Episodes

  • The Succession showrunner on writing about wealth and power
    Jul 13 2026

    In a special Q recording, Tom Power interviewed Jesse Armstrong at the Banff World Media Festival in front of a live audience. Jesse talks about his award-winning writing, directing, and showrunning on hits like Succession, Peep Show, The Thick of It, and Mountainhead. Plus, Jesse opens up about why he left his career in politics for TV, why he is so drawn to writing about power, and why satire isn’t the potent weapon some may think.

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    43 mins
  • Her music was suddenly a huge hit. But this Canadian musician felt isolated
    Jul 10 2026

    Montreal-born, Nashville-based Allison Russell is a Grammy- and Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, and human rights advocate. Her new album is called In the Hour of Chaos, and on it, she taps friends and collaborators to help her make sense of a world in chaos, and to find solace in the joy of creating. Allison joins Tom Power to talk about the album and to look back on performing a tribute to Joni Mitchell at the 2026 Juno Awards.

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    24 mins
  • Why this musician recorded Newfoundland's rural church organs
    Jul 10 2026

    Michael Cloud Duguay and his collaborators toured rural towns in Newfoundland looking for something very specific to record: old organs in churches that are experiencing dwindling attendance. The result is a haunting album that serves both as rich sound art featuring the remaining organs of Newfoundland, but also as documentation of community, memory and faith — both religious and otherwise.

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    27 mins
  • Why Zoe Whittall changed her name to write romance novels
    Jul 9 2026

    Zoe Whittall is constantly changing her writing. She’s written novels, short story collections, memoir, and TV. And now she’s switching genres again — to romance. But her first romance novel, Chasing Summer, comes with another change: her name. Zoe wrote this book under the pseudonym Frankie Scott. Tom Power talks to Zoe about how she’s constantly changing her writing style, her name, and even her life.

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    23 mins
  • How did Cape Breton become part of a drug smuggling ring?
    Jul 9 2026

    Andy Hines talks to Tom Power about his feature film Little Lorraine, based on a true story about a drug smuggling ring in 1980s Nova Scotia. He gets into why it was important for his first movie to take place in the Maritimes (where he’s from), and how he got Colombian singer J Balvin involved — and all the way to Cape Breton Island.

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    21 mins
  • André Sills on finding the humanity in Othello’s tragedy
    Jul 8 2026

    It’s André Sills’s biggest season yet at Ontario’s Stratford Festival. The award-winning actor is taking on two of Shakespeare’s most iconic roles: Oberon, the King of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the title role in Othello, one of Shakespeare’s most powerful and controversial tragedies. André joins Tom to talk about travelling to Italy, Cyprus and Morocco to prepare for Othello, and how a church production first set him on the path to a career in theatre.

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    36 mins
  • Mae Martin on the movie they reluctantly walked out of
    Jul 8 2026

    Mae Martin has made us laugh with their stand-up comedy, made us cry in shows like Feel Good, and now they're being honoured with the Creative Voice Award at the Banff World Media Festival. Before the big honour, Mae sat down with Tom Power for a fast-paced round of Getting to Know Q, answering everything from Banff-inspired hiking questions to their karaoke pick and which Canadian TV show they'd reboot.

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    8 mins
  • Before k.d. lang, before Peaches, there was Carole Pope
    Jul 7 2026

    Carole Pope is one of Canada’s first queer female rock stars. In the ’70s and ’80s, Carole’s band Rough Trade was known for their political outspokenness, sexually charged lyrics and bold live performances. Rough Trade broke new ground and faced both censorship and acclaim. Now, a new documentary traces Carole’s story from shy, bookish adolescent to international queer icon. Carole tells Tom Power about her early days performing with Rough Trade in Toronto, their hit song High School Confidential, paving the way for artists like k.d. lang and Peaches, and why she’s so outspoken about the challenges of being an artist today.

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    35 mins