EP 225: Amanda Fortini on Jan Kerouac and the legacy of the Beat Generation

For the past few months on Lean Out, we’ve been doing a deep-dive into the crisis in Canadian media, speaking to critics of the status quo — and asking what’s gone wrong and where we go from here. Tara's guest on today’s program, the last episode in our summer media series, has a unique perspective on our media’s collapse. And he says government and Big Tech subsidies are compromising the vitality and validity of a free and independent press in Canada. Rudyard Griffiths is the executive direc...

6 Syys 202329min

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, America’s streets filled with protesters — in some of the largest demonstrations in the country’s history. But three years later, very little concrete change has been achieved. Tara's guest on the podcast today asks: What happened? Why did this mass movement achieve so little? Freddie deBoer is an American journalist. His new book is How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement. You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at ...

5 Syys 202354min

One of the most important tasks for a seasoned journalist is to pass on what you know. Journalism is something that’s learned by doing, usually alongside someone who’s done it longer. Tara enjoyed this process while at CBC, and is pleased to now be at a point with Lean Out that she can expand the operation to include working with up-and-coming journalists. Late last year, she had the pleasure of appearing on fellow Substacker Aaron Pete’s show, the Bigger Than Me podcast, and was impress...

30 Elo 202316min

This week, the friends and family of a school principal in Toronto gathered to celebrate his life. Richard Bilkszto, sadly, took his life last month, at the age of 60, and much of the reporting on his death has focused on a DEI training and the lawsuit that he launched about it. A reminder to listeners that the claims you will hear have not been proven in court. Our guest today is a reporter whose story on Richard Bilkszto has gained international attention — and our conversation ...

24 Elo 202329min

This summer at Lean Out, we’ve been doing a deep dive into the collapse of the Canadian media — and the role that new legislation, Bill C-18, has played in exacerbating the crisis. Tara's guest on the program today is someone who has thought a lot about the media and digital policy and public broadcasting, and she has a lot to say about where our media is at, and where we go from here. Sue Gardner is a digital policy analyst, and the former executive director of the Wikimedia Foundatio...

23 Elo 202353min

In the past few decades, something has gone wrong in American life, leaving its citizens subject to increasing levels of coercion. That’s the thesis of a new book, and its author, Tara's guest on the program today, argues that what’s gone wrong is a form of private tyranny, with corporations exercising more and more control over ordinary people’s lives — eroding our freedoms and generating uncertainty, stress, and economic precarity. Sohrab Ahmari is a founder and editor at Compact Maga...

16 Elo 202342min

What does it mean to be a heretic? Why is dissent from the dominant orthodoxies of our age so important? It’s a topic Tara's guest today has thought a lot about, as a progressive who frequently questions the thinking on his side of the aisle. And he says that, in fact, we owe much of human progress to the heretics throughout history who have dared to dissent. Brendan O’Neill is the chief political writer for Spiked, and the host of The Brendan O’Neill Show. His new book is A Heretic’s Manifes...

9 Elo 202335min

This week, in the wake of controversial new legislation, Bill C-18, Meta has announced that it will be ending news sharing on its platforms in Canada. So, for a special bonus episode of the podcast, we reached out to a Canadian academic who’s been following this story closely, to get his reaction to the development — and to hear his analysis on what it might mean for our news sector going forward. (This conversation is part of Lean Out’s summer media series. Please also check out our intervie...

4 Elo 202328min