of howard markel, director the center for the history of medicine at the university of michigan on how americans celebrated christmas during the 1918 flu pandemic. columnist syndicated talks about politics and the year in review. watch c-span's washington journal at 7:00 a.m. eastern on friday morning. >> you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. next, first lady melania trump received the white house christmas tree at the north portico.-- north ♪

howard markelle, director for the center of the history of medicine on how americans celebrated christmas during the 1918 flu pandemic. then page talks about the year in politics. watch 7:00 eastern friday morning and be sure to join the discussion with your calls, texts and tweets. >> on tuesday, january 5th, the balance of power in the senate will be decided by the winners of the two georgia run-offs. david period and kelly leffler are defenses. the democratic challengers. follow the results and hear from the candidates in these final races of campaign 2020. live coverage on c-span, online and the radio app. authors week, we are joined by jim tankersley. he's the author of the book, "the riches of this land, the untold true story of america's middle class." thank you for joining us this week. guest: thank you so much for ha

howard markel of the university of michigan center for the history of medicine. happy holidays. guest: happy holidays to you and everyone out there. thank you. host: we continue our conversation with you on this christmas morning and how you are celebrating this year and how the pandemic has affected your plans. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 mountain and pacific. send us a text, (202) 748-8003. a couple of those. this from fred in panama city. "happy birthday to my wife. it is her birthday. we self-isolate to protect all of us." "i cannot think of a better christmas gift than donald trump being removed from the white house. there is a santa." " we are not doing anything special, just practicing basic social distancing. if president trump would've promoted social distancing and wearing a mask instead of calling it a hoax, the united states would be on a better position on this christmas morning. mike in orlando." carol in panama city, florida "no family get-togethers. surely people can put it all a year. me and i hope to others. merry chris

howard markel of the university of michigan center for the history of medicine. happy holidays.st: happy holidays to you and everyone out there. thank you. host: we continue our conversation with you on this christmas morning and how you are celebrating this year and how the pandemic has affected your plans. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 mountain and pacific. send us a text, (202) 748-8003. a couple of those. this from fred in panama city. "happy birthday to my wife. it is her birthday. we self-isolate to protect all of us." "i cannot think of a better christmas gift than donald trump being removed from the white house. there is a santa." " we are not doing anything special, just practicing basic social distancing. if president trump would've promoted social distancing and wearing a mask instead of calling it a hoax, the united states would be on a better position on this christmas morning. mike in orlando." carol in panama city, florida "no family get-togethers. surely people can put it all a year. me and i hope to others. merry christmas