Q: The Podcast From Cbc Radio

One night, Jenn Harper had the most vivid dream of three smiling Indigenous girls covered in colourful lip glosses. That dream, along with her newfound sobriety, led her to launch the company Cheekbone Beauty, which aims to bring positive representation of Indigenous folks into the beauty space. Lauded as a trailblazer in both sustainability and diversity, Jenn is now one of the cosmetics industry’s most influential Canadians, and her groundbreaking beauty brand is sold in Sephora locations across the country. Jenn sits down with Tom Power to talk about her long, hard road to success, why Indigenous joy is the cornerstone of her business, and why representation is at the forefront of everything she does.

After 45 years together, the Canadian band Rheostatics decided they needed a new challenge. So they enlisted the help of Rush’s Alex Lifeson, who joined them for four hours as they improvised music and spoken word pieces inspired by the Great Lakes. The only problem is they forgot to hit record. Dave Bidini and Kevin Hearn of Rheostatics sit down with Tom Power to tell us what happened next, and how it all led to their new album, “The Great Lakes Suite.”

Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk is known for her distinct voice and gift for writing songs rooted in honesty and vulnerability. It’s a talent that’s earned her a Grammy and multiple Junos. But you might not know that beyond her career as a successful solo artist, Chantal has also penned songs for some of the biggest artists working today, including Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson. Now, she’s reimagining those songs on her new cover album, “In My Own Voice.” Chantal joins Tom Power at the piano in our studio to talk about the hits that made her a star in Canada, and why she wanted to reclaim some of the songs she’s written for others.

After helping make some of the most successful TV shows out of Canada ever — “Letterkenny” and “Shoresy” — Jacob Tierney figured he was done telling stories about hockey. But then he read a steamy romance novel about two hockey players who fall in love, and he realized that was the story he needed to tell. His new show, “Heated Rivalry,” comes out tomorrow. Jacob sits down with Tom Power to tell us why he thinks so many bestselling romance novels are about hockey players, and how he managed to get a “joyfully smutty” TV show greenlit.

In the new film “Meadowlarks,” four Cree siblings separated at birth as a result of the Sixties Scoop reunite for a week in Banff, Alberta. Tasha Hubbard, the award-winning director behind the film, joins Tom Power to tell us about the real-life family that inspired the story, and her own experience as a Sixties Scoop survivor.

When the filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) was growing up, she says she only saw Black women portrayed in one of two ways: either as harmful stereotypes or as noble figures who became one-dimensional in their wisdom and perfection. Nia has dedicated her career to presenting complex and nuanced portrayals of Black women on-screen. Her new movie, “Hedda,” is loosely based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic 1891 play “Hedda Gabler,” which features one of literature’s most controversial characters. But in this new adaptation, the title character is reimagined as a biracial and bisexual woman in 1950s England. Nia joins Tom Power to talk about the film and what happens when we let people be imperfect. 

The Barr Brothers are a Montreal band who are back with their first new album in eight years, “Let it Hiss.” Brad Barr joins Tom Power to share how getting sober gave him a new perspective on his life and career, and how that led to their most honest record yet. He also sets up a song called “Naturally.” 

Acclaimed bestselling horror writer Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, Locke & Key) is back with his first novel in nearly a decade, “King Sorrow.” He sits down with Tom Power to talk about writing scary stories, creating characters who are on different ends of the political spectrum, and what happened after fans figured out that his dad is Stephen King.

Today, we’re remembering Jamaican musician and trailblazer Jimmy Cliff, who has died at age 81. A few years ago, the Grammy-winning reggae legend joined Tom Power to talk about his incredible journey in music, what inspired his song “Many Rivers to Cross,” and why he thought reggae was able to find an audience around the world.

Gerry Dee was a Toronto high school teacher when he started moonlighting as a comedian more than a decade ago. Now, he’s the host of “Family Feud Canada,” he has a recurring role on the Fox sitcom “Animal Control,” and he’s just released a brand new Netflix stand-up special called “Funny You Should Say That.” Gerry sits down with Tom Power to talk about his journey in comedy, why his father is a main character in his act, and the key difference between being a “celebrity” and being a “Canadian celebrity.”

When she’s up on stage, Meredith Moon comes across as a confident, powerful performer. But when she was growing up, she struggled with stage fright. The Canadian singer-songwriter conquered her fear by busking on sidewalks from Halifax to Vancouver. Now, she’s released her third and latest album, “From Here to the Sea.” Meredith joins Tom Power to tell us about the record, and how it's the first without her late father and mentor, a Canadian music legend.

On his latest album, “Further From the Country,” William Prince moves away from his usual country sound into new sonic territory. Known for his intimate acoustic songs, the smooth-voiced Manitoban singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation has now decided to add a rollicking band behind him. William sits down with Tom Power to discuss his bold new album and his performance at the Grand Ole Opry. Plus, he ranks iconic Winnipeg things, from slurpees to steakhouses to the Winnipeg Jets.

For decades, Tom Allen has been boosting the nation's knowledge of classical music. He’s the host of the CBC music show “About Time,” as well as a musician and concert host. But now, Tom has turned his attention to a new format: the almanac. His book “Tom Allen's Classical Musick Almynack” takes a look at classical music over the course of a calendar year, including key dates, facts and stories for each month, along with recipes, quizzes and musical activities. Tom sits down with Tom Power to tell us why he wanted to embrace this old calendar form, and why he’s so keen to spread the word when it comes to classical music. 

Even though she’s a descendant of the biggest wrestling family of all time — including legends like Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart — Nattie Neidhart (a.k.a. Natalya), charted her own course in wrestling to become a legend in her own right. It's not an exaggeration to say she helped usher in the biggest women’s wrestling revolution in history. Now, Nattie has released a new memoir, “The Last Hart Beating: From Dungeon to WWE,” which traces her incredible life and career. She joins Tom Power to discuss her book, her life in the ring, and the room in her grandfather's house called the dungeon.

Anyone in a band will tell you it’s like being in a family — a dysfunctional family. But somehow, against all odds, the Canadian rock band Yukon Blonde has managed to stay together for nearly 20 years. On their new record, “Friendship & Rock 'n' Roll,” they celebrate the love and music that’s kept them together all this time. Jeff Innes and James Younger of Yukon Blonde join Tom Power to talk about the album and why they find it so grounding to be in a band. Plus, they set up a new song called “Colours of My Dreams.”

Oscar-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey, Ragtime) is perhaps best known for her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham on the acclaimed TV series “Downton Abbey.” Now, Elizabeth is in Canada with a new theatre production she wrote and stars in, “Ava: The Secret Conversations,” which sheds light on the life of Hollywood legend Ava Gardner. Elizabeth sits down with Tom Power to tell us the similarities between her life and Ava’s, how celebrity culture has changed (and not changed), and what it was like finally saying goodbye to “Downton Abbey” after 15 years.

This is the second half of “Q Live in St. John’s” (search for Part One if you missed the first half), which took place at the historic St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre earlier this month. This part features an incredible stand-up performance by comedian Trent McClellan, a conversation with award-winning drag queens Tara Nova and Gravy, and a hilarious chat with comedian Mark Critch.

A few years ago, Robert Plant thought he was done making records. But the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin discovered he still had at least one more left in him. His new album, “Saving Grace,” is named after the band he’s been performing with for the last six years. It’s a collection of 10 musical interpretations and covers of songs by a variety of artists. Robert joins Tom Power to talk about finding new inspiration in old music, why he's not precious about the past — including his time in Led Zeppelin — and this great quote he has about Bob Dylan: “Dylan didn’t tap me on the shoulder, he hit me between the eyes.”

After a period of personal growth, loss and change, Canadian singer-songwriter Julianna Riolino is bringing some hard-won confidence to her sophomore album. It’s called “Echo in the Dust” and it’s out now. Julianna sat down with Tom Power to talk about the record and to set up a song titled “Be Good To Your Mother.”

For three decades, crime writer and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has been writing novels that bring the science behind solving crimes to the fore. She’s the bestselling author of the Temperance Brennan series, which are the inspiration for the TV show “Bones.” Now, Kathy is about to release the 24th novel in the series, “Evil Bones.” She joins Tom Power to tell us about the book and the surprising reason she started writing in the first place.