The Patriot Christmas
The Christmas of patriots — those who lived before, during and just after the American Revolution — was no small event. Historians like to say that Christmas in America wasn’t a thing. But don’t ask these patriots; they loved Christmas. Who are these patriots? They are John Adams, Ben Franklin… Read More The Patriot Christmas
Leon Day
Leon Day will soon be upon us! Are you ready? Do you celebrate Leon Day? This is the real deal, folks. Leon is Noel spelled backwards — and it takes six months to turn it around. Leon Day falls on June 25th, marking the halfway point to Christmas. And many,… Read More Leon Day
The Christmas Movies You Watch When It Is Not Christmas
Christmas movies are thought by some to be only a December kind of thing. But there is another kind of Christmas movie watcher out there. Are you a summer Christmas movie watcher? Do you draw the blinds, crank up the A/C and put on something Christmas when it is blazing… Read More The Christmas Movies You Watch When It Is Not Christmas
The Atheist: A True Story of Christmas and Easter
How do you teach someone how to celebrate Easter? Do you really point them in the direction of colored eggs and plastic grass? This episode of the Merry Little Podcast tells the true story of an atheist who has had a spiritual experience. Profoundly changed by this out-of-the-blue event, he… Read More The Atheist: A True Story of Christmas and Easter
The Christmas Hero in Jimmy Stewart
Even in his day Jimmy Stewart was uncommonly decent. This fact seemed to jump out of the screen despite the role he played. But it was in his private life — which he tried to keep very private — that Stewart shined the brightest. No matter how famous he became,… Read More The Christmas Hero in Jimmy Stewart
The House of Seven Santas
We are pleased to participate in a historic Christmas podcast event knows as The House of Seven Santas. The House of Seven Santas is actually a short story written in 1912 by John Kendrick Bangs. But it is presented to you by seven separate Christmas podcasters in an unprecedented collaboration… Read More The House of Seven Santas
Stuff We Don’t Do with Christmas Trees Anymore
Christmas trees are one of the fastest evolving customs of Christmas. Frankly, Christmas trees are not as old as people suppose. Unlike most symbols of Christmas the Christmas tree was born of Christian religious fervor (and not a byproduct of pagan holidays, as some say). Of course, the Christmas tree… Read More Stuff We Don’t Do with Christmas Trees Anymore
Why Christmas Begins with Thanksgiving
If there is one thing more predictable than Christmas itself it is the complaining about Christmas. Here we sit two weeks before Thanksgiving and the world is complaining about hearing Christmas music on the radio, seeing Christmas stuff in the stores and seemingly ignoring the great American tradition of Thanksgiving… Read More Why Christmas Begins with Thanksgiving
The Southern Christmas
The common images of Christmas feature snow, Northern pines, cabins in the woods, and frosty climates made just for the likes of reindeer and Santa Claus. But there is another place where Christmas is warm — and where traditions are born. For Americans, that place is known as the South…. Read More The Southern Christmas