We're going to sort some things out today. We're going to do some judging. We're going to make some judgments. We're going to make some calls.

Merry Christmas. We don't know what we're talking about. It's Depression mode. I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here. The holiday season is here, and that means entertainment that only comes around once a year, and when it does come, it's weird as hell.

Characters behaving bizarrely, jumping down chimneys, flying with a glowing red nose, drumming in front of a newborn baby Jesus,

all kinds of anomalous behavior happening.

Enough to make you wonder, what's their deal?

What's going on with that person?

Well, we're going to try to figure it out with the help of some friends who are, like me, wildly

unqualified. We're going to do some analysis, like me, wildly unqualified.

We're going to do some analysis, some observation,

the occasional very loose diagnosis.

We'll talk. We may disagree.

And again, we're not real psychologists or psychiatrists,

but the characters we're talking about are not real anyway,

so what's the harm? I will say that any

observation on Santa Claus is only on Santa as depicted in media. We're not talking about the real

Santa Claus because we've never met him. He's secretive and quite busy. I also want to point out

that we may come to the conclusion that some of these

characters are doing just fine and are totally well adjusted. All right, let's get some answers. Let's meet

our panel. She's a writer for the Simpsons and co-host of the lecture hall podcast, Brothi Gupta. Hi,

Brothi. Hi. He's the host of two podcasts on Maximum Fun, which is kind of show-offy, tights and fights,

and we got this.

Hal Lublin is with us.

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