Hello everyone, It's Sam with a quick announcement, and that is that George and I are returning to San Francisco's catch fust this year and we couldn't be more excited.

We're doing two shows this year, So the first one is on January twenty second, and it is a stand up night with George and I split in the bill.

And then the second is on January twenty third, and that is a classics Tradio Lab live show with guest segments, et cetera, et cetera.

Come to one, come to both.

They'll both be wildly different, and we're so excited to be back.

We are now obsessed with San Francisco and can't wait to fall in love even harder.

Tickets are in our bio and hope to see there.

Okay, bye.

Podcast starts now.

This is George Savers, co host of Stradio Lab, and my debut comedy special is now officially out on all platforms.

It is called George Severs A Sense of Urgency.

It was filmed in New York City and you can watch it now on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, Vimeo, literally anywhere you can rent or buy movies, and you can also listen to the album on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and title.

It would mean so much to me if you watched it or if you listen to it.

If you're a listener of this podcast, I hope you love it.

Please rent it, by it, post about it, tag me.

It all makes a huge difference in this amazing media environment we find ourselves in.

And I just want to say thank you for listening to this podcast over the years.

It is the only reason I was able to record a special in the first place.

And your support means the world and I love you.

Enjoy the app, well well well, podcast starts now.

Wow, he has his holiday voice on everybody.

It's completely different.

Cozy mode activate it.

The cozy mode activated.

We are just sitting here with a couple of big mugs of hot cocone marshmallows, overflowing, yummy, yummy, and we just couldn't be cozier.

Snow is falling outside of both of our windows.

Oh, global warming is over.

I heard and global warming has been solved.

Record amounts of snow in Los Angeles and New York City.

That's what I'm seeing in my weather app.

That's what I'm seeing in my weather app.

My mug, my mug of hot cocoa, big as a bathtub.

Am I'm putting in my entire head Ostrich style.

Anyway, I'm sip sip, sipping.

You know, Cozy mode activated could be kind of a big concept for us this year, because of course you invented Diva mode activated.

Yeah, that's when you have a catheter and you don't need to go pee anywhere.

That's when you're going Diva mode.

Do you have a tree yet?

I have a Christmas tree?

Nice?

We got it this day after two days after Thanksgiving, and it is a gorgeous, stunning we've had.

Last year we had the saddest Los Angeles Christmas tree you could ever imagine.

We went to a parking lot, of course, and where there were like minions dressed as Santa inflatables all over the place, and we picked a tree that was so crooked and fucked up that it just like made us our home looks so sad.

And this year we got a recommendation from a friend who loves Christmas and we went to this beautiful nursery in.

Glendale, Oho, a nursery.

Yes, And we found a gorgeous and stunning, perfect tree that's even still alive.

Wow, Well this is so New York versus LA, because of course I had a very different experience.

Of course, trees are walking distance from me.

They are being sold at every corner.

All I have to do is go downstairs.

Now get this.

There are two options in my neighborhood.

One is from Vermont and one is from Canada.

Now you would think with the tariffs, first of all, you'd think Vermont would have better trees, because of course American maid is always going to be one notch above.

When I tell you the Canadian trees are both better and cheaper, cheaper I went with.

I said, take me to Canadia, to Canadia, take me to Canadia.

Justin Trudeau, stamp my visa because I'm coming in and I'm getting this perfect symmetrical tree.

Or mott ones were anemic.

They were they were lying about the height.

They were doing the thing where they the bottom and the top, the bottom trunk and the top branch were so long, and they were like, it's seven and a half feet.

I said, I can see, and I can see that the bulk of this tree is actually five feet.

And you are lying to me, which of course is an American tradition, especially in this era, whereas in Canada they tell the truth.

Thank god, So I got my beautiful Canadian tree.

How do you feel about putting a topper on a tree?

Well, for me, you know, you can take the boy out of to and ten, but you can't take the twenty ten out of the boy.

It's always got to be a little bit ironic for myself.

Oh what kind of ironic top of her?

Are we talking?

So?

Right now?

We have a little it wasn't ornament, but it's like of a winter hat.

It's like a little like and we put that on top of the tree, and it's kind of like funny, like the tree's wearing a hat.

You know, in the year twenty sixteen, when Lady got across Joeanne came out, we put of course, like a pink cowboy out on top of it.

Okay, I'm liking this.

I think a hat maybe maybe that's what I've been searching for, because I don't like a star.

I really don't like an angel.

I find it very off putting.

I don't like that the angel is actually being fucked by the tree.

Yeah, I agree, I think that is very blasphemous.

And to be honest, in very poor taste.

And so I don't want an angel up there.

It seems like it would hurt so much with all the you know, little rough leaves coming off, well what with the bristles, and what with the bristles and all of course, and I think a hat actually might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Ours is currently nude in a way that I actually find kind of erotic, because you have just like a one big thick branch popping out on the on top.

Well, I'm seeing the phallic imagery that you're working with, considering the angel in your mind is getting fucked.

Yes, so I can see how that would be appealing to you to leave it unsheathed.

Mm hmmm.

Yes.

Well, you know, I don't know if you've been watching Heated Rivalry.

I have not, actually, but it.

Has really erotically charged our home in a way where everywhere I look there's a phallus.

Wow.

Yeah, you know this show.

You are someone who isn't afraid.

You think I wouldn't.

I'm not afraid to watch the thing everyone's talking about, that's what you're.

Saying, Yeah, to watch the specifically lowbrow thing that everyone's talking about you sometimes honestly run towards it in a way that I'm surprised by.

You know, I think that it's important to have one big, lowbrow thing per month that you are embracing, because I think it's so and actually, this is going to be part of my gift guide, is I have.

This is an element that I'm working with a lot this year.

Is like, Okay, so here's what I'll say.

People in our Patreon our patreonistas as we call them, they accused me of the following.

I said that it's time to go back to that, that it's time to leave back poptimism and go back to like pretentious intellectualizing.

And then they said that in the same breath I was complaining about the Rosalia album being too sophisticated and being in forty seven languages.

They said, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, This gay podcast or is a hypocrite, Okay, And so I think that it's not hypocrisy.

It's that I think the default should be that you are striving for something smarter than yourself.

But then once a month you pick one low browth thing and it keeps you down to earth.

It helps you sort of keep up with the culture.

You can't go into the trap of following every little thing that's coming out.

But I think for me December, it's heated.

Rivalry that's very very interesting, and I'm proud of you, thank you.

And it is sexy.

You do find it sexy, It is very sexy.

I don't know if you.

I'm trying to think if you would find these two specific boys sexy.

My instinct is potentially know.

For hockey.

For a hockey show.

I was surprised at how twink coded they were.

They were, yes, they were, and they're also even smaller than they look.

That camera I think uses some tricks to make them look super super beefy, and of course they are beefy, but they're beefy in the way that like a guy at the gym would be beefy.

Sure, it's just a missed opportunity because to have a hockey show, you really had a chance to showcase some beef on there.

Well, I would say it's specifically an offense to your community, the bear amorous community, because almost it's like dangling this in front of you.

They're saying, there's a gay hockey show.

Can you believe it's going to be these kind of like hairy bears and they're saying, just kidding.

Just kidding, same twinks as always.

Josh O'Connor and the other.

One and the other one, Mike Feist.

Yeah.

And for the record, Challengers was sexy just because it's just so sexy.

Well, they were basically Challengers.

They were basically women.

Yeah, like me, like, it's you know how lesbians watch game mail porn and enjoy it.

Yeah, that's like you watching Challengers.

It was like you watching lesbian porn like those they don't even register as men to you.

Yeah, And it was nice.

I was like, I get it.

I can see how people enjoy this.

Yeah.

Yeah, No, that's a really good point.

Have you decided what your low broth.

Thing is going to be for December?

Well, and I'm still keeping up with Survivor, which is pretty low brow, I'd argue, I'm seeing the CBS ads, you know.

Oh yeah, but I have I know that Heated Rivalry is an HBO show.

So here's the thing I thank you for asking.

Speaking of Canada, it's actually a can Canadian original.

It's on a TV channel called Crave in Canada.

It was pretty like mid to low budget.

It came out.

They didn't think it was going to be that big of a hit.

And then when it became a huge hit, HBO brought it over to the States.

And that's, by the way, why it's about hockey.

Got it, got it, got it, got it, got it.

You know who's been silent throughout this whole process is Tate McCrae, one of the largest, one of the biggest hockey players in all of Canada.

And it's really she's not beating the she's not beating the kind of politically conservative allegations by not commenting on the big gay hockey show.

Well maybe she'll make a cameo at the very Have you finished it?

I haven't.

Well it's not all out.

It's coming out week by week.

Oh my god.

Not just to get saved.

First two episodes were following the two leads.

Third episode bottle episode, different gay couple.

What they're not even in it?

The original ones aren't even in it.

Whoa and you know what Bottle episode couple I think kind of hotter than original couple.

That hurts and that are narrative storytelling, to be honest, it was like a short film.

It was a panic in Central Park by Lena Dunham.

Well, you know, sometimes it's easier to make your point when it's a finite episode.

I know.

I agree, it's almost as though television is inherently flawed.

Let's go into our main event.

So you know, it's when this comes out.

It is December sixteenth, I want to say, and you know that means nine days left till Christmas.

Oh, and we know that our listeners are some of the busiest people on earth, and they just don't have time to be shopping and you know, walking them all and seeing what is the new offering at H and M.

So we thought we would do some of that lifting for you and provide some amazing gifts for some key people in your life.

That's right, And I'm glad you mentioned that our listeners are busy because with our listeners is half of them have really high power, high paying jobs, but then have to spend the other half of their life atoning for that because they have a conscience and they kind of like spend the day in the office and then the nighttime kind of self flagellating about being complicit in the system because they've read books, and the other half are actually poor and working seventeen jobs, and all of them are kind of like flyering around the various coffee shops promoting a grun show.

So all in all, no one is being lazy.

Everyone is being very hard working, whether it's emotionally, physically, psychically, very active.

And I think they all have mixed feelings about commerce and capitalism and they just want someone to tell them, you know, these are some ethical gifts you can get.

Yeah, so we've come up with some amazing, amazing ideas that we're just gonna sort of pitch, and I think you'll find that you're going to love them amazing, So I can kick us off.

Okay, this actually is adjacent to what we were just talking about.

Our listeners are busy, and we know your friends are busy, and you're looking for a cheap option for I'm going to say it, the busy gay guy in your life.

We know, if you have a gay guy in your life, he's busy.

He's not responding to your text, he's saying, I'm busy.

This week was a mess, this week was crazy.

Okay, feels appointed.

And so that's why I'm saying, for the busy gig guy in your life, get them a gogurt.

Oh, perfect a go gurt, because.

They're on the go, work party, work party, it's all exhausting.

And these gay guys, they're forgetting to eat.

They are forgetting to eat, and it's affecting their gut health.

But with gogurt, you can eat on the go and you can still be busy.

Still even a Google Go lifestyle with yogurt.

Is I'm so happy you brought this up, because gogurt is one of those products that was marketed so incorrectly, like this idea that it's for children, it's for busy moms.

It's not.

It's for gay guys that are going to the afters and they need a little snack.

But it can't be solid and I'm not going to get into it, and so they and I think the flavors are kind of fun.

I think a strawberry, a blueberry, a banana.

I think they generally speaking like eating yogurt.

It has protein, it has probiotics, as you say, and I also think there's something kind of erotic about it.

And you know, rather than going out, yes, rather than going outside having a smoke, having ahead of your vape, have a gogurt, have a gogurt.

You're telling me you're going to run into the other hot guy, the other your heated rivalry partner outside.

He's going to see you eating a gogurt.

He's not going to be instantly hard.

You're essentially sucking cream out of a tube.

Slurp, slurp.

I'm just like the way that sometimes moms get to eat kid snacks and get to blame the kid, but gay guys can't blame the kid.

So we need to like go out and get the gogurt for the gay guys so they can eat it.

No, You're absolutely right, And I think this is you know, gogurt is something that has kind of fallen off in recent years, and I think rebranding it as a gig, I think is really going to help the company as well.

I think.

I mean, and your play needs needs it, not more than ever.

By the way, you'll Play as a brand really sounds like a direct to consumer kind of pure for men type sexual health product that is a targeted for gay men.

You'll play that.

You're saying, I play, I'm certain you're you're.

Getting what you're getting you play for your children.

That is disgusting and that is so offensive your play is for adult gay men that are consenting to various sexual acts that your kids should not know about.

It's like on the apps, like I think you could change the language, Like gay guys would be like do you and your partner play together?

And we'll be like, well, you'll play with the partner, you'll play separate.

Wow.

Okay, Well that's a really great idea, and I'll go first.

You know, my first one is the most kind of basic, one of the ones I brought for the cenophile in your life.

You can get them.

You can purchase or rent, but preferably purchase the film.

The feature film, George severis a Sense of Urgency now out on Amazon, Prime, Apple TV, Vimeo, YouTube, Google Play, and a variety of other places.

And the album version actually, interestingly is out now on Spotify and Apple Music and title if you want to support Beyonce.

Wow, yeah, that's amazing.

I've been hearing a lot about this special.

I bet, yes, exactly.

Well, the Golden Globes just came out and I heard it was nominated in every category.

It was shot in thirty five millimeter, which I think people will really love in the cinema community.

It was a co production between the first co production between A twenty four neon and Democracy.

Now and when legends link up, Yes, and all the proceeds go to Democrats running in purple states with a.

Leftist, very progressive agenda.

So they're all, we're getting single payer in Oklahoma and various other states, and all you have to do is purchase the special.

It's actually very cheap.

It's only like four dollars to rent and like nine dollars to buy.

It's available on all these different in all these different countries.

It's very inclusive.

I actually recently found out it's not available in France, so I don't know, you know, it's actually available in Botswana but not France.

And I'm not even kidding, so I do want to say, you know, my apologies.

That is tough.

Well, and maybe this is even maybe that means in France it's like super rare.

It's like yes media that is it's lost media.

Yes, in France it's lost media.

You actually have to buy it from the people pirrating little DVDs that that kind of busk outside.

The subway station.

They're selling this vergency.

Yes, they're like ooh.

That's amazing.

Yeah, So I think that could be a really really beautiful stocking stuff for buy it.

Maybe you know what's fun like put it on a little stick, a little USB stick and then put a little bow on that.

I think putting it on a USB stick is an amazing way to sort of feel like you're hacking.

Yes, like I do think whenever someone hands me a video file on a USB stick, I say, how the hell do you play this?

But you know, life does find a way and it's actually quite easy, and it adds a certain again lost media feel to it, a sheen.

It gives it that punk rock edge.

Yes, and my special is all about having a punk rock edge.

So anyway, stream my debut comedy special, George Severi's a sense of urgency and Sam, what is your next gift?

Well, speaking of punk rock edge, I actually have one that goes with this.

This is for sort of the aging punk in your life.

You know, say, there, you know, maybe where we are in age, they're sort of you know, getting to that point where they're like, actually they do have an office job now, and maybe they are sending emails a lot more than they ever thought they would.

Here's what I think I think for this person that you need to get them mini coffins.

Mini coffins for all the piercings that you are taking out, Oh, because they are now You're like, what am I doing with a septum piercing?

What am I doing?

Yeah?

So you take it out and you put it in the coffin and you have a little memorial.

You say that era of my life is over now, and I'm putting it in the mini coffin.

Maybe you have open casket and you call all your former punk friends and they all line up.

They all have babies at this point.

Maybe it's kind in the throes of divorce, and they line up and kind of pay their respects to your little septum ring and your little coffin.

And I think, you know, there's a way you can either romanticize the past or kind of be ashamed of it and forget it.

This is a good midway point.

This is a celebration of life rather than a morning of death.

Exactly.

It's you're paying respects to who you were and you're looking forward to who you will become.

Both are valid.

I love that, but you gotta pay your respects and put the little septum piercing in the mini coffin.

Well, I have one that is sort of related in the sense that it has to do with kind of with visual narratives around death and life.

So this is a gift for the Instagram activist in your life.

Now, this is not we all have friends that are activists that you know are going to the big meetings and are involved in local politics and are canvassing for the big candidate.

This is not for them.

This is for the people who specifically are logging in every day.

They're sharing infographics, they're commenting, they are developing very complicated opinions about affordable housing that are kind of in theory only and not in practice.

They have not been tested, and so this is for the specifically the Instagram activists in your life.

It is a big life size cross and nails.

So this is for them to actually they can crucify themselves with the nails and much like your idea where they can call their friends and have a little memorial service, this can be a really beautiful community building experience.

They can call upon all their other online friends, you know, they haven't potentially left the house in months.

They can meet these and then they can have a big crucifixion party.

So they get the cross, they put their hands on the two sides, and then the friends take turns hammering in the nails.

And so then you are crucifying yourself and you can live stream at all on Instagram, so it can be very sharable.

It's very shareable.

It can be part of your Instagram practice, and you know, all the different comments that you could have done that day, A lot of that comes across through just one big crucifixion.

Wow.

Yes, that sounds so amazing.

And you know, as the country of course turns more right wing, I think having something you know, religious in imagery is really really current and contemporary in a way that I think is super really smart and fashion.

Yes, oh my god, it is so fashion.

And you can even partner with a local brand to who was going to make your little strong that you're gonna wear.

Well.

I actually see the photo shoot and it's quite chic because you're showing off the abs, you're showing off the body like you have been working hard, and you know, all you do pretty much is go to the gym and share.

Yes, and so this is like an amazing way to sort of mix both of your hobbies.

I think it could be really cool.

And to do something that is so kind of Easter on Christmas is kind of unexpected.

That's true.

I mean, and don't forget christ don't forget Hello, that's half the word christ Mass.

Okay, next, Okay, Okay, here's something.

Okay, here's a gift for moms.

Moms are so tough because they are always like, we don't want any more stuff, Like they're like, enough, we have everything we need, Please don't get us anything.

But you know they're still gonna want something on that special day, on Christmas morning with all the cocoa in the world.

So I'm saying for your mom this year, get her a cameo from Pink.

I love that.

Get her a cameo from Pink.

She needs an experience.

Experiential gift is so huge right now.

And what's a better experience than being talked to by Pink.

Imagine this.

Your mom opens her email, she presss his play Pink goes let's raise a glass for Bonnie.

That would be so amazing.

Your mom is crying.

She is she she's holding a little and by a little, of course, I do mean large glass of Pino grigio.

She's accidentally spilling it.

She's crying real tears.

She's saying, is that Pink?

Why how does Pink know my name?

She thinks it's a FaceTime She's saying, Pink, I loved then you album, we saw you with the kids in twenty twelve.

Well, now one of them is at amhersts.

She's studying film studies, whatever that means.

But I'm so happy she's coming back.

She's bringing her her girlfriend.

Who's they?

She's they the girlfriend?

Yeah, And I think honestly that catharsis.

We know how Harry is for parents to get into therapy.

I think if you show them a video of Pink saying their name and the mom just kind of goes off speaking, that will maybe bring her therapeutic relief in a way that she hasn't had in decades.

Oh absolutely, I think Pink generally speaking, is sort of a therapist for moms.

I'll say, well, she's the only one that can speak to the pain and shrife of me, you know, life period.

Okay, let's see, let's see what else do I have here?

Okay, so this is a gift for the adult men men's wear enthusiasts in your Life and it is a subscription to the Financial Times.

Oh yes, So you know, these are guys who are very good at reading and reading about trends and shopping and using their money and kind of having the sixth sense where they know what school and what's not.

What if they applied that amazing brain power to knowing who the heads of state are in various countries and keeping up day to day with what's happening globally.

You know, these men are thirty seven, forty two, forty five.

They don't know who's president.

You know what they do know who the creative director of Duor was in the eighties.

Thank you so much.

I think this could be a really fun way because you know, global politics also is kind of like fashion.

You know, there are different leaders, people are in style, people are out of style.

You can follow kind of like who is hot and who is not, and potentially, you know, it could encourage you to kind of like connect with your fellow man in a way.

I think this is so genius.

I mean the way that, first of all, as an accessory, even someone with you know, they're wearing head to toe let's say drees, and they like pull out their little iPad and start reading the Financial Times.

I say, like, they could even just be fake scrolling, and I said that kind of chic.

Yeah, well that's kind of fun.

And I think that's how you're reading that.

That's how you get them in is you say it starts as an accessory and then you kind of like a trojan horse, you get them.

Suddenly they're reading, they're reading the front page.

Suddenly they're reading about what's happening in the Ukraine.

They're saying, I didn't know there was a country named Ukraine.

I didn't know there was I only know that Jonathan Anderson left Loeve.

I didn't know there was a country named Ukraine.

But they are reading this, they are texting their friends.

They are saying, bro, you check this out.

It's fire.

That's what they're saying.

That's what they're saying about the big article on Ukraine, a country they'd never heard of before.

And so this is a really amazing way because you know, these men again, they are thirty seven, they're forty two or forty five.

They mean, well, but they didn't know that there's a world outside of things like trends and podcasts and wide pants versus narrow pants, you know how long shorts should be.

You know, certainly they don't have jobs in the traditional sense, but once they start learning more about the world, maybe that'll lead them to you know, let's say LinkedIn dot Com.

I mean, this is just like as a sidebar when someone is like I can't believe Blank is leaving Blank, Like I can't believe Mark Stevenson is leaving Prada.

Yeah, I'm always like, what are you talking about?

Like I'm I do want to be like look in the mirror, like do you design clothes or are you just a guide?

This is so weird.

It's also so divorced from who is actually buying anything.

So the people actually buying things from you know, let's say Louis Vatan are simply speaking wealthy women buying bags in you know, anywhere from China to France.

Okay, fine, And then it like trickles down and then there's like a cool New York guy that somehow is knowledgeable of who the creative director is, Like this isn't for you.

It weirds me out big time because also it's like it's like there's a it runs with being in like middle school and like the one kid who really liked the Beatles, like it's like there's an allure to knowing something that like other people don't know completely.

And but then you're like five years later you're like, wait, that was stupid, Like why was an eight year old obsessed with the Beatles.

Of course, I don't want to make fun of the men's guys, because it's certainly more interesting than to me, at least than keeping up with sports.

So you want to reward them.

You want to say, Okay, good for you.

You're actually taking something that is coded more feminine in our culture and making it your own.

But you know, sometimes maybe maybe we're a loafer and not kind of an alternative croc.

Yeah, no, that's that's really smart.

I actually have a fashion one too.

Oh nice.

So this is a staple, as we all know.

But it's important around Christmas to sort of re up the staples.

So for the straight guy in your life, get them a fleece.

Ah, No straight guy is ever upset with a fleece.

It's perfect, not quite a shirt, not quite a jacket.

Hello.

And it also softens them in a literal sense because you're saying, is that guy dangerous?

And it's like, no, he's wearing a fleece.

He can't be a bad guy.

And it's sort of the literalization of a wolf in sheep's clothing, which I find really really poetic.

And fleeces.

I'm gonna be honest.

They get dirty.

Yeah, they're getting dirty as hell.

No, they have a fully kind of a catlike moth ball stuck to them at all times.

Yeah, they're sort of cast iron pans.

Yes they are.

You have to get the coat, you have to get a good coat on, and then it gets even warmer.

Yeah, but that's why it's always important to re up on the fleece.

We're talking like quarter zip, full zip, you know, ideally quarters zip.

But I get that straight guys get fussy and they need to get out of their jackets as quickly as possible.

Sometimes they can throw a tantrum, they can.

I mean I've seen straight eyes choke because they can't get out of it fast.

Yeah.

No, Sometimes if they can't get out of the fleece fast enough, suddenly there's a gun out and they're shooting.

They're shooting at whoever's in front of them, just because they can't get out of the quarter zip.

So I do you know, it's it's high fashion the quarter zip, of course, but you could just do full zip if you know.

They are scared of getting stuck in it.

And it's different for every man, you know, and it depends on how you're raising him and the types of things he's learning at any given moment.

You know, not everyone is along the same path.

Some men are ready for the for a quarter zip, you know, by age thirty five.

Some need more training, so they'll need more training.

It's we're all on different paths.

We're all on different paths, yes, And I think it's just such an amazing piece of clothing.

Okay, I have one.

So this is for the Rosalia fan in your life.

It is metamorphosies by Ovid in the original laston and then as an added stocking stuff for a little baggy of ketamine.

Okay, Now this is interesting.

Isn't that fun?

This is high low.

Yes, it's high low, you know.

And I think that's what Rosalia has to offer us, you know.

It is you're learning Latin actively and you're on ketamine.

It's sort of like the beer shot, like there's something you get a little bit of both.

That's really nice because it's it's both it's saying grow and it's saying but you're fine the way you are.

Yes, it's a bit of a born this way narrative.

Yes, it's very born this way.

I think.

I think high low gifts in general are kind of like a fun thing everyone can do.

You know, get one thing, you know, a really kind of like beautiful handmade bookend or something, and then supplemented with just a jolly rancher loose.

Well, getting someone two things together is an amazing way to tell a story.

Yes, it's just and what you're telling a story with this combo that I know that person I know, oh that Rosalia fan.

Yeah, and in some respects I wish I was that rosal lya fan.

It's aspirational.

It's someone that like doesn't want to commit to any one narrative.

You know, they're showing up to the theater, but they're wearing kind of like a thong, like a diamond thong.

Then they're going to the club, but they're reading a book.

They want to be the high the high bred person at the low bra function and the low bred person at the high bra function.

This is such a type I call it loud and quiet places, quiet and loud.

Yes exactly.

It is such a type.

And you know, I've often find myself around these people, and so I'm really grateful that you've offered me this gift.

Yeah.

No, I do too, And I weirdly think it's kind of Dare I say, that's the new hip archetype.

Like you know how we used to have the hipster, or we used to have the like you know, the hippie in the in the sixties or whatever, or the club kid or whatever.

I think this is now the new cool person is quiet and loud places.

Loud and quiet places.

Yeah.

They like just being generally a fish out of water, no matter where.

Yes exactly.

Yeah, because it's like, oh, well you're a fish, Well then I'll put you in water.

And he's like, well, not that I'm in water.

I'm not a fish anymore.

Yes.

Wow, this is really a groundbreaking I love it.

Okay, I have here's one.

This one is near and dear to my heart.

This is for any bare party promoters in your life, you know, anywhere from nowhere bar to the eagle.

Uh.

They are promoting bear parties and that is valid and someone has to do it.

They're doing the work.

But what I think you should get for the Bear party promoter in your life is a book called Drawing for the Absolute Beginner.

So this, I think no one.

The Bear community has been hit harder by AI than any community on Earth.

I will say, I think the AI party posters have gotten to such a fever pitch that I'm worried.

I'm worried that the Bear community is forgetting how to make a party poster without using AI.

And so I think you can draw with your own hands the biggest guy you can think of, and he can have a big beard, yeah, he can have a big belly, and he can have a big bulge.

Yeah.

And it can you can do it all yourself.

And you can even you know, find a meditation in that.

And I think that will be both a fun project, you know, for the holidays, maybe drawing your own party poster, and it could maybe get you to feel something.

Yeah.

And I think the Bear community is kind of the boomers of the gay community.

And I don't mean that age wise, some of them are as young as twenty two to twenty three, but I think that somehow they become vulnerable to these things in the way that other people don't.

You know, and I'm not saying other communities don't have their own flaws, but AI came out bears immediately using it, and then and then when someone comments, you know, please don't use AI, they're like, what is that?

They don't even know.

It's like, you used it, You use it, You're fully right.

I do think AI is to bears.

What like Facebook memes are two boomers?

Mm hmm, Like it's just like we gave it to them before we asked if we should like it's it's really and it's it's spread like wildfire, and it's creating a sort of a parallel world that is unhealthy for everyone.

No, it's really bad.

It's and I think that bears also, you know, bears are also vulnerable.

Let's say, to maybe an instagram native jockstrap company, it's it's made of microplastics.

They're not going to do the research.

They're not going to look up, you know, where is this made in the USA?

Is this union made?

They're gonna press order.

And I think that getting mad at them is not really helping anyone.

It's it's like yelling at your parents because they have motions smoothing on their TV or whatever.

People are obsessed with talking about.

You have to.

It has to be a kind of inclusive model where you know, you it's education forward.

You're having a dialogue with them, you know, and potentially even going into the bear club and saying, so, what is this that I'm seeing on this screen?

Why is this a cartoon that is dancing and it has three arms?

Yeah?

Whatever happened to just like pulling up old porn, Just do old porn and put that on the screen.

Yeah, I don't need a psychedelic bear turning into a wolf, turning into a man turning into a bear turning into a wolf.

Yeah, it actually makes me a bit nauseous.

Yeah, okay, Well I have bears of course, are a big part of the straight Lab listenership.

And I have a gift for another very big chunk of the straight or Lab listenership, which is grad students.

So this is an amazing gift for the grad student in your life.

It is a blu ray of the film The Devil Wears Praduct.

Now hear me out, this is kind of out of box.

So I was trying to think, what is a movie that's kind of just normal?

If you watch The Devil is product.

Pay attention to how people speak.

That's how normal people speak.

You know, they kind of speak in like simple short sentences.

They reference objects that exist in the world and that are not kind of theoretical concepts that only you and your three friends know.

There's kind of clear conflict, there's a clear villain.

It's all very kind of normal.

And so if you watch that, you'll kind of get the sense there's people from different class backgrounds in there.

There's people of different genders, but in like it just in a way that actually exists in the normal world and not just in a book you read.

I think this is so amazing because it's like, you know, they love to learn, yes, and what you're doing is giving them an educational text because you know, in the same way that we've like lost homech and now no one knows how to cook anything.

Yeah, we've we've lost like just sort of socializing and it's time to go back to base.

And this is this is sort of an intro class in reality normal.

Yeah, and in basic reality.

You know, grad students learn so much about things that aren't reality, and I think that's also really important, and it's obviously very important to broaden our horizons and start kind of knowing words like the anthropa scene.

Of course we all have to we all have to interact with that occasionally, you know, but not one hundred percent of the time.

Actually, sometimes it can be cool to be just really like rooted in reality for at least fifty percent of the week.

I would say, yeah, is a good percentage.

Yes, I would say a good Again, much like the high low thing.

I would say, if you're rooted in reality for fifty percent of the week and then rooted in theoretical concepts for the other fifty percent, you can kind of then bring it together at the end of the week every Friday and say got it.

So that's what I learned.

This is how I can apply these theoretical concepts of the real world and these real concepts to my theoretical studies.

But once you're sort of in the theoretical world for more than fifty percent of the week, you start to not make sense anymore.

Yeah, yeah, I think this is really really, really helpful.

And I mean Devil was Product is perfect for that.

I know, it was more of a perfect movie.

Yeah, I was trying to think of another There just is something that is you know, because I don't want to give them something that is too rooted in reality.

I was almost thinking, like when Harry met Sally, Yes that could work, like something that's like, so this is what relationships are like, and they can be complex, yes, and change.

But yeah, that's a really good one.

And it also teaches them about fashion.

Oh my god, that's really true.

Yeah, Okay, let's see.

Okay, this is for all the babysitters in your life.

Yeah, so it's always tough when you're like, have a babysitter.

We don't have children, of course, but we really know that babysitters exist, and and maybe our listeners have kids and have a babysitter.

So we were thinking, well, I had this thought.

I think for for the babysitter, the perfect thing is a novelty chord for the phone.

So you have an iPhone, you have a babysitter on the iPhone, but they've lost something in not having a landline to call their boyfriend on anymore where they can't sort of like fiddle with the cord and like really feel in touch with who they're speaking to via the cord.

And I think giving a babysitter a novelty cord for their iPhone.

It's like giving an audiophile a vinyl.

It's just like they get to feel it in a different way.

And I think this is like exactly what babysitters need to more actively be in the moment, speaking with their boyfriend and ignoring the children.

I agree, and I actually think obviously they have to ignore the children, but it's important to at least remember where they are in physical space and time.

And I think when you're on the phone and there's nothing rooting you to the real world, you kind of can forget, and then the children could even like leave the home or kind of jump out a window, but potentially go into the other room start eating blue.

At least when you're playing with the cord, it's like rooting you in space and time, and then you're more aware of sounds and movements in your immediate vicinity.

So you can talk to your boyfriend, but then you hear the scream from the kitchen.

You know, Okay, I should check in on little Lucy.

I should check in.

Well, there's like, you know, in the same way that like, you know, if you're thinking about music, you're like, oh my god, the sixties, Like I just want to be in the sixties or something, and like when you're thinking about babysitting, like all you're thinking about is like, God, I wish it was the nineties, Like that was like peak babysitting culture.

And I think this will really transport any babysitter to that time and they can be their the babysitter of their dreams.

Love that.

I have one that I just thought about that I think we could make work.

Okay, you know, this is a gift for kind of like optimistic women in the Midwest who just like want everything to be nice.

Okay, So this is it's a It's a set of big wooden hangable signs, and each of them say, incursive, the name of the room where they are going to be hung in.

So there's one that says living room in cursive, you put in the living room, or someone that says dining room in cursive, you put in the dining room.

This might seem almost outdated, you know, we have, of course, we've had Home Sweet Home pillows forever.

You know, I'm not the first person to satirize the pinterest aesthetic, but there's something about the literal nature of these that I think is so fun you know, these kinds of these kinds of gals.

They love labeling, they love you know, purchasing a label maker, having little box and then it says stamps on it, you know.

And I think.

There's something kind of nice about just organizing the home and saying this is the living room and that's why there's a sign in it that says living room in cursive.

I think that's really really amazing.

I think it's like postmodern in this.

Weird way, yes exactly exactly.

I mean it reminds me of the like what's like this is not a pipe or whatever.

Yes, it's not a pipe.

But also or like the Virgil Ablow, like the dress, the off white dress that says dress in quotes.

Yeah, yeah, it's bringing that into the pinterest age.

I really do think this melds a lot of different things because there's also things to play with.

Where can you imagine putting the living room sign in the kitchen?

Yeah, no, exactly, that would like call the MoMA.

That would really change things.

And speaking of calling the moment, there's actually a second part of this, which is if you have gay guy friends and maybe even bear gay guy friends, gay guy couples in the Midwest, same set, but in Neon Neon signs.

That's a living room, bathroom, dining room, kitchen that's good like old fashioned looking, you know, maybe repurposed so it's green, old fashioned looking kind of bar Neon signs.

Wow.

That sounds really amazing.

I mean I can see it now on sort of a weird amateur porn yes, where they had like a sex party and there are all these signs in different rooms and there's like all these finger foods for some reason, and I can they would just fit in the background so well.

It'd be like, oh, where are they having sex?

And it'd be like, that's the bedroom.

It says bedroom and neon.

Yeah, And I actually, you know, it's interesting.

I'm thinking about it.

There's another there's another set that's available, which is it's for kind of career gals in New York City that live in the West Village and so it is a set, but they're actually framed pieces of paper where it's handwritten and it says living room AF, bedroom, AF, bathroom AF.

Wow.

I mean that sounds so funn powerful.

Okay, I have another one.

Okay, Okay, this is for the dads.

As we all know, dads are sort of like cattle dogs, where if they don't have something to do, they will experience mental illness.

Correct, So I have decided that the perfect gift for the dads out there is planting weeds, not weed, the drug weeds.

If you can fill a yard with weeds a dad, it's like again the dog metaphorm kind of stuck on.

But it's like when you give a dog like a little like sniffing puzzle like and it like activates their brain.

If a dad has a yard full of weeds, he will then spend the rest of his life picking weeds out of the yard, and it'll stop him from cognitive decline, it'll keep him in peak physical shape.

It's sort of exactly what you need for a dad because again, if they start sitting still, they'll die.

Yeah, it's complicated because moms, of course, without any when needing to tell them do work around the house.

You know, they are cleaning, they're cooking, and this is something.

And then meanwhile, as they're doing quite literally one hundred percent of the housework, the dad is walking around saying, God, I am bored, I am bored.

There is nothing to do around here.

Now she is doing you know, fifteen loans of laundry a day.

She's going to the dry cleaner.

She is color coating all the different mugs.

The dad is saying, oh my God, like, is this all there is to life?

And so it's important to kind of give him a task, preferably outdoors because it hits the same neurons that it would hit if he was, you know, hunting and gathering.

Yes, yeah, because well, and to be fair, whenever he does anything indoors, he messes everything.

Up and now we shout it.

So get him outside.

Give him a task that's easy, like pulling weeds.

Okay, I love it.

I mean I'm done.

Well, those are some amazing gifts.

Yeah, I'm pretty much done.

Is there anything we want to George?

What's I gotta know?

What's number one on your Christmas list this year?

Oh that's a good question.

What is number one on my Christmas list?

What's number one on yours?

I know it's a tough one.

I think.

You know, it's hard for me to want because I just joined a gym and the gym is the greatest place I've ever been, and it's heaven on earth, and every day I go there, I say this is my fucking sanctuary, and I think, if anything, I would want them.

I think a great present for me would be if someone were to take a photo of me and hang it in the gym and really like, I've only been there for one week, but I feel a sense of almost like mayorship over it.

You want someone to hang a photo of you in the gym to kind of celebrate that you joined, yeah, and to announce to everyone this is then you remember.

Say hi if you see him, his name is Sam, Say hi.

Stay high, and even to be like, hey, like, you're gonna be seeing this guy a lot, Like let's just cut to the part where we all love each other, because you're gonna get used to this face.

Yeah.

I would actually, you know, I'm also in a very community, community oriented spot right now.

I would love I would love a kind of church that is ethically sound.

It doesn't have to be rooted in religion, it doesn't have to be rooted in a specific intellectual tradition.

But I would absolutely love every Sunday to have somewhere to go to kiki with my gals.

Well, George, have you considered the value of queer night life?

I think you're probably right, I think I need to get my gogurt.

I need to order a twelve pack of gogurt from Costco and put a couple in my back pocket and go out clubbing.

You need to go out.

I know for a fact you've not been going out as much.

I know I haven't been going out.

As much, and that is how you connect with community.

Yeah, I also would like a product that is going to be just for me.

I actually don't think anyone else should have access to it, where I put goggles on and they tell me if someone is wanting to have sex with me or not, or if they just for yours or just for me, and then and the exactly, and and I can also it can also kind of if I want to or don't want to have sex with them, it can kind of laser that into their brain and then it can sort of be fixed.

That's amazing.

Similarly, I want an app that's like Grinder or Sniffies even, but it's just for which friends want to hang out at which time, because I feel so much shame when I text someone want to hang out and they're like I'm not free or I'm out of town.

Like then I'm like God, I'm a fucking idiot, Like, why would I ever think that they would be in town?

And then I recoil and so and then I have that fear of texting people to hang out, and I just there's a way to be like looking for now, looking for now, like I want to hang out, I want to hang out.

I know, you know it's we are both touching on this need for community, and you know, I think of both of us as people who do have community and who are kind of like really putting in the hours of seeing people in real life and meat space, as they say, And yet it's not quite We don't have the technology available yet to make it as a seamless and frictionless as possible.

Of course, you could say the desire to make it seamless and frictionless is a sort of late capitalist lie, and that part of being human is embracing all the imperfections of social life.

But well, to that, I say, how about you shut up.

Well, this is also why we need more spaces, Like if I go to, say the Eagle on a Thursday night, I'm saying looking for now socially, and everyone else that's there is also in theory, looking for Now socially, and then we can socialize there.

You know, as these spaces die, it's sort of like, where do you go just to hang out with people in a casual sense?

Yeah, and the answer is my amazing gym.

Well, this has been our amazing gift guide.

We hope that you found it helpful, and we hope you have an amazing holiday season.

Whatever is you're getting up.

To, we hope you have an amazing holiday season.

We hope that you are activating cozy mode.

You know, I think this holiday season really is about reflection.

Zora O.

Neil Hurston once said some years are for asking questions and some years are for answering them.

And I actually think that in many ways, twenty twenty five was for asking, and twenty twenty six we're gonna have to find some answers.

So this is our last chance.

These next two weeks are our last chance to kind of think on all the various questions that have been asked, many of them really offensive ones, many of them productive ones.

And I think once it's January, it's time to start taking some action.

We're excited to start taking some action.

Oh brother, oh brother, Wow, what an amazing yawn to end cozy mode.

Yeah okay, bye, love you guys, Happy holidays.

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Stradio Lab is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcasts.

Created and hosted by George Severis and Sam Taggart.

Executive produced by Will Ferrell, Hans Sony and Olivia Aguilar.

Co produced by Bei Wang, Edited.

And engineered by Adam Avalos.

Artwork by Michael Failes and Matt Grugg.

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