Q with Tom Power

The Canadian actor Victor Garber (Titanic, Legally Blonde, Alias) has enjoyed an incredible career on stage and screen. Back in October, he was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Forest City Film Festival — but he says there’s still at least one more thing he wants to accomplish. Victor sat down with Tom Power for a career-spanning chat about his time in the successful sunshine pop group The Sugar Shoppe, his starring role as Jesus Christ in the legendary Canadian production of “Godspell,” his iconic supporting role in James Cameron’s “Titanic,” and why he hopes his big film break is yet to come.

The Canadian actor and singer Maisy Stella stars alongside Aubrey Plaza in “My Old Ass.” It’s a new coming-of-age movie about a teenager named Elliott who comes face-to-face with her 39-year-old self during a mushroom trip on her 18th birthday. Maisy joined guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about her big-screen debut, what it’s like playing someone going through a major transition, and how she manifested her role in this movie.

In 1983, in the midst of the Cold War, Arthur Miller went to China to direct a Mandarin version of his famous play “Death of a Salesman.” Despite some hurdles, the production ended up being a touchstone moment in Chinese-American cultural relations. Now, a new play called "Salesman in China" tells the story of the American playwright's incredibly high-stakes collaboration with the Chinese artist Ying Ruocheng. This past summer, Jovanni Sy, the director and co-writer of "Salesman in China," joined guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us more.

In the late ‘80s, Paula Abdul helped define what a pop star could be, from dance to music to performance. If you were watching music videos at that time, you would have seen her on your screen. If you weren’t around for that, you may remember her as one of the original judges on “American Idol” from 2002 to 2009. Back in September, Paula sat down with guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on how she was discovered by the Jackson family, what it was like choreographing for some of the biggest superstars in the world while she was still a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers, and her philosophy as a mentor.

What’s our individual responsibility when we see atrocities happening in our world? That question is the central premise of the film “Small Things Like These,” which sheds light on Ireland’s infamous Magdalene laundries. Set in a small Irish town in 1985, the film stars Cillian Murphy as Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father of five girls who discovers that the local convent in his community is forcing the young women in their care to live under inhumane conditions. We revisit Cillian’s conversation with Tom Power about the film, why he didn't want to portray his character as a hero, and what life has been like for him after winning an Oscar for “Oppenheimer” earlier this year.

The textile artist Hangama Amiri is known around the world for making masterpieces out of fabric. A lot of that fabric is from a home she was forced to leave. Hangama was seven years old when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996. Years later, after fleeing Afghanistan and settling in Canada with her family, she started stitching together her memories of home. We revisit Hangama’s conversation with Tom Power about her work, the Afghan store where she buys her materials, and what home means to her these days.

The Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter and producer k-os is kind of like the Forrest Gump of popular music — he’s been everywhere. Earlier this year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his smash hit album “Joyful Rebellion,” k-os sat down with Tom Power to share some wild stories from his life and career, like the time he hung out with Prince.

Last year, Brenda Lee’s iconic holiday song “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” turned 65. We revisit Tom Power’s conversation with Brenda about the song, how she was just 13 when she recorded it, and how the movie “Home Alone” changed its popularity.

As a visionary director and self-professed loner, Tim Burton has spent decades channelling the angst and loneliness he felt as a child into hit movies like “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” But it was his outlandish 1988 movie “Beetlejuice” that set his career into motion and proved to Hollywood that being weird was an asset, not a problem. This year, 36 years after the original “Beetlejuice,” the film’s long-awaited sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” has finally hit theatres. Tim joined guest host Talia Schlanger to discuss the new movie, how it helped him rediscover his love of filmmaking after a creative slump, and his on-again, off-again relationship with Disney.

Though she’s been called Canada’s original cowboy punk, k.d. lang has had a long and complex relationship with country music. When she got her start as a singer in Edmonton, she didn’t fit the mold of what people thought a country artist should be. Earlier this year, k.d. was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. She joined guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on her history with the genre, from her early days channelling Patsy Cline to her thoughts on country music today.