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© 2025 Christmas Past
Description
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 is the author of two books about Christmas: Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025) and Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions (2022). Both are available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook (narrated by the author). Find them wherever books are sold.
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The Christmas season is in full swing. The tree is up. The carols are playing. The shopping and baking merrymaking of all sorts is here once again. We're all doing a lot of the stuff that Christmas memories are made of. And Christmas memories are what bring us together here today. This season on Christmas Past, I’m sharing your Christmas memories in special episodes dedicated just to them...like this one. I want to share one of your memories in one of the several other episodes li...
On a cold winter's night, a man working in a field saw an out-of-place object in the night sky. This is a Christmas story, but it's not the one you think it is. Music in This Episode "Below the River" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Dream Lodger" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Embrace Serenity" — Lite Saturation, via Free Music Archive"Mallet Play" — Maarten Schellekens, via Free Music Archive"The First Noel" — Clavier, via Pixabay"Greensleeves" — Don Maue, shar...
Inventor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden received hundreds of patents in his career. And one invention that debuted in 1906 changed Christmas as we know it. Music in This Episode "Agony and Ivory" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"The Cresting" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Tranquility" — Kevin MacLeod, via Free Music Archive"Peaceful Acoustic Guitar Instrumental for Relaxation" — Nicholas Panek, via Pixabay"Wholesome Original Lullaby" — Viktor Baikovskyi, via PixabayOrder y...
Teenaged Annie Ide resented being born on December 25 because Christmas always overshadowed her birthday. But a unique birthday gift from an eccentric family friend would change the course of her life forever. Music in This Episode "An Early Sneak" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Taboret" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive"Calm Meditation, Good Sleep" — Lihn Pham, via Pixabay"Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay"Clean Soul" — Kev...
Just dropping by with a quick hello, now that the season is in full swing. Today, I share an announcement about this season of Christmas Past, as well as share highlights from my annual visit to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. Plus...a surprise guest appearance! Music in this Episode "Working Time - Soft Acoustic Guitar" — Dream Protocol, via Pixabay Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago Connect with Me Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodc...
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It's the kickoff to the main season of Christmas Past. What better way to get things going than with a cozy gathering around the fire for some old fashioned storytelling? Today, I'm back with a ghost story for Christmas. In "Lucky's Grove," when a Christmas tree is selected from a mysterious grove, strange and tragic events follow. Thanks to my friends at Biblioasis for once again giving me the opportunity to share this year's set of ghost stories with you....
In today's episode, Vaughn Joy, Ph.D. joins Christmas Past to discuss how the social and political climate of the mid-20th century shaped the Christmas movies of that era. She's the author of the new book, Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy Music in this Episode "Happy Night Christmas Winter Jazz" — Music for Videos, via Pixabay Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago Connect with Me Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/...
Today, we welcome back a frequent guest on Christmas Past. Thomas Ruys Smith is a professor of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. He’s also a frequent guest on Christmas Past and the author of several books about Christmas history and literature. His latest is Searching for Santa Claus: An Anthology of the Poems, Stories, and Illustrations that Shaped a Global Icon. Music in this Episode "Jazz Christmas Music" — Pulsebox, via Pixabay ...
Today, I'm talking to Alonso Duralde, film critic, podcaster, and author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (2nd Edition). Music in this episode "Our Minds Following" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago Connect with Me Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com Books Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press a...
Happy Halloween, everyone! 👻🎃 And welcome to the 2025 pre-season for Christmas Past. For the past several years now, we've kicked off the pre-season with a ghost story from my friends at Biblioasis Publishing. They publish a series of three ghost stories for Christmas every year, beautifully designed and illustrated by the acclaimed artist known only as Seth. Today, I'm narrating Rosemary Temperley's short story, "The Mistress in Black." Check These Out 🎄 Biblioasis Publishing's Ghost Stories...
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" — P...
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 ...
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 thi...
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. ...
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" —...
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. Mu...
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...
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 ...
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 C...
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 ...
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