Femme Wonk by Katie Davey

Okay. We're mixing it up a bit during covid-19. We don't want to add unnecessary noise, so we've pivoted to some lighter content. 

Tune in for three book reviews:

1. Had it Coming: What's Fair in the Age of #Metoo by Robyn Doolittle

2. We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslin Memoir by Samra Habib

3. The Handmaid's Tale & The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 

We're also thrilled to announce that GlassSKY will be sponsoring the podcast for the remainder of 2020! GlassSKY works to help the next generation of leaders make the most of their talents and contribute to society and the workplace in powerful ways. They work with progressive employers who want to embrace diversity and gain a deeper understanding of the changes they are facing as their leadership profile rapidly shifts to one that is Millennial and increasingly female. Visit their website GlassSKY.org to learn more.

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.