Lean Out with Tara Henley

One of the big stories in the Canadian federal election so far has been the collapse of support for the NDP. New polling from Ipsos shows support for the party continuing to decline. My guest on today’s program is a former labour representative — and he has some thoughts on where the traditional party of working people has gone wrong. Brian Dijkema is the president of Cardus Canada, a public polic...

As election season builds steam, here at Lean Out we are focused on the question of why daily life in Canada has become so expensive and so dysfunctional. My guest on today’s program has some insights to share with us. He recently wrote a well-researched book on the federal government’s corporate subsidies — which, he says, “exploded in magnitude” under Justin Trudeau. Laurent Carbonneau works in...

With the Canadian federal election now underway, we’re going to have a lot of political content for you in coming weeks. But today, we wanted to change things up a bit and bring you a lighter story about books — and how hard it is these days to find bookstores that stock a range of different perspectives. My guest on today’s program argues that booksellers are locked in a moral contract with their...

After much speculation, Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap spring election, and Canadians will be heading to the polls on April 28. To kick off Lean Out’s special election coverage, I bring you a conversation with a veteran Canadian journalist about the unusual moment the country is in — and why, in his view, the current disconnect between the federal government and voters is a once in a...

In the wake of President Trump’s executive order on DEI , debates in America have renewed a conversation around DEI in this country. And while the baseline value of greater inclusion is one that many of us share, some DEI programs have proven controversial. My guest on today’s program is the author of a recent report that dives into DEI practices in Canadian federal granting agencies — and asks if...

With Mark Carney in his first week in office as Canada’s new Prime Minister, the Justin Trudeau era is quickly fading in the rearview mirror. But before we move on, it’s important to take stock of what went on in this country during Trudeau’s tenure. My guest on today’s program says it is time for a national conversation about Trudeau’s legacy. And, in his words, “it’s not flattering.” Andrew Pott...

Regular listeners of the show will recognize the name Aaron Pete . He’s a talented young broadcaster from B.C. who has guest hosted Lean Out from time to time . Last month Aaron invited me on his show, the Bigger Than Me podcast , to discuss some of the hot-button issues from the past few years, and how the Canadian media has handled them. I enjoyed our conversation so much that I’m going to share...

On Monday night, American legislation to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports in schools was blocked in the Senate . The topic was a sleeper issue in the American election — with polling showing public support for sports participation based on biological sex. Today on the program, in an episode recorded ahead of the Senate vote, we ask why some feminists have backed Trump, in co...

One of the themes of the Lean Out podcast is the breakdown of trust between men and women. For a marker of this rupture, we need only look to declining marriage rates. My guest on today’s program has penned a new book about the institution of marriage, making the case that we should reconsider its benefits — not just for individual health and happiness, but for overall societal good. Andrea Mrozek...

This week, I’m changing things up, here at Lean Out. I am pleased to be able to bring you an episode of my new media criticism podcast with The Hub . My co-hosts are Harrison Lowman, managing editor of The Hub, and Peter Menzies , a former newspaper executive. On this show, we discuss an interview with the new president of the CBC , the use of anonymous sources in Canadian media — and why some wom...

Negotiations over border security and the Trump administration’s tariffs have once again highlighted the opioid crisis that’s taking so many lives on both sides of the border. Today on the program, we’re going to leave behind the political and instead focus on the personal. My guest is a beloved Canadian sportscaster who lost his son to an overdose — and who has managed to transform his family’s p...

It’s been a whirlwind news cycle here in Canada, in the wake of President Donald Trump imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods . Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now announced that these tariffs are on hold for 30 days, as Canada implements its 1.3-billion-dollar border strategy, aimed at stopping the flow of fentanyl. The American tariffs have come as a surprise for many in this country. B...

The Liberal leadership race is heating up, and former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland has now thrown her hat in the ring. Freeland is a powerful figure in Canadian politics, a former journalist who went on to become one of the Prime Minister’s most loyal cabinet members — until her surprise resignation in December. Today on the program, as Freeland campaigns to win the...

This week on the Lean Out podcast, we continue our coverage of a chaotic time in Canadian politics. As many of you know, in the wake of Justin Trudeau’s resignation , the Prime Minister asked our Governor General to prorogue Parliament until March 24, as the Liberal Party conducts its leadership race. This move has sparked a legal challenge , and over the weekend a judge agreed to expediate the co...

If you follow Canadian politics — and even if you don’t — you probably know that we are in a historic moment in this country. Just over a week ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would be resigning as leader of the Liberal Party and intended to step down as prime minister as soon as a new leader was in place. Our Parliament is now prorogued until March 24, at a time of heightened...

Lean Out is back from our holiday break, and we are resuming our interview series on the challenges facing modern men. My guest on the program today is someone I’ve been wanting to speak to for some time. He’s a former martial arts fighter who has spoken to tens of thousands of men — and he has some insights to share on how to forge healthier ideals for masculinity. Richie Hardcore is a retired Mu...

New Year’s Day is often a day of quiet contemplation. A day to take stock of our lives, to review the past year and to look toward the one to come. As we settle in with our coffees, I wanted to bring you an encore presentation of one most powerful interviews of the year — with a war reporter who spent his adult life on the frontlines, until one day the frontlines came for him. Today on the program...

No podcast series on the challenges facing modern men is complete without hearing from my guest on today’s program. He’s a policy scholar who has been ringing the alarm on the social, economic, and health crises facing men for years now — so much so that he recently founded a national research organization dedicated to tackling these issues. Today on Lean Out, we’re pleased to bring you an encore...

This week at Lean Out, we continue our podcast series on the challenges facing modern men, from declining educational achievement to rising suicides and overdoses. We’re happy to bring you an encore presentation of an interview from 2022, with a political economist who says prime, working age men in America are facing Great Depression-era levels of joblessness. The collapse of work — today on Lean...

Today at Lean Out, we continue our series on the challenges facing modern men. My guest on the program has done pioneering work on the increasing gender gap in American society and politics. He’s thought a lot about the dangers of men and women growing apart — and about how we might come together. Daniel Cox is director of the Survey Center on American Life . He is also a senior fellow in polling...

The American election highlighted ongoing tensions between men and women — but election commentary often failed to acknowledge the crises that modern men are facing, from declining educational achievement and employment to increased suicides, overdoses, and loneliness. Today at Lean Out, we kick off a series exploring these issues, with a guest who’s recently published a powerful essay highlightin...

With Donald Trump winning the presidency, the popular vote, the Senate, and the House, in what The New York Times has described as a “crushing electoral rebuke” of the Democrats, there is a lot of soul-searching going on in the party. My guest on the program today tried to warn the Democrats in his previous book . He says the progressive moment in American politics is now over — and the Democrats...

In 2016, the election of Donald Trump took the mainstream media by surprise, with many in the press struggling to understand his rise to power and the factors driving it. Now, in the wake of Donald Trump’s decisive win, here we are again. My guest on today’s program suspected we might be missing the story, and just days before the election, published a brilliant podcast episode unpacking the comeb...

Since last week’s election win for Donald Trump, we are seeing a renewed sense of scorn for Republican voters in parts of the mainstream media. The Guardian’s Rebecca Solnit, for example, writes in her column that “our mistake was to think we lived in a better country than we do.” My guest on today’s program doesn’t see it that way. She’s a lefty Democrat who moved from Park Slope, Brooklyn, to Tr...

If you’re living in Canada and you have a cell phone plan, or a bank account, or have taken a flight recently, or struggle to afford groceries, you already know how expensive and dysfunctional the country has gotten for consumers. My guests on the podcast today have written a book about the rise of corporate monopolies (and duopolies and oligopolies) — and, as they write, this market concentration...