Lean Out with Tara Henley

As regular readers of this Substack will know, this spring Tara has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada. You can read it here. The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. To mark the occasion, we are presenting a series of encore interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation, which originally aired in January of 2024.Michael Powell is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a former reporter at The New York Times, where he covered free speech, college campuses, and identity politics.  He’s also the author of Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

As regular readers of Tara's Substack will know, this spring she has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada, where it’s published.The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. Leading up to its publication next week, we will be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation, which originally aired in December of 2022. Freddie deBoer is an American journalist. His latest book is How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

As regular readers of Tara's Substack will know, this spring she has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada, where it’s published.The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. Leading up to its publication next week, we will be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation, which originally aired in July of 2023.Peter Menzies is a former newspaper executive and a former vice chair of the CRTC, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. He’s now a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a frequent commentator on the Canadian media.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

As regular readers of Tara's Substack will know, this spring she has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada, where it’s published.The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. Leading up to its publication next week, we will be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation, which originally aired in March of 2023. Steve Krakauer is the executive producer of The Megyn Kelly Show and the host of The Fourth Watch podcast. His recent book is Uncovered: How the Media Got Cozy with Power, Abandoned Its Principles, and Lost the People.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

As regular readers of Tara's Substack will know, this spring she has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada, where it’s published.The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. Leading up to its publication next week, we will be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation (which originally aired in September of 2022.)David Greenberg is a professor of history and of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. In 2022, he published a longform piece titled “The War on Objectivity in American Journalism” in the Liberties journal.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

As regular readers of Tara's Substack will know, this spring Tara has been writing the Massey Essay on the state of the media — a partnership between Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Literary Review of Canada, where it’s published. The annual essay honours the legacy of the long-time CBC producer Vincent Massey Tovell. This year’s essay explores the collapse of public trust in the media. Leading up to its publication next week, we will be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape Tara's thinking for this essay. Starting with today’s conversation — one of Lean Out’s most popular episodes on the Canadian media (which originally aired in July of 2023). Jen Gerson is a Calgary journalist, and co-founder of the Canadian outlet The Line. You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Guest Tim Carney discusses the crisis in family formation in the West due to cultural influences. Topics include declining marriage rates, low birth rates, rising childhood anxiety, impact of workism on modern society, and the need for family-friendly feminism and workplace support for family priorities.

On the Lean Out podcast, we’ve spent much of the past year investigating the collapse of the news media and the decline in public trust. Tara's guest this week argues that the industry is at a crossroads, but media bosses are unwilling to meet the moment, and seem determined to continue on the same trajectory — even if it means the death of their institutions.Ryan Zickgraf is an American journalist and a columnist at Compact Magazine. His new essay is “Journalism’s Slow Death Threatens Democracy.”You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

In March of 2020, much of the world was in lockdown. The unprecedented pandemic response closed schools, shuttered businesses, and paused public events. My guest on today’s program says it is time to evaluate the measures that were taken and consider whether the harms outweighed the benefits. The UK charity that he leads research for has now launched working groups to examine Covid policies in a number of different countries. Including his own, Canada.Kevin Bardosh is director and head of research at Collateral Global, and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

When it comes to race relations, many of us were raised with the ethos expressed in the famed Martin Luther King Jr. quote calling on society to judge people by the content of their character instead of the colour of their skin. Western society has moved away from that ideal — and my guest on today’s program says it’s time we get back to it.Coleman Hughes is an American writer, commentator, and podcaster, and an analyst for CNN. His new book is The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America.You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com