Q with Tom Power

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Vanessa Morgan: Riverdale, Wild Cards, and receiving death threats for her character's actions Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

Vanessa Morgan (Riverdale, My Babysitter’s a Vampire) stars in the new series "Wild Cards.” She tells Tom how playing high schoolers for so many years kept her young, what she remembers about her last day of shooting for the CW series “Riverdale,” and why she feels so ready to take on this new role.

Geoff McFetridge: Beastie Boys, skateboarding in Calgary, and designing for brands like Apple and Nike Jan 12, 2024

Show notes

Geoff McFetridge has been called “the most famous Canadian artist you’ve never heard of.” As a graphic artist and painter, he’s collaborated with directors such as Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola, designed for brands like Nike and Apple, and created huge murals for Ottawa’s transit system. In a rare interview, Geoff tells Tom how the DIY culture of skateboarding in Calgary influenced him to get into art, how he ended up designing the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal magazine, and how he keeps one foot in the world of art galleries, and one foot in the world of corporate design.

D.J. Demers: How growing up hard of hearing and working in a used sporting good store inspired his new sitcom Jan 12, 2024

Show notes

D.J. Demers is a hard of hearing comedian who’s performed on some of the most famous stages in comedy, such as “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Conan,” and The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Now, the Canadian comedian is out with his new CBC workplace comedy, titled “One More Time,” which follows a semi-fictionalized version of himself who is a manager of a used sporting goods store and is also hard of hearing. D.J.tells Tom about writing a show based on his personal experience, why he wanted to write a sitcom steeped in Canadiana and nostalgia, and what it means to him to have people who are hard of hearing at his shows.

Nicole Byer on how ADHD can help your comedy + Mark Critch pays tribute to his dad by impersonating him Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

Nicole Byer has made a living talking to people and being funny. She’s so good at it that she's got multiple podcasts and TV shows, and she's now up for an Emmy nomination for hosting the amateur bake-off show “Nailed It!” Nicole tells Tom about growing up as a hyperactive kid, how she initially wanted to be a dramatic actor and how having ADHD has helped her comedy career. Plus, Season 3 of “Son of Critch” premieres this week. Mark Critch, the show's creator and namesake, stops by to share the real-life story from his past that inspired a pivotal scene in the new season.

Sydney Freeland: Echo, Marvel’s first “deaf Native American badass,” and the importance of getting a Chocktaw story right Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

The new Marvel miniseries “Echo” is one of the first of its kind. The story focuses on a deaf Native American character named Maya Lopez, a.k.a. Echo. Sydney Freeland, the series director, tells Tom about the kind of comic books she read growing up on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, the challenges of depicting action through the silent perspective of Maya, and how building a relationship with the Choctaw Nation helped bring the story to life.

Bruce Liu: The only Canadian to win the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

Bruce Liu is one of the world’s most exciting young pianists. In 2021, he gained worldwide recognition for winning the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition, making him the only Canadian to ever do so. Now, he’s released his debut studio album, “Waves: Music by Rameau, Ravel, Alkan.” Bruce talks to Tom about this new record, and also reflects on winning the Chopin piano competition and why he didn’t start taking piano seriously until he won.

Deantha Edmunds: The first Inuk professional opera singer, the Order of Canada, and the classical music of Labrador Inuit Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Deantha Edmunds, Canada’s first Inuk professional opera singer, was just made a member of the Order of Canada. She sits down with Tom in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to talk about her journey to classical music, what it feels like to bring Inuktitut to the world of classical music, and how finding out she was becoming a member of the Order of Canada felt like an “out of body experience.”

Marcel Dzama: The fire that destroyed his early work, Group of Seven, and being drawn to nature in his new show Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

For decades, the visual artist Marcel Dzama has been attracting attention for everything from his root beer ink drawings of bears, bats and flapper girls enduring the Winnipeg winter of his youth, to his wild films, sculptures and installations. Now, the Brooklyn-based artist has his first major Canadian exhibition in almost a decade at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario called “Ghosts of Canoe Lake.” Marcel talks to Tom about growing up in Winnipeg, how losing his earliest work in a fire allowed him to feel more freedom as an artist, and his new-found love for Tom Thomson.

Colman Domingo’s journey from clown to playing civil rights leader Bayard Rustin + Kaia Kater’s new song The Internet Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

After decades stealing scenes as a supporting actor, Colman Domingo is now generating Oscar buzz for his first lead role in the Obama-backed Netflix film “Rustin.” He tells Tom about playing the underappreciated civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, what he learned about vulnerability when he was a professional clown, and why acting is a form of service to the public. Plus, Kaia Kater tells the story behind her new song, “The Internet,” and how a funny song can be just as meaningful as a serious one.

Dan Levy: Good Grief, living with self-doubt, and breaking expectations after Schitt's Creek Jan 05, 2024

Show notes

Dan Levy’s (Schitt’s Creek) debut feature film he wrote and directed is a story all about grief, aptly titled, “Good Grief.” Dan tells Tom about the self-doubt he felt creating his first feature-length film, the real-life grief that inspired him to write it, and how he went from the hilarious David Rose of “Schitt’s Creek” to his mournful character Marc in “Good Grief.”

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