Q with Tom Power
CBC
Five days a week, Tom Power brings you candid conversations with the artists shaping our culture. Whether he’s chatting with A-listers or rising stars, his disarming warmth and meticulous research always gets below the surface, bringing us deeper into the art and lives of today's most compelling musicians, writers, actors and filmmakers.As a Canadian institution, Q has attracted the biggest names in the world. But it's never been about the fame. It's always been about the art.Since becoming the host of Q in October 2016, listeners have come to know Tom for his in-depth interviewing style (asking founding Wu-Tang Clan member RZA what was inside his teenage notebooks), his mischievous sense of humour (jokingly chiding actor Catherine O'Hara for her parenting skills in Home Alone), and his genuine enthusiasm and fearlessness (singing a duet with Mavis Staples).You’re just as likely to hear from celebrities and cultural icons as you are to hear from emerging artists at the beginning of their career. Tom gives each and every artist the space to tell their story in their own words. He also has a track record for interviewing artists on the precipice of stardom, like Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Daniel Caesar, who appeared on Q well before they hit the mainstream.On Q, we cover arts and culture in all its forms, including music, movies, film, TV, comedy, painting, photography, theatre, cinema, Broadway, fashion, dance, opera, documentaries, books, fiction and memoirs.Look to our archives to hear some of Tom’s award-winning artist interviews, including his moving and insightful conversation with the Canadian actor Michael J. Fox, which was awarded the prestigious gold medal for best interview at the 2021 New York Festivals Radio Awards.In 2022, Tom spoke with Friends star Matthew Perry in front of a live audience. Their warm and frank conversation about the actor's struggles with substance abuse struck a chord, leading to millions views on TikTok and Instagram, while also being picked up by news outlets internationally, including Vanity Fair and CNN.Tom’s impactful discussions with top talent have included Adele, Bono, Chappell Roan, Pamela Anderson, Cate Blanchett, Dua Lipa, Cher, Denzel Washington, Mick Jagger, Florence Pugh, Francis Ford Coppola, Kristen Stewart, Emma Stone, Jim Carrey, Billy Porter, Tom Hanks, Jerry Seinfeld, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Alan Moore, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Darren Aronofsky, Harry Styles, Simu Liu, Sean Penn, Sandra Bullock, Michaela Coel, Ryan Reynolds, Katy Perry, Neil Young, Shakira, George Clooney, Ava DuVernay, Omar Apollo, Trixie Mattel, Orville Peck, Big Sean, Anil Kapoor, Jane Fonda, Robert DeNiro, Antonio Banderas, Elton John, Celine Dion, Kerry Washington, Chuck D, Steven Soderbergh, Mikey Madison, Cillian Murphy, Sean Baker, Steve McQueen, Paris Hilton, Taylor Tomlinson, Gwen Stefani, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kylie Minogue, Stanley Tucci, Rufus Wainwright, Caroline Polachek, Hans Zimmer, Denis Villeneuve, Alex Garland, Alan Ritchson, Britt Lower, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, David Blaine, Brian Tyree Henry, Perfume Genius, Deepa Mehta, Tracy Chapman, Chloë Sevigny, Josh Hartnett and many more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 22, 2026 • 24min
Jennette McCurdy on female rage and forgiving your past self
Jennette McCurdy has followed up her bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, with a harrowing debut novel called Half His Age. Written in the voice of a 17-year-old Alaskan girl named Waldo, it tells the story of her dark relationship with her high school writing teacher, a married man in his 30s. Jennette joins guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us how anger from a past relationship informed this novel, and why she hopes Waldo’s story will help readers find compassion and forgiveness for their past selves.
Jan 22, 2026 • 23min
How do roadside attractions shape our cultural narrative?
Alexander “Sandy” Carson is a Canadian filmmaker whose new movie, Alberta Number One, takes a look at more than 60 single-topic museums, monuments and roadside attractions that dot the province of Alberta. This includes places such as the Museum of Miniatures and the Gopher Hole Museum. Alexander joins guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us why these roadside curios captured his imagination, and what they can reveal to us about who we are.
Jan 21, 2026 • 25min
Jodie Foster feels like a different actor performing in French
Jodie Foster has played many roles in her career, including an FBI trainee, an astronomer, a fixer in a bank heist, an Alaskan police chief, and a long-distance swimming coach. But now, she’s doing something she’s never done before: taking on the lead role in a French-language film. It’s called A Private Life and it follows the Oscar and Emmy winner as Lilian Steiner, a French-speaking American psychiatrist in Paris who suspects the death of one of her patients is not what it seems. Jodie joins Tom Power to tell us why she feels like a different actor when she’s performing in French. Plus, she talks about the freedom she’s found after turning 60.
Jan 21, 2026 • 23min
Katie Tupper steps off the track on her debut album Greyhound
Saskatoon’s Katie Tupper has just released her debut album, Greyhound, which reflects on her life, where she comes from, her relationships, and the unhealthy cycles she realized she was caught in. Katie sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us what she learned while making the record and how the Prairies have shaped her sound.
Jan 20, 2026 • 25min
For George Takei, coming out has been a lifelong process
George Takei is one of America’s most beloved actors and activists, known best for playing Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek franchise. Last year, he released his second graphic memoir, It Rhymes with Takei, which unpacks his experience living as a closeted gay man for most of his life. Around the time the book was released, he joined guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us why he didn’t come out until he was 68, and how his involvement with LGBTQ+ advocacy work has shaped who he is today.
Jan 20, 2026 • 24min
Spencer Badu is taking homegrown fashion global
Fashion designer Spencer Badu is known for making structured, genderless garments that have been worn by the likes of A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. Equally drawing from his family roots in Ghana and his childhood in and around Toronto, Spencer has managed to make a name for himself at fashion weeks in New York, London and Paris — but it’s his home country of Canada that grounds him. Now, he’s serving as a judge on Project Runway Canada, which recently returned after more than 15 years off the air. Spencer sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about his early creative dreams and inspirations, and what wisdom he can impart on Canada’s next generation of talented designers.
Jan 19, 2026 • 25min
Nat & Alex Wolff helped each other get through childhood fame
Actor and musician siblings Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars) and Alex Wolff (Hereditary, Old) have been living and breathing music nearly their entire lives. As kids, they wrote and performed their own songs on their hit Nickelodeon show The Naked Brothers Band before eventually forming their aptly named pop rock duo Nat & Alex Wolff. Now, the brothers are back with their third studio album. Nat and Alex join guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about their unusual childhoods and experiences with early fame, how they’ve evolved as collaborators while keeping a strong brotherly bond, and why now was the right time to start writing music again.
Jan 19, 2026 • 29min
Why don’t we know more about this Canadian violin prodigy?
In her new film, Measures for a Funeral, director Sofia Bohdanowicz blends fiction with documentary to tell the forgotten true story of Canadian violin prodigy Kathleen Parlow, often billed as “The Lady of the Golden Bow” or “The Canadian Violinist.” The film explores how easily we lose cultural icons to history. Sofia sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about Kathleen’s life, legacy and the once-lost opus that was composed for her.
Jan 16, 2026 • 25min
Sally Wainwright on her new menopausal punk TV drama
Sally Wainwright, the acclaimed British TV creator behind shows like Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, is back with a new series called Riot Women. It’s about a group of women who cope with aging and the chaos of menopause by starting a punk band. Sally joins guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about the show, why she challenged herself to learn the drums while working on it, and how she finds it harder to write as she gets older.
Jan 16, 2026 • 25min
SNFU is Edmonton’s punk rock success story
Back in the 1980s, Edmonton birthed one of the most influential Canadian punk bands of all time: SNFU. For most of its existence, twin brothers Marc and Brent Belke wrote and played all the guitar for the band. With a new exhibit on now at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, they join guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on the highs and lows of SNFU, their memories of the band’s late frontman Mr. Chi Pig, and the big cultural explosion when punk suddenly went from counter-culture to mainstream.
