Her music was suddenly a huge hit. But this Canadian musician felt isolated
10/07/2026 | 24min
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.
Why this musician recorded Newfoundland's rural church organs
10/07/2026 | 27min
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.
Why Zoe Whittall changed her name to write romance novels
09/07/2026 | 22min
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.
How did Cape Breton become part of a drug smuggling ring?
09/07/2026 | 21min
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.
André Sills on finding the humanity in Othello’s tragedy
08/07/2026 | 35min
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.
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.