Lean Out with Tara Henley

The activist left in America has been very visible in recent years, often dominating the public conversation online and in prominent institutions. But our guest on today’s program says that the modern left is curious in that it is “largely leaderless” — that no one in particular is “speaking directly for it, or to it” — making this “a singular moment” in the country’s history.

Ross Barkan is an American journalist, novelist, and Substacker, and a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. His recent piece for that magazine is, “The Activist Left Doesn’t Want a Hero. But Does it Need One?”  

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

This week saw the arrest of an armed man in Florida, in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump — the second in roughly two months. Our guest on the program today is a reporter who’s been covering the rise of political extremism in America for The Washington Post. In this episode, which was taped in late August, she shares the insights she gained reporting on a man who went to prison for uttering threats against Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.    

Ruby Cramer is a national political enterprise reporter at The Washington Post.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

The social and economic crises that we are experiencing in Canada are frequent topics of conversation in this country, with many Canadians expressing the belief that we have seen a decline in quality of life. Our guest on the program this week is a former foreign policy advisor to Justin Trudeau’s government — but today he’s on the show to talk domestic policy, and what he sees as “a betrayal of the Canadian dream.”

Omer Aziz is a former Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a contributing writer to The Boston Globe. He’s also the author of Brown Boy: A Memoir. His recent essay for The Globe and Mail is titled, “The Canadian dream is on life support.”

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

One of the big stories of this summer was immigration. Canada has had a decades-long, bipartisan, pro-immigration consensus — but in recent months, that has collapsed. And one of the most contentious parts of our system is now the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which was deregulated during 2022 in the midst of pandemic labour shortages. Our guest on the program today was just in Halifax at the Prime Minister’s cabinet retreat, making the case that the low-wage, non-agriculture stream of this program should be “entirely abolished.”

Mike Moffatt is a Canadian economist. He’s Senior Director of the Smart Prosperity Institute, and the co-host of The Missing Middle podcast.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

The news cycle is currently dominated by the American presidential election — but there’s also a lot going on here in Canada. Our guest on the program today is a veteran journalist and the publisher of a reporter-owned and operated outlet in Ottawa. As you’ll hear, there’s been no shortage of consequential stories this summer. Tara is away this week, but she asked podcaster Aaron Pete to bring you this interview with Holly Doan, the publisher of Blacklock’s Reporter.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

One of the bright spots in the Canadian media landscape is the emergence of a new generation of digital creators, who are filling the gaps in coverage in innovative ways. My guest on the program today is at the forefront of this movement, helming a thoughtful, nuanced current affairs podcast out of British Columbia. He will be guest hosting this podcast next week, and I’m thrilled to get to introduce him to you today.

Aaron Pete is a Councillor for the Chawathil First Nation, and the host of the Bigger Than Me podcast.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

With J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate, the economic populism that’s ascendent in the Republican Party is in the spotlight. To understand this set of policy concerns, there is no better person to speak to than my guest on today’s program, who has been influential in driving this agenda — and in challenging the economic orthodoxy on the right.

Oren Cass is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, and the author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

J.D. Vance was once a liberal media darling. But in recent weeks, since Donald Trump selected him as his running mate, the Ohio senator has been the subject of almost wall-to-wall negative coverage — in both the liberal press, and on left-leaning social media. But our guest on today’s program says that Vance is a complex figure, and one we should take a closer look at.

Zaid Jilani is the freelance American journalist behind the Substack newsletter The American Saga. His recent essay for Compact Magazine is “Why the Left Gets J.D. Vance Wrong.”

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

Given the state of our politics right now, it is easy to feel hopeless. But our guest on this week’s program says things are not as bleak as they seem, that people want to heal our deep societal divisions, and that the answer to bridging these divides lies in rebuilding civic life — one conversation at a time.

John Wood, Jr. is a former nominee for congress, a columnist for USA Today, and a national ambassador for Braver Angels. Its new campaign is called American Hope.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com

America is in the grips of polarization, and the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump has underlined the potential for an escalation in political violence. It has never been more important for the media to complicate dominant narratives and resist oversimplification. Today, a journalist I admire returns to the program to model what that looks like in practice, bringing us a nuanced story about tensions within the conservative movement over school vouchers.

Alec MacGillis is an award-winning American journalist, and a reporter for ProPublica. He’s also the author of Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com