How much time we've spent watching presidential debates, in one chart

How much time have we spent watching presidential debates this campaign season?

There are two possible correct answers to this question: One is the actual time, 28 hours and 18 minutes. But there's another right answer: too much time.

Candidates have participated in 14 debates so far, with the 15th scheduled for Thursday night. I decided to look at just how much time that adds up to — and what else we could have accomplished in those many, many hours.

I also wanted to acknowledge that this isn't the end — there are 9 debates still scheduled from February through May. Using the average time of the debates we've had so far, that would work out to about 45 hours of debate time over the course of the election season. Check out how long, exactly, that turns out to be.

Right now we're just about halfway through the debate season. And you still have time to decide — do you want to commit the next 20 hours to watching candidates spar, or would you rather rewatch every Star Wars movie? The choice is yours.

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