Lean Out with Tara Henley

This summer on her podcast, Bari Weiss described my guest today as one of the best writers in America . I think she’s right. During the month of December, here at Lean Out, I’m speaking with independent journalists that I admire. And I’m particularly pleased to bring you today’s conversation, with a Substack writer who’s had a big impact on my thinking. Freddie deBoer is an independent journalist...

On the Lean Out podcast this year, we’ve talked a lot about the failings of the mainstream media , and the reasons why the press has lost the public’s trust . But for the month of December, we’ll be focusing on one of the bright spots of the media landscape — and that is the independent press. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be speaking with some of the journalists that I most admire, who are doing...

On the Lean Out podcast, we spend a lot of time delving into the big problems of our age. But one thing we haven’t paid enough attention to is the forces that distract us all from solving these problems. What are the bread and circuses of our time? My guest on the podcast today argues that we are in thrall to shopping — and that this shapes our culture in profound ways. Paul Berton is an award-win...

On the Lean Out podcast, we’ve been talking about the state of the modern male. And today, my guest on the podcast is going to walk us through his landmark study on an invisible crisis afflicting prime working-aged men in America — and that is the collapse of work. Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. His latest book is Men Witho...

There’s a group of people in our society who are in deep trouble. They lag behind in education and employment — and disproportionately die of suicides and overdoses. Who am I talking about? I’m talking about boys and men. My guest on the podcast today says that while this issue has long been taboo, it’s time for a conversation about it, as its impacts are felt all around us. Richard V. Reeves is a...

“I hate it when I find myself agreeing with people with whom I usually disagree.” These are the opening lines of a book written by my guest on the podcast today. She’s a progressive professor, but she now finds herself breaking ranks with the left over which works of literature are acceptable to be read and discussed in America’s classrooms. Deborah Appleman is the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of E...

On the Lean Out podcast, we’ve been diving into pandemic school closures — and trying to get to the bottom of why there was so little debate over this. My guest on the podcast today has some insights to share. She’s a mother of four and an open schools advocate, and she’s been outspoken on the issue from the very start. Jennifer Sey is an American author, former gymnast, filmmaker , and business e...

When schools were closed at the beginning of the pandemic, we did not have a robust public debate. The issue, unfortunately, was politicized — and it has only been recently, with the data now emerging , that a mainstream conversation has been possible. Back in 2020, my guest on the podcast today warned what school closures could mean for children , and particularly for the most vulnerable kids. An...

The Lean Out podcast has just celebrated its 50th episode. So, today, for episode 51, we have a special Canada-themed show for you. We’re going to be hearing from a much-respected Canadian broadcaster who’s written a riveting biography about a much-discussed Canadian politician, former Prime Minister John Turner, Canada’s version of JFK. As we take a trip back in time — hearing about John Turner’s...

It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since #MeToo. The culture has moved on many times since then. But it’s worth returning to the movement, to take stock of what it did, and did not, accomplish — and how it’s influenced the moment we now find ourselves in. My guest on the podcast today does just this in a new piece for The Spectator, “ So much for #MeToo .” Phoebe Maltz Bovy is a Toro...

Washington is known to be a city of secrets. And, for many decades, one of the most dangerous secrets was that of homosexuality. Its spectre haunted the halls of power, and the true stories are only now coming to light. My guest on today’s podcast has written a sweeping history of gay involvement in government. And he has much to say about the past’s lessons for the present moment — for free speec...

The American journalist H. L. Mencken once said that “puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.” This comment resonates now more than ever, with the emergence of a new sanctimonious, humourless movement that targets all of the things that make life most worth living, from sports and comedy to art and food and special occasions. My guest on the podcast today argues that...

We talk a lot on this podcast about the ascendent woke ideology. But there is not yet anything like consensus on what this political movement actually is, what values define it — and, indeed, who advances its agenda.  My guest on the podcast today has tackled these questions in a new book. She argues that woke ideology is an elite phenomenon. That it has breathed new life into old prejudices like...

One of the big debates in journalism right now is over the role of objectivity . Is this an ideal worth upholding — or should we be moving on to other models, like the “moral clarity” ideal recently proposed in the New York Times ? This debate resurfaced last week at a panel discussion hosted by the Columbia Journalism School, “ The Objectivity Wars .” My guest on the program today was on that pan...

Advocates against pandemic school closures have been ringing the alarm for some time. They were all but ignored two years ago. But the tide is now starting to turn, with mainstream media outlets reporting on the impacts of these closures on children . My guest today has been speaking out about these policies since 2020. And he recently published a powerful paper arguing that extended school closur...

With school back in session for the year, it’s a good time to take a look at the lessons that we’re passing on to the next generation of children. Are we giving them the tools that they need to succeed in life? My guest on the program today thinks there’s room for improvement. And his new book takes aim at the “blame the system” and “blame the victim” cultural narratives that he believes impede ki...

The fall is here, and the Lean Out podcast is back — renewed, refreshed, and ready to dive in on the debates of the day. There’s no better way to kick off the season than with our brilliant guest today, who’s been ringing the alarm on pessimism about the West. He grew up in the Soviet Union under communism, and moved to the UK in his youth, forging successful careers as a translator, a comedian, a...

With summer winding down and the Lean Out podcast about to go on hiatus for several weeks, I wanted to leave you all with a really compelling story — a story of one of Canada’s most famous journalists, an investigative reporter and war correspondent who cared deeply about the truth. This is also the story of that reporter’s son and his quest to understand his father, a quest that took him around t...

“Workers across the developed world have been moving away from traditional working-class parties, while the left has shed most of its connections to anyone outside the email economy, and working-class concerns increasingly meet with progressive resentment and hostility…” These are the opening lines of a recent piece from my guest on today’s podcast, titled “ The New Workers’ Movement” and publishe...

In recent years, Canada — like the United States — has been engaged in a national conversation on race. But my guests on today’s program say that that conversation does not always acknowledge the diversity of opinion within communities of colour. Particularly when it comes to critical race theory.  Jamil Jivani is a lawyer, an author and a columnist at the National Post. He’s also a senior fellow...

If you follow my Substack, you know that over the past six months I have frequently covered the vaccine mandates in Canada . I’ve been raising questions about the scientific rationale for these mandates — and this week we got some answers. My guest on today’s podcast published new reporting at Bari Weiss’s Substack, Common Sense , in a piece titled “ Court Documents Reveal Canada’s Travel Ban Had...

In 2008, at the age of 44, my guest on today’s program left Yale University, where he taught English, and became a full-time writer. In the years since leaving academia, he’s amassed an impressive body of work — much of it challenging the status quo. I knew I had to talk to him when I read his recent essay in UnHerd, “ Escaping American tribalism ,” about his defection from the progressive left. W...

When Dave Chappelle’s recent show at First Avenue in Minneapolis was cancelled amid protests , it reignited the debate around cancel culture, with all of the old arguments resurfacing once again. So the timing could not have been better for my guests on today’s podcast, who published a comprehensive essay that same week on Substack, titled “ Cancel Culture: It’s real and on the rise, on the left a...

Since the sexual revolution, women’s lives have undergone dramatic changes. The dominant narrative is that liberal feminism has freed women in profound ways. So why does data show that women’s happiness has actually declined? My guest on the podcast today argues that the sexual revolution has, in fact, failed women. Louise Perry is a British writer and activist. She’s a columnist at The New States...

For many journalists, it’s a point of pride to consume as much media as possible, as much of the time as possible. We think this makes us informed, better at our jobs. So it caused a stir last week when American journalist Amanda Ripley admitted, in The Washington Post no less, that she’s been avoiding the news for years — like an increasing number of Americans , and Canadians . And, it turns out,...