NOW Toronto

Viola Davis stars as the leader of a fierce female army from the kingdom of Dahomey, which was built on slavery. Dancer, choreographer and director Esie Mensah joins us to discuss the movie's alternate and perhaps fanciful take on history and why it is still a must see.

Comedian Dewayne Perkins and actor Antoinette Robertson tell us about heir TIFF Midnight Madness movie The Blackening, a horror comedy that lands somewhere between Scary Movie and Cabin In The Woods. The Blackening is about college friends reuniting at a cottage. But then they come across a game that forces them to test how Black they are or else … 

In a conversation between two filmmakers, Sarah Polley tells Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers about adapting Miriam Toews novel Women Talking and unpacking the implications of its conversations on justice and forgiveness.

In a special TIFF episode, Black Ice director Hubert Davis, producer Vinay Virmani and hockey player Saroya Tinker discuss the relationship between hockey and Canadian identity and what it means to be excluded from the game.

I Like Movies director Chandler Levack discusses her look back at early-2000s video store culture, the makings of a toxic film bro and how she found a sympathetic and redemptive arc for a character that had the makings of an incel.

In a TIFF special episode we have the team behind This Place,  a queer love story that stars Mohawk actor Devery Jacobs and Tamil-Canadian writer Priya Guns. Guns, co-writer and director V.T, Nayani, co-writer Golshan Abdmoulaei and producer Stephanie Sonny Hooker join us to discuss the evolution of the film, what they all brought to this story and the questions they hope audiences ask themselves after watching This Place about allyship and what it means to be colonized while benefitting from colonization.

Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs discusses co-writing season two episode four, which was directed by Danis Goulet, paying tribute to the joy in her community, how the series handles trauma and uplift and bringing her old new film This Place to TIFF.

Jo Koy joins the NOW What podcast to explain why he had to pay his own way to get comedy specials on Netflix, how his humour builds bridges between communities, why colonized people compete when it comes to religion and resurrecting Tia Carrere in his new movie Easter Sunday.

Kes The Band lead singer Kes discusses why his music breaks through in a changing soca and Carnival landscape and what to expect from IzWe at Markham Fairgrounds and J'ouvert in Toronto.

Soca royalty Nailah Blackman and her producer Anson Soverall explain what two years locked down in Trinidad looked like, how Carnival season is bouncing back hard, the new music they've been working on while we've been in our bubbles and what truly defines the soca genre.   Plus, Issa Rae and Syreeta Singleton discuss their new show Rap Sh!t, the struggles for women in rap that inspired it and what they think is so special about WAP.

Slash/Back director Nyla Innuksuk discusses her Inuit alien invasion thriller (hint: it's a metaphor for colonization) and Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow and actor Hayden Christensen talk about going from Toronto to a galaxy far, far away and the politics in Star Wars.

Loot co-creators Allan Yang and Matt Hubbard explain how their series starring Maya Rudolph searches for laughs in the wealth gap. Plus: Director X (who also has a new show tackling the wealth gap) and LeSean Harris recollect movie memories for Telefilm in an initiative to celebrate the theatrical experience.

Writer and performer Fatuma Adar discusses representing the refugee experience and the Somali-Canadian community in her moving musical Dixon Road with writer Huda Hassan and NOW What host Radheyan Simonpillai. Read more about Dixon Road, which is playing at the High Park Amphitheatre until June 19, here: https://nowtoronto.com/stage/fatuma-adar-is-reclaiming-the-narrative-on-dixon-road

Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani discusses her love of artsy foreign films, going to the same Markham high school as Hayden Christensen (aka Darth Vader) and reconnecting with her roots by playing Kamala Khan, the first Muslim superhero

Old classics are returning to the streamers: a new take on Cinderella called Sneakerella co-starring Brantford's Devyn Nekoda arrives on Disney+ and The Kids In The Hall brought a new season 27 years after the last to Prime Video Canada. Nekoda (01:00) discusses flipping the glass slippers into fancy new kicks and how we could possibly realize the dream of seeing a great Toronto dance movie. NOW's former senior film writer and podcast host Norm Wilner spoke to Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson of The Kids In The Hall (19:35) last year about how their comedy survives in a new climate.

Author Andrea Werhun and photographer Nicole Bazuin discuss expanding the sex work memoir Modern Whore with stories from a Toronto strip club and even more stunning imagery. Plus, Stephanie and Rad get into the 20th anniversary of Spider-Man, the trans joke Dave Chappelle made after being attacked on stage and reactions to a leak revealing that the US Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade. CHAPTERS (1:15) Sam Raimi's Spider-Man turns 20 Looking back at how Spider-Man broke the movies. (4:30) Dave Chappelle attacked onstage A man tackled Dave Chappelle while he was finishing off a set at the Netflix Is A Joke festival. The comedian then made another joke directed at the trans community as violence was being committed behind him. (12:55) Roe vs. Wade Steph shares a personal story reacting to a leak revealing that the US Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade, which protects people's rights to an abortion. (24:55) Spotlight Interview Author Andrea Werhun and photographer Nicole Bazuin discuss balancing serious issues with playful titillation in the "engorged" edition of their sex work memoir Modern Whore, which now adds experiences at a Toronto strip club and doing advocacy work on "the stroll."

The Wire creator David Simon joins to discuss his new series We Own This City, the dystopia created by the war on drugs and why defunding the police may be the right thing to do in some cases. Culture writer Stephanie Hinds joins to discuss Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde; Vin Diesel and Fast & Furious director Justin Lin; Elon Musk and Twitter; Freshii and Nicaragua; Toronto and Carnival. And we introduce you to Quebec filmmaker Miryam Charles, who is showing her haunting and beautiful debut feature This House at the Hot Docs Film Festival. CHAPTERS (1:20) Elon Musk and Twitter Tesla CEO Elon Musk is tired of being owned on Twitter, so instead he's about to own Twitter. (7:50) Freshii and Nicaragua Canadian salad chain Freshii introduces “Percy,” a digital cashier at its restaurants connecting customers to an employee in Nicaragua who makes about $3.75 an hour. (13:05) Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis Actor and director Olivia Wilde was served custody papers from her ex, Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, while on stage in front of movie exhibitors and press. Wilde was previewing her new movie Don't Worry Darling, which stars current boyfriend Harry Styles, when a woman appeared on stage and handed her a mysterious manila envelope holding what sources say were the custody papers. (19:15) Justin Lin hits the brakes on Fast X and Vin Diesel From custody battles to breakups. Director Justin Lin who has directed more than half the Fast and Furious movies (the best ones really) has quit his duties on Fast X after 10 days in production. (27:52) From social bubbles to bubble wine at Toronto Carnival Steph picked her costume and, like so many others who are done with coronavirus, is ready to play mas. But many of those yet to catch COVID-19 aren't ready to jab jab, even if they got their jab jab. (39:50) Spotlight Interview The Wire creator David Simon discusses his new series We Own This City, what changed since #BlackLivesMatters, where he stands on defund the police and how crime stats are manipulated to push political agendas. (1:05:45) Hot Docs Interview Quebec filmmaker Miryam Charles tells us how she found her voice and works through pain, loss and tenuous relationship to home in her stunning debut feature This House.

Angelica Lisk-Hann is nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in the Best Stunt Coordination category that she had a hand in creating. Lisk-Hann joins us to discuss her journey from performing stunts on movies like AVP to becoming the first Black woman to be a stunt coordinator. She discusses the challenges in an industry that still relies on Blackface to meet demands for diversity.

Norm and NOW editor Radheyan Simonpillai talk to stars Alex Mallari Jr. and Rong Fu and co-creator Nathalie Younglai about what their new CBC Gem series Hello (Again) hopes to do for Asian-Canadian representation, and the challenges of creating a consistent performance when shooting a time-loop story out of sequence. 

NOW editor Radheyan Simonpillai talks to actor turned filmmaker turned author Sarah Polley about her new book Run Towards The Danger: Confrontations With A Body Of Memory, and how after 14 years behind the camera she's finally thinking about getting back in front of one.

This week's podcast was so packed we had to break it into two episodes. In this one, Norm talks to Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland about their new documentary series BLK: An Origin Story, and then checks in with Last One Laughing Canada players Colin Mochrie and Andrew Phung about their experience on Prime Video's reality endurance series. 

For this week's Sound Of Toronto Right Now issue, NOW editor Radheyan Simonpillai talks to TikTok rapper Akintoye about coming up, finding his voice, building a brand and being absolutely, one hundred percent himself through all of it.

Building onto his cover story this week, Norm talks to Arnold Pinnock, Annmarie Morais, Marsha Greene, Charles Officer and RT Thorne – the creative team behind the new CBC drama The Porter – to explore the genesis of the show and what it means to them to have made it. The Porter premieres on CBC and CBC Gem Monday (February 21) at 9 pm ET. 

With NOW's annual Love and Sex issue on the stands this week, Norm and NOW's managing editor Glenn Sumi invite Colin Asuncion, Haley McGee and Bee Quammie to expand on their conversations about what it's like to be single and dating with COVID still making everything extra complicated.

You might have heard about the trucker convoy that came to Ottawa last weekend. In fact, you probably heard so much about it that you didn't notice the other, arguably more legitimate assemblages that happened in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday. In this episode Ahmad Jarrar of the GTA Palestinian Movement and Mskwaasin Agnew of the Salt River First Nation tell Norm why they feel their respective events were overlooked by the Canadian media.

Norm talks to Guled Abdi, Tim Blair, Vance Banzo and Franco Nguyen about the third season of their sketch series, and how they've levelled up the comedy and the commentary – even enlisting Paul Sun-Hyung Lee from Kim's Convenience to confront CBC cancelling Trickster.

This is the time of year when NOW's Love Your Body issue comes out. But we're not doing that any more; after seven years, the landscape of body positivity and self love has changed. Ramona Leitao and Radheyan Simonpillai talk to four of our previous Love Your Body subjects – designer and human-rights activist Biko Beauttah, author and relationship coach Leisse Wilcox, model and TV personality Mina Gerges, and musician and composer TiKA – as well as Sabrina Maddeaux, who pitched and created NOW's first Love Your Body issue, to talk about what it was, what it did and what we're doing now. 

NOW's managing editor Glenn Sumi is really feeling the loss of live comedy in this latest lockdown cycle, so he reached out to three very funny people – Tricia Black, Keith Pedro and Matt Wright – for a conversation about how their approach to making people laugh has evolved, or even changed entirely, over the last couple of years.

It's 2022! We're locked down again! But if you're looking for a new show to watch, there's Run The Burbs, the new sitcom from Kim's Convenience breakout Andrew Phung. In this companion podcast to his NOW cover story, Norm talks to Andrew, co-creator Scott Townend and writer/star Rakhee Morzaria about their charming new sitcom, and where they're planning to take it in its first season.

David Fincher: Mind Games author Adam Nayman discusses his new book, the connective tissue between films like Zodiac and Gone Girl, the genius behind Fincher's casting when wielding Ben Affleck's public persona, and why we can't stop comparing the Fight Club director to Paul Thomas Anderson. Plus, thoughts on Anderson's latest movie Licorice Pizza. 

NOW's Holiday Movie Special is on the stands, summing up the year in film. And in this companion podcast, Norm talks to Oscar-winning producer J. Miles Dale about how he and Guillermo Del Toro saved their new film Nightmare Alley when COVID shut it down halfway through production. He also interviews Joanna Hogg, writer/director of The Souvenir Part II, his pick for the best film of 2021.

In this week's issue, NOW associate editor Richard Trapunski takes stock of the year in music; for this companion episode, he's joined by fellow music writer Melissa Vincent to talk through the highlights, the breakouts, the surprises … and the relief that came from being able to see performers back on stage where they belong.

This week, NOW rolled out its list of the year's best shows, so Norm and fellow critics Kevin Ritchie, Ramona Leitao, Radheyan Simonpillai and Glenn Sumi assemble to discuss why we picked what we picked, and why we ranked them where we did.

The 2022 Grammy nominations were announced on Tuesday, and some of the names on the Recording Academy's list were a little surprising: Louis CK, Marilyn Manson and Dave Chappelle are all up for awards, despite their current status as cultural pariahs. Music editor Richard Trapunski and culture editor Radheyan Simonpillai join Norm to discuss what it all means.

Norm and NOW music editor Richard Trapunski talk to journalist and author Corey Mintz about his new book, The Next Supper: The End Of Restaurants As We Knew Them, and how problems like underpaid employees, toxic work culture and untenable delivery-app fees won't go away with the return of indoor dining. In fact, they might get worse.

In the wake of the fatal crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival last weekend, Norm and NOW music editor talk to Janet Sellery, the chair of Event Safety Alliance Canada, about the preparation that goes into events of this scale, and what can happen when things go wrong.

With the countdown underway to our next municipal election, NOW news editor Enzo DiMatteo joins Norm to consider the field of potential contenders, the departure of potential progressive candidate Joe Cressy, and whether John Tory is planning to run for a third term as mayor … and what happens if he doesn't. You can read more from Enzo at nowtoronto.com/news .

It's Halloween, so Norm talks to Alexandra West and Andrea Subissati -- narrators of NOW's Haunted Toronto audio tour -- about their Faculty of Horror podcast, which released its 100th episode this month. And then filmmaker Edgar Wright discusses the ghosts that haunt his new movie Last Night in Soho, which opens in theatres today.

Happy Halloween! Faculty Of Horror hosts Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West are your guides to the city's spookiest sites in this audio companion to NOW's Hidden Toronto: Haunted Edition. Best enjoyed after dark.

The Toronto International Festival Of Authors is underway, so Norm checks in with Giller-nominated author Jordan Tannahill on his Humber Master Class about writing for the stage, the conversation he's having with author Christy Ann Conlin about transcendence and the generational conflict that's rolling through Canada's literary community. Then, Norm talks to Denis Villeneuve about how the director's long-awaited adaptation of Dune tries to push back against the colonial subtext of Frank Herbert's novel.

Halloween Kills might be a letdown, but NOW's got you covered as author and Faculty Of Horror co-host Alexandra West joins Norm, Rad and Glenn to trade scary movie recommendations; in the second segment, Norm talks to writer/director Julia Ducournau about her genre-bending festival favourite Titane. Buckle up.

NOW culture editor Radheyan Simonpillai talks to Danis Goulet about the dystopian thriller imagined in her new thriller Night Raiders, and Norm talks to writer/director Andrew Haigh about bringing a queer perspective to the story of a disastrous 18th Century whaling voyage in his television adaptation of The North Water.

NOW culture editor Radheyan Simonpillai and Hollywood Suite's Alicia Fletcher join Norm to talk about whether the new Bond and Sopranos movies are worth the agita of sitting in the dark with 200 strangers, and NOW music editor Richard Trapunski discusses the experience of going back to live shows, and rediscovering a missing part of himself in the process.

It's NOW's fall preview issue, so Norm and culture editor Radheyan Simonpillai talk to Jabbari Weekes, Tichaona Tapambwa and Vanessa Adams about capturing the authentic experience of Black life in Toronto in the second season of their CBC Gem series Next Stop. And political editor Enzo DiMatteo is here to discuss the fallout of Monday's federal election.

With NOW celebrating its 40th anniversary this month, Norm reaches out to co-founder Michael Hollett and former senior entertainment editor, Susan G. Cole, as well as Tim Redmond, former executive editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, to talk about how alt-weeklies changed the face of journalism, and what's coming next. Next, Norm talks to filmmaker Michael Showalter about his new movie, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, in theatres today after a splashy TIFF premiere on Sunday.

The return of the Toronto International Film Festival gives us an excuse to do a movie-themed episode. Norm and Rad talk to Toronto musician and composer TiKa about StereoVisual, the workshop she's launching at TIFF to bring more marginalized and racialized people into the field of film composing; Norm also chats with director Albert Shin and producer Igor Djrlača about the weird relevance of Together, the short film they're bringing to the festival, and then interviews The White Lotus' Sydney Sweeney about how her new Amazon movie The Voyeurs wants to revive the erotic thriller in all its twisty, kinky glory.

Anti-vaxxers are attacking establishments they perceive as hostile to their cause, sometimes virtually and sometimes in person. Chantecler owner Jacob Wharton-Shukster thinks the advent of vaccine passports could defuse the situation, while NDP leader Andrea Horwath is preparing legislation to protect restaurants from increasingly angry protestors.

Norm and Rad tackle two very different culture stories this week, discussing OnlyFans' announcement that it will be banning sexually explicit content -- and its subsequent reversal of that position -- with activists Jenna Hynes and Gwen Adora, and then exploring why Ted Lasso fans are griping about the show's second season with television writer and I Hate It But I Love It co-host Jocelyn Geddie.

Get in, losers, we're going to the polls! Fatima Syed, freelance journalist andhost of The Backbench, tells Norm what the federal election is and isn't saying about Canada's present and future, and Queens Park Briefing's Sneh Duggal discusses how Ontario is dealing with the increasing public demand to make vaccinations mandatory, and whether the province's current position that businesses create their own vaccination policies is sending the right signal when the Progressive Conservatives are dealing with their own anti-vaxx issues.

Ontario's kids can go back to school in September under the province's latest COVID guidelines, but with the Delta variant driving up cases and kids under 12 still not eligible for vaccination, is that really the best idea? NOW political editor Enzo DiMatteo and Jessica Lyons of the Ontario Parent Action Network join Norm to discuss it, followed by Norm's chat with actor Nathan Fillion about how James Gunn recruited him for The Suicide Squad.

Welcome to the soft reboot of NOW What: same host, new weekly schedule! First, writer and journalist JP Larocque joins Norm to discuss the frenzy of missteps, cancellations and apologies that have rolled through the media this week, and then culture editor Radheyan Simonpillai catches up with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan about the second season of her Netflix series Never Have I Ever, and how things have changed for her since season 1.