The Richard Crouse Show

Guests: Amanda Parris,  Al Val and Linden MacIntyre.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show our first guest today comes from a musical family. Martha Wainwright is daughter of folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle. Her older brother is Rufus Wainwright… but she has made her own mark with a series of critically acclaimed albums. Her latest is “Love Will Be Reborn,” a record that appears to cover the period of time where Wainwright divorced her husband after about a decade of marriage. “Love Will Be Reborn” was recorded in Wainwright’s hometown of Montreal, in the basement of her cafe, Ursa which also served as a studio. Martha joins us via Zoom from Ursa in Mile End in Montreal. Then we meet Nicole Dorsey, the director and screenwriter of “Black Conflux,” a film now on VOD after a very successful theatrical run. “The Globe and Mail” praised the story of the lives of a disillusioned teen and an alienated man that converge in 1980s Newfoundland for its “atmosphere of dread and depiction of rural life as a hotbed of sexual fantasies and violence.” Stick around, there’s lots to talk about on that one. Finally, Marvel’s latest superhero stops by. He’s Canadian, you already know him from starring on “Kim’s Convenience,” but very soon he’ll be best known for playing the title character in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” He’s Marvel’s first Asian superhero, his name is Simu Liu and here joins us today.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we get to know best-selling author Guy Vanderhaeghe. His previous fiction includes the award winning "A Good Man," "The Last Crossing," "The Englishman’s Boy." He is a three -time Governor General’s Award winner. He has the Writers’ Trust Timothy Findley Award, and the Harbourfront Literary Prize. He has received many other honours including the Order of Canada. His first novel in nearly a decade is "August Into Winter" is an epic story of crime and retribution, of war and its long shadow, and of the redemptive possibilities of love. Guy Vanderhaeghe joined me via Zoom from Saskatchewan Then comedian and actor Shaun Majumder joins me to talk about his new CBC television show "Race Against the Tide." On the show 10 teams of two world-class, highly skilled sand sculptors compete to create extraordinary works of art made entirely out of sand while avoiding elimination. Not only are these best-in-show duos competing against each other, they are competing against, as the press release says, “Mother Nature’s unstoppable ticking clock and the world’s highest tide at New Brunswick's iconic and beautiful Bay of Fundy.”

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast I want to tell you about a new short film called Death Doula co-directed by my guests CBC radio and television host Amanda Parris and Lucius Dechausay DE SHAW SAY. It’s the story of a dystopian near-future where our date of death is predicted by an app… but there’s a twist. The death doula, who helps people cope with their deaths, is then tasked with aiding his first love as she nears her final day. It’s an interesting piece of speculative fiction and will be available as part of the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, which this year is available on line across the country via Video-On-Demand screenings on CaribbeanTales-TV. Then we’ll also meet Al Val, a queer comedian, actor, writer and musician who was recently featured on CBC Gem's The New Wave Of Standup and will be seen as part of the all-new season of The Stand-Up Show With Jon Dore. Later in the show we’ll meet Linden MacIntyre. The award-winning former co-host of the investigative news program the fifth estate. He’s also a Giller Prize winning best-selling author with a new novel called the Winter Wives in stores now. It’s a new psychological drama that weaves threads of crime, disability and dementia together into a tale of unrequited love and delusion.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet New York Times bestselling author Joy Fielding, author of twenty-nine novels, including acclaimed books like Someone Is Watching, Now You See Her and Still Life. In her most recent psychological thriller, “Cul-de-Sac,” a shooting lays bare the secrets harbored by five families in a sleepy suburban cul-de-sac. Then, English actress, filmmaker, and former pop star Billie Piper, joins me via Zoom from London to talk about her challenging new movie Rare Beasts. Finally, Rebecca Silver Slayter swings by to talk about her new novel, The Second History, a post-apocalyptic love story about a young couple embarking on a journey to understand, for the first time, what they’ve been hiding from all their lives.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast. Do you like to scroll through twitter looking for laughs? If so, I’m sure you already know about my guest today. The Toronto Sun called him Canada’s Funniest Comic recently… and his videos, parody songs and commentary frequently grab hundreds of thousands of likes and views on Twitter. On-line he is known as @Brittlestar but in life his pals call him Stewart Reynolds. In this conversation we talk about his new brand of booze… that’s how you know when you’ve made it… it’s called Sex and Gold Butter Tart Flavoured Vodka. You’ll find out why it’s called that and much, much. Then, singer, actor and all round nice person Shelley Hamilton joins me to talk about her new music, making music videos during COVID and her new habit of writing at least one letter a week to a friend or stranger, a process she details in her new podcast “Mother Love.”

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Jena Malone. She is a Golden Globe nominated actress known for her roles in “The Hunger Games” franchise and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” She returns to theatres and VOD in the critically acclaimed film “Lorelei.” The gritty story of a man released from prison after 15 years who reunites with his high school girlfriend, who is now a single mother of three, has been called a “moving character study” and that contains some of Jena Malone’s best work. We’ll also meet author and a journalist Omar El Akkad. His novel “American War” was an international best seller that has been translated into thirteen languages. He returns to the best seller charts with “What Strange Paradise,” a new book that looks at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child. Finally we chat with Spinmaster President, Jennifer Dodge. She's the producer of “Paw Patrol: The Movie” and has been a part of the Paw brand since the beginning.

Logan Ury - Director of Relationship Science at Hinge, author of How to Not Die Alone, and previously ran Google’s behavioural science team.  "Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, and if you were driving around on this day in 1981, you’d very likely hear it on the radio. It was the number one song on the charts this day in 1981. ThrowBack Thursday - We’re looking back at a royal wedding that was viewed by hundreds of millions of people around the world! Charles and Diana. Later in the show we are joined by Victoria Arbiter - Royal Commentator 

On this week's Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Tracey Deer, director of "Beans," which opens in theatres in July 23, joins me to talk about how the Oka Crisis in 1990 affected her life and eventually became the basis for her new movie. Then, comedian Alonzo Bodden has been making audiences around North America laugh for more than 20 years. He’s a winner of the reality show Last Comic Standing, the podcast host of Who’s Paying Attention? (part of All Things Comedy), and a television host who recently released his fifth comedy CD titled Man Overboard… he’s had specials and is a regular at the Just for Laughs festival, and he returns to JFL this year, virtually from Los Angeles.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show director Johnny Sweet joins us from Queens, New York. Johnny is a filmmaker and director who watched his industry come to a halt in the early days of the pandemic, and then turned his eye to another industry… the bar business. His new film asks a question… What happens if the entire bar industry in New York City is laid off in a single day? His film “Last Call : The Shutdown of NYC Bars” explores the social and economic impact of COVID-19 on the NYC hospitality industry. Then, we meet M. Leona Godin, author of “There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness.” Godin—who began losing her vision at age ten—illuminates the often-surprising history of both the condition of blindness and the myths and ideas that have grown up around it over the course of generations. She combines an analysis of blindness in art and culture with a study of the science of blindness and key developments in accessibility to paint a vivid personal and cultural history. Finally, we’ll meet Eric Bauza. He is a Canadian voice actor, who is just the seventh person ever to voice Bugs Bunny on screen. You’ll soon be able to hear him do Daffy Duck, and many other voices in “Space Jam: A New Legacy” which comes to theatres soon! We’ll catch up with him and find out how Mr. DressUp out him on the road to working with the Looney Tunes!