EP 90: 'Diversity' drop-outs

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 Aug 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 Aug 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 Aug 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 Aug 202328min

“Once you question the food, you question everything.” That’s a quote from Rory Feek, a farmer and filmmaker in the growing homesteading movement, which is seeing numbers of Americans turn away from processed foods and rediscover how to grow what’s on their plates, sustaining their communities in the process. Feek made this comment at the inaugural Modern Homesteading Conference in Idaho — and my guest today was there to take it all in. Olivia Reingold is an American journalist, and a staff w...

2 Aug 202322min

Last week on Lean Out, we heard from Canadian journalist Jen Gerson. The response from listeners was overwhelming. You asked for more coverage of the collapse of our media, including, of course, controversial new legislation. Bill C-18 aims to save journalism in this country — but Tara's guest this week argues that it has instead “accidentally pushed the news industry into the abyss.” Peter Menzies is a former newspaper executive and a former vice chair of the CRTC, the Canadian Radio-televis...

19 Juli 202337min

If you listen to this podcast, you know that the Canadian media is in serious trouble. But in recent weeks, that crisis has intensified, with wave after wave of bad news for the industry. Bell Canada laid off 1300 staff. And, when this was episode was recorded, merger talks between the two biggest newspaper publishers were ongoing — negotiations have since broken down. Add to that, in the wake of controversial new legislation, Bill C-18, Google and Facebook announced they would remove l...

12 Juli 20231h 1min