【Eroticizing Marx, Revolutionizing Freud: Marcuse's Psychoanalytic Turn】

When the news is Eroticizing Marx, Revolutionizing Freud: Marcuse's Psychoanalytic Turnso jam-packed with chaos, uncertainty, and just generally a lot of quite miserable stuff, it's always nice to find something reliably capable of lifting the spirits.

Carpool Karaokedoes a pretty decent job of ticking this box -- and 2018 was no exception.

From random celebrity cameos to important discussions about Justin Bieber's underpants, here are some of the highlights...

1. Melissa McCarthy's random cameo in Christina Aguilera's episode.

Alongside the outrageous harmonies and the entertaining segment where James Corden learns how to sing in a gravelly "Fighter" voice (0:30), Christina Aguilera's episode also features a surprise guest appearance from Melissa McCarthy (2:58).

She pops up to rap Redman's section's in "Dirrty", chats for a bit, then just as abruptly disappears again.

2. Adam Levine and James Corden competing on a race track.

This one's mainly enjoyable for the sheer terror evident on Corden's face throughout. The episode also contains an entertaining section where Adam Levine demonstrates his unusual ability to balance things on his face. (skip to 2:45 in the clip below for face-balancing, and the very end for scary racing).

3. Shawn Mendes and Corden discussing how much they'd pay for Justin Bieber's underpants.

Shawn Mendes really does come across as a lovely, funny chap in his episode of Carpool Karaoke, and this is particularly evident in the section where he discusses Justin Bieber's underwear, and how much he'd pay for said underwear (jump to 1:45 in the clip below).

To be honest, they probably could have just chatted about underwear for the full 12 minutes (although the singing is good too).

4. James Corden's dad convincing Michael Bublé to love the saxophone.

The most cheerfully frantic moment of Michael Bublé's Carpoolepisode has to be the "scat battle" that ensues when Corden's dad hitches a lift with his saxophone (6:20 below). There's also a glorious section where Bublé uses his powerful voice to order a coffee, via the medium of song, from a great distance (3:45).

The episode ends on a more serious note, however, when Bublé opens up about his son's illness and the incredibly difficult year his family has had, in order to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer (10:10).

5. Barbra Streisand recounting the time she called up Tim Cooke to moan about Siri.

Sometimes, the most memorable moment in a Carpool Karaokeepisode ends up being a story the celebrity guest comes out with. Barbra Streisand's episode is no exception. The singing is great, but her anecdote about phoning up Tim Cook to moan about Siri's pronunciation of her name is even better.

6. Corden apologising to Migos for ruining the dab.

Did you know that Migos may well have invented the term dab? Not only does their Carpool Karaokeepisode tell the tale of its creation, but it also clearly demonstrates why the whole trend came crashing down (spoiler alert: it was basically Corden's fault).

You can see the full segment, followed by a glorious Whitney Houston rendition, below (1:30):

7. Finally, every single bit of ridiculously good singing in the Ariana Grande episode.

Although the Ariana Grande episode does have some very entertaining conversations and segments (there's one bit where Corden gives Grande a piggyback into a cafe because she "insists on being carried everywhere"), the main standout memory is the singing. The ridiculously, ridiculously good singing.

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