We look back on the coverage of an absolutely underwhelming, demoralizing election. And we contend with a troubling aspect of Norm Macdonald’s legacy.

At the time of recording this episode, #elxn44 literally has yielded the same number of seats (give or take several seats) for all of our federal parties. Here's a coast-to-coast-to-coast chat on what this outcome suggests and where Canadian politics goes from here.  

What issues did the federal leaders not speak on throughout the campaign? We get into some of them. And a look into what pandemic debts and costed platforms tell us.

After protestors threw gravel at the Prime Minister during a campaign stop, we ask: has this gotten too much coverage, or not enough? And we scrutinize a budding conspiracy about Michael Spavor, the Canadian entrepreneur detained in China.

The show after Labour Day warrants a look at federal parties' commitments to workers and how they say they will grow our economy. And when it comes to climate change proposals, will voters respond to ambition or reality?

With the election coming in two weeks, Jesse sits down for an interview with Tiffany Lam, producer of The Backbench, to discuss what kind of politics show her and Fatima are making and how a politics show can be fun, accessible and nutritious. The interview is followed by the most recent episode of The Backbench. Subscribe to The Backbench to be informed about the important issues of this election.

 The Liberals promised to inject 6-billion more dollars into our healthcare system last week, but will more money mean more healthcare? Meanwhile, regional federal parties have dropped their platforms with distinct climate plans, posing a possible threat to major parties.

Twitter became the centre of the election this week when they put a "manipulated media” tag on one of Chrystia Freeland’s tweets, which contained an edited video of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole. And is science journalism at a crisis point in Canada? An analysis finds Canada’s biggest newspapers gave about half as much coverage to the IPCC’s major recent climate report as US ones did.

Liberals scramble to respond to the crisis in Afghanistan amid the first week of campaigning. And Trudeau says he wants life to be more affordable while also suggesting it's not his job.

Recent stories about Canada's role in the War in Afghanistan fall short. And if Justin Trudeau is Veruca Salt, who then is Erin O'Toole? Photojournalist and author Paul Watson co-hosts.