“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” the Prime Minister said with cautious optimism this week. As news broke of Pfizer’s promising preliminary results with its COVID-19 vaccine — of which Canada has already secured millions of doses — even Elamin and Rosie have been feeling a little relief, these last few days. But what plans might the federal government have for the eventual rollout of a vaccine? And how is procurement going with other potential vaccine candidates? The two lay out what we know so far, as daily case counts continue to break new records across several provinces.

Rosie and Elamin also take a look at Canada’s airline industry, facing plummeting revenues and thousands of complaints from passengers demanding refunds for cancelled flights. What is the federal government considering, when it comes to a possible bailout?

It’s the first episode in which we can say it: Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Yes, there will be challenges to come — including legal challenges from a defiant incumbent — but for now we’d like to focus on the significance of this historic moment.

Today Elamin calls up Baratunde Thurston, the Emmy award-winning host of ‘How to Citizen with Baratunde’ and ‘We’re Having A Moment’ who believes “we've taken a step toward resolution, toward peace, toward democracy, toward voting integrity, toward decency and humanity and away from bullying.” They discuss what a Biden-Harris win means for America, and how to unite a fractured left in the wake of Biden’s win.

At time of recording, we still don't know who will be the next president of the United States. But honestly, there's enough to discuss while we wait for the numbers — from Trump's premature declaration of victory, to his preemptive legal strikes, to duelling demonstrations happening all across the country.

Elamin calls up CBC’s Steven D'Souza, reporting from the lightning-rod state of Pennsylvania, where a deep divide tells the story of the whole country. Yes, even in Biden’s hometown. Plus, Hayes Brown of MSNBC takes us on a tour of other key battlegrounds and what might happen if Trump tries to take the fight to the Supreme Court.

Rosie and Elamin are running on little sleep after a late Tuesday night watching ballots trickle in south of the border — so they’ve recruited Bloomberg White House reporter Josh Wingrove to help make sense of what’s (still) unfolding in the U.S. election. When will we know who wins the presidency? What can initial results tell us about how our next-door neighbour is really feeling? And is Canada ready for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden to win? The three take stock of what’s on the table and what’s still to come in a presidential election unlike any other.

The odds of a clear result on voting day are slim to none, and that's going to prove a great challenge for news organizations, especially cable news networks who are so used to building a narrative out of the numbers as they come in and then presenting a conclusive result. All signs—not the least of which is that Trump has said he won't concede, even if he appears to be losing—point to a long drawn out election, or worse.

So how are we going to collectively process this one? Elamin calls up Ben Smith, media columnist for The New York Times, to talk about why it’s critical that the media get election night right.

Sure, the U.S. election is on November 3 — but that doesn’t mean that we’ll know who won the presidency by November 4. Between the lag time for mail-in ballots to Trump’s constant foreboding about voter fraud, there’s a great deal of tension building up to voting day. Add to that concerns over armed rightwing militias, voter suppression tactics, the threat of foreign interference and the ongoing global pandemic.

In today’s special episode, Elamin zooms out to understand this moment in history and what it could mean in the long run. He calls up authors and journalists Sarah Kendzior and Stephen Marche to work through silver linings and worst case scenarios. There are, unfortunately, more of the latter. The key question looms large: is there hope for a free and fair election in 2020?

Four elections in under four days — whew. Voters in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and two federal Toronto ridings all headed to the polls this past week, and incumbents were largely rewarded across the board. B.C. Premier John Horgan and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe were handed majorities, while the federal Liberals held onto those two Toronto seats. But is there more to glean from these somewhat expected results? Rosie and Elamin dig deeper into the numbers to look for the kind of signs federal politicians might be keeping an eye on… as they prepare to watch a whole other election south of the border. How is the federal government preparing for what could unfold next Tuesday in the U.S.?

Plus, the two dissect the latest Conservative motion to stir up the House of Commons this week. It wasn’t a confidence matter, but it still had lots to do with government transparency — specifically, how the Liberals have been handling the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this latest scuffle suggest about the state of cooperation in Parliament?

Here we are in the final stretch. In just seven days, millions of Americans will head to the polls and elect the next president of the United States. Elamin calls up Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Toluse Olorunnipa, who covers the White House for the Washington Post. They go through the biggest stories of the past week, including Thursday night’s presidential debate, and Trump’s sudden obsession with Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

They also check in on what’s happening in key swing states, and what the strategy is for the Biden and Trump campaigns in the final days of the race.

Yesterday marked exactly one year since the last federal election… and yesterday, Canadians were nearly sent to the polls once again. After the Conservatives put forward a motion in the House calling for a special committee to examine the WE Charity controversy, Liberals said they would make the vote on that motion a matter of confidence, meaning the minority government could have fallen. Okay, yes, that’s a lot to wrap your head around — but Rosie and Elamin are here to answer the big questions, like: What are opposition parties doing to pursue the WE affair? Why did the Liberals put their minority government on the line for this? And how did we get so close to the brink of a snap election?

Plus, the two also shine a light on the federal government’s role in the Nova Scotia fishery dispute. MPs stayed up late on Monday for an emergency debate focused on the newly launched Mi'kmaw lobster fishery in Saulnierville, N.S. and the increasingly violent opposition to it from non-Indigenous commercial fishers. Rosie and Elamin take a look at what surfaced in that debate, and what next steps the feds may consider.

If it feels like the U.S. election has been going on for two to twenty years, take this in: we're now just two weeks out. This week Elamin calls up Hayes Brown, host of BuzzFeed’s Daily News podcast News O'Clock, and Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui. They talk through the top stories in the last week, from the push to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the competing town halls that replaced a second presidential debate.

Elamin thinks this is also a great time to zoom out and get a global citizen’s perspective. Because anyone who's paying attention will tell you that the stakes are incredibly high, not just for Americans, but for those of us watching all around the world. So, what does this election mean for world order? And why has foreign policy been so absent from the conversation?