Last week, at the English-language election debate, the leaders’ press scrums were cancelled after tensions between media outlets erupted into shouting in the press room, and other confrontations. This incident is a distressing example of how polarized our press has become. But of course, we are not the first country to grapple with this dynamic. My guest on the program today lived through political polarization in Venezuela — and he has some important lessons to share.

Victor Febres is an Atlanta-based journalist and videographer. He’s also a former activist for peaceful conflict resolution.

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

As election day nears, Lean Out continues to highlight the issues that we feel have not received enough attention in this news cycle. My guest on the program today is a physician who serves on death review committee with Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner. In today’s emotional interview, we take a close look at medical assistance in dying, or MAiD — and her concerns about how it’s playing out in practice.

Ramona Coelho is a family doctor, and a founding member of Physicians Together With Vulnerable Canadians. She’s a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and has just co-edited a new book, titled Unravelling MAiD in Canada: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as Medical Care.

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

We are in the final week of the Canadian federal election. And while Trump’s trade policy has received much coverage this election season, our housing crisis has been less of a priority for the legacy press. We at Lean Out happen to think this is the most important issue in the country — and so, on today’s program, our guest is here to answer every question you’ve ever had on the crisis, and how we got here.

Mike Moffatt is a Canadian economist, the founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative, and co-host of the Missing Middle podcast. Mike Moffatt returns to the program, today on Lean Out.

This episode was taped last week, before the release of the Liberal platform and the Conservative announcement of its housing plan.

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

For some time now, writers and thinkers outside this country have been asking me: What happened to Canada? Our guest on the program today has asked this question himself, in a new book that takes a deep dive into our decline — and arrives just in time for the federal election.

Tristin Hopper is a columnist and reporter for The National Post, based in Victoria, B.C. His new book is Don’t Be Canada: How One Country Did Everything Wrong All At Once.

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

As we all navigate a period rife with political tensions on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border, we wanted to bring you an incredible story that celebrates the human spirit and affirms our common humanity. Our guest on the program today was an eight-month-old baby when her parents smuggled her out of communist Vietnam, crossing the South China Sea to begin a new life. Decades later, she reports for the Today show.

Vicky Nguyen is an NBC News Daily anchor and Chief Consumer Investigative correspondent. She reports for the Today show, Nightly News, and NBC News Now. Her New York Times-bestselling debut is Boat Baby.

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

Throughout the Canadian federal election, we’re taking weekly breaks to think and talk about other things. On today’s program, in light of ongoing debates in American pop culture, we’ll be discussing the phenomenon of heteropessimism with a Toronto culture critic who is quite literally writing the book on it.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy is a Toronto-based journalist, author, and podcaster. She’s co-host of the Feminine Chaos podcast, opinion editor at The Canadian Jewish News, and a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail. Her forthcoming podcast is The Jewish Angle.

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

Women’s fertility is a third rail in Canadian politics. We all learned this again last week, when Pierre Poilievre made a comment about biological clocks that sparked outrage. If you followed the controversy in the mainstream media only, you might not know that a number of women were glad to see Poilievre raise the issue of fertility — including my guest on today’s show.

Melanie Paradis the president of Texture Communications and a veteran Conservative campaigner. Her recent piece for The Line is titled “Poilievre was right to bring up my biological clock.”

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

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