Episodes
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The big day is here, and so is our final episode of 2024. As we so do every year, we'll take a look back at all the news, trends, sights, and sounds that made this Christmas what it was. We'll also hear some Christmas memories from the Christmas Past family.
Thank you for another wonderful season. I'll see you next year.
Merry Christmas!
Music in this episode
"Jazz Podcast Night Relaxing Vibes" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay"Wish Background" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech"Calm Piano Music" — Piotr Witowski, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
The small, unassuming wren may be nothing much to look at, but wait till it starts singing. Its loud, complex songs, and its tendency to sing them throughout winter, has earned it the title of “King of Birds.” But on December 26, the king is dead. Wren Day is a traditional hunting of the wren, followed by celebrations that include disguise, door-to-door visiting and parading, and song. It’s certainly one of our most strange and mysterious Christmas customs, a mixture of Celtic mythology, old Christmas traditions, and revenge for giving away secrets. Tiernan Gaffney from the National Museum of Ireland joins Brian to tell the story.
Special thanks to Lewis Barfoot for permission to include her beautiful rendition of The Wren Song!
Music in this episode
"Calm Lullaby for Irish Harp" — Mountain Dweller, via Pixabay"Greensleeves" — Julius H., via Pixabay"Hark! The Herald Angles Sing" — Jon Sayles, via freemusicpublicdomain.com"Angels We Have Heard" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech"Morning Air" — Noru, via Pixabay"The Wren Song" — Lewis Barfoot, shared directly by the artistConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
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One by one, over a series of nights during Christmastime in Iceland, the Yule Lads come down from a mountain, making mischief, rewarding good behavior and punishing bad. These lovable scamps are unique melding of folkloric traditions, and a reminder that Christmas once was — and still can be — haunted and scary. Terry Gunnell, professor emeritus of folkloristics at the University of Iceland, joins Brian to tell the story. Thanks also to Baldur Gylfa for appearing in this episode!
Music in this episode
"Momentary Ease" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Relaxing Piano" — Uncredited artists, via Pixabay"Tiled Chamber" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Ambient Christmas" — Denys Kyshchuk, via Pixabay"The First Noel" — Calvin Clavier, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost"), went from folk tale to fairy tale, from beloved symbol of Christmas to exile, and then back to beloved symbol, all in surprisingly short order. It’s a story of ups and downs, set against the backdrop of a violent social and political revolution, and which resulted in a strange stint as the “Soviet Santa Claus.”
Karen Petrone, University of Kentucky history professor and author of Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades, joins Brian to tell the story.
Clara in Australia shares a Christmas memory in this episode. Check out her podcast, The Festivity Files.
Music in this episode
"Waiting at the Hem" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Reverie - Claude Debussy - Classic Concert Grand Piano" — JuliusH, via Pixabay"Heartstring Serenade" — Liudmyla Polishchuk, via Pixabay"Somewhere in my Memory - Xmas Piano" — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay"O Come O Come Emmanuel" — Jon Sayles, freemusicpublicdomain.comConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Once again it’s time for one of my favorite traditions here on Christmas Past: dedicating an entire episode to you and your Christmas memories! I love these little glimpses into other people’s lives, families, memories, and all the different ways that Christmas can be celebrated and loved and made special and personal. So, get cozy. You’re invited to another Christmas Past family gathering, and trip down memory lane.
Music in this episode
"Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay"Relaxing Piano / Lofi Music" — John Tramp, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
For a long time, ivy conjured images of all things pagan, superstitious, gluttonous, debauched, and morbid. For those reasons, it would be forbidden from churches and Christian homes. Today, it's a classic symbol of Christmas. Sue Hunter joins Brian to tell this uniquely Christmassy turnaround story.
Thank you to composer Sarah Cattley for permission to share the beautiful rendition of "Ivy, Chief of Trees it Is," performed by the Granta Chorale and conducted by Janet Wheeler.
Music in this episode
"The Holly and the Ivy" — Jerome Chauvel, via Pixabay"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" — Jon Sayles, via Royalty Free Music"Christmas Night" — Floating Dreamer, via Pixabay"Oh Holy Night" — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay"Luminous Rain" — Kevin MacLeod, via Youtube Audio Library"Ivy, Chief of Trees it Is" — Sarah Cattley, used with permission from the composerConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Forty years ago, audiences got into the Christmas spirit by watching a little green creature get killed in a blender. Gremlins was more than a movie that combined horror, comedy, gory violence, and Christmas. It was a massive a pop culture phenomenon, and one of the last movies of its kind to be rated PG. Alonso Duralde, film critic, podcaster, and author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas and Hollywood Pride joins Brian to discuss this iconic 80's hit.
Music in this episode
"Granite Faces" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Hope Piano" — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay"Notche" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Wish Background" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech"Movie Theme 1" — Christian Bodhi, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
If Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus, and we celebrate it on December 25, then Jesus must have been born on that day, right? Not so fast! We actually have no good idea when Jesus was born. And besides, the observance of his birth on December 25 is a 4th century contrivance. But why December 25 of all days? In today's episode, professor and author Michael Foley joins Brian to make sense of it all.
Get a copy of Dr. Foley's book, Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe.Music in this episode
"Stress Relief Piano" — PianoAmor, via Pixabay"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist"Neatly Folded" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Oh Christmas Tree" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech"First Snow" — Scott Buckley, via scottbuckley.com.auConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Who doesn't love a parade? The very idea of a procession, usually involving costumes and music, is at least 4,000 years old. But grand parades to kick off the Christmas season are much newer. The kind we're most familiar with nowadays developed when large retail chains held parades to stimulate shopping and define a new, earlier start to the Christmas season. All that capitalism sounds very American, but — surprise! — Canada beat us to it!
In today's episode, Clayton Charters, president and CEO of the Original Santa Claus Parade in Toronto, joins Brian.
Watch the playback of the 2024 Santa Claus Parade on Youtube!
Music in this Episode
"Happy Christmas Day" — LudoSoundX, via Pixabay"I'm Not Feeling Well Today" — u_0tyyfec3hz, via Pixabay"O Little Town of Bethlehem" — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay"Jazz Theme 5" — Erkki Marjasvaara, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
The three kings. The wise men. The magi. They're the supporting cast in many a Nativity scene...the subject of several postage stamps and greeting cards...the subject of that classic Christmas song. Who were they? Where were they from? Why did they traverse afar following yonder star? What was with the gold, frankincense, and myrrh? Were they even real? And does it matter? Today, professor and author Eric Vanden Eykel joins Brian to tell the story of these mysterious figures.
Check out Eric Vanden Eykel's book, The Magi.
Music in this episode
"Beyond the Cranberry House" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive“Drifting Spot” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"We Three Kings of Orient Are" — United States Air Force Band, via Wikimedia Commons"Early Morning Snowfall" — Chuck Brown, via Feels Like Christmas"Nostalgic" — Anastasia Kir, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
The creative team of Rankin and Bass have produced some of the most enduring, nostalgia-producing Christmas specials in television history. Historian and biographer Rick Goldschmidt joins Brian to tell the story of how an art director and an ad jingle writer became "the kings of Christmas."
Links
More info about Rankin/Bass and Rick GoldschmidtRick's books about Rankin/BassMusic in this episode
"Kettled" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Soft Piano" — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay"O Holy Night (Solo Piano)" — 23843807, via Pixabay"Wish Background" — Kevin MacLeod, via IncompetecConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
The more than 75-year success story of Toys for Tots may seem like a fairly simple story: the Marine Corp reserve starts up a holiday charity for needy kids. But there’s more to it than that. From humble, almost accidental beginnings in 1947, the program was able to grow through a unique mix of show business connections, celebrity endorsements, political influence, post World War II America, and...Walt Disney.
Music in this episode
"Lullaby" — Maarten Schellekens, via Free Music Archive"Toys for Tots" — Nat King Cole, via Toys for Tots Foundation, used with permission"Feelings of Twilight" — Shady Dave, via Freesound"Silent Night" — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay"Germination" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Eternal Hope" — Kevin MacLeod, via Youtube Audio LibraryConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
A lot of people complain that Christmas comes earlier every year. But, is that really true? Extended holiday shopping seasons have been the norm for well over a century. And besides, there's one big (and spooooky) reason that Christmas can only come so early. Marketing professor Darrin Duber-Smith joins Brian to discuss the phenomenon of "Christmas creep."
Music in this episode
"Silent Movie (Old Record Version)" — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay"Deck the Hall Jazz" — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay"Ambient Piano" — BlackPy Beats, via Pixabay"Gentle Soft Piano - Christmas Vibes" — Alex Products, via Free Music Archive"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" — Dee Yan-Kee, via Free Music ArchiveConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Danny Pellegrino is a bestselling author, actor, and screenwriter. His latest book, The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories, is a nostalgic trip through his most festive memories in a collection of stories that are heartfelt, hilarious, and — for better or worse — true. I caught up with Danny earlier this year to talk about the book, Christmas, family, and more.
Music in this episode
"Christmas Jazzy Bells" — BFMC Music, via Pixabay
Connect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Actor John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones) joins Brian to discuss Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. Rhys-Davies plays Dickens's narrator in this four-part audio drama podcast, set for re-release on November 22.
Music in this episode
"O Holy Night" — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay
Connect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
We're in the early Christmas preseason. It's the perfect time to discover some new Christmas music before the radio stations start overplaying the standard set of classics. In this episode, we've got some new-to-you Christmas songs from independent artists you may not have otherwise discovered on your favorite station or streaming service.
Music in this episode
"Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay"Christmas Cheer" — Robert Lawlor"Vermont Christmas" — The PredicatesIt Doesn't Feel Like Christmas" — Winterval"The Christmas Song" — Birdie Nichols"Good King Wenceslas (Slassin' In) — The Staven Wassailers"HOME" — Lewis BarfootLewis Barfoot's HOME is available on vinyl! Check Bandcamp or her website for more. It's also available at most records stores in Ireland.
Connect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Happy Halloween, everybody! And more than that: welcome to another season of Christmas Past.
Yes, it’s still Halloween. But that's the perfect time to kick things off, because it gives us a chance to honor the classic Christmas tradition of sharing a ghost story. Our Victorian forebears really loved their ghost stories — for all occasions, but perhaps especially for Christmas. Many magazines of the era published ghost stories specifically for the Christmas season. The stories didn’t necessarily involve Christmas; but they were meant to be enjoyed on Christmas Eve, adding a little extra chill to a cold winter’s night.Though the tradition has faded, it’s not gone altogether. And that’s thanks in part to my friends at Biblioasis publishing. Every year, they publish a series of classic ghost stories beautifully illustrated by the acclaimed artist known only as Seth. It’s become a yearly tradition here on Christmas Past to start the season off with a story from their current series.
In today's story, when a group of tourists visits the deserted island of Podolo, one wants to rescue a feral cat they find there, and the others reluctantly agree. Unfortunately, the rescue proves more difficult than they expect — and they soon discover they’re not alone on Podolo.
Music in this episode
“Didion” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Frequency of Sleep Meditation" — Leigh Robinson, via Pixabay"Endless" — MildRelaxation, via PixabayConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
It's our eighth consecutive Christmas together. As we close out the 2023 season, we're taking a look back at the news and trends that made this Christmas what it was.
Thank you all for another wonderful Christmas season together.
Merry Christmas! And until we meet again, may your days be merry and bright.
Music in this Episode"Deck the Halls A" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Here in America, the day after Christmas is simply that: the day after. The party's over. But in England, it's an official holiday. December 26 — Boxing Day — is the Christmas afterparty you've been missing out on. What's the story? And what does it have to do with boxing? Paul Kerensa joins Christmas Past to...unpack the box.
Mentioned in this Episode
Paul KerensaHark! The Biography of Christmas, by Paul KerensaMusic in this Episode
"Good King Wenceslas" — U.S. Army Band, via Wikimedia Commons"Oh Come All Ye Faithful" — DJ Williams, via Youtube Audio Library"In the Bleak Midwinter" — Julius H., via Pixabay"Emotional Piano Improvisation" — Alexander Nakarada, via Film Music"Holiday Gift" — Kai Engel, via Free Music ArchiveSection from A Christmas Carol read by Peter John Keeble, courtesy of Librivox
Connect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. -
Christmas Day is less than a week from now. In this final stretch of the 2023 season, let's have another gathering of the Christmas Past family. Yes, it’s time once again for an episode dedicated just to you and your Christmas memories. Cozy up by the fire with us for a little Christmas reminiscing.
Music in this Episode "A Very Brady Special" — Kevin MacLeod, via IncompetechConnect
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Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. - Show more
