It's Topics, the podcast where two comedians discuss serious topics in a serious way.

Although, if something funny happens, that's okay too.

I'm Michael Ian Black, joined as always by Michael Schoalter.

Hey, Michael. How are you? I'm great. I'm in Ian Black, joined as always by Michael Showalter. Hey, Michael. How are you?

I'm great. I'm in the Christmas spirit, as it were.

How does that manifest itself?

Joy, and there's a lot of good Christmas smells around my household as we prepare for the holiday.

We're doing a lot of cooking and baking

and decorating the Christmas tree. And it's just, it's a terrific time of year. And how about you?

How are you doing? I'm also in the Christmas spirit. We're going to be doing some traveling

over the holiday to spend time with my family over in the D.C. area.

Now this is Washington, D.C.?

That's right. Yes. I'm going to be spending some time in the Washington, D.C. area.

And really looking forward to it. It's a really special time to just kind of stop down and sit back, as it were, kick my shoes off.

And one of the things I really like about this time of year is that it's an opportunity for me to dig my teeth

into a good book because I don't get a chance to read as much as I'd like to, but around this time

of year I almost always get a chance to dig into a good book.

Oh, there's, you know, there's nothing like a good book to just, to just awaken the imagination

and get the brain fired up and excited about the story.

Now, what book are you going to be reading over the Christmas vacation?

I'm reading a book about a, it's a true crime book about a serial killer.

Oh my goodness.

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