Probably About Politics Podcast

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: Instagram: ⁠⁠@probpolitics⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠@probpolitics⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpoliticsTwitter: @probpoliticsEmail: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpoliticsTwitter: @probpoliticsEmail: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpoliticsTwitter: @probpoliticsEmail: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Got elections or topics you want us to cover in 2022? Share them with us here: Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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! Got elections or topics you want us to cover in 2022? Share them with us here: Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Got elections or topics you want us to cover? Share them with us here: Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy that you want us to cover? Let us know! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy that you want us to cover? Let us know! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy that you want us to cover? Let us know! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy that you want us to cover? Let us know! Instagram: @probpolitics Twitter: @probpolitics Email: probablyaboutpolitics@gmail.com