The Dead Candidate's Report - A Memoir. Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:46:47 -0400 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182347 en-us © 2026 The Dead Candidate's Report - A Memoir. yes 09d3f201-4647-5b4d-938e-9df9acc65a32 terrymacleod@gmail.com Terrence MacLeod episodic false "The Dead Candidate's Report" is the memoir of Lesley Hughes, an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and media coach as she is removed from her candidacy for the Liberal Party during Canada's 2008 Federal Election. This took place one day after her confirmation as a candidate by then Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. This was all based on the opinion of an anonymous blogger alleging that Lesley Hughes was an anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, 9/11 conspiracy theory nutcase who was infit for Parliament. Hughes tells the story of her tenacious fight to clear her name and restore her reputation. Hughes discovers how powerful, conventional media and social media, have become in controlling the thoughts and opinions of others regardless of the validity and accuracy of what was being written and said. Follow her story as it unfolds in 17 Episodes.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Terrence MacLeod terrymacleod@gmail.com https://storage.buzzsprout.com/eo9ycwoa42oduot2ok8ur306svt2?.jpg The Dead Candidate's Report - A Memoir. Appreciation. Appreciation. Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445454 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:00:00 -0400 226 full false Appendix 2 - Get The Truth. Appendix 2 - Get The Truth. Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445401 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:00:00 -0400 478 full false Appendix 1 - Unknown to the general public. Appendix 1 - Unknown to the general public. Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445376 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:00:00 -0400 449 full false Episode 15: Final Thoughts - The media is a minefield. Episode 15: Final Thoughts - The media is a minefield. Episode 15 - The Media is the Minefield

Mother Theresa was right to distrust and avoid contact with what is now called Legacy Media. But journalists in the new, more diverse Information Age will still need individual courage if they intend to find and share the truth as their work demands. 

]]> Episode 15 - The Media is the Minefield

Mother Theresa was right to distrust and avoid contact with what is now called Legacy Media. But journalists in the new, more diverse Information Age will still need individual courage if they intend to find and share the truth as their work demands. 

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445362 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 1112 full false Episode 14 - The last nice country in the world. Episode 14 - The last nice country in the world. 14. The Last Nice Country in the World

Her old life is beyond reach, but a new one takes shape. Lesley Hughes has witnessed first hand that the free press in Canada turning its back on democracy and on its own freedom. She contemplates writing her story in a book and the advice is universal: don't do it!

]]> 14. The Last Nice Country in the World

Her old life is beyond reach, but a new one takes shape. Lesley Hughes has witnessed first hand that the free press in Canada turning its back on democracy and on its own freedom. She contemplates writing her story in a book and the advice is universal: don't do it!

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445346 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 941 full false Episode 13 - Disappeared. Again. Episode 13 - Disappeared. Again. 13 Disappeared. Again.

Vindicated! The Dead Candidate's Recovery Team releases the news that she has been cleared of all charges during the election of 2008. The story sinks like a stone. Hughes decides to demand accountability from her indifferent colleagues in media.

]]> 13 Disappeared. Again.

Vindicated! The Dead Candidate's Recovery Team releases the news that she has been cleared of all charges during the election of 2008. The story sinks like a stone. Hughes decides to demand accountability from her indifferent colleagues in media.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445254 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 1290 full false Episode 12 - All the justice money can buy. Episode 12 - All the justice money can buy. 12. All the Justice Money Can Buy

Hughes learns why seeking justice in court is like following a drowning with a firing squad. She mortgages her house to pay legal bills. Her lawyers dodge a gag order. After almost five years of struggle and fatigue, matters take a stunning turn.

]]> 12. All the Justice Money Can Buy

Hughes learns why seeking justice in court is like following a drowning with a firing squad. She mortgages her house to pay legal bills. Her lawyers dodge a gag order. After almost five years of struggle and fatigue, matters take a stunning turn.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445229 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 1094 full false Episode 11 - The First Lawyer. Episode 11 - The First Lawyer. 11 The First Lawyer

The dead candidate takes her defamation case to a highly respected lawyer. The names on her defendants list (which includes Canada's prime minister) cause him to "scare her for her own good." He warns that her powerful opponents can afford to fight forever and may well beat her senseless.



]]> 11 The First Lawyer

The dead candidate takes her defamation case to a highly respected lawyer. The names on her defendants list (which includes Canada's prime minister) cause him to "scare her for her own good." He warns that her powerful opponents can afford to fight forever and may well beat her senseless.



]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445192 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 479 full false Episode 10 - Looking for the exit. Episode 10 - Looking for the exit. 10. Looking for the Exit 

Canada's election of 2008 is history, but it continues to corrode the daily life, the family and mental health of The Dead Candidate. Slowly, grief and confusion give way to anger. She accepts advice from Tony Robbins and finds hope in her rights as a Canadian.

]]> 10. Looking for the Exit 

Canada's election of 2008 is history, but it continues to corrode the daily life, the family and mental health of The Dead Candidate. Slowly, grief and confusion give way to anger. She accepts advice from Tony Robbins and finds hope in her rights as a Canadian.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445102 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 1030 full false Episode 9 - Memories of McCarthy Episode 9 - Memories of McCarthy 9. Memories of McCarthy

Unwilling to live with the odious label of anti-Semite, Hughes traces the tactics used to defeat her to their roots in McCarthyism. In the fifties, communists were the target. Six decades later, "truthers" who challenge the official story of September 11,2001 are smeared in an eerily similar witch hunt.

]]> 9. Memories of McCarthy

Unwilling to live with the odious label of anti-Semite, Hughes traces the tactics used to defeat her to their roots in McCarthyism. In the fifties, communists were the target. Six decades later, "truthers" who challenge the official story of September 11,2001 are smeared in an eerily similar witch hunt.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13445075 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 718 full false Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth. Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth. Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth,

Allegations of bigotry have succeeded and as Hughes watches her televised defeat on election night, she realizes she is part of a select group of truly bizarre losers.

]]> Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth,

Allegations of bigotry have succeeded and as Hughes watches her televised defeat on election night, she realizes she is part of a select group of truly bizarre losers.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13444893 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 412 full false Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity. Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity. Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity. 

Supporters loyal to the disgraced candidate urge her to run 

for Parliament as an independent. But first, she must confront the

contempt of voters who now believe she is an antisemitic

conspiracy-monger.

]]> Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity. 

Supporters loyal to the disgraced candidate urge her to run 

for Parliament as an independent. But first, she must confront the

contempt of voters who now believe she is an antisemitic

conspiracy-monger.

]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13444806 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400 1290 full false Episode 6 - Fog on Fog: The Hughes Paragraph. Episode 6 - Fog on Fog: The Hughes Paragraph. Episode 6

A long ago interview with espionage writer John le Carre foreshadows the difficulty  of getting reliable truth from intelligence agencies. Hughes is dragged into the impenetrable fog lingering over September 11 and the bloodshed that followed. 



]]> Episode 6

A long ago interview with espionage writer John le Carre foreshadows the difficulty  of getting reliable truth from intelligence agencies. Hughes is dragged into the impenetrable fog lingering over September 11 and the bloodshed that followed. 



]]> Terrence MacLeod Buzzsprout-13444780 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 14:00:00 -0400 590 full false Episode 5 - A Tale of Two Columns. Episode 5 - A Tale of Two Columns. More pieces of the puzzle come together. Two previous columns rise to haunt the award winning journalist Lesley Hughes. The first defied George Bush' official story behind September 11, 2001. The second urged Canadians to stay out of the American retaliatory war on Afghanistan. Both conflicted with opinions in leading legacy media.

]]> More pieces of the puzzle come together. Two previous columns rise to haunt the award winning journalist Lesley Hughes. The first defied George Bush' official story behind September 11, 2001. The second urged Canadians to stay out of the American retaliatory war on Afghanistan. Both conflicted with opinions in leading legacy media.

]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13444279 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 13:00:00 -0400 455 full false Episode 4 - Off With Her Head. Episode 4 - Off With Her Head. Episode 4

A single anonymous blogger emerges as the source of Hughes'

disgrace. Opposing candidates demand as apology which Hughes

cannot give. Her humiliation is widely celebrated in social media

and Canadians believe her dismissal is a righteous triumph.

]]> Episode 4

A single anonymous blogger emerges as the source of Hughes'

disgrace. Opposing candidates demand as apology which Hughes

cannot give. Her humiliation is widely celebrated in social media

and Canadians believe her dismissal is a righteous triumph.

]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13287579 Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:00:00 -0400 492 full false Episode 3 - Waking Up Evil. Episode 3 - Waking Up Evil. Episode 3

Hughes' credibility, her past and her future are gone amid accusations of conspiracy mongering and antisemitism. National media portray her a poisonous conspiracy monger allegedly hostile to Israel and the Jewish community.



]]> Episode 3

Hughes' credibility, her past and her future are gone amid accusations of conspiracy mongering and antisemitism. National media portray her a poisonous conspiracy monger allegedly hostile to Israel and the Jewish community.



]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13287511 Tue, 25 Jul 2023 13:00:00 -0400 443 full false Episode 2 - Your Execution May Be Televised. Episode 2 - Your Execution May Be Televised. Hughes' exciting and promising campaign is abruptly shut down when she is sideswiped by media telling her she's been dumped by her party as an unworthy candidate, unfit to govern. The scrum capturing her shock leads national radio, tv and newspapers.

]]> Hughes' exciting and promising campaign is abruptly shut down when she is sideswiped by media telling her she's been dumped by her party as an unworthy candidate, unfit to govern. The scrum capturing her shock leads national radio, tv and newspapers.

]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13283201 Mon, 24 Jul 2023 22:00:00 -0400 654 full false Prelude. Prelude. When Canadian journalist and broadcaster Lesley Hughes considers

a run for a seat in Canada's parliament, she is painfully aware that the

political arena is a treacherous place. What she doesn't know

is that she may pay a price beyond her imagination in a

ruthless game in which she may lose everything...

]]> When Canadian journalist and broadcaster Lesley Hughes considers

a run for a seat in Canada's parliament, she is painfully aware that the

political arena is a treacherous place. What she doesn't know

is that she may pay a price beyond her imagination in a

ruthless game in which she may lose everything...

]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13283157 Mon, 24 Jul 2023 22:00:00 -0400 230 full false Episode 1 - The Democrat's Dilemma. Episode 1 - The Democrat's Dilemma. Veteran journalist and broadcaster Lesley Hughes is pursued as a candidate in Canada's 2008 federal election. She struggles to reconcile a deep distrust of politicians with her passion to run for a seat in Canada's parliament. Without candidates, she realizes, democracy is not possible. 

]]> Veteran journalist and broadcaster Lesley Hughes is pursued as a candidate in Canada's 2008 federal election. She struggles to reconcile a deep distrust of politicians with her passion to run for a seat in Canada's parliament. Without candidates, she realizes, democracy is not possible. 

]]> Terrence Buzzsprout-13261236 Thu, 20 Jul 2023 00:00:00 -0400 964 full false