Video: Bill Clinton and Mindy Kaling Talk Holiday Books

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This morning in random but delightful TV pairings, Bill Clinton and Mindy Kaling discuss their favorite holiday books on Today. After a brief aside to assure viewers that his wife and Barack Obama are doing everything they can to help stabilize North Korea, Clinton mused that books are “a wonderful way to get away from the helter-skelter of your life and throw yourself into something else” and the duo launched into their selections.

Kaling’s picks were pretty populist, including Stephen King, the photo book LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON , and even that book Gwyneth Paltrow wrote. Her top choice, to no one’s surprise, was Tina Fey’s Bossypants — and Clinton approved: “I love Tina Fey!” he said. “I think she is so funny.” The former president’s recommendations were stately and largely highbrow, including Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, which he reads every year. Watch the thoroughly enjoyable segment after the jump, and make sure to stick around till the end, when poor Ann Curry tries to pronounce the name of Irish poet Seamus Heaney and says “semen” instead.