Probably About Politics Podcast

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 elec...

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...

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 suppor...

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! G...

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 s...

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 upc...

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...

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...

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 wha...

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 authoritari...

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 under...

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: probab...

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 conf...

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...

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 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 leg...

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). Keep up with Probably About Pol...

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there...

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 goo...

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy tha...

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. Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a topic in democracy tha...

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. Please Rate & Review! Keep up with Probably About Politics: Is there legislation or a...

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...