With November nearing its end, the Christmas season is finally upon us. But what does Christmas mean anymore? Is it still a religious holiday to reflect on the birth of Christ or have Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola completely secularized (and commercialized) it into a month-long shopping frenzy? Also, what the hell is wrong with the Dutch Santa Claus, and why does he own black slaves?

This week’s program features the Sheaf’s copy editor Greg Reese and web editor Ishmael Daro.

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Relevant Links

Ӣ A Canadian University Press article arguing that Christmas is now a fully secular holiday.

Ӣ Was Dr. Seuss religious? Some people think so.

”¢ David Sedaris’s Christmas story about the Netherlands’ “Six to Eight Black Men.”

Ӣ Season of joy? Facebook data shows that a lot of people get dumped in December.

Ӣ The creepy stop-motion animation of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Little Drummer Boy.

Ӣ Dutch Santa, Sinterklaas, arrives in Rotterdam by boat with dozens of black slaves helpers.

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image: Flickr
opening: Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol
music: Jason Silver
This podcast is distributed under a Creative Commons license, so do with it what you please.