A passion for politics
May 10, 2024
UVic Poli Sci grad Rachael Segal regards Canadian election night as her "Super Bowl," and she’s on a mission to help women discover that engagement in politics can be invigorating and fun.
Every Saturday, the listener puts her headphones on and takes a walk to listen to a podcast—without her young children by her side. She snaps a selfie, posts it on social media and labels it “Mom time.”
UVic alumna Rachael Segal thinks of that listener often. It’s Segal’s podcast, Beyond a Ballot, that the mother listens to with such dedication. It’s all about getting more women interested in politics and serving up that information in a fun, accessible way.
“I believe that we have lost an entire generation of women to this concept that politics is bad, and we’ve done nobody a service by trying to just educate women in the same ways over and over again about politics.” To do that she’s developed not just a podcast, but a business of the same name.
“My goal is to really change the narrative, to create a lifestyle brand around the concept of politics. So, years ago, I had the theory that we need to bring politics to women, not women to politics, like we’ve been doing for an entire generation.”
That means meeting women where they are—like the listener who tunes in on her solitary walk and tags Beyond a Ballot on social media. Segal has a passion for politics and wants to share that energy with others, particularly women. The name of the podcast is intended to suggest that while having more women trying to get elected is a worthy goal, having them engaged in politics is a needed first step.
Segal herself wears more hats than the peddler in the children’s classic tale Caps for Sale. Segal is not only a podcast host, political strategist and entrepreneur, she’s also a university lecturer and broadcast journalist with extensive experience on talk radio and television in Toronto. She is a regular guest on CBC television’s Power & Politics.
Segal, who earned a BA in political science in 2009 at UVic before pursuing two law degrees, hosts the podcast with Amanda Alvaro, who leans more to the left, while Segal is more at home on the conservative/centrist side of things. The Beyond a Ballot website underlines: “We are fiercely multi-partisan.” Their tagline: “We don’t care what your position is, just that you have one.”
Forget flashy stadium tours with long-legged singer-songwriters, what Segal is really looking forward to is the BC election. Politics changed her course of study at UVic and then her life, she says. For that reason, UVic has a special place in her heart.
“I started as a sociology major and ended up as a political science major, and that was really because of the voices on campus, the professors that I had, the concepts that they put in front of me. And from there, I thought I was going go into not-for profit. As a student leader, I met a federal cabinet minister who asked me to come to Ottawa. And so, I went from Victoria to Ottawa—and the rest changed my life.”
Her time working in Ottawa fuelled her curiosity. She wanted to better understand the political process and the criminal-justice system, and that led her to pursue an undergrad law degree and later a Masters of Law. Politics has always been a catalyst for her to learn and to grow professionally—and now it has inspired her business.
The idea is to make Beyond a Ballot a lifestyle brand, eventually supported through brand partnerships, event sponsorship and possibly a membership model. Segal observes that every political party she has worked for has asked the same question: “How do we engage educated women between the ages of 25 and 55 to this political party?”
As well as podcasts, their recent offerings include a book club—which sold out in half an hour. Getting women on the ballot is important, but the first step is engagement—and demystifying key information such as how to run a campaign. “We call ourselves a full life-cycle organization,” she adds, speaking from her home in Vancouver.
Fewer women engaged means a lack of diversity at the decision-making table, she says.
“And you know, I’ve seen it firsthand being involved in so many levels of government and so many political campaigns. Women just do politics differently. I think there’s an old saying that says, ‘Add women, change politics.’”
Lois Harder, UVic’s dean of social sciences, is “all in” on Beyond a Ballot’s objectives. She observes that women have been so sidelined from politics in the past and change is needed. “We are in such desperate need of people with a vision of a better future. People who have the skills to bring different folks to the table and do that in a way that is about listening and responding and thinking collaboratively and collectively about how we move forward together, which is quite different than the adversarial model that we live in.”
Harder notes that many people simply don’t vote at all, either because they aren’t informed or don’t believe it will change anything. “They don’t really feel that anything makes a difference, that parties are behaving in kind of prescribed ideological agendas, and it doesn’t really matter what they think or what they desire.”
She praises Segal’s determination to make politics fun and avoid falling through the trap door of cynicism. “It’s fantastic that she’s a UVic grad, and we’re super proud to have people who have this kind of commitment to public life, and that’s what we need to make Canada the country it could be.”
Segal and Alvaro currently host the Beyond a Ballot podcast as well as one called Think You Know, that is a deeper dive on the personalities in politics. More shows will be launching this year. Segal, who has two young daughters under age three, is currently on leave from a position with the BC United Party. The idea for the podcast came to her when she was home with her first child and doing a lot of listening, such as to the audio version of journalist Kate Couric’s book.
“And I thought, how great would it be if we had moms like me on mat leave listening to a couple of friends chatting about things that are in the news, chatting about important political issues. And we were just part of people’s rosters. And so, for me, that woman every week when she tags us, it’s the reminder for me that the ultimate goal is for women to have an easy way to engage with the political resources and feel like they’re part of a community, which is a huge aspect to what we’re creating.
“Women balance so much in their lives, and especially women with young children, that we want to make this as easy as possible. For them to just add it to their regular routines, to add one political touchpoint to their regular routine.”
One of Segal’s favourite aspects of her work is broadcasting, which she regards as an immense privilege. Segal started out as a full-time legal reporter, using her two law degrees to cover stories such as the explosive sex assault trial of former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi. She was often allotted just a three-minute slot of air time to update viewers on a complicated legal case.
She grew up in a home with people who loved politics, especially her father, a surgeon. “I think I was super political growing up, and I never really realized it, because I never had the understanding that everyone else’s house didn’t have the news on all the time.”
Having children of her own has revealed some hard truths. “Number One, bold, underlined it’s showed me how difficult it is to have time for politics,” she says. “Having kids is a huge barrier to entry for men and women.” Segal used to gladly work 20-hour days before having children. No more. While there have been positive changes to be more inclusive to families, such children being allowed onto the floor of the House in Ottawa, it’s not enough, she says.
“I think having girls has been for me also a huge thing. I feel like the universe gave me girls because I’m always advocating for women’s inclusion in politics. I’ve taken my two-year-old to political rallies. My children have met more political leaders than most kids will in their entire life.”
This is by design. “Politics, as I say, is part of everybody’s life. You know, you’re sitting in a room. The lights are on. BC Hydro is a government agency. You had eggs for breakfast. The cost of those eggs is determined by government. We’re not at war. That’s a government decision. So, government and politics impacts every single thing we do as human beings, and I want my girls to understand that.” She also wants her girls to understand that they can be a part of it all.
So how does Segal balance all those caps on her head? “With help. My whole existence is around community, and I have a village of people that believe in me, that pick me up when I think this is a futile effort,” she says, adding her mother, a nanny and her husband all share in the child care.
She does not believe in the concept of balance—and is willing to debate anyone over that. “And so, you know, I love my community, my business, Beyond a Ballot. I love my children. I love my husband. But I can only invest so much at every time. And so, you have to really follow the passions that you love.” She feels fortunate that her passion is for community building.
Segal would like to be on the ballot herself one day. “I mean, my home is federal politics. That’s where I started… I think I said this on the podcast. I’ve done most roles on campaigns except for being the candidate. And I really do want that experience one day.”
—Jenny Manzer, BA ‘97
Segal speed round
Segal’s favourite female politicians
- Federal: MP Melissa Lantsman from Thornhill, ON
- Provincial: MLA Shirley Bond, representing Prince George-Valemount, first woman to serve as BC’s Attorney General
- School Board: Victoria Jung, Chair of Vancouver School Board
- Municipal: Councillor Rebecca Bligh, City of Vancouver
Favourite political TV show:
“Oh, my God, Veep, everybody should watch Veep. Everyone thinks House of Cards or West Wing are like reality. No, no, no. Veep is a 100 per cent accurate on how politics works,” she says. The satiric show starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice-president of the United States. Segal recalls an episode in which the politician’s handlers plan a photo-op at an ice cream parlour. They debate for days what flavour of ice cream she should order, only to be thrown in a tailspin when their chosen flavour is unavailable.
Bonus:
“If you want to know what it’s like to be a political staffer, you should just watch The Devil Wears Prada, because not to say that politicians are like Meryl Streep. But you kind of just have to roll with it.”
This article appears in the UVic Torch alumni magazine.
For more Torch stories, go to the UVic Torch alumni magazine page.