About this episode
• Holiday food, fellowship, and Hollerbach's holiday events • Krampus vs. St. Nick wrestling and stoner-Santa jokes • Photos with St. Nicholas, gifts for kids, German décor, holiday market, and Haribo talk • Colette Fehr joins the Friday Free Show • Thanksgiving camping recap and Giant Recreation World promos • RV rentals, luxury setups, and modern RV color trends • Jokes about Tom's ancestry, DNA-test surprises, and secret-family discoveries • Emotional impact of unexpected biological relatives • Promotion of Colette's book *The Cost of Quiet* and her packed launch schedule • Challenges of book promotion, media spots, and hosting two podcasts • Love Thy Neighbor podcast rankings and availability • Book themes: expressing needs, avoiding self-abandonment, changing harsh self-talk • Everyone—including therapists—struggles with self-doubt • Colette's appearance on a hostile debate podcast and the misogyny she witnessed • Troll backlash toward her and OnlyFans creators on that show • Silver lining: landing a Godmothers bookstore event • Reality of non-celebrity book promotion and publisher expectations • Idea for a behind-the-scenes radio-era book • Inspiration for her book: 14 years of therapy work and personal divorce • Traditional publishing gatekeeping and landing a Penguin Random House deal • Traditional vs. self-publishing and the benefits of a major publisher • Visiting the PRH building and joking about real penguins • Upcoming podcast with her husband and his anxiety about it • Couples therapy experience, communication work, and opposites-attract dynamics • Remote recording setup (Winter Park vs. Dubai) • Normalizing messy but functional marriages • Critique of "too perfect" self-help gurus and Liver King deception • Scandals rarely ending creators' careers • Ethics and the choice not to scam audiences • Persona amplification online: wrestlers, radio hosts, trolls • Perez Hilton's shift away from aggressive trolling • January 29 book-launch event details and book-purchase ticketing • Purpose of the book: helping people communicate, not chasing fame • Complaints about Tracy's gift-bag photo incident • Introduction of metal band Ousted and marijuana-card sponsors • New Tom & Dan merch announcements • Kids listening to the show and Elf on the Shelf traditions • Increasingly elaborate elf setups and AI-generated elf videos • Debate about AI "magic" vs. childhood imagination • Ethical concerns about realistic Santa/elf AI footage • Parents' fear of lying, trust issues, and when kids learn the truth • Commercial AI services selling holiday overlays • Escalation worry: parents overextending the magic • News about Frosty voice actor Jackie Vernon having secret families • How secret families form, motives behind them, and emotional fallout • DNA tests revealing hidden relatives and identity crises • Debate on whether someone with two families can be a "good dad" • Childhood memories of sneaking out and risky teen behavior • Modern over-monitoring vs. allowing independence • Phones as anxiety amplifiers, GPS glitches, and negative alerts • Desire for unplugged family vacations • Tromp family shared-delusion case and folie à plusieurs explanation • Emotional contagion, fear contagion, cult-like dynamics • Transition to therapy topics: clients falling for therapists and transference • Therapists maintaining strict boundaries and ethical rules • Reasons for firing clients and confidentiality limits in couples therapy • Misconception that couples therapy is about "winning" • Etiquette of seeing clients in public and HIPAA challenges • Therapists declining gifts and the feelings that creates • Colette wrapping up, promoting her book, and plans to return • Show reminders about next Thursday's episode and upcoming BDM show ### • Social Media: https://tomanddan.com | https://twitter.com/tomanddanlive | https://facebook.com/amediocretime | https://instagram.com/tomanddanlive• Where to Find the Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-mediocre-time/id334142682 | https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2FtZWRpb2NyZXRpbWUvcG9kY2FzdC54bWw | https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Mediocre-Time-p364156/• Tom & Dan on Real Radio 104.1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-corporate-time/id975258990 | https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2Fjb3Jwb3JhdGV0aW1lL3BvZGNhc3QueG1s | https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Corporate-Time-p1038501/• Exclusive Content: https://tomanddan.com/registration• Merch: https://tomanddan.myshopify.com/