Probably About Politics Podcast: Recent Episodes
Probably About Politics
Your favourite monthly podcast Probably About Politics is back for a fifth season. Your hosts, Alex and Kaleigh, are two doctoral students with a podcast ready to talk about world elections and democracy!
In every episode, Alex and Kaleigh zoom in on an election somewhere in the world. They've covered everything from national to local elections, referendums and even a coup and have visited every continent (except Antarctica)! So if you have questions about democracy, elections, voting and, at least one time, whale poop, check out Probably About Politics for the answers.
Buckle up for Mexico's biggest election ever! Alex and Kaleigh analyze this historic election, from the record number of candidates to the landmark victory of Claudia Sheinbaum, the nation's first female president. They explore Mexico's political landscape, election details, and how the controversial Tren Maya project could foreshadow President Sheinbaum's future.
Get in touch with us with any of your democracy queries:
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When we covered the elections in Senegal, Alex and Kaleigh were left with a cliffhanger when the election was cancelled in February. This month, the podcast is back with the twist election ending no one saw coming! The hosts are also sticking to the theme of elections in Western Africa and heading back to Togo for their election and controversial constitutional changes.
Get in touch with us with any of your democracy queries:
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Attention world affairs enthusiasts! The podcast is returning this March, and we'll explore the newsworthy world of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the judicial body of the United Nations. We've heard a lot recently, but what kind of disputes does the ICJ settle? Join Alex and Kaleigh as they unveil the inner workings of this powerful world court through high-profile decisions. The hosts will explore how the ICJ gets nations to comply with its rulings, even without an enforcement arm of its own. But does it always work? Tune in to find out!
Get in touch with us with any of your democracy queries:
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Kaleigh did not tell Alex, but season 6 is here! In Episode 1, they discuss the developing situation in Senegal's election that was unfolding even as they recorded. Once regarded as a beacon of democratic stability in West Africa, Senegal faces uncertainty as the incumbent president cancelled the February election. Pushing back the election raises growing concerns about the transition of power and the stability of democracy in the region. Meanwhile, Kaleigh delves into UNRWA and its funding, while Alex shares recent space news highlighting the human role in snowpack loss.
Get in touch with us with any of your democracy queries:
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Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
This month, we are headed to Bhutan, a country between China and India in the Himalayas, to dive into the country's fourth national election. Alex and Kaleigh dive into how Bhutan took on building and introducing all the systems and processes of democracy to the voters and how that has created quite a unique democratic process. Also, Kaleigh checks in on the upcoming COP28, and Alex brings us all the spaciest space news we've ever had.
Get in touch with us with any of your democracy queries:
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Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Voters in Luxembourg have consistently chosen the most stable and unchanging option when they head to the polls, and it looks like they will again. But Alex and Kaleigh ask what previous efforts to expand enfranchisement to include more of the workforce living in the country could've meant for elections and why voters tend to play it pretty safe in referendums. In Australia, the upcoming Indigenous Voice referendum on the representation of Indigenous Australians in the constitution raises essential questions about asking voter questions for or against a particular group of people and meeting the high threshold of constitutional change. Also, an expanded G20 and the bees are underground!
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We're visiting two new countries for Probably About Politics this month - Gabon and Zimbabwe! In their national elections, both countries are at a crossroads with long-serving regimes and leaders. Alex and Kaleigh explore why it is challenging for a country's democracy when only one party has ever been in power. Also, this month the hosts chat about ocean temperature and clouds, climate financing, and give a Haiti election update and how the UN is involved.
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Sometimes talking about politics feels like you're watching a future movie play out, and this month Alex and Kaleigh are sharing three stories that could make fascinating political dramas. Spain's election is going down to the wire in the scorching summer heat. Fanfiction site Ao3 is at the center of Russian information warfare strategies. And researchers are asking if AI chatbots can replace humans in experiments, including unethical ones for human participation.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or want us to pitch you a movie? Get in touch!
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Happy Mother's Day! Alex and Kaleigh are celebrating moms this year by exploring the history of activism and the political origins of Mother's Day. The hosts discover motherhood has long been intertwined with the biggest peace and social justice movements, and they consider how our circumstances and identities shape our activism.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or want to tell us how great your mom is? Get in touch!
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We haven't covered an election in a couple of episodes, and to make up for it, we've got three in this one to prepare you for a busy May! Chile is electing officials to take on the process of building its new constitution. Thailand's opposition hopes they have a window for electoral victory against all the odds in a junta government. And finally, Turkey's upcoming presidential election is in the shadow of an economic crisis and devastating earthquakes.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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For 2023 Alex and Kaleigh are kicking off with a brand new interview series exploring communication and sharing complex ideas that go on to inform our policy, and practices and shape our elections. To help us get started, we're talking with Marc Bragdon, Head of the Harriet Irving Library Research Commons at the University of New Brunswick, to learn from his experience about the role of media literacy in education. Marc also makes a case for why our hosts, as researchers, should think about knowledge mobilizations and consider the audience for research and ways to communicate it.
Got anyone you think we should talk to? Questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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This month Alex and Kaleigh, as two football/soccer enthusiasts, are exploring some of the many ways that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the Federation Internationale de Football Association are probably about politics, and they've brought on Corey Ganong, fellow soccer enthusiast and former sports podcast host to help break it down. Together they discuss the important role of international tournaments for nation-building, the increasing cost of running a world cup, and the value of sports washing for authoritarian regimes.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Topic ideas? Or just come to say hi!
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Probably About Politics is in Southeast Asia this month for Malaysia's upcoming general election. Since the last election in 2018, the coalition parties forming a government have changed a few times... Alex and Kaleigh take a look at the events that keep shaking up the government and explore how coalition building could play out after this election. With COP27 happening in Egypt this month, Kaleigh has an extra special look at where in the world UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is that spotlights the work being done by Global South countries to get Loss and Damages on the international climate agenda.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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This month Alex and Kaleigh are back in Brazil for the second round of presidential elections! After a tight first round of voting, all eyes are on the election between an incumbent and a former president and what it means for the future of Brazil's democracy. With major issues focusing on wealth disparity, the amazon and climate change, and the peaceful governance transition, this is also an election for the world to watch.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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In this month's summer school, we are discussing the Cold War and the US' Operation Condor's effect on democracies across South and Central America. Alex and Kaleigh are zooming in on Chile and how their upcoming referendum on a new constitution is part of the country's ongoing efforts to build a democracy from the effects of the Cold War and decades of military dictatorship.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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This month Japan's off-year election proves every election matters! Alex and Kaleigh dive into what a super-majority means for Japan's future with issues from military funding and nuclear power to inflation and constitutional change on the table this election. Alex shares with us the long history of human and lice relations and Kaleigh looks into the UN and FAO's role in providing technical support.
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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Alex and Kaleigh are heading to Papua New Guinea's election for the first time to explore the diverse and ever-shifting democracy of the island nation. PNG's 13-day election offers the hosts a great opportunity to explore voting on local vs. national issues, and creating laws to increase electoral and governing stability. Other topics include global hunger and conflict and skydiving salamanders!
Got any questions you'd like us to answer? Or just come to say hi!
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Schools are in for the summer and Probably About Politics is here to explain interesting terms in democracy and governance. As a bonus episode this month Alex and Kaleigh are taking a look at the growing use of sanctions in international diplomacy. Together they discover just what a sanction is, who can sanction and be sanctioned, and ask when sanctions are the best tool for the job.
What summer school episodes would you like to hear? Let us know about any and all topics in democracy you'd like us to learn about!
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Colombia's upcoming presidential election indicates voters are ever looking for alternatives to the traditional political elite for the first time. The road to Presidential election day in a country navigating post-conflict democracy and elections after the 2016 Peace Agreement is bumpy with corruption charges, threats to candidates and polling day violence. But while it remains to be seen the upcoming election may also be opening doors for new candidates and new options for voters.
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After Costa Rica's presidential election reminded them that they're not in the predictions game, Alex and Kaleigh are heading to Slovenia this month. Slovenia's election, with the pressures of the conflict in Ukraine, and multiple political parties still in the race, is difficult to call and has the attention of all of Europe for what it means for the future of the EU and Slovenia's democracy.
Got elections or topics you want us to cover in 2022? Share them with us here:
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Kaleigh and Alex are excited to be launching their 5th season of Probably About Politics! This exciting season five kick-off has 2x elections, 2x Guterres, and some brain-growing science news. More specifically your hosts are revisiting South Korea for the first time since season one and diving into a democracy they've never covered before and one of the newest countries in the world — East Timor! So tune in this month to learn everything you need to know about what the hosts have planned for the season ahead.
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2022 is here and elections are already happening! To get the year started Alex and Kaleigh are diving into elections on two different island states at very different places in their present experience of democracy. Barbados and Costa Rica are both facing important questions and uncertainties about the post-pandemic future and the hosts take a look at how their elections will be a major step in what direction the countries want their leaders to take. Plus Alex's Space News this episode is also bringing you breaking news in the science of personal space!
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To close out our look at elections in 2021 Kaleigh and Alex are heading to Chile for the first time with the pod to cover a very close run presidential election. Chileans have a choice between two candidates on totally opposing ends of the political perspective. But as the hosts discover the choice voters are making is one deeply rooted in the history of the country leading back to the authoritarian regime of Pinochet and influenced by ongoing protests and the re-writing of the constitution.
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Kaleigh and Alex have been hearing a lot about COP26 and the crucial role of the Glasglow-based COP in achieving crucial global climate objectives. But what does a Conference of the Parties have to do with addressing climate change, and what did over 200 countries agree to in Paris that COP26 is continuing? The hosts dive into the work of international agreements on climate change to try and understand and ask if COP26 is going to save the planet.
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Kaleigh and Alex are back on home turf again and diving in with an insider's perspective from the advance poll voting, and the issues of climate change, housing, and health care have dominated debates and of course exploring election hijinks new and old from the campaign trail.
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Kaleigh and Alex are together again for the first time in 18+ months (with a guest dog!) to talk about a pretty regular Norwegian election. There are still a number of big questions like economic disparity, climate change and rural-urban divide that come up even in a normal election. Other very regular topics covered include kiwi birds, the UN's role in global crisis, and magnets!
Sometimes a country's constitution needs a refresh or leaders want to make changes to it. But successful constitutional reforms are hard to make! Kaleigh and Alex dive into some of the challenges demonstrated by the now delayed Haitian constitutional referendum and also explore how countries around the world make constitutional changes.
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Ethiopia's COVID-19 delayed election is delayed again. The fall of authoritarianism and the election of the continent of Africa's youngest prime minister in the country's 2018 election was seen internationally as an exciting opportunity for the country's democracy. But as Alex and Kaleigh explore the road to building democracy from authoritarianism is full of decades of injustice and regional conflicts that need to be addressed and that international observers and Nobel Peace Prizes sometimes ignore.
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Greenland is heading to the polls and you might not know it but the superpowers of the world are watching the outcome very closely. Tune in this month to learn with Alex and Kaleigh how Greenland's 56,000 person democracy has become the centre of the global supply chain of rare-earth metals, while also asking important questions about the country's sovereignty, Indigenous People's rights, and the environmental impacts of resource extraction on countries.
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In their first trip back to Europe in 2021, Alex and Kaleigh look to the Netherlands to explore how, despite a government-ending scandal, a pandemic can make for a surprisingly predictable election. And if you're looking for great places to hang out the hosts explain why graveyards and forests might be the happening spots to be.
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In this episode, we're asking questions about how we define coups d'état - or coups - and when exactly is a government overthrow defined as one. To answer Alex and Kaleigh explore coups in Thailand and Turkey, the history that led up to them and the complications and turmoil they left in their wake and discover the answer is never straightforward.
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2020 has been a big year! For the year-end review Alex and Kaleigh catch up on elections even they forgot they covered this year. Together the hosts come up with their two biggest news stories (besides that pandemic thing) to watch in 2021 and reveal the elections coming up in the new year that Probably About Politics can't wait to cover (pandemic permitting).
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Did you know the Commonwealth of Nations is the second largest international organization of nations after the United Nations? Alex and Kaleigh break down who exactly is in the Royal family, the history of the Commonwealth and why all these former British colonies (and Mozambique) are apart of this international organization and what they do together.
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Next week citizens in the United States of America heads to the polls to vote for referendums, mayors, judges, the senate, the house of representatives... Oh and the President. Alex and Kaleigh dive into how long ballots, even longer voting lines, and a lot of confusing rules make it hard for Americans to vote and are going to make for a long election night. Don't worry we also have some great good news for you as well!
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Alex and Kaleigh return to Aotearoa (or New Zealand) where the incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a rare and historic majority in the country's recent national elections. The hosts explore what that success might mean for the country and its popular prime minister over the course of the next four years.
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How has COVID-19 affected the practice of democracy and running elections? Alex and Kaleigh take a look at countries around the world who are balancing, in different ways, the COVID-19 public health measures with the democratic freedoms of their citizens from voting and campaigning to protest and demonstrations.
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What if the best way to improve our democracy was... getting rid of voting? Alex and Kaleigh are not proposing to be your dictators but exploring what the ancient Greeks considered to be true democracy - sortition. Join the hosts as they start thinking outside the box about how we can improve our democracies.
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For this mid-July episode, Alex and Kaleigh are checking in with each other and exploring what democracy in Singapore looks like after their 2020 general election. The hosts discuss the surprising distinct lack of technology in Singapore's election and the many contradictions in this country's democracy that have sparked a surprising push for change at the ballot box. In other news, Kaleigh dives into biodiversity and Colombian reconciliation and Alex talks about a song taking over the bird airwaves and came from out of Northern British Columbia.
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Alex and Kaleigh have explored a lot of big policies that were made to meet big problems from the past over the last few months and for this episode, the hosts explore The Green New Deal - a big policy idea to meet the current global challenge of climate change. They answer all the hard-hitting questions that often remain unanswered in the news coverage of The Green New Deal like: What is the Green New Deal? What does it say? And is it even actually policy?
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With COVID-19 under control nationally, Suriname is ready to head to the polls to elect their national assembly this month. Alex and Kaleigh explore the challenges of running for re-election when you're a former dictator, wanted by EUROPOL, the Netherlands and have just been convicted for murder in your own country. The hosts also celebrate victories for small countries, urban design in crisis and bring the spaciest space news yet.
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To start a conversation about how governments make policy to handle economic downturns Kaleigh & Alex look back in history to the Great Depression in the USA and The New Deal policies and government institutions that were enacted in the 1930s. The hosts explore how FDR's New Deal helped the USA recover from the Great Depression, the ways it changed governance forever, and what it can teach us about what policy can do today.
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For our first-ever bonus Space News! episode Alex and Kaleigh bring you a little bit of space, as well as some sea monsters, ocean anxiety, and the hottest new hibernation game show. Kaleigh still doesn't like space but has lots of questions and Alex still has all the space answers and please someone send him to space.
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Sri Lanka's parliamentary election has been delayed as the country responds to COVID-19. Alex and Kaleigh explore the significant issue of the election, including constitutional changes to parliamentary powers. The hosts discuss the challenge to democracy and constitutional crisis the election delay and broader impacts COVID-19 could create for countries like Sri Lanka. As well the hosts catch up in this extra-long episode and dive into Colorado state holidays, Quasars, and COVID-19 recovery policy.
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This week Kaleigh and Alex explore how Canada got their primary constitutional document on the rights and freedoms of Canadians in 1982. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The hosts also dive into the human rights law at all levels of government in Canada and how the country's government response to national emergencies like COVID-19 interacts with their citizen's rights and freedoms.
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This week Kaleigh and Alex take look at the defacto sovereign country of Abkhazia's Presidential election... Take two. The hosts also discover that there is lots of fun to be had while social distancing with more poisoning, contested statehood, cursing, and whale poop than ever before in Probably About Politic's first pod in a pandemic.
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Sometimes it can seem like governments can't pass the major legislation of the past like, for example, universal health care in Canada. This week Kaleigh and Alex are trying to answer the question of how major legislation, specifically the Canada Health Act, gets passed. What your hosts discover is a long and winding road that tells you a lot about Canadian governance but also what it takes to get things done in a democracy.
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A lot is happening in the world this month but not all of it is making headlines, and that is the theme of this week's episode. Alex and Kaleigh return to cover a national election in Iran for the second time in Probably About Politics history. Iran takes up a lot of international news coverage, but very little has been said about their upcoming election. But with on-going unrest and 9,000 candidates being disallowed from running, this is an election with a lot to pay attention to.
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Welcome to the first Probably About Politics Explains! For our first monthly explainer episode, Kaleigh and Alex are staying in South America after coving Peru's election to explore the Odebrecht Scandal - or Operation Car Wash. The hosts are diving into the global corruption scandal that started in Brazil and sparked demands for democratic reform in Peru's recent election that has now implicated people and major infrastructure construction in 13 countries in South America and around the world.
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Welcome back to Probably About Politics! This week Alex and Kaleigh are heading back to South America to explore Peru's upcoming general election which sees the country, that has been hit by a major political corruption scandal that has taken down leaders in several countries in South America, on the brink of an opportunity to make major democratic reforms. Plus don't miss out on robot government in New Zealand, odd couples in Austria and dancing atoms.
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2019 was an exciting year for Probably About Politics! 10 countries, 4 special episodes, and 3 interviews. This week Alex and Kaleigh met up over the holidays to take a look back on some of these elections and a couple they missed to see what happened after they covered them. Tensions rise, but the duo has put together the most exciting podcast highlights of the year!
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December is not the most common month of the year to have elections, and this might lead you to ask why the United Kingdom is holding theirs in December for the first time in over 100 years! Alex and Kaleigh are here with the answers to that and more. And to balance out the return to the UK for the second time this year, they've also got exciting news out of Finland and a big update on the worm census. Check it out to learn more!
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With lots of exciting elections finishing out November, Kaleigh and Alex are playing catch up on Canada's cabinet announcement and then diving in with some elections you might have missed, including Hong Kong's local elections and the national elections of a country of 50,000+, the Marshall Islands. But, as the hosts discover, these elections were closely watched by major powers like China and the United States and have big consequences for major global issues like climate change, nuclear weapons, and state sovereignty.
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On Sunday, November 17th, 2019 Belarus swept out the only two representatives from parties that opposed the government that had been elected since 1994. With the country having been led by President Alexander Lukashenko since around the time that Kaleigh and Alex were born, it makes sense that you probably haven't heard much about this particular election. In this episode, the hosts look at Belarus as a country whose relations with major powers like Russia and the EU are changing, and whose citizens might be starting to itch for a change of power although there is little trust in the voting process.
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The Canadian Federal election is October 21. Just in time for election day, Kaleigh and Alex give you their look at the Federal Party platforms; particularly what the parties have to say about the hot issue of the campaign, climate change. Kaleigh travelled to Alex to mark the special occasion of discussing, for the first time, the context, issues and scandals of an election that both the hosts get to vote in.
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The Canadian Federal election is here and, we're kicking off Season 4 of Probably About Politics, and we think it is only appropriate then that we have an interview with Jenica Atwin! This interview is an exciting follow up to our conversations with other candidates for local and provincial elections. Alex and Kaleigh want to help voters heading to the polls this fall by highlighting candidates running for Federal office, and the parties and candidates that are participating.
Jenica Atwin, a candidate for the Green Party in the Fredericton riding, is in the middle of her campaign in the competitive district. We are excited to talk to her about becoming a candidate and running a campaign for a Canadian political party, the issues that she is passionate about driving forward with her campaign and how climate change fits into the major issues up for debate in this election.
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Scandals in Ibiza, the rise of European populism and a snap election! This episode Kaleigh and Alex are looking at the upcoming Austrian election and the scandal that brought the country back so quickly to another election in a whirlwind two years. They also get excited talking about the unprecedented temporary technocratic government that has been in charge for the last few months. Kaleigh helps us see how this connects to the international by checking in with Secretary Guterres, and Alex leaves us on a hopeful note with some blackhole news.
We have a website now! Check it out.
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The mission of this podcast continues to be to keep our listeners up to date on issues in a democracy, and we haven’t been talking enough about how climate change fits firmly into this category!
To get started on talking climate change and democracy Alex and Kaleigh want to take a look at how to lead discussions and education around the super wicked problem of climate change. So this month we are sitting down to have a conversation with Dr. Don Wright, the acting Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of New Brunswick. Over the last few years, Dr. Wright has been running a first-year course called the Politics of Climate Change to meet the growing need and demand amongst students for the tools and the language to participate and discuss the politics of climate change. This interview is the perfect place to start the Probably About Politics discussion about the Politics of Climate Change .
if you'd like to reach out to Dr. Wright to talk about his course or anything you hear on the podcast you can reach him at wrightd@unb.ca
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Our goal for this season of summer school was to give you concrete examples of ways to participate and influence levels of government around you. For this episode, we look at the types of political parties, how they build their platforms, and how through membership you might influence them. To do this Alex and Kaleigh dive into the Canadian political parties and then shine a bit of light on some lesser know and more humorous parties that participate in Canadian politics.
We're back in Greece! This episode Kaleigh and Alex are looking at the recent Greek election that saw the return of an old party to power with a new leader. To talk about the 2019 election we have to take a look back at the election of the outgoing Prime Minister in 2015 and what happened since. To celebrate our return to our first-ever episode we bring back an original podcast segment "Phases of the Moon" to update you on what's happened with outer space and the UN Secretary-General.
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Summer school is back in session! Our second class looks into the role of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council and the role of the Prime Minister of Canada.
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Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
For the first time ever Probably About Politics is heading to North America! Guatemala is heading into the first part of its national election this June but it might be an election you haven't heard much about. With the complicated history and role of international politics, Alex and Kaleigh quickly shine a light on an election that will be extremely consequential for the biggest country in Central America.
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Keep up with Probably About Politics:
Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Summer school is back in session! Kaleigh and Alex's first class will be looking at the consensus governance style of the territorial governments of Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada's North.
What are the different ways people govern themselves? How can we improve our democracy? This season's summer school is diving into the practical way things work in our governments, how they can be different and how we can change them.
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Keep up with Probably About Politics:
Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
We couldn't say Probably About Politics does election coverage if we missed 900 million eligible voters heading to the polls in India. Running an election for a country as big and diverse as India is tricky, so Alex and Kaleigh explore how the world's largest democracy works in some unique ways. They talk about running the seven phases of voting over five weeks, and the role of local politics to the 80 million+ new voters in this election.
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Keep up with Probably About Politics:
Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
This week on Probably About Politics we're re-visiting an early podcast episode on the post-referendum status of Brexit to see what's happened and where we are now. Alex and Kaleigh discover that it has been a long and complicated road so far with a lot of unknowns still to come. They also look at public opinion, the options that lay ahead, and some of the ramifications for the United Kingdom and the European Union. Stay tuned to the end for some exciting summer schedule announcements!
Alex and Kaleigh have put together a great April episode after giving themselves only a few extensions. Here is a teaser of this months episode... if we can get it out. Stay tuned!
This week on Probably About Politics we've got a classic election episode. Alex and Kaleigh cover Thailand's long-awaited return to elections since the 2014 coup. They dive into the history of coups and the role of the military leadership in the election scheduled for late March. This is a critical election in the South-East Asian region with more than a few twists.
Keep up with Probably About Politics:
Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
This week on Probably About Politics we're back with another great interview on running for public office from deciding to run to running the campaign. In their conversation with Susan Holt, a Liberal candidate in the 2018 New Brunswick Provincial election, Susan walks Kaleigh and Alex through concrete tips to deciding to get in the race, finds the local in provincial politics and sells them on getting involved as volunteers.
Keep up with Susan:
Twitter: @susanholt
Instagram: @SusanCHolt
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Twitter: @probpolitics
Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
A look back on the year this week on Probably About Politics! 2018 has been a big year for the pod, and Alex and Kaleigh are catching up on how the elections we looked at turned out! We are also excited to tell you what we're planning for the year ahead in 2019 as we continue to grow and try to hit all continents! (Kaleigh is researching penguin democracy for Antartica)
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We're making pod history with our first ever interview! Having recently voted in the local elections, Alex and Kaleigh are even more determined to spread the word about the local politics and how to get involved. What better place to start than by asking the newly elected Mayor of Yellowknife some questions? In a great conversation with Mayor Alty, our hosts got to learn about municipal governance in a city in Canada's North, about getting involved in local politics, and importantly, that it's all Probably About Politics!
Learn even more about municipal politics and Yellowknife in our newsletter: AND Keep up with Mayor Alty and her city council: Twitter: @OurYellowknife Instagram: ralty2018
This week on Probably About Politics we've got a smaller election, but certainly an important one, in the Pacific! As always, there is a lot in the news so you could miss the national election taking place in Fiji. But, as a democracy with a history of coups, a growing young population, and major questions about its future, particularly in areas of the economy and climate change, this will prove to be a small but mighty election with significant implications for one of the Podcast’s favourite regions in the world.
We're doing another sweater run! If you'd like a sweater to keep yourself warm this January email us here with any inquiries or orders: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
As always follow us on Twitter: @ProbPolitics
This week on Probably About Politics we've got the biggest election going in South America! There is a lot in the news these days so you could miss this one but you'd be missing out on one of the most important elections this year! Kaleigh and Alex break down the lead up to this election and the Brazilian context and also look at what democracy looks like in one of the biggest countries in the world. And of course as always they dive into a little PM Ardern update and some NEVER done before updates on some dramatic Canadian Provincial elections.
WE'RE BACK! Season 3 and we're starting off with a big one! Kaleigh and Alex give you the update on what they got up to all summer while you were listening to summer school and sneak in a little Australian politics news! Then they dive in and take a look at 2 countries who seem like they'd have very different political problems but are both facing real democratic challenges that we as a world should be thinking about! We have a newsletter! Subscribe! Talk to us: Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Well, we've made it to the end of Summer(ish) School and season 2 of Probably About Politics and so Alex and Kaleigh are going to confront their existential anxieties and ask why are they making this podcast? Why do summer school? Why does anything matter? Why haven't they figured out a posting schedule?
We're excited about season 3 and have some big plans for the fall(running for office?!)So stay tuned for all of that and more! And tell us what you want for season 3, thought of season 2 and summer school or anything else on: Twitter: @probpolitics email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Alex and Kaleigh are back with pt.4 of Probably About Politics Summer School! In this months episode they, like the millennials they are, discuss how everything is a spectrum... a political spectrum anyway... and we're all on it! They talk about why the designation of left and right can be confusing and why they've found it important to consider where they are and how they've changed!
Want to check in where you fall on the political spectrum? Check it out here: https://www.politicalcompass.org/test
As always let us know what you think or any questions you might have on our twitter or email us: @probpolitics or probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
In this episode we go over difference between uni and bicameral systems and do a case study on the Canadian parliament.
We're back with episode 2 of our special Summer School episodes! This week Alex & Kaleigh dive into electoral systems and explain all the ways votes are counted around the world and the benefits that they bring. If you've ever had questions about what we mean when someone talks about first-past-the-post or proportional representation this is the episode for you!
We also promised links to help with the visual elements of what these electoral systems might look like. What electoral reform in Canada might look like: http://ow.ly/GelN30jU7Ct Explainer Videos by CGP Grey: http://ow.ly/QoRH30jU7F1 Got a sweater please send us pics of you wearing it or your friends or family or pets! We want to see all the pics and we'll repost them on our twitter! Twitter @probpolitics or email us at probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Welcome to the first episode of the Probably About Politics Summer(ish) School! The first topic is Democracy and all of the forms it can take! Alex and Kaleigh had lots of questions about the way the democracies we talk about work and thought maybe you do too! This summer Kaleigh and Alex are a whole ocean away from each other! So every month we'll release a new episode where we learn the ins and outs of the voting process around the world. We're really excited to get into this and hope you enjoy! If you got a sweater please send us pics of you wearing it or your friends or family or pets! We want to see all the pics and we'll repost them on our twitter and both Alex and Kaleigh will excitedly dance in celebration! Send them to us (or just come chat with us) on twitter @probpolitics or email us at probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
This week Kaleigh and Alex work together to break down what is happening inside the voting process of one of the biggest international players! Now while the results this Sunday don't promise to be surprising the road to the election has been exciting.
Of course, there is also more sweater news! Let us know what you think! Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
This week Kaleigh and Alex are breaking down the upcoming Colombian congressional election, and the Colombian peace agreement and the Presidential election that seem to be looming over it! We're excited to be diving into the politics of a South American country for the first time. As always let us know what you think! We're excited to be learning about this with you: Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Episode 20! And we're on Google Play Music now too! To celebrate Alex and Kaleigh polled all our fans (thank you, friends and family)to gather any questions you may have about politics, podcasts, and other things that are probably about politics. We answered some great questions that pulled us out of our comfort zone, including a brief foray into American politics! We'll be back in a couple weeks with another election but until then let us know what you think!
Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
Welcome back to Probably About Politics! Our first episode of the New Year and we've got the first round of the Czech Republic's Presidential election, a brand new opening segment where Alex and Kaleigh try out some much-requested banter and a surprise announcement! Its gonna be a big year!
Follow us on Twitter: @ProbPolitics
This week continuing the love of learning about wacky votes Kaleigh and Alex look back on the Australian Postal Survey for legalizing same-sex marriage and what it means for Australian politics! Bold statements about regional powerhouses and predictions about the future of mail are made so don't miss out!
Follow us on Twitter: @ProbPolitics Shoot us an email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com
They're back and promising to not make any more promises about when they'll make new posts! This week Alex and Kaleigh are talking the Catalan Referendum and upcoming regional election. They're feeling recklessly confident post-New Zealand election in their predictions and abilities as political commentators so catch up with them on the developing elections, the declarations of independence and international arrest warrents!
This week Alex and Kaleigh are excited about the relatively smooth and democratic German national election! Kaleigh was so excited she got a haircut for the occasion. And they recorded it after it happened so maybe they're predictions will be right! (probably not)
We're back for a second season! To start things off we've got two elections that have proven to be far more surprising than expected and have our hosts, Alex and Kaleigh, excited to be back at it!
We start with Singapore and it's new presidential electoral process that has gotten them their first female president and created real questions about democratic process. Then we turn to New Zealand, an election that promised to be both uncontroversial and boring but thanks to a leadership shake up has become an exciting example of a neck and neck democratic election!
In a special edition of Probably About Politics Kaleigh is back in Ottawa for the weekend and she and Alex catch up on what happened in the British referendum to leave the EU! (commonly known as BREXIT) It was one of the most exciting votes this year that kept both of the hosts on the edge of their seats and they couldn't let the opportunity pass to show off all the news they'd been reading over summer break! Lots has happened this summer and will be coming up in the fall so please join us again in September as Alex and Kaleigh attempt to explain a very small part of all of it to you.
Hi everyone! Welcome back to our season final! Alex and Kaleigh are finishing school for the year and headed to different parts of the country but check back throughout the summer and in the fall cause who knows! This week Kaleigh and Alex are covering the South Korean general election and the always interesting political situation of the new democracy neighbouring North Korea.
Alex and Kaleigh take a look at how democracy works in a regional body like the EU. Are people excited about voting in the EU? Is it democratic? Why should we care? These are the big questions Alex and Kaleigh try to answer.