This episode of Topics was sponsored by Cards Against Humanity.

They asked us not to read an ad.

Enjoy the show.

It's Topics, the podcast, where two comedians discuss serious topics in a serious way. I'm Michael Ian Black,

joined as always by Michael Schoalter. Hi, Michael. Hi, Mike. It's great to be here, as always.

It's always great to dip our beaks into the topic du jour. Today is going to be a particularly

important episode, I think. I do too. And I'm going to be a particularly important episode, I think.

I do too.

And I'm glad that we finally got around to doing this episode.

I know that we've been delaying for one reason or another, but I'm excited that we are finally

here.

I am too.

I am too.

Before we get to it, let's just quickly go over the ground rules

for topics. Number one, the first rule, of course, is there are no rules. And if I could

expound on that just a little bit, because every time I say it, I feel like somebody's just

shaking their head and kind of giggling to themselves, and that's okay. Well, because how can a rule be

that there are no rules? That's the paradox. And it's intentionally paradoxical, of course.

We're fully aware of what we're doing, but it speaks to something larger, which is that in this

regimented world of ours, where so much of what we do is constrained and confined, isn't it

nice to enter a safe place where the only rule is freedom? The only rule is to allow the discourse to meander down whichever road it chooses.

Yep.

...