I sadly discovered this podcast about a month after the last episode. Since then I’ve listened back thru them all many times over. It is so good. Please, Michael & Michael, can we have just one more to dip our beaks in and splash around a little? Then maybe piggyback on that for another? Study groups have been working diligently

It’s nearly a decade on from the last ep of this show and I’m going on my 4th play through. Please bring this show back one day!

You ask her what her definition of music is; she gives you her definition. Then you tell her she’s not correct. I get it was from 2014 but JHC, Michael Showalter and Ian…. what a couple of Richard heads. And you sure are focused on the breast. Very condescending and rude. Phuck boys galore. The 1 star is for Liz. Major small Richard energy here.

I must be a bit slow, because it took me a while to get all of the humor in this podcast. Yet, being a fan of MATES, I forced myself to dig my hands in deep and unpack a few episodes. Aside from missing Topicon in the pine barrens a few summers ago, I am not disappointed. As such, I will continue diping my beak into these as they get produced and start my own Amherst study group in in the shadows of Emily Dickinson’s mansion in Western Massachusetts.

The great thing about this podcast is that the only rule is there are no rules. The hosts discuss serious topics, but if something funny happens THAT’S OK. You might even have a belly laugh or two. It’s a great place to get your beak wet in some really meaty topics. Hopefully new episodes will appear soon. My study group has completed discussing 100% of the topics of each episode.

My study group has been over and over each episode and we need more! Hoping Topicon can resume soon in person. I’ll need a work-study position again and I’ve been gathering bulgur & millet recipes.

More informative than you’d think too

This make you feel high

best one

I originally got interested in this podcast because of Michael and Michael’s comedic background but quickly found out that this was a serious podcast about important topics. Although, if something funny happened, even a big belly laugh, that would be okay. The reason for this is because with “Topics” there is only one rule: there are no rules. Which seems flip but they really mean it. They aim to cover 80% of every topic and then suggest that you, and your study group (which is two or more people), finish the topic offline. The study groups became a worldwide phenomenon and led to the, now infamous, Topicon. Blues Traveler was even once suggested to play there. They didn’t, but c’mon! The key to listening to this podcast is to just take it easy. It’s 2020 at the time of this review and the word is a jumble. These great conversations, and there’s that word again, conversations...are truly evergreen and can help you really THINK through these trying times. I’ve been replaying these discussions since the inception, and there’s THAT word again, and will continue to do so forever. Because these topics are evergreen. God does not sit on a throne with a big white beard, FYI.

I love that you don’t understand. It’s adorable. 4 7/8 stars.

The episode on Jazz engages in a descent into racist caricature. Appalling.

One of the GOAT podcasts

I still get people in to this mockery of a podcast. Love how well these two can riff together. It’s like the best 30 minutes of long form improv.

This podcast is a descent into the abyss of banality. These 'dudes' know nothing about anything. Their lack knowledge is absolutly disheartening... The fact that they are so high rated here is a great argument for the wave of ignorance rampant in the world today.

This podcast makes fun of highfalutin intellectual discussion with deadpan improv. An original concept, deftly executed.

Please bring back more

Finally

Topics is a serious podcast for serious topics. The podcast may feel dry at times, but it was only because Michael and Michael needed a serious tone for the serious matters in this podcast. Get together with your study groups and dive deep into these topics

Really really funny podcast but you have to get their humor. Give it a listen.

Profound explorations of the fundamental questions. The Michaels leave no stone--ok, 80% of the stones--unturned in their tireless pursuit of truths.

I really love this podcast, but it seems as if they haven't updated in a while :(

By too little I mean that Michael's and Michael's podcasts are not quite lengthy enough. Would Topics consider going to a 12 hour production, please? And by too late I mean that I wish the podcast was scheduled at a time other than 3:00 AM. It is a bit hard to set the alarm for 2:45 AM on weeknights. It's always difficult getting back to sleep after the show. Love, love (love-to-the-tenth power) Topics.

The depth of intellect and philosophy on display here is staggering. Two of the greatest minds of a generation coming together to make three of the greatest minds of a generation.

Can anyone give me directions to the connel inst.? Id like to take my lady there for a picnic/gift shop adventure.

We get the joke. We got it all 15000 times you told it. (For those who think they are being serious, that's the joke). But these two, trying to beat that dead horse until it springs to it's feet and they ride it into the sunset, bore me to tears. Thanks for that though, I needed a good cry.

Michael plus Michael equals mind blown.

I am so glad that there's a podcast where comedians discuss serious topics. I also appreciate that when something funny happens, that's okay, and they don't edit it out. There are even a few belly laughs. Michael Ian Black's knowledge of French cooking, and most notably bouillabaisse, is encyclopaedic. I do have to say that I was disappointed to find that the Michaels could not cover anywhere near 80% of the topic 'tugboats, trains, & trollies'. My study group spent a whole weekend retreat trying to reach 100% and we couldn't do it. Still highly recommended.

Loved listening to the podcast, but there have been no new episodes for nearly 6 months.

I am a member of a study group in Pittsburgh, PA. We generally find that we are able to uncover 24% or more of a given topic, after the 80% covered in the podcast. At first, we were disturbed. Then, we discussed this "topic" for weeks and realized that the extra 4% could easily be accounted for by the film Interstellar, though none of us have viewed it. Oh, but there's that word again: 'of'.

The microphones they use really allow the listener to hear what they're saying and the points their making.

Again, incredible. Not from before, but from the subject line. This is my first review. Please comment rate and subscribe if you liked it. To my reviews, or Topics, or both.

Before I get into my review of Topics, the brilliant and thought-provoking podcast hosted by Michaels Ian Black and Showalter, I'd like to take a step back if I may and unpack the precept of "review" itself. If you break it into component parts "re", obviously derived from the latin for "again" and "view", derived of course from the algonquin word for "to see." This itself is interesting on its own merits, because it implies a follow-on viewing, or in this case listening, after the original. So by the very nature of review, is it even possible for one to be considered bad since in order to give an accurately presented one implies you've "viewed" (or once again, in this case heard) the piece of art or work in question more than once, or perhaps even several times? It just stood out to me as an important point that I wanted to shine a light on, I hope you didn't mind. Anyway, give this podcast a listen. The hosts/professors know how to take these huge, relatable but at the same time out of reach concepts and bring them down to a really tangible level. It's a great service they're doing, and I can certainly say I've broadened the depth as well as the breadth of my knowledge by being a regular listener. I hope they continue the lessons for many years to come.

This is so completely informative that my brain has actually gotten bigger.

A wonderful show about topics.

Despite MIB being a New York Times bestselling author, I find Michael Showalter's wit to extremely delightful! Great Podcast!

My suggested topic: Sausages and Cheeses

This is one gift horse you don't want to look in the mouth because as you will learn from this podcast, all that glitters is not gold. These two have their feet firmly planted on the ground even when they find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Even though you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, Mike and Mike seem to always have their cake and eat it too. They never beat their topics like a dead horse knowing that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Very educational.

now i know, these guys are geniuses, not just comical geniuses, Love their use of the phrase ‘there’s that word’!

There are no rules. If something funny happens, that's ok. This is my favorite podcast hands down. Michael and Michael have opened my eyes to so many new ideas and ways of thinking. My study group and I are forever in debt to these two gentlemen scholars.

Michael and Michael set out on this podcast with nothing more than a single rule: that there are no rules. From that simple but brilliant starting point, Topics was born and has thrived ever since. Apart from the one rule (that there are no rules), the show is also guided by a few other principles: There is a guideline (to cover 80% of any given topic in one episode) as well as a recommendation (that the remaining 20% be covered by study groups, where a group is defined as two or more people), and a precept (“to take it easy”). Typically the first ten minutes of each episode is spent reviewing the rule, guideline, recommendation, and precept. The remaining time is dedicated to having a serious discussion in a serious way. Topics has developed into a worldwide phenomena that culminated in TopiCon this summer, which was held in the Pine Barrons and saw hundreds of study groups gather together from around the world. For more information consult the forums and message boards. And of course, listen to Topics!

I CAME LATE TO THIS PARTY BUT AT LEAST I'M HERE. AND I AM A BETTER PERSON FOR IT. THE TWO MIKES BEHIND THE MIKES ENLIGHTEN ME, ENTHRALL ME, EDUCATE ME, AND....I CAN'T COME UP WITH ANOTHER "E" WORD. THANK YOU MICHAEL AND MICHAEL. YOU MAY NOT BE NEARLY AS FUNNY AS THOMAS LENNON, AS ATTRACTIVE AS KEN MARINO, TALENTED AS DAVID WAIN, OR HAVE A VAG*NA LIKE KERRI KINNEY SILVER, BUT YOU GUYS ARE STILL ENTERTAINING. HEY: THERE'S MY LAST "E" WORD!

Mhmm. Mhmm.

Truly mind blowing. These gentlemen are a epistemological force to be reckoned with.

My parents think this is a serious podcast. That’s the funniest part.

Black and Showalter's podcast is different from any other podcast I've ever heard. They are witty with their sarcasm, though most people mistake their sarcasm for them just being idiots (although i don't see how you could, especially if you are a fan of their work). Don't listen to the negative reviews saying that they don't "understand" the topics or that they "sound high" and reiterate. That is the point of the show and that is where the humor comes from! It's called sarcasm people

Until MATES comes back, the next best thing.

To Topic-Con. I've never been to the Pine Barrens but it sounds fabulous.

Its great.

No more, no less, which is refreshing.