Lean Out with Tara Henley

Many women in Generation X are now finding themselves overwhelmed. The world is increasingly stressful. But our private lives are not much calmer, as we care for children and aging parents and spouses, stare down middle age, and mull over the legacy of previous generations of women. Our guest on the program today knows something about this — she grappled with all of these things, all at once, during one truly terrible year.Molly Jong-Fast is an American writer and political commentator. She’s a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and the host of the podcast Fast Politics. Her latest book is How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

It’s budget day here in Canada. As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government tables its first federal budget, we will get reaction and hear a lot of different visions for the country. On today’s episode we wanted to bring you one. Our guest on the program says that Canada is in crisis — and that it is now time for "bold adventurism."Daniel Debow is a Canadian executive, investor, and educator. He is the chair of the board for Build Canada.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

One of the themes of the Lean Out podcast is the many crises that Canada is facing —and where we go from here. Our guest on the program today warns that we are at a breaking point, and in desperate need of a national reckoning. As we face threats from without, he says, we are divided from within, along the lines of gender, class, region, and, crucially, generation.Darrell Bricker is the CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs and a previous director of public opinion research in the Prime Minister’s Office. His latest book, out this week — written with veteran journalist John Ibbitson — is Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Before the Internet, before the literary world was overrun by online politics, before everything you read — and wrote — had to advance an agenda, there was the solitary person, in a room, losing themselves in the words on the page. There was the fan. Our guest on the program today has written a book of essays on fandom and his own obsessions. In the process, he confronts the big cultural forces of our age.Jason Guriel is a Toronto writer. His latest book is Fan Mail: A Guide to What We Love, Loathe, and Mourn.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Many of us that are big readers have been scratching our heads for years, trying to figure out why so many books are now so tedious and moralistic. What’s happened to North American literary culture — and why hasn’t it bounced back? Our guest on the program today has some answers. He’s written a book about the decline of literary freedom in publishing, and a dynamic that he describes as “a circular firing squad.”Adam Szetela is an American author. His new outing is That Book is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

If you live in North America, chances are good that you spend a lot of time wondering why things feel so dysfunctional. Why can’t we make any progress on the big issues of our age, like housing? Our guest on the program today has some answers — and he has written a fascinating new book about why nothing works.Marc J. Dunkelman is an American author and former political staffer. He’s a fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs. His latest book is Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress — and How to Bring It Back.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

In recent years, we have seen heated debate in this country around the CBC and its future. With the question of defunding no longer looming, it is a good time to pause, to look back at where our national public broadcaster has been, and to talk through where it might go from here. Our guest on today’s program is veteran CBC producer who has written an insightful and well-researched new book about the institution — and where he thinks it went wrong.David Cayley is a Canadian author and broadcaster. For thirty years, he made documentaries for the CBC Radio show Ideas. His latest book is The CBC: How Canada’s Public Broadcaster Lost Its Voice (And How to Get It Back).You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Today, as we go to air, our guest on the program takes the stage at Toronto Metropolitan University to address the next generation. He is a legendary Canadian journalist and he’ll be reflecting on the highs and lows that he’s experienced in his ringside seat to history, and how to navigate what he calls “the spinning vortex of ever-more complex news” — all of which he covers in his riveting new memoir.Brian Stewart is a former foreign correspondent for the CBC. His new book is On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Earlier this year at Lean Out, we covered Canada’s federal election. It was a contest not just between candidates and parties but between dominant narratives about the challenges facing this country. Was our biggest problem the decline in material conditions, or was it Donald Trump? Our guest on today’s podcast was there, on the campaign trail. He’s just written a book about why this election was one of the most consequential in recent memory.Justin Ling is a Canadian journalist and author. His Substack newsletter is Bug-eyed and Shameless, and his new book is The 51st State Votes: Canada Versus Donald Trump.This episode was taped earlier this month.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

In 2021, Canada was rocked by a discovery at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops: what appeared to be the remains of more than 200 Indigenous children. The story went viral globally and was reported by The New York Times and others as a mass grave. But to date, no remains have been exhumed. Our guest on the program today is a First Nation chief and a podcaster who has made a new, hour-long video breaking down the controversy. He says it’s time for the media to grapple with its reporting errors — and the fallout for the country.Aaron Pete is Chief of the Chawathil First Nation, and host of the Nuanced podcast, formerly called Bigger Than Me. He’s also a guest host of this show.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com