Q: The Podcast From Cbc Radio

Years ago, when Rachel Reid finished her first manuscript, she didn’t tell anyone she was submitting it for publication. But that was before the runaway success of her queer hockey romance book, Heated Rivalry. Now, the Nova Scotia author is finding it harder to work quietly. She joins guest host Garvia Bailey to talk about the complex hockey fandom that inspired Heated Rivalry, the TV adaptation that turned into a global phenomenon, and her progress on Unrivaled — the next book in the series. If you like this conversation, check out Tom Power’s interview with Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney on the joy of gay, smutty TV.

Back in 2005, Hubert Davis became the very first Black Canadian to be nominated for an Academy Award. It was for his personal, moving documentary, Hardwood, which tells the story of his relationship with his father, Mel Davis, a former Harlem Globetrotter. Now, more than 20 years into his documentary filmmaking career, Hubert is making his first foray into narrative storytelling with his fictional feature debut, The Well. It’s an eco-thriller that follows a family who are living in isolation and hiding a “secret supply of fresh water.” Their safety and relationships become tested when a wounded man arrives unexpectedly and discovers their resource. Hubert tells guest host Garvia Bailey why he wanted to tell this story. Plus, he reflects on two decades in Canada’s film industry. 

Canadian theatre legend Louise Pitre is back on stage in Canada in the Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo. It tells the story of a teenage girl who has a rare genetic condition that ages her four times as fast as her classmates. Recognized as Canada's first lady of musical theatre, Louise has led productions of Les Misérables, Piaf, Sweeney Todd, and she originated the part of Donna in Mamma Mia! on Broadway, but she says Kimberly might be the most perfect part for her right now. She sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us why as she reflects on her acclaimed stage career. 

Last year, Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for his extraordinary film It Was Just an Accident, which he shot secretly in Tehran under great risk of serious harm. Jafar has been in prison twice on charges of “anti-government propaganda” and for protesting the imprisonment of other filmmakers. At the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, he joined Tom Power to tell us how It Was Just an Accident was shaped by his two experiences in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown, The Neon Demon) is an A-list actor who calls herself a "nepo sibling.” When she was just two years old, she played a younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning’s character in I Am Sam. But for someone who’s been famous for nearly her entire life, there’s a bit of mystery surrounding Elle — and that’s intentional. During the Toronto International Film Festival last September, she sat down with Tom Power to talk about her latest film, Sentimental Value, which broke applause records when it premiered in Cannes earlier this year.

When Tobias Forge was a kid growing up in Sweden, he had no intention of having the biggest album in the world. But this year, his band Ghost hit No. 1 for the very first time. For many years, the identities of Ghost’s band members were a total mystery. There were even rumours that musicians like Dave Grohl played in the band. But as Ghost got more popular, staying anonymous got more difficult. Tobias joins Tom Power to talk about their chart-topping success and what the hardest part of being anonymous in a famous band was.

Mona Fastvold is the director of the buzzy new movie musical The Testament of Ann Lee, which is based on the true story of Ann Lee, the charismatic religious leader who brought the Shaker sect from England to the American colonies in the 18th century. The Testament of Ann Lee is getting rave reviews for Amanda Seyfried’s performance as Ann, and critics are saying the film is redefining what a musical can be. Mona joins guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about the process of making this film, how it upends expectations, and how she got this very “unsexy” movie made.

Wesli is a Montreal-based Haitian singer, guitarist and producer who recently released his seventh studio album, Makaya. On this album, Haitian music takes centre stage while elements from other musical traditions are blended in to create a truly global and uniquely uplifting sound. Wesli joins guest host Talia Schlanger over Zoom to set up a song from the album, titled Ayayay.

Jennette McCurdy has followed up her bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, with a harrowing debut novel called Half His Age. Written in the voice of a 17-year-old Alaskan girl named Waldo, it tells the story of her dark relationship with her high school writing teacher, a married man in his 30s. Jennette joins guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us how anger from a past relationship informed this novel, and why she hopes Waldo’s story will help readers find compassion and forgiveness for their past selves.

Alexander “Sandy” Carson is a Canadian filmmaker whose new movie, Alberta Number One, takes a look at more than 60 single-topic museums, monuments and roadside attractions that dot the province of Alberta. This includes places such as the Museum of Miniatures and the Gopher Hole Museum. Alexander joins guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us why these roadside curios captured his imagination, and what they can reveal to us about who we are.

Jodie Foster has played many roles in her career, including an FBI trainee, an astronomer, a fixer in a bank heist, an Alaskan police chief, and a long-distance swimming coach. But now, she’s doing something she’s never done before: taking on the lead role in a French-language film. It’s called A Private Life and it follows the Oscar and Emmy winner as Lilian Steiner, a French-speaking American psychiatrist in Paris who suspects the death of one of her patients is not what it seems. Jodie joins Tom Power to tell us why she feels like a different actor when she’s performing in French. Plus, she talks about the freedom she’s found after turning 60.

Saskatoon’s Katie Tupper has just released her debut album, Greyhound, which reflects on her life, where she comes from, her relationships, and the unhealthy cycles she realized she was caught in. Katie sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us what she learned while making the record and how the Prairies have shaped her sound.

George Takei is one of America’s most beloved actors and activists, known best for playing Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek franchise. Last year, he released his second graphic memoir, It Rhymes with Takei, which unpacks his experience living as a closeted gay man for most of his life. Around the time the book was released, he joined guest host Talia Schlanger to tell us why he didn’t come out until he was 68, and how his involvement with LGBTQ+ advocacy work has shaped who he is today.

Fashion designer Spencer Badu is known for making structured, genderless garments that have been worn by the likes of A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. Equally drawing from his family roots in Ghana and his childhood in and around Toronto, Spencer has managed to make a name for himself at fashion weeks in New York, London and Paris — but it’s his home country of Canada that grounds him. Now, he’s serving as a judge on Project Runway Canada, which recently returned after more than 15 years off the air. Spencer sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about his early creative dreams and inspirations, and what wisdom he can impart on Canada’s next generation of talented designers.

Actor and musician siblings Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars) and Alex Wolff (Hereditary, Old) have been living and breathing music nearly their entire lives. As kids, they wrote and performed their own songs on their hit Nickelodeon show The Naked Brothers Band before eventually forming their aptly named pop rock duo Nat & Alex Wolff. Now, the brothers are back with their third studio album. Nat and Alex join guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about their unusual childhoods and experiences with early fame, how they’ve evolved as collaborators while keeping a strong brotherly bond, and why now was the right time to start writing music again. 

In her new film, Measures for a Funeral, director Sofia Bohdanowicz blends fiction with documentary to tell the forgotten true story of Canadian violin prodigy Kathleen Parlow, often billed as “The Lady of the Golden Bow” or “The Canadian Violinist.” The film explores how easily we lose cultural icons to history. Sofia sits down with guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about Kathleen’s life, legacy and the once-lost opus that was composed for her.

Sally Wainwright, the acclaimed British TV creator behind shows like Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, is back with a new series called Riot Women. It’s about a group of women who cope with aging and the chaos of menopause by starting a punk band. Sally joins guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about the show, why she challenged herself to learn the drums while working on it, and how she finds it harder to write as she gets older.

Back in the 1980s, Edmonton birthed one of the most influential Canadian punk bands of all time: SNFU. For most of its existence, twin brothers Marc and Brent Belke wrote and played all the guitar for the band. With a new exhibit on now at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, they join guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on the highs and lows of SNFU, their memories of the band’s late frontman Mr. Chi Pig, and the big cultural explosion when punk suddenly went from counter-culture to mainstream.

Stan Douglas, one of Canada’s most internationally renowned artists, is widely known for “remixing history” — restaging and reframing social and political events through films, videos and photographs. In support of his new exhibition, Tales of Empire, Stan joins guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about his ongoing fascination with the past and how art can help imagine alternatives to the status quo.

Imagine taking your favourite family memories and spinning them into a full-length movie. That’s exactly what the Toronto filmmaker Seth Scriver has done with Endless Cookie, an animated documentary he created over nine years with his half-brother Peter. Though Seth and Peter lead radically different lives — separated by age, culture and geography — they say making a movie brought them closer together. Last summer, they joined guest host Talia Schlanger to talk about it.