Femme Wonk by Katie Davey

Tune in to get the recap on the first 3 weeks of the federal election campaign. We'll be back later this week after the national debates.

This episode is 100% my (Katie's -- hi!) advice about a career in the policy space. We cover master's, the landscape, and practical tips. 

The takeaway? Connect with people and learn how to stand out.

As promised, here is your New Brunswick post election debrief! I'm joined by University of New Brunswick prof JP Lewis who helps us understand the context of the election. His takeaway: You can’t assume that whatever happened with Covid-19 evaluation of government and voter intentions will overwhelm traditional voting patterns.

Like what you hear? Leave us a review!

This episode is dropping just 10 days before Election Day. Check it out to hear my thoughts on the campaign this far, and what to expect over the next two weeks.

I chat with Anna, co-CEO of Tidal Equality. We discuss various covid-19 policy responses, what this pandemic response has meant for equity, and what we can learn from all of this. 

This week we chat with Velma from Operation Black Vote Canada (OBVC). We chat about some great projects that they're working on, like the 1834 fellowship, but we also talk more broadly about what diverse decision making looks like and how we can all be allies. 

We get two calls to action: 1. provide access and 2. at whatever decision making table you're at, take an internal audit. Look around the table and ask yourself if it looks like Canada. If it doesn't, find people that can fill the gaps.

How could we not do an episode about the Iowa caucus? I chat with an old friend about our 'interested observer' status on Iowa and the democratic primary race. Check it out!

We're joined by friend of the podcast, Jordan O'Brien to talk about what has happened over the last 6 weeks, top political moments of the past decade, and predictions for 2020. 

We talked about:

- Andrew Scheer's resignation

- Blaine Higgs and his confidence threats

- The NWT first majority women Cabinet

Top moments of the decade? You'll have to tune in to find out.

We've got a quick mini-episode for you today where we talk all things federal Cabinet shuffle scheduled to happen on Wednesday. On Thursday, we'll have your post-cabinet brief giving a run down of our thoughts. 

We answer questions like: What is a cabinet; what happens in a minority situation; what about representation, and many others. 

Let us know what you think, and send along any predictions you may have.

We chat with Yash and Nahum of Everyday about participatory democracy -- what is it, why it is important, who is doing it well, and how we can improve?

Today we’re talking about gender equality and climate change. Our public discourse in Canada has been dominated by the economic impacts of climate change -- specifically carbon tax. We also hear about the urgency, and about what is happening to our lands, water, and life. We talk very little about how climate change hits the ground. Major episodes like wildfires, flooding, and storms are often getting chalked up to climate change, but who is being impacted?

Much research suggests that women and children will disproportionately feel the impacts of climate change. This has to do with things like the lack of economic security women face, and the types of work women are doing.

I’m joined by Damien and Anne from Community Forest International. They also walk us through some of the programming that they’re doing internationally, and what they’ve learned. 

Today we’re talking about politics, social media, and self-care. By the time this episode is released, we’ll know the results of the 2019 election, however we recorded it a few days before.

I got the inspiration for this episode when I was recording last week’s episode. I was honestly feeling really overwhelmed about providing election commentary because I’ve felt pretty upset about many elements of this campaign. I also felt like spending time on Twitter was adding to the negativity I was feeling.

We chat with Kayley Reed, a successful entrepreneur who started her journey as a mental health advocate and co-founder of Wear Your Label. Her journey has led her to a successful business built around influencer marketing. She also hosts a podcast called Self-care Sunday. I wanted to talk to Kayley about how we can practice self-care in a negative political social media environment -- especially people like me who rely on social media as a tool for business.

We talk about setting boundaries on social media, the difference between personal and business use, where we both were when we found out Donald Trump was elected, the role social media now plays in politics, and last but not least, some tools we can use to have a better experience on social media, while still being an informed advocate for change.

Like #Elxn43, this episode is a lot. We talk about the federal election, give you some useful definitions in case we've gotta talk about a minority situation in a few days, dive into the platforms to see where the parties stand on gender, and answer some great listener questions. 

Young people ages 18-35 make up the largest demographic voting block in this election. We chat with Shreya, an organizer with Future Majority about getting young people to the polls for Election 43!

If you haven't yet, do get out and vote! Check out elections.ca for more information. 

We talk about all things basic income including frameworks, past pilot programs, benefits, and #elxn43 platform commitments. We end with listener questions on basic income. What do you think? Is it a no-brainer?

We chat with Amber Bishop, the principal of the Cambridge- Narrows Community School (K-12) about what her school specifically is doing to transform the bathroom experience for all students. The transformation includes providing sanitary products for free to those who need them. Although the CNCS is a small school in rural New Brunswick, the idea of period poverty is being discussed across the country and governments are beginning to respond. We hope that these conversations continue. 

I'm joined by Founder and CEO of Leading Women of Tomorrow, Medha Reddy. We chat about the importance of supporting young women to equip them with the tools to run for office or take on leadership roles in the future. 

What do you get when you put two Canadian political podcast hosts together to talk about the #DemDebate? 1.5 hours of rants, rabbit holes, and some smart analysis. Thanks again to Chris from Ontario Loud for joining us to chat U.S Democratic Party politics. 

In this episode, we collaborated with Matt George of the podcast Unsettled. Matt is focused on the intersection of culture, business, and technology. We chatted about gender quotas, universal basic income, legislating culture change, and about a million other things. Let us know what you think -- and check out Unsettled!

In this episode, we chat with KJ about his experience as an international student and newcomer in New Brunswick. We talk about both the challenges and the bright spots as well as some policy innovations that would increase inclusive immigration. 

This is the second episode in our inclusive immigration series. 

In today's episode we're joined by Ginette Gautreau -- assistant director at the New Brunswick Multicultural Council.  We talk about inclusive immigration, which at its core, is as simple as treating immigrants as humans rather than economic engines. 

We asked Ginette how can folks listening can promote a more inclusive conversation around immigration. Here are the tips she suggested:

1. Volunteer and attend events with the multicultural communities in your own communities 
2. Look at how you’re bringing newcomers into your space - are you actively trying to diversify folks around the table?
3. Reinforce kindness, curiosity, open openness with your own actions  

I'm joined by Meranda of the All Things Dreams podcast to reflect on the Atlantic Podcast Summit as well as our first six months in podcasting! We chat about choosing our names & logos, what tech we use, the challenges we faced, and top pieces of advice. 

In this episode, we chat with Erin Flood about our recent experience with the GovMaker Conference. We discuss open government, open data, the future of democracy, and what role technology plays in this conversation. This is a big topic and we were left with some big questions including how we build the infrastructure around privacy that makes us feel protected and safe with what governments will do with that data in the same way that we feel safe using publicly funded infrastructure -- let us know what you think!

I'm joined by Jordan O'Brien for a second time. He first joined the pod in episode 3 to chat about the 1.5x incentive to political parties for votes cast for women candidates -- check it out.

In this episode, we chat about the recently elected minority government in PEI, our experience navigating a historic election in New Brunswick, what challenges and benefits that minority governments have, and we sprinkle in a bit of electoral reform. 

We lean into our inner policy wonk so let us know what you think. 

In this episode, we chat about the front runners and their platforms as we head into the Alberta and PEI elections.

I'm joined by Joan Kingston, former New Brunswick cabinet minister to discuss the roles of platforms, how they're built, and why they're still important. 

If you live in PEI or Alberta -- don't forget to vote!!

In today's episode we are honoured to chat with both Siyabulela Mandela & Bernadette Fernandes.

Siyabulela Mandela is an internationally recognized academic and activist grandson of the Freedom Fighter, Nelson Mandela. 

He is currently a Ph.D. candidate (International Relations and Conflict Resolution) in the Department of Politics and Conflict Studies at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, where he is also a lecturer for the Politics and Conflict Studies Department. 

Bernadette Fernandes is the founder of The Varanda Network which seeks to promote inclusive trade partnerships. She is also the connector of Siyabulela to New Brunswick.

Together we discussed Siyabulela's work on conflict resolution, the importance of education, and the the challenges the global community is facing today. 

I want to thank Robyn Tingley of Glass Sky, and Bernadette Fernandes of The Varanda Network for making this episode possible. 

In this episode, we chat with Lana Payne, Atlantic Regional Director for Unifor. We discuss Unifor's advocacy on domestic partner violence and why they have been pushing for legislative changes across Canada. We also talk about what exactly domestic, intimate partner, and/or sexual violence leave is and how it can be implemented. This is a policy heavy episode -- we hope you learn a thing or two!

 This is the fifth and final episode in our International Women's Day project. The IWD project brought a short podcast episode every single day this week that interviewed an organization or person doing really great things to embody the #InnovateForChange theme of International Women's Day this year. In today’s episode, I chat with Jill Lamb, a founder of Girls STEM Up, about their upcoming conference to engage high school and university women in STEM.  

This is the fourth episode in our International Women's Day project. The IWD project will bring you a short podcast episode every single day this week that interviews an organization or person doing really great things to embody the #InnovateForChange theme of International Women's Day this year. In today’s episode, I chat with Cathy Simpson, creator of Up & Go, about getting more girls engaged in STEM.

This is the third episode in our International Women's Day project. The IWD project will bring you a short podcast episode every single day this week that interviews an organization or person doing really great things to embody the #InnovateForChange theme of International Women's Day this year. In today’s episode, I chat with Karina LeBlanc from the Pond Deshpande Centre about supporting system change through representation.

 This is the second episode in our International Women's Day project. The IWD project will bring you a short podcast episode every single day this week that interviews an organization or person doing really great things to embody the #InnovateForChange theme of International Women's Day this year. In today’s episode, I chat with Heather MacLean of Women For Atlantic about supporting women and girls in leadership.

This episode kicks off our International Women's Day project which will bring you a short podcast episode every single day this week that interviews an organization or person doing really great things to embody the #InnovateForChange theme of International Women's Day this year. In today’s episode, I'm also going to talk to you a bit more about Femme Wonk and how we’ve evolved over the last five months or so. I’m also going to talk to you about my own opinions on International Women's Day as well as basically answer the questions that I’m going to be asking the guests for this week coming up.

We're joined by Alaina Lockhart, the Member of Parliament for Fundy Royal. We chat about the importance of having women as role models, why diversity in decision making is important, and how beautiful New Brunswick is!