Ellected - The Podcast

Ellected - The Podcast

Ellected Podcast - Madame Premier

You might have seen the big news about Ellected, Madame Premier's upcoming podcast with and about women in politics. I want to share more about how it came to be.

I want to again thank Alison Tedford for coming up with the name. As soon as she suggested it, I couldn't get it out of my head. It's the perfect name and I adore it. I sent Alison a gift card as my/Madame Premier's thanks, and I hope it's the start of a long friendship. 

You may or may not know that from 2007 to 2012, I worked in government and politics in British Columbia. During that time, I got to meet and become friends with a fellow staffer named Maclean Kay. I won't take you through a month-by-month or year-by-year synopsis -- you’d quickly lose interest -- so let's fast forward to 2020. I now have Madame Premier and two kids and a family in Calgary. Maclean (who ironically is from Calgary) stayed in Victoria, and moved onto former Premier Christy Clark’s office as her speechwriter. His post-political life is kind of like mine: still around it, but in a very different way. Maclean founded The Orca, an independent multimedia publication for BC politics, business, and history. 

Before the holidays, Maclean and I were catching up. He asked if I had ever thought about doing a podcast - and more to the point, did I want to do one? The answer was totally yes...but. As a one-woman business, who has kids, with Covid being a thing and lots of ideas and not always enough time, my not doing one before wasn't because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the time to do it alone, and well. Maclean asked if I would do a podcast that he and The Orca could host and edit. Yes, edit. I get to do the best parts and he gets to do the less-best parts (sorry, Maclean! But thanks!) 

You know what was going through my head? Women need allies. Other women, but men too. We need people to champion us, to ask us to do big things. Other people can see our potential sometimes more clearly than we can ourselves. 

So to pre-empt any questions (that I am sure still likely to field, but here goes anyways) I'm going to make my own Q&A. Kind of a like a little Question Period prep (I love QP Prep so much, and no, I’m not kidding):

Q: Who will you have on Ellected?

A: Interesting women in and around politics from across Canada.

Q: Who won't you have on Ellected?

A: Great question. If you know Madame Premier, you know my politics. I am a progressive feminist without any current party memberships. I want to talk to women from across the political spectrum from all parties. Yes, all parties. It's a multi-partisan podcast so there will be different views from different people from different parties.

Q: But what if I don't agree with someone you have on Ellected?

A: That's okay. I actually want you to hear from people you don't agree with. If we have learned anything from the last four years in the US, it's that we have to listen to people with different perspectives because it’s the only way to understand things more clearly. That being said, Ellected will not be a place for people to share racism, sexism, hate speech or misinformation.

Q: What do you consider misinformation?

A: Anything that isn't based on science or fact. I worked in politics; I appreciate good spin. But I won't be spun, if that makes sense? I will ask hard questions, be thoughtful, respectful, and fair. It won't be a platform for people pushing hard ideological agendas. That simply isn't on. 

Q: Will The Orca be telling you who to have or not have on Ellected?

A: No. Ellected belongs to Madame Premier and that means me - Sarah. 

Q: Who’s your first guest? 

A: Excellent question! Stay tuned. I promise it will be great!

Q: Can I make guest suggestions?

A: Yes, please! Email me at hello@madamepremier.com with suggestions at any time. 

I hope you are as excited for Ellected as I am because I am VERY excited!

xo,

Sarah

Madame Premier

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