Q with Tom Power

After director Rian Johnson finished making “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” he didn’t really know how to follow it up. So he decided to bang out a really quick murder mystery script. The result was his 2019 film “Knives Out,” which led to the 2022 sequel “Glass Onion,” which has now led to the third film in the series, “Wake Up Dead Man.” Rian sits down with Tom Power to discuss his latest “Knives Out” movie, the genius and influence of mystery writer Agatha Christie, and how he thinks his religious upbringing has helped the success of his films.

For her sophomore release, Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada intended to write an album that showcased her sense of humour. But after experiencing immense personal loss and tragedy, she instead made a record that examines love, grief and humanity. It’s called “Vendrán Suaves Lluvias” (or “Soft Rains Will Come” in English) and it’s out now. Silvana sits down with Tom Power to talk about her acclaimed new album and the difficulties she faced while making it.

It’s been a banner year for Yungblud, the English rock star who just released a joint EP with Aerosmith, titled “One More Time.” He also recently picked up his first Grammy nominations for his solo album “Idols,” as well as for his emotional performance of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at their farewell show in Birmingham over the summer. Yungblud joins Tom Power to talk about his breakout year in music, the personal toll it’s had on him, and what he most remembers from singing at Ozzy Osbourne's last show. 

Canadian photographer Kayla Isomura has a question for you: if you were forced to quickly leave your home with only one day’s notice, what would you bring with you? That’s the question at the heart of their powerful photography series “The Suitcase Project.” Kayla is a fourth-generation Japanese Canadian whose ancestors, like so many other Japanese Canadian families, were forcibly removed from their homes during the Second World War and relocated to internment camps. For “The Suitcase Project,” Kayla asked more than 80 other fourth and fifth generation Japanese North Americans to pack up their belongings on short notice, and then shot portraits of them with their suitcases. Kayla joins Tom Power to talk about their family history, and how making “The Suitcase Project” helped them connect with their cultural identity.

In 1968, Jack Kerouac called Canadian poet bill bissett one of the greats. At the time, bill was an icon of the counterculture movement in Vancouver. Fast-forward six decades, and he remains one of Canada’s most influential and prolific poets and artists. Now in his late 80s, bill has authored more than 70 books of poetry — his latest, “th book uv lost passwords 1,” came out earlier this fall. bill sits down with Tom Power to talk about his pioneering work in concrete poetry and sound poetry, and his rejection of conventional spelling and punctuation. Plus, he reads a couple pieces from his new collection.

Choclair was a high school student in the ’90s when he started spending his nights making hip-hop music with future stars like Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black and Saukrates. Together, they helped grow Toronto’s hip-hop scene into the behemoth it is today, despite limited support from the domestic music industry. Now, at 50, Choclair is setting out with a new album, “Transit Music,” which is his first full-length record in more than 20 years. He joins Tom Power to talk about the record, his climb to success, and the obstacles he faced trying to put Toronto hip-hop on the map.

For Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek, Outer Range), there’s nothing better than singing with a big group of people. The actor and musician sits down with Tom Power to chat about his upcoming live show at Massey Hall in Toronto, “Christmas Hour.” He also reflects on his big year on tour and what it was like performing at the World Series.

When novelist Maggie O’Farrell learned that Shakespeare had a son who died just a few years before he wrote “Hamlet” — and that history books barely mentioned it — she wanted to find out more. That led her to write the bestselling novel “Hamnet,” which has now been adapted into a new film starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. Maggie joins Tom Power to tell us how her Hamnet story came to be, what Shakespeare might have been trying to tell us by naming his play after his son, and why she waited until her own son was past the age that Hamnet was when he died to start writing her novel.

The Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Michael Healey (The Master Plan, The Drawer Boy) is putting a Canadian corporate drama front and centre in his new play, “Rogers v. Rogers.” The story, which feels like a Canadian version of the hit HBO show “Succession,” is about the real-life family battle for control of Rogers Communications — one of the big three telecommunications and media giants in Canada. Michael joins Tom Power to tell us why he wanted to bring this story of corporate chaos to the stage, and why he opted to make it a one-actor play, starring Tom Rooney.

Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak are a husband-and-wife duo who lead the acclaimed Montreal rock band The Dears. In the early 2000s, they put a heavy stamp on indie pop music in Canada. Now, they’re celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band with the release of a new album, “Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful!” Murray and Natalia sit down with Tom Power to talk about their hopeful new record, their partnership, and that very unique time in Canadian music when they got their start.