On the Saturday August 9, 2025 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Giles Blunt, the author of the John Cardinal novels, which were the inspiration for the popular crime television series “Cardinal” starring Billy Campbell as police detective John Cardinal.
Twice nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award, his novels have been compared to the work of Ian Rankin and Cormac McCarthy.
Today we talk about his latest novel, a period piece called “Bad Juliet.” Set at a tuberculosis sanitarium in the Adirondacks, it’s a riveting story of a young tutor falls in love with a mysterious woman who survived the Lusitania disaster.
Then, we’ll meet Kiesza, a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known for her genre-defying blend of dance, pop, and folk influences. Her latest album, “Dancing And Crying: Vol. 2,” follows the huge success of the single “I Go Dance” which soared to #1 on the US Dance Airplay Chart in 2024. We talk abvout her music and the long road to recovery after being hit by a car 8 years ago.
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
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On the August 16, 2020 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Kiesza, a singer, songwriter and pop star with a fascinating story of resilience. From the reserves of the Royal Canadian Navy to writing songs for people like Rihanna to her single “Hideaway” debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart to collaborating with everyone from Duran Duran to Pitbull and Diplo she is a bona fide pop princess. Then, in 2017 she suffered life altering injuries when a taxi t-boned the car she was riding in. Her recovery from a traumatic brain injury was slow and involved staying in a darkened room for six months but she is back with a new album, a new self-run record label and a new outlook.
Then… In a career that spans five decades Chaka Khan has sold an estimated 70 million records, collaborated with everyone from Ry Cooder and Robert Palmer to Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, from Chicago to De la Soul and Mary J. Blige. She’s a musician, singer and songwriter with a shelfful of Grammys. I first saw her, with the band Rufus, on Soul Train singing their mega hit Tell Me Something Good. I became an instant fan and have remained so all these years later.
I had the chance to speak with the music legend via Zoom to talk about her role as the voice of Henrietta the Chicken in the new Disney+ film The One and Only Ivan.
And finally…I speak to Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, the stars of “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.” For more than twenty years Kenny and Fagerbakke have voiced two of pop culture’s favorite animated characters, SpongeBob SquarePants and his pal Patrick Star. In the new film, playing in theatres in Canada, SpongeBob and Patrick go on a rescue mission to save SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary, who has been “snailnapped” by King Poseidon. In this interview e talk about the new movie, the popularity of SpongeBob memes and why these characters have endured for more than two decades.
Check out episode thirty-two of Richard’s web series, “In Isolation With…” It’s the talk show where we make a connection without actually making contact! Today, broadcasting directly from Isolation Studios (a.k.a. my home office) we meet Kiesza, a singer, songwriter and pop star with a fascinating story of resilience. From the reserves of the Royal Canadian Navy to writing songs for people like Rihanna to her single “Hideaway” debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart to collaborating with everyone from Duran Duran to Pitbull and Diplo she is a bona fide pop princess. Then, in 2017 she suffered life altering injuries when a taxi t-boned the car she was riding in.
Her recovery from a traumatic brain injury was slow and involved staying in a darkened room for six months but she is back with a new album, a new self-run record label and a new outlook.
In this interview we talk about coming back from accident-induced medical issues, the new album Crave, her new way of looking at things and, as if that wasn’t enough, she even plays a song that sums up her headspace these days.
“Jumping ahead to the Navy,” she says in the interview, “Music is what got me through polishing my boots, polishing my gun, these long marches that we had to do for, you know, however many miles. We got through it by singing together and chanting together. Music is what got us from point A to point B, and I just realized the power of music. Eventually when I started sailing tall ships and was a crew member and obviously I wasn’t hired as a lullabiest on a tall ship but people had trouble sleeping at nights when storms hit and pots and pans are flying around in the cupboards. I ended up singing people to sleep, almost every night, and they’d go right to sleep. You know nothing changed. The storm didn’t change the pots and pans continued. But just by bringing out a guitar singing them a few lullabies, it was enough. And then I realized that music is this powerful thing that has the ability to change the state of the mind that a person is in.”
NOTE: The language in this interview will not be suitable for all audiences. NSFW!
On an encore presentation of “Pop Life” Shania Twain, “Queen of Country Pop,” opens up about going back to Las Vegas and her crippling battle with stage fright. Then the “Pop Life” panel “Hideaway” hitmaker Kiesza, entertainer, voice and performance coach Carolyn Thompson and opera singer Ambur Braid, talk about how to overcome stage fright in everyday life.
“While all of this, what people call trailblazing and icon building and all that, was was happening I definitely had no idea. I was not focused, or aware of any of that element of what Shania meant to other people, what the music meant to other people. I was just doing it. I think when you’re really busy doing it you’re not thinking about how important you are or, or anything like that. It wasn’t really until I came back that I realized how important I am,” Shania says with a laugh.
Watch this epipsode or any show you might have missed HERE!
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
On the second episode of season five of “Pop Life” Shania Twain, “Queen of Country Pop,” opens up about going back to Las Vegas and her crippling battle with stage fright. Then the “Pop Life” panel “Hideaway” hitmaker Kiesza, entertainer, voice and performance coach Carolyn Thompson and opera singer Ambur Braid, talk about how to overcome stage fright in everyday life.
“While all of this, what people call trailblazing and icon building and all that, was was happening I definitely had no idea. I was not focused, or aware of any of that element of what Shania meant to other people, what the music meant to other people. I was just doing it. I think when you’re really busy doing it you’re not thinking about how important you are or, or anything like that. It wasn’t really until I came back that I realized how important I am,” Shania says with a laugh.
Watch this epipsode or any show you might have missed HERE!
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
On the second episode of season 5 the “Pop Life” panel, “Hideaway” hitmaker Kiesza, entertainer, voice and performance coach Carolyn Thompson and opera singer Ambur Braid, talk about how to overcome stage fright in everyday life.
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
On the Saturday August 9, 2025 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Giles Blunt, the author of the John Cardinal novels, which were the inspiration for the popular crime television series “Cardinal” starring Billy Campbell as police detective John Cardinal.
