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. You can read it here.
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. To mark the occasion, I am presenting a series of encore interviews with some of the journalists that helped shape my thinking for this essay. Including today’s conversation, which originally aired in November of 2023.
George Packer is a staff writer at The Atlantic, and the author of ten books.
George Packer is my guest, today on Lean Out. (Paid subscribers can access the transcript here.)
Massey Essay series: George Packer