07. Jesse Wente: Tough Lies

With his national bestseller Unreconciled, Anishinaabe author and broadcaster Jesse Wente cracked wide open the lies that Canada tells itself about reconciliation, offering a new path forward for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. In Tough Lies, he continues to face difficult questions about this country with unflinching honesty, turning his focus to his own healing path and how it informs what he sees as necessary for reconciliation between Nations. With his characteristic candidness, Wente will explore topics from the controversial issue of false claims to Indigenous identity, to the racism he has faced, to his re-discovery of the game of golf—and the role it’s played in his healing. Moderated by Kathryn Gretsinger.

Presented in partnership with Talking Stick Festival.

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Event Participants:

Kathryn Gretsinger

KATHRYN GRETSINGER is an associate professor of teaching at the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. She is a long-time public broadcaster at the CBC, and has been named one of North America’s top innovative journalism educators.

Jesse Wente

JESSE WENTE is a husband and father, as well as a writer, broadcaster, speaker and arts administrator. Born and raised in Toronto, Jesse's family comes from Chicago and Genaabaajing Anishinaabek, and he is a member of the Serpent River First Nation. His memoir, Unreconciled: Family, Truth and Indigenous Resistance, is a national bestseller and was picked as one of best books of 2021 by Chapters-Indigo, Apple Books and the Globe and Mail. Jesse also won the Rakuten-Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Nonfiction.