EP 75: 'Most people don't believe the more extreme woke stuff'
One of the goals of the Lean Out podcast is to complicate the dominant narratives. And Tara's guest on today’s episode does this all the time in his work. He’s an independent thinker, a prolific essayist — and, as we’ll hear, his conclusions are often surprising, rarely conforming to the orthodoxies on either the left or the right. Wilfred Reilly is a political science professor at Kentucky State University. His latest book is Taboo: 10 Facts You Can’t Talk About. You can find Tara Henley on ...
30 Mars 202341min
EP 74: 'An existential threat to universities'
Earlier this month, a federal court judge went to speak to students at Stanford Law School. Judge Kyle Duncan has referred to the explosive protest that ensued as a “struggle session,” while student hecklers have defended their actions as counter-speech. Tara's guest on today’s program has some thoughts on this free speech controversy — and where the university should go from here. Alex Morey is a First Amendment attorney and the director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Indivi...
22 Mars 202334min
EP 73: Uncovered
If you’re a regular listener of the Lean Out podcast, you know that it has not been a good couple of years for the media. From the lab leak theory to the Hunter Biden laptop, we in the press have gotten a lot of big stories wrong. Tara's guest on the program today is a media veteran, and he has some insights on how this all has happened — and where we go from here. Steve Krakauer is a journalist, media critic and author. He’s executive producer of The Megyn Kelly Show and host of The Fourth W...
14 Mars 202330min
EP 72: 'I thought we had more of an open forum for discussion'
One of the themes of the Lean Out podcast is open inquiry. And Tara's guest on the program today has some thoughts on this. He’s concerned about the suppression of discussion and debate and viewpoint diversity in the field of addiction — and he points to specific actions from the B.C. government and the B.C. Centre on Substance Use. But, as we’ll learn at the end of today’s episode, both view the issue quite differently. (See below for statements.) Julian Somers is a clinical psychologi...
8 Mars 202347min
EP 71: An Emergency in Ottawa
After much anticipation, Justice Paul Rouleau has released his final report for the Public Order Emergency Commission, finding that the Canadian government’s use of the Emergencies Act against the trucker convoy was appropriate, but noting that he came to this conclusion reluctantly. Tara's guest on the program today had a front row seat — both for the convoy protests in Ottawa and the Commission — and he joins us today to talk about what this report means for Canada going forward. Paul Wells...
1 Mars 202332min
EP 70: Primal Screams
Who am I? What am I here for? These are fundamental questions in life — and throughout human history, they’ve often been answered through relationships to kin. But with the collapse of the family unit and the atomization of individuals, Tara's guest on today’s program argues, we have become unmoored. And we are now experiencing a crisis in identity, “a psychic howl” that’s shaping our culture and politics in profound ways. Mary Eberstadt is an American essayist, novelist, and cultural critic....
15 Feb 202329min
EP 69: The Year the World Went Mad
In July of 2020, in The New Statesman, Tara's guest on today’s program wrote, “I fear that history will judge lockdown as a monumental mistake on a truly global scale.” At that time, there was surprisingly little debate over an unprecedented public health intervention. But that dialogue is starting to happen now, and Tara's guest’s recent book is one reason why. Mark Woolhouse is a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh. He’s also the author of The Y...
8 Feb 202332min
EP 68: The New Puritans
This past week in Canada, a controversy erupted around the National Arts Centre’s plans to reserve an upcoming theatre performance for Black audience members only, with many questioning why any organization would want to open the door for racial segregation, in any form. (And indeed, since this podcast was recorded, the NAC has issued an updated press release, indicating “everyone is welcome at all our shows.”) It’s the latest example of a movement that, as my guest on today’s program argues,...
1 Feb 202333min
