During the 2025 Canadian election season, we’ll be pausing from time to time to take a breather and to think about other issues — often interesting new books. My guest on today’s program is a blues musician, a scholar, and a heterodox thinker. He joins us for a conversation about his deeply personal new book on interracial family life in the south.

Adam Gussow is a professional harmonica player and a professor of English at the University of Mississippi. His new book is My Family & I: A Mississippi Memoir.

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

One of the big stories in the Canadian federal election so far has been the collapse of support for the NDP. New polling from Ipsos shows support for the party continuing to decline. Our guest on today’s program is a former labour representative — and he has some thoughts on where the traditional party of working people has gone wrong.

Brian Dijkema is the president of Cardus Canada, a public policy think tank, and senior editor of Comment Magazine.

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

As election season builds steam, here at Lean Out we are focused on the question of why daily life in Canada has become so expensive and so dysfunctional. My guest on today’s program has some insights to share. He recently wrote a well-researched book on the federal government’s corporate subsidies — which, he says, “exploded in magnitude” under Justin Trudeau.

Laurent Carbonneau works in public policy in Ottawa, on innovation, science, and technology issues. He’s a former NDP staffer and the author of the recent book, At the Trough: The Rise and Rise of Canada’s Corporate Welfare Bums.

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

With the Canadian federal election now underway, we’re going to have a lot of political content for you in coming weeks. But today, we wanted to change things up a bit and bring you a lighter story about books — and how hard it is these days to find bookstores that stock a range of different perspectives. Our guest on today’s program argues that booksellers are locked in a moral contract with their clientele, and it’s resulted in a narrowing of the titles on offer.

Ann Bauer is an American essayist and novelist. Her recent piece for Persuasion is “What Independent Bookshops Really Sell.”

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

After much speculation, Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap spring election, and Canadians will be heading to the polls on April 28. To kick off Lean Out’s special election coverage, we bring you a conversation with a veteran Canadian journalist about the unusual moment the country is in — and why, in his view, the current disconnect between the federal government and voters is a once in a generation occurrence.

Tom Korski is the managing editor of Blacklock’s Reporter, an Ottawa-based outlet.

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

In the wake of President Trump’s executive order on DEI, debates in America have renewed a conversation around DEI in this country. And while the baseline value of greater inclusion is one that many of us share, some DEI programs have proven controversial. Our guest on this bonus episode is the author of a recent report that dives into DEI practices in Canadian federal granting agencies — and asks if they impede political and ideological neutrality and research excellence. 

Dave Snow is an associate professor of political science at the University of Guelph. He’s also a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and the author of a new MLI report, “Promoting excellence … or activism? Equity, diversity, and inclusion at Canada’s federal granting agencies.” 

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

With Mark Carney in his first week in office as Canada’s new Prime Minister, the Justin Trudeau era is quickly fading in the rearview mirror. But before we move on, it’s important to take stock of what went on in this country during Trudeau’s tenure. Our guest on today’s program says it is time for a national conversation about Trudeau’s legacy. And, in his words, “it’s not flattering.”

Andrew Potter is a Canadian author, and an associate professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. His latest column for The Line is titled “Justin Trudeau never cared about Canada.” Andrew Potter returns to the program.

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

Regular listeners of the show will recognize the name Aaron Pete. He’s a talented young broadcaster from B.C. who has guest hosted Lean Out from time to time. Last month Aaron invited Tara on his show, the Bigger Than Me podcast, to discuss some of the hot-button issues from the past few years, and how the Canadian media has handled them. Tara enjoyed their conversation so much that we are going to share it with you here today, in this special episode of the program, where we turn the tables — and Tara is the one answering the questions.  Aaron Pete is host of the Bigger Than Me podcast. Tara is in the interview chair with Aaron Pete.

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

On Monday night, American legislation to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports in schools was blocked in the Senate. The topic was a sleeper issue in the American election — with polling showing public support for sports participation based on biological sex. Today on the program, in an episode recorded ahead of the Senate vote, we ask why some feminists have backed Trump, in conversation with a British author and columnist who argues that Trump has actually done much to advance women’s rights. 

Joanna Williams is a columnist for Spiked magazine, and the author of How Woke Won. Joanna Williams returns to the podcast. 

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 breakdown of trust between men and women. For a marker of this rupture, we need only look to declining marriage rates. Our guest on today’s program has penned a new book about the institution of marriage, making the case that we should reconsider its benefits — not just for individual health and happiness, but for overall societal good.

Andrea Mrozek is a senior fellow at Cardus Family. With Peter Jon Mitchell, she’s written a new book titled I…Do? Why Marriage Still Matters. Andrea Mrozek returns to the podcast.

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