Q: The Podcast From Cbc Radio

Acclaimed Canadian folk singer-songwriter Dana Sipos just dropped a new love song devoted to her friends. It’s called “Soft Feeling” and it’s her first new music since 2021. Dana joins guest host Garvia Bailey to tell us what inspired the track and why we need more love songs that celebrate the intimacy of friendship.

Ebonnie Rowe is a champion for Canadian women in music. As the founder of Honey Jam — Canada’s first artist development program for female musicians — she’s helped launch the careers of Nelly Furtado, Jully Black, Haviah Mighty and more. Ebonnie joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about being appointed to the Order of Canada and creating a “neverending sisterhood.”

About a decade ago, Anjulie found huge success writing catchy pop songs that were all over Canadian radio and MuchMusic. She won a Juno Award, she was writing songs for the likes of Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson, and there was a bidding war between some of the biggest labels in the world who were desperate to sign her. But then, at the height of her success, Anjulie walked away from music to focus on healing some internal wounds she’d been avoiding. Now, she’s re-emerged as a more centered version of herself — and with that comes a new sound and a hit single. Earlier this year, Anjulie sat down with Tom Power to share her story.

The Toronto-based DJ and producer BAMBII melds electronic music with her Caribbean roots — but the path to making her own songs hasn’t been clear cut. First, she started her own rave series as a way of getting better at DJing while also hearing the music she wanted to dance to. From there, she learned how to produce her own music. In 2023, she released her debut EP, "Infinity Club,” which won electronic album of the year at the 2024 Juno Awards. Now, she’s back with her follow-up, “Infinity Club II,” which digs deeper into her songwriting, production and world-building. BAMBII joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about her new EP, growing up in Toronto as an only child, and what it’s like to navigate the music industry when you’re Black and queer. 

Tired of her blindness being seen as tragedy, Toronto theatre maker Devon Healey designed an immersive stage show to take audiences into her experience. The production, “Rainbow on Mars,” is based on her own journey into blindness at age 21, and it features a cast of performers with varying levels of vision. Devon sits down with guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about reframing blindness as an invitation to relate to each other more intimately, and to become more comfortable with uncertainty and exploration.

The hit series “Severance” managed to knock “Ted Lasso” out of its place as the most-watched show on Apple TV+. That’s partly due to its unique premise, which explores a nightmarish experiment to enforce work-life balance by splitting a person’s consciousness into two. There’s the you that goes into work (your “innie”) and the you that lives outside of work (your “outie”). A few months ago, actors Tramell Tillman and Zach Cherry — also known as their characters Mr. Milchick and Dylan G. — sat down with Tom Power to discuss all things “Severance.”

You never know who you might meet at a Canadian gas station. Back in March, AHI sat down with Tom Power to tell us how a chance encounter at a truck stop in Thunder Bay inspired him to pursue music full-time. He also sets up a song off his new album, “The Light Behind the Sun.”

Back in 2023, Debby Friday won the prestigious Polaris Music Prize for her debut album, “Good Luck.” When she sat down to write her next record, it would’ve been easy to stick with what worked the first time, but instead, Debby made a conscious decision to do things differently. The result is her most ambitious album yet, “The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life.” From dance floor bangers to intimate ballads, Debby joins Tom Power to take us inside the emotional and artistic journey behind her new record.

Amar Wala is a Canadian film director and writer whose debut film, “Shook,” follows a South Asian man named Ash who’s navigating issues of love, family and identity in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. Amar joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the challenges of transitioning from documentary to narrative film, the personal parallels between the main character’s journey and his own, and why the racially-diverse and economically-challenged Scarborough is such a fantastic setting for a film.

Abraham Anghik Ruben is a world-renowned sculptor who’s been creating groundbreaking and genre-defining work for the last five decades. The Inuk artist is best known for his multidimensional sculptures, which he carves out of stone, ivory, bronze and bone, but more recently, he’s also taken up painting. With an ongoing solo show at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, Abraham joins guest host Garvia Bailey to look back on 50 years of creativity. Plus, he shares what needs to happen to ensure that art from the North continues to thrive.

When Canadian musician Charlie Houston was a student at NYU a few years ago, she took a weed edible that gave her a really bad trip. It was so bad that she quit music, dropped out of school and moved back in with her parents in Toronto. Earlier this year, Charlie released her debut album, “Big After I Die,” which explores the precarious and often surreal experience of transitioning between phases of life. She sat down with Tom Power to tell us the story of the edible that changed her life and how she got back into music. Plus, she sets up a track from her new album.

World-renowned fashion designer Prabal Gurung grew up in a turbulent household, with an abusive father at home and bullies at school who teased him for being too feminine. It was only when he moved to New York City to work with designers like Donna Karan and Cynthia Rowley that Prabal began to embrace the things that made him different. His new memoir, “Walk Like a Girl,” is a tribute to the women who made him the fashion designer he is today, from Anna Wintour, who championed his work, to longtime clients like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and Kate Middleton.

Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Aviator, Tár) is one of the most respected actors of our time. She's an on-screen chameleon who transforms into whatever role she plays, taking on whatever accent is required of her — so much so that she says it’s easy to forget what she actually sounds like. At last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Cate sat down with Tom Power for a thoughtful conversation about two of her most recent projects (the unique political satire “Rumours” and the psychological thriller series “Disclaimer”), plus, her voice work.

Heather and Arizona O'Neill are more than just mother and daughter — they're creative partners, storytellers and travel companions. Their latest collaboration, a novel called “Valentine in Montreal,” is already an instant bestseller. Heather wrote the book, which was first published in weekly installments in the Montreal Gazette, and Arizona illustrated it. The mother-daughter duo join Tom Power to tell us what it's like working together and why the Montreal subway system plays a special role in their relationship.

Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta, Causeway, The Book of Mormon) has become one of Hollywood's busiest actors. On the new series “Dope Thief,” he plays Ray Driscoll — a complex character who’s dealing with generational trauma, addiction and grief. Back in April, Brian joined Tom Power to talk about the role, the epiphany he had that reframed the way he looks at his career, and how he put his imposter syndrome in the rearview mirror.

Mo Amer's comedy career couldn't be going any better right now. His semi-autobiographical TV show “Mo” is a big success and he’s currently on a massive stand-up tour. But even though his professional life is thriving, certain things in his personal life are a bit more complicated. Mo joins Tom Power to talk about the pressure he’s feeling as a Palestinian American comedian, the emotional conversations he's been having with his fans, and how his life in comedy all got started.

Multi-Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo is now the first Black African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This past March, she joined Tom Power from our Montreal studio to talk about her incredible career in music. Angélique reflected on her childhood in Benin, how she fled to France to escape her home country’s strict military dictatorship, and what that experience taught her about freedom of all kinds. Plus, she tells Tom why percussion has to come first when she’s making music.

Bestselling author Ruth Ware doesn’t do sequels, or so she’s said. After nine standalone psychological thrillers, the British novelist has released “The Woman in Suite 11,” which is a follow-up to her hit 2016 book, “The Woman in Cabin 10.” Ruth sits down with guest host Ali Hassan to tell us how her readers persuaded her to take another look at her character Lo Blacklock — a travel journalist who seems to find herself on the deadly end of luxury excursions. Plus, Ruth explains how maternity leave put her on the path to becoming a professional writer.

Comedian Robby Hoffman is having a big year. She was just nominated for an Emmy for her role in the hit HBO show “Hacks,” where she plays a character based on her own experiences. Plus, her Just For Laughs show in Montreal this summer is sold out. But Robby hasn’t had a conventional path into comedy. From leaving an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community in Brooklyn as a kid to living in Montreal with her nine siblings, Robby tells Tom Power about how she forged her own path.

The Montreal musician Yves Jarvis spent a year listening only to Frank Sinatra when he wrote his sixth and latest album, “All Cylinders.” He says it’s the least contrived thing he’s ever done. Not only did he produce the record, but he also plays every instrument on it, blending genres like bluegrass, jazz, folk and even yacht-rock in unexpected ways. Back in March, Yves joined Tom Power to tell us how his songwriting evolved in the process, and how he concussed himself while having too much fun in the studio.