Lean Out with Tara Henley

As regular readers of this Substack will know, this spring I’ve 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, I’ll be re-running podcast interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape my 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.

Jen Gerson is my guest, today on Lean Out. (Paid subscribers can access the transcript here.)

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

Canada recently reached a grim milestone — the lowest fertility rate in recorded history. We are now well below population replacement, at 1.33 births per woman. My guest on the show today has studied this crisis in family formation in the West. And he says we need to take a look at our culture.

Tim Carney is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a columnist for The Washington Examiner. His new book is Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs To Be.

Tim Carney is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

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. My guest on today’s program 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.”

Ryan Zickgraf is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 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.

Kevin Bardosh is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 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 say 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.

Coleman Hughes is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

Canada is embroiled in a number of high-profile political scandals, and it’s a dispiriting moment for the country. This week, we’re taking a break from the news cycle, and instead contemplating the contributions of a famed Canadian — the late philosopher Marshall McLuhan — who, my guest on today’s program says, understood our time better than many currently living through it. 

Benjamin Carlson is an American writer, and media strategist, and the author of the Substack newsletter, Carlson Letter. His latest essay, on Marshall McLuhan, is part of a series at The Free Press titled “The Prophets.” 

Benjamin Carlson is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

It’s not unusual for well-heeled people to try to imagine what it might be like to grow up without money. But my guest on today’s program says it is uncommon for them to try to imagine what it might be like to grow up without a family. And his new book chronicles exactly that life — his childhood in foster care, but also, his journey from a working-class town in California to the military, Yale University and beyond.

Rob Henderson is the American writer who coined the term “luxury beliefs.” His debut book is Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class.

Rob Henderson is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

We hear a lot of grim predictions about the future of local news, both in the United States and in Canada. But my guests on today’s program are feeling optimistic. For their new book, the pair did a deep dive into innovative local and regional news startups across America, and they say these startups are changing the media landscape, one outlet at a time. 

Ellen Clegg spent more than three decades at The Boston Globe. She’s co-founder of a non-profit local news outlet in Massachusetts, Brookline.News. Dan Kennedy is a journalism professor at Northeastern University and a media commentator. Their podcast is What Works: The Future of Local News. And together, they are the authors of What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate. 

Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy are my guests, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscibers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

On the Lean Out podcast, we’ve talked a lot about plummeting birth rates in the West, about high rates of unhappiness among modern women, about the loneliness epidemic in our society, and about the crisis unfolding among men, with large numbers of suicides and overdoses.

My guest on the program today says there’s a factor we should consider with each of these issues — and that is low marriage rates. And he thinks it’s time to have a conversation about the state of our unions.  

Brad Wilcox is a professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. He’s also the author of Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization.  

Brad Wilcox is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com

What does it take to speak out against orthodoxies in an age of outrage? This is something that my guest on today’s program has spent years contemplating, interviewing people from all walks of life who have managed to stick to their principles in the face of an online mobbing, and not back down.

Katherine Brodsky is a Canadian writer and commentator, and the author of No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage — Lessons for the Silenced Majority.

Katherine Brodsky is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers.

Lean Out with Tara Henley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tarahenley.substack.com