Lean Out with Tara Henley

As we all think through the class tensions that have surfaced in Canada, it’s a good time to take a closer look at an ethos held by many of those shaping the dialogue. This group of decision-makers and opinion-shapers, which includes the media, is often referred to in leftist circles as the professional managerial class. Catherine Liu, professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Irvine, has recently published a fierce and funny polemic on the PMC, titled Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class. In her conversation with Tara, Liu touches on everything from mommy bloggers to land acknowledgements — and argues that we must insist on viewing society’s struggles through an economic lens.

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

This week — as our culture finds itself embroiled in numerous debates around speech — Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama has published a brilliant new book that provides a historical perspective. Jacob is the founder and executive director of Justitia, a human-rights think tank based in Copenhagen. Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media is a deeply-researched, engaging, and humane title that grew out of Clear and Present Danger, Jacob’s podcast project on the global history of free speech. Here, in his wide-ranging discussion with Tara, Jacob touches on everything from Athenian democracy to Orwell and Mandela — and makes the case that censorship is not a good solution to the societal tensions we are living through.

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

It’s been called a pandemic within a pandemic. On today's episode of Lean Out, we dive into the opioid crisis in North America - and why it's underreported. Journalist Travis Lupick joins Tara to discuss his new book, “Light Up the Night: America’s Overdose Crisis and the Drug Users Fighting for Survival,” which tells the story of two women, both drug activists who’ve made a huge mark. 

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

Today on a special bonus episode of Lean Out, Tara speaks with lawyer, author, and broadcaster Jamil Jivani - who goes public about his recent firing from his radio show, and talks about why he thinks diversity of thought is such an important principle in media.

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

If you’ve noticed during the pandemic that you have brain fog, that you can’t read, or concentrate, you are not alone. Many people are struggling with this loss of focus – and Tara's guest on the podcast today says that’s been years in the making. He argues that our attention did not just collapse – that it was stolen from us – and that this development has major implications for society. New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari is here to talk about his new title, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again. In it, Hari outlines twelve forces that have reduced our ability to focus – and many of them will surprise you. 

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

The lab leak theory has been in the news again, following Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform releasing a letter with more details on a February 1, 2020 call between Anthony Fauci, Francis Collins and expert scientists, discussing the pandemic’s possible origin. It’s a story that Toronto’s Elaine Dewar has been following for some time. The investigative journalist wrote a book on the topic during the city’s endless months of lockdown, following the trail through news reports, medical papers and government documents — and detailing alarming details about connections between the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg and Chinese military scientists. Elaine Dewar’s book, On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation is a riveting read, and the subject of our conversation on this week’s episode of the podcast.

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

Free speech is not particularly fashionable these days. Indeed, this summer NPR’s On the Media dedicated an entire episode to the topic without interviewing a single defender of free speech. With free speech skepticism on the rise, the new book Free Speech And Why It Matters could not be more timely, or more important. British comic Andrew Doyle initially found fame with his hilarious social justice warrior Twitter parody, Titania McGrath. But he’s since become known as a crusader for free speech and the host of Free Speech Nation. In this conversation, Andrew Doyle walks through key arguments in favour of free speech and makes the case that the erosion of speech rights we’ve witnessed in recent years is destructive for democracy and human rights — and awful for art. 

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

Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor at Newsweek, is Tara Henley's guest for the inaugural episode of the Lean Out podcast. If you follow media, you know that Newsweek’s opinion section is home to some of the most robust debate in America’s mainstream media. Now, Batya Ungar-Sargon has published a powerful book, Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy. For anyone puzzling over the woke press, this lively conversation helps make sense of the phenomenon.

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