Christmas Past
Behind every Christmas tradition is a story, often a forgotten one. Every year as we put up a tree and pour the eggnog, we’re continuing generations-old narratives, while being mostly unaware of their starting chapters.
Join Brian Earl to explore the fascinating stories behind the most wonderful time of the year. It's equal parts nerdy deep dive and warmhearted celebration. Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore!
Christmas Past is one of the longest running Christmas podcasts, now in its tenth season. Vanity Fair says: "With excellent production, engaging narration, and short, digestible running times, Christmas Past is perfect to put on while decorating your tree or preparing Christmas dinner."
Brian's 2022 book, Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions, is available in hardcover from Lyons Press and an audiobook from Recorded Books! Get your copy today wherever books are sold. And remember...it makes a great gift!
Episodes
225 episodes
Christmas 2024 (plus listener memories)
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 Christma...
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24:40
Backstory: Wren Day
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 de...
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12:00
Backstory: The Yule Lads
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 rem...
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12:15
Backstory: Ded Moroz
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 violen...
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13:10
Your Christmas Memories 2024
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 wa...
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16:24
Backstory: Ivy
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 ...
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10:47
Backstory: Gremlins
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 phen...
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12:09
Backstory: Why is Christmas on December 25?
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 Dec...
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13:54
Backstory: The Original Santa Claus Parade
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...
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10:52
Backstory: The Magi
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 ...
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13:43
Backstory: Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials
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...
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11:08
Backstory: Toys for Tots
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, t...
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10:54
Backstory: Christmas Creep
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...
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11:28
Danny Pellegrino, Author of The Jolliest Bunch
Danny Pellegrino is a bestselling author, actor, and screenwriter. His latest book, The Jolliest...
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18:09
Interview: Actor John Rhys-Davies on Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
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-releas...
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14:01
2024 Indie Christmas Music Playlist
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 indepen...
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34:37
Storytime: "Podolo"
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 traditio...
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28:00
Christmas 2023
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. ...
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9:17
Backstory: Boxing Day
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? An...
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12:07
Your Christmas Memories: 2023, vol 2
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 ...
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10:14
Backstory: A Meatless Christmas Eve Meal
For many families, the Christmas Eve feast is a so-called "meatless meal." It's a tradition of European Christian roots that has gone on to take many forms.Mentioned in this episodePlating Grace...
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13:18
A Visit to Old Fezziwig's Christmas Eve Ball
Old Fezziwig sure knew how to throw an office Christmas party. Dickens's description of Christmas Eve in Fezziwig's counting house included vigorous fiddling and elaborate dancing. That style of dance may belong to a bygone time, but it lives o...
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7:27
Backstory: Christmas Postage Stamps
In the late nineteenth century modern postal systems were still coming into their own. Around the turn of the century, many countries, including England, began issuing Christmas themed postage stamps. You might think that America would have bee...
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14:52
Interview: Christopher Knight on The Brady Bunch: The Voice of Christmas
The Brady Bunch is an iconic American sitcom that ran for five seasons. But it produced only one Christmas episode during its original run. "The Voice of Christmas" from season 1 finds Carol with laryngitis days before she's scheduled to sing a...
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17:05