Episodes

  • Tate McRae: Learning how to stay present at the height of pop superstardom
    Feb 21 2025

    Calgary's Tate McRae is back with five Juno nominations and a brand new album, “So Close To What.” The reigning Canadian pop princess talks to Tom Power about her skyrocketing career, growing up on social media, and how she’s learning to slow down and appreciate the present moment.

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    23 mins
  • Sebastian Gaskin: Why he started embracing his Indigeneity in his music
    Feb 21 2025

    Sebastian Gaskin is a musician from Tataskweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba who fuses his culture with R&B, rock and pop music. Now, he’s released his debut album, “Lovechild.” Sebastian joins Tom Power to talk about his path in music, how he came around to embrace his Indigenous identity in his art, and why writing joyful and hopeful songs is just as important to him as writing political songs.

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    19 mins
  • Will Oldham: How he ended up conducting Johnny Cash in the recording booth
    Feb 20 2025

    The musician Will Oldham, also known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, is more than 30 years into his career with no sign of slowing down. With the release of his new album, “The Purple Bird,” Will joins Tom Power to reflect on his life and music. He tells us about the time he met Johnny Cash, how he ended up conducting Cash’s cover of his song “I See a Darkness,” and how that memorable recording session led him to meeting David Ferguson, the producer of his latest record.

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    25 mins
  • Matt Wright makes the case for silliness + Vivian Chong opens up about dating
    Feb 20 2025

    Matt Wright is a Canadian comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador who’s just released his first stand-up special, "Live at the Majestic.” He drops by our studio to chat with Tom Power about his life in comedy and why he says it’s his right as a human being to be a goof.


    Plus, Vivian Chong is a Dora-nominated performer who’s blind in both eyes. She lost her vision a few years ago after she had a toxic reaction to a medication. Now, she’s taking audiences into her dating life with a new one-woman show, “Blind Dates.” Vivian joins Tom to tell us what she’s learned in the dating world, and why she wanted to open up about it on the stage.

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    27 mins
  • Matthew Rankin: Universal Language and his surreal vision of an alternate Winnipeg
    Feb 19 2025

    Matthew Rankin is the Canadian director and star of the film “Universal Language.” It’s an absurdist comedy set in an alternate version of Winnipeg with two official languages: Farsi and French. During the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, Matthew dropped by to chat with Tom Power about his vision for this film and why he wanted to collaborate with Winnipeg’s Persian community.

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    25 mins
  • Quick Q: How an edible changed Charlie Houston’s entire life and career
    Feb 19 2025

    When the Canadian musician Charlie Houston was a student at NYU a few years ago, she took an 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. Now, she’s released her debut album, “Big After I Die,” which explores the precarious and often surreal experience of transitioning between phases of life. Charlie sits 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.

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    14 mins
  • Jann Arden: The ‘90s are back on her new album Mixtape
    Feb 18 2025

    The Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden joins Tom Power to talk about her new covers album “Mixtape,” the time she was called a one-hit wonder, and why she thinks the ‘90s are making a resurgence in 2025.

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    20 mins
  • Avan Jogia: The former Nickelodeon star on the dark reality of being a teen actor
    Feb 18 2025

    Avan Jogia is a Canadian actor, author and director who spent his teen years in the spotlight as one of the stars of the hit Nickelodeon series “Victorious.” Now, Avan’s new book of poetry, “Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob),” takes a critical look at the culture of celebrity and the sinister side of fame. Avan tells Tom Power about how starring on a Nickelodeon show felt like he was “performing adolescence and purity,” what he thinks about the documentary “Quiet on Set,” and why he’s chosen poetry to reflect on his time as a teen star.

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    24 mins