Q: The Podcast From Cbc Radio

The actor Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink) has been a familiar face since the 1980s. After starring in some seminal John Hughes movies as a teenager, Molly’s fame sent her into the stratosphere. But growing up in the public eye wasn’t always easy. Molly tells Tom about what it was like being a child star, how she handled losing her privacy, and why she wanted to take on her latest role as Joanne Carson in the new series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.”

Kathy Griffin has been doing stand-up for decades, but it hasn’t always been a smooth road. In 2017, she posted a photo of herself with a bloody mask of Donald Trump, which launched a massive controversy, a Department of Justice investigation, and fears about the future of her career. Things only got worse after that. Kathy’s mother died, her sister died, she lost half of her left lung to cancer, she got divorced, and she was diagnosed with PTSD. Now, after six years, she’s finally embarking on a new tour called “My Life on the PTSD-List.” Kathy joins Tom to talk about this new chapter of her career, the intense backlash she faced, and whether Trump is still part of her material.

In the new crime drama series “Allegiance,” Supinder Wraich plays a rookie cop who’s grappling with her job and the justice system as she fights to exonerate her politician father. It’s the first North American police procedural to focus on a Sikh Punjabi officer. Supinder sits down with Tom to talk about what that means — and how her character struggles to balance her job, her culture and her family.

Ilana Glazer is the actor and comedian who co-created and co-starred in the hilariously raunchy and unabashedly feminist comedy series “Broad City.” While she travels for a new stand-up comedy tour, she joins Tom to reflect on her life in comedy, her friendship with her “Broad City” co-creator Abbi Jacobson, and why she thinks stand-up can be a useful tool to ease anxiety.

The Canadian director Domee Shi won an Oscar in 2018 for her animated short film “Bao.” For her debut feature, “Turning Red,” she mined her childhood in Toronto to create the first Pixar film set in Canada. A few years ago, around the time of its release on Disney+, Domee talked to Tom about making “Turning Red,” how she drew inspiration from her family life, and what it was like reliving the awkwardness of adolescence. Now, for the first time, audiences can see “Turning Red” on the big screen as it hits theatres this month.

You might know Bob Geldof as an activist and one of the organizers of Live Aid — the epic 1985 benefit concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine relief — but first and foremost, he’s a musician. Bob is the lead singer-songwriter of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, which is largely remembered for their 1979 hit “I Don't Like Mondays.” When The Boomtown Rats had a new album out a few years ago, Tom had a chance to talk to Bob about his music, his memories of Live Aid, how he’s used his platform to effect political change, and his concerns about the world today.

Last year was a big one for Spiritbox. Dubbed the hottest new thing in heavy metal, the Canadian band scored a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion and a Grammy nomination for best metal performance. Lead singer Courtney LaPlante talks to Tom about Spiritbox’s success and what this kind of recognition means to them.

The show “Top Boy” has had an interesting life. The gritty British drama about drug dealers on a low-income housing estate was originally cancelled in 2014 — until an unlikely saviour stepped in. Turns out, Drake was a big fan of “Top Boy” and he was able to get the show back on the air for three more seasons. Now, the drama is back again, but in a different form: a novel. “Top Boy” creator and showrunner Ronan Bennett joins Tom to talk about the history of the series, and why he wanted to write a book based on the show.

Back to Back Theatre is an Australian theatre company that's driven by an ensemble of actors who are neurodiverse. Now, they're bringing their production of “The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes” to this year's PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver. At the heart of the play is the question: when artificial intelligence overtakes human intelligence, how will people be treated? Tom speaks to tour director Daniel Schlusser and actor Scott Price about the future of artificial intelligence and disability activism, and Back to Back's model of equality and diversity.

Terrace Martin is a rapper, singer, musician and highly sought after producer who’s worked with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Travis Scott to Herbie Hancock. Ahead of the Grammys, where he’s nominated for best progressive R&B album, Terrace joins Tom to talk about the artists who shaped him over the years, how music led him away from gang culture while growing up in South Central Los Angeles, and his work on one of hip-hop’s greatest albums ever: Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Plus, rising Canadian artist bludnymph tells Tom about the inspiration behind her new single, “The Things I Do For Love” — an unhinged dark-pop song about obsessive love and jealousy.

Daisy Ridley’s first major role was in the multi-million dollar “Star Wars” franchise with “The Force Awakens.” Now that her time in the “Star Wars” universe is over, Daisy is pursuing projects that speak to her creativity, no matter the size. Her latest role is as a socially anxious office worker in the indie film “Sometimes I Think About Dying.” Daisy joins Tom to talk about her connection to the protagonist Fran, her journey into acting, and what it was like to be cast in a “Star Wars” film as her first lead role.

Celine Song's first feature film “Past Lives” was just nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars. Celine joined Tom back when the film first premiered at Sundance and talked about capturing love in an honest and ordinary way, how her own experience inspired the film's story, and what the mystery is in the heart of her film.

In the ‘90s, during a time when grunge music reigned supreme, an unlikely album went platinum: “Cracked Rear View” from Hootie & the Blowfish. Since then, Hootie’s frontman Darius Rucker has continued making music, transitioning from alt-rock to country. Darius’s latest record is called “Carolyn’s Boy.” He joins Tom to talk about the massive success of “Cracked Rear View,” what he thinks about the band’s decline in popularity, and why he still pursued country music after being told the fanbase wouldn’t listen to a Black country artist. Plus, Toronto R&B singer Liza tells Tom about making the leap from nurse to full-time songwriter and tells the story behind her new song, “In The End.”

Kim Thúy's bestselling novel “Ru” has received a Governor General's Award for Fiction, been shortlisted for the Giller Prize, and won Canada Reads. Now, “Ru” has been made into a film, which tells the story of a woman born in Saigon during the Tet Offensive, her time in a refugee camp in Malaysia, and her subsequent life in Quebec. Kim speaks with Tom about how “Ru” is based on her own life story, why she felt a responsibility to say yes when she was asked if it could be adapted for film, and how she was transported back to her childhood during the filming of “Ru.” Plus, Toronto-based singer Tafari Anthony tells Tom how a new experience with polyamory and the loss of a friend inspired his new song “Evermore” off his debut album, “When I Met Your Girlfriend.”

Last month, Canadian playwright David Yee was awarded the Siminovitch Prize, Canada’s most valuable theatre award, which is given each year to an artist whose groundbreaking work has transformed Canada’s theatre scene. David talks to Tom about why his writing career started out of necessity, his theatre company Fu-GEN, and changing the game for the next generation of Asian Canadian playwrights.

What started as a meeting about Tanya Tagaq creating the score for the new season of “True Detective” ended with her being cast in her first acting role, alongside Jodie Foster. The Polaris Prize-winning singer and artist joins Tom to share that story, how she approached making the score for the series, and what it means to her to see Inuit representation in a mainstream show.

Jake Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Jurassic World) has a new film out called “Self Reliance” that he directed, wrote, and stars in. Jake joins Tom to talk about making a weird comedy, how he never felt like a particularly talented or handsome actor so he opted to be a funny one, and how he influenced the direction of his character Nick Miller in “New Girl.” Plus, the Canadian artist LU KALA has had a huge year – millions of streams of her music, Billboard hits, and touring the world. She tells Tom about venturing into more vulnerable songwriting on her new single, “Nothing But Love.”

The latest film from director Ava DuVernay (Selma, 13th, A Wrinkle in Time) is called “Origin.” It follows writer Isabel Wilkerson as she writes the bestselling book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” published in 2020. Ava tells Tom what drew her to adapt a book that seemed unadaptable, how she shot the film in under 40 days without the help of a major studio, and how she got her start in the business of filmmaking. A few years ago, Canada lost one of its greatest songwriters — Newfoundland and Labrador's Ron Hynes. Amelia Curran, a fellow Newfoundland songwriter, is now part of a new compilation record that pays tribute to Ron. Amelia talks about the skill that went into his songs, the significance of his music to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the country at large. Plus, you’ll hear her cover of one of his songs, “Dark River.”

In the late ‘60s, the visual artist June Clark fled the United States to Canada so her husband could escape the Vietnam draft. She wasn’t an artist when she settled in Toronto, but that huge change in her life kind of put her on the path to art. Since then, she’s used her work to reflect on her relationship with her homeland and what she left behind. The Art Gallery of Ontario and Toronto's Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery are now reshowing June’s striking exhibit “Unrequited Love” this year. It’s a collection of nine pieces, made over a period of decades, that incorporate the Stars and Stripes. June sits down with Tom to talk about her work and her path to becoming an artist.

The feminist punk band Sleater-Kinney was a huge part of the post-riot grrrl movement. After the sudden death of one of the member’s parents turned their lives upside down, the duo used music to get through it. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney join Tom to talk about grief, getting by, and their new album “Little Rope.”