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Polling day 2016 is in sight. Australia’s longest election in half-a-century is almost done but there’s still a lot of ground to cover. This week we look at Malcolm Turnbull’s ongoing love for innovation, against his panache for cutting science funding. We also discuss the future of minor parties and the politicisation of tragedy in the wake of the Orlando shootings.

On VICE’s new election podcast, host Aamer Rahman is joined by the Sex Party’s Nevena Spirovska, astrophysicist Alan Duffy, and writer and editor Roj Amedi.

Here are some highlights from this week’s episode:

SEX PARTY SECRETARY NEVENA SPIROVSKA

“Political discourse condensed down to a protein bar that eventually gets shat out in the end.”

ASTROPHYSICIST ALAN DUFFY

“I’ve got a soft spot for Russell Crowe…”

WRITER ROJ AMEDI ON THE ORLANDO SHOOTINGS

“[Turnbull] said that this was an attack on all of us. No it wasn’t. It was an attack on LGBTIQA+ people.”

AAMER RAHMAN ON BARNABY JOYCE

“You know you’ve done something wrong when Barnaby Joyce runs with your line…”

Catch the whole conversation on Soundcloud, or subscribe to the weekly podcast on iTunes.

This was ep 2. Check out ep 1 here.