as writing political songs.

What does the title of “highest-grossing actor of all time” actually mean for a Hollywood star? For Scarlett Johansson, who currently holds that position, it means directing her first feature film without any pressure of achieving box office success. In her directorial debut, “Eleanor The Great,” there’s not an explosion or sex scene in sight, and the lead role is played by 95-year-old actor June Squibb. During this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Scarlett dropped by to talk about her new film, working with the late Robert Redford, and why she doesn't and has never used social media. If you like this conversation, check out Tom’s conversation with June Squibb from 2024.

Hanorah is a singer-songwriter from Montreal who’s opened for Mavis Staples, and grew up listening to Etta James and Joss Stone. But on her latest EP, “Closer Than Hell,” Hanorah moves beyond her early soul influences and explores a new voice. Earlier this year, she joined Tom Power to tell us how she started songwriting, why she’s happy she didn’t win “La Voix” (the Quebec version of “The Voice”), and what inspired her new song, “Barbed Wire.”

As a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the MacArthur Genius Grant), you could say filmmaker Sterlin Harjo is a certified genius. He’s responsible for creating the groundbreaking series “Reservation Dogs,” which follows the lives of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Now, Sterlin is back with a new series called “The Lowdown,” starring Ethan Hawke as a rough-and-tumble bookstore owner and "truthstorian" in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He sat down with Tom Power during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival to talk about his career — and how being a genius really just means your friends will give you a hard time about it.

“It’s not you, it’s me.” That’s the line Amy Millan used to break up with her guitar. The Canadian singer-songwriter had lost the love she had for her instrument and wasn’t sure it would come back. But after taking a break from her band Stars, she found herself working on her first solo album in 15 years. It’s called “I Went To Find You” and it came out earlier this year. That’s when Amy sat down with Tom Power to talk about the record, and how it was inspired by the loss of her father at the age of five.

If you could take a test that told you who your soulmate was, would you do it? Would you trust it? That’s the premise of the new movie “All of You,” starring and written by English actor Brett Goldstein (best known for his role as Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso”). Set in the near future, the story follows two best friends who are torn apart when one takes the test and the other won't. Brett joins Tom Power to talk about whether love can really be measured by an algorithm, plus, the moment he knew “Ted Lasso” had changed his life.

Earlier this year, a new movie called “My Father’s Shadow” made history when it became the first Nigerian film to be officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Set over the course of a single day in Lagos in 1993 (a day that happens to be one of the most catastrophic in Nigerian history), the film follows two young boys who join their father on a trip to the city so he can collect his paycheck. The story is semi-autobiographical, based on director Akinola Davies Jr.’s own family experiences. During this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Akinola sat down with Tom Power to talk about memory, Nigeria’s lesser known history, and the stuff you learn about your parents after they're gone.