The Christmas Cousins are back for one of the most anticipated episodes of the season—Trader Joe’s Holiday Finds! Joined by Christmas Cousin Lee, the King of all superfans, they taste, rate, and review an array of magical desserts and holiday treats. Which items are must-haves? Which ones might be left on the shelf? It’s a merry, sugary adventure you won’t want to miss!
It’s a packed show so let’s not mess about.
First up it’s Santa Claus is NOT Coming to Town, and listener Timothy Dumont has shared the story of how he spoiled the myth of Santa to a bunch of teenagers.
Do you know the difference between a Sidewalk and Pavement? Well there isn’t one and, in Do You Hear What I Hear, Bob Baker explains it all.
Then it’s our yearly visit to Shelli and Frank Arnold’s Christmas village. It’s a true work of art and if you want to check it out I’ve put a bunch of pictures on Facebook.
Next up we chat to Steven A McKay. He’s a historical fiction writer and each year he writes a novella or short story featuring the characters from his Robin Hood series. This year’s book has two stories, The Heretic of Haltemprice Priory and The Winter Hunt.
If you want to check it out, here’s a link:
https://amzn.eu/d/b54tTF4
We also play Wassail The Night Away. A song written by Steven and his podcast co-host.
This episode’s version of A Christmas Carol is Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, but if you want to hear it you’ll have to go to The Advent Calendar House Podcast, where I chat about it with host Mike Westfall.
Here’s a link:
https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/blackadders-christmas-carol
Then Bob Baker is back with Spread a Smile of Joy. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, so why not go carol singing this year and spread some joy around your neighbourhood.
Check out Bob’s podcast here:
https://4fpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Then Jeanie Mulligan is back to have another go at The Quiz.
See if you can beat her score (you shouldn’t find it too hard).
This episode’s recommendation is I’m Not Complaining with Robin and Juno. My two daughters are possibly the world’s youngest podcast hosts, and I think you’ll enjoy their show so have a listen:
anchor.fm/notcomplaining
I’m also plugging my stuff so if you want any merch here’s a link:
https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-total-christmas-podstore
And if you want to read my book (WARNING: it contains lots of rude words) here’s a link:
https://amzn.eu/d/5zZ6YE9
Get in touch:
Email: totalchristmas@gmail.com
Website: totalchristmaspodcast.com
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/totalchristmas-scaled.jpg25602560e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-13 01:53:212024-12-13 08:53:58Episode 123 – Return to the Christmas Village
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
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.
In the seventy-second episode of 12 Days Pod, Cara and Dan discuss the past decade of pop culture events, family dynamics in Christmas movies, and what makes a bad movie good.
Today I have the first part of a longer story called Old Christmas by Washington Irving. Published in 1815, it explores some of the roots of our Christmas traditions as the main character visits a friend at Bracebridge Hall during Christmas to experience an old fashioned Christmas! It’s a story that explores nostalgia and tradition, and is a lot of fun to read!
So settle in by the fire, grab some egg nog or Christmas tea, and enjoy today’s story!
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Cozy-Christmas-New.jpg18751875e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 23:52:242024-12-13 08:52:45“Old Christmas” by Washington Irving, Part 1 of 3
What’s up, dudes? I’ve got Ken Kessler from Sounds of Christmas and Scott Leopold from Holly Jolly X’masu here to talk the folksy prog rock band Jethro Tull. We break down two of the Christmas songs by Jethro Tull: “Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow” and “Another Christmas Song.”
The British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1967. Their music is marked by the initially soulful and bluesy, and later expressively idiosyncratic, vocal style and unique lead flute work of frontman Ian Anderson, and their notable guitarist Martin Barre. Of course, their songs feature unusual and often complex construction, incorporating elements of classical and celtic folk music, as well as art rock and alternative rock. They subsequently beat Metallica in the ‘89 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in what was widely viewed as an upset over the favorite, Metallica‘s …And Justice for All.
Ian Anderson composed “Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow,” and the band originally recorded it in ‘81 for the Broadsword and the Beast album (although it was left off). The 5/4 metered song is more folk rock-inspired with synthesizers. “Another Christmas Song” was also written by Ian Anderson. The band Included the song on the Rock Island album on side B, and eventually released it as a single on December 4, 1989.
Flute? Yep. Folk and fantasy themes? Uh huh. Heavy metal and hard rock? Nope. Not at all. Sorry. So grab your flute, strike a flamingo pose, and listen to this episode on Jethro Tull “Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow!”
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/7418CA16-2CBF-45F1-893C-8E5ACBC3D471-scaled.jpg25602560e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 23:51:522024-12-13 08:52:11Jethro Tull “Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow” (w/ Ken and Scott)
Ken from the Sounds of Christmas talks to Tower of Power founding member Emilio Castillo, on a break from their current tour. They talk about Tower of Power’s new, and first, Christmas album (It’s Christmas), their Holidays and Hits tour and some of their plans for 2025!
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/soctree1500.jpg16241500e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 20:51:232024-12-13 08:51:41It’s Christmas With Tower Of Power
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/christmaspodcasts.jpg15001500e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 18:14:122024-12-12 18:14:12Christmas Podcasts Roundup – November 30th through December 6th, 2024
We’re approaching Christmas, so this week I have excerpts from longer interviews that I’ll run at full length next season. Steven Wilson is the driving force behind the British art rock band Porcupine Tree, and last year on a challenge he used artificial intelligence to write a Christmas song, something he felt that he couldn’t do on his own.
The whole conversation goes deep on the relationship between artists and AI, and the odd experience of encountering an AI version of himself online. Here I tried to capture part of that conversation and keep it relatively focused on Christmas.
I have a challenge for next season though, because he talked about his favorite album being a Christmas album by The Hiltonaires. I’ve seen it under two different titles, and he thinks there might be more. Unfortunately, none of them are for sale in any of the digital stores, so I couldn’t find any music from it that I could play in this episode. If any of you have digitized a Christmas track from the Hiltonaires, please let me know.
The second interview is with É Arenas, the long-time bass player with Chicano Batman. We talk about his relationship with the band as it enters an “indefinite hiatus,” and how he started a yearly project of making songs that he considered Cumbia Navideña–a genre he invited with cumbias for the holiday.
We only get part way though his catalogue of seasonal music, but in addition to talking about his own music, he turned me on to the Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón classic Asalto Navideño and music by Rigo Tovar.
Then I talk to Kelcy Wilburn of New Orleans’ Americana band Ever More Nest. In 2015, I wrote a story for The New Orleans Advocate on her first Christmas song, “Christmas with You (Merry Me),” which at the time doubled as a Christmas song and a celebration of the Supreme Court affirming the rights of same-sex couples to marry. As she explains, it also served as a quasi-proposal to her partner.
We talk about that, the Christmas music of her youth, and the way life as a working musician led to her new Christmas EP, Merry Little Thing.
If you’d like this year’s exclusive listeners-only Christmas mix, email me at alex@myspiltmilk.com.
Finally, follow, subscribe or do what you have to do to get 12 Songs in your podcast feed. We only have one more episode after this in 2024, then we’ll return in time for Christmas in July 2025. If we’re in your feed, new episodes will show up without you having to hunt for them.
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-05-21-at-12.48.29 PM.png199269e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 12:51:002024-12-13 08:51:12Porcupine Tree, É Arenas, and Ever More Nest
13 Days until Christmas. Which version of the Grinch is your favorite?
If you would like to pick up the Closer to Christmas Coloring Book that I released, for yourself, or as a gift for someone, you can do so, by clicking here: https://a.co/d/7n5QjOr… can follow me here: @closertoxmas You can also email me, I would love to hear your feedback. Email me at closertochristmaspodcast@gmail.com Please rate and review the podcast wherever you are listening, it helps spread the word, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. To check out any visual component to this epidode, check out my Youtube page: / @closertochristmas…
And finally, and HUGE thank you to my brother, Kevin, for allowing me to use his music throughout my show. If you like what you hear, you can pick up his album on Itunes, which can be found here: A solstice night on Apple music or A Solstice Night on Amazon (https://amazon.com/music/player/album…)
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/12165064-1611469236407-b645cb278d3ef.jpg400400e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 08:48:102024-12-12 11:48:2213 Days, Which Grinch is your Grinch?
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Christmas-Morning.png20482048e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-12 03:39:492024-12-12 06:40:0413 Days Until Christmas! (“Blue Christmas” Song Battle)
In his ongoing journey of festive discovery, Cousin Seth has taken another holiday leap—his very first advent calendar! What did he choose? What surprises await behind those tiny doors? And will he dive into it live on the air? Join the Cousins for this delightfully festive and curiosity-filled episode.
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.#adventcalendar #christmas #advent #december #christmascountdown #xmas #christmasiscoming #christmastime #adventskalender #calendrierdelavent #merrychristmas #calendariodellavvento #christmasgifts #christmasdecor #countdowntochristmas #handmade #natale #day #adventcalendars #winter #christmastree #calendar #love #christmasmood #christmasspirit #daysofchristmas #noel #smallbusiness #lego #skincare
🎄It’s 2020, and a gift-wrapped puppy licked my face and made my skin turn blue.
From the Chiodo Brothers comes a charming stop-motion Christmas special about how an alien invasion of the North Pole almost ruined Christmas — and the entire planet’s gravity, but also Christmas. Plus: A “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” Easter egg, some cameos from “Elf,” and Santa with nunchucks.
We made our way to 30 Rock and transported ourselves back in time to take a look back at some of the best Christmas skits from Saturday Night Live in this latest episode of The List!
Welcome to episode 128 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this special X’mas Stars On 78 episode, I talk about a selection of my Christmas 78s. I hope you enjoyed this look at older Japanese Christmas records. The work and care that goes into these really make me appreciate them even more. Even though I’ve been collecting them for nearly five years, every time I listen to one, I can’t help but think about how remarkable it is that they’re still available. The best example of this is my Fumiko Noso record from 1909. The fact that this brittle disc of shellac has survived 115 years without any major damage is impressive enough, but it’s also lived through numerous earthquakes, tsunamis, two world wars, and a nuclear attack, not to mention being shipped halfway around the world. Being able to listen to records like that is one of the most fulfilling things about this hobby. Towards the end of the episode, I mentioned how Yuji Koseki’s record was the perfect bookend to the episode. Other than having it end with another version of “Firefly Light,” and spacing out the two versions of “Jingle Bells,” the other coincidences weren’t planned. Before I started writing this episode, I didn’t realize he was born the same year Noso’s “Firefly Light” was released, and that Ichiro Fujiyama, the singer who most helped boost the success of Koseki’s Pop songs, had started out by taking piano lessons from Noso and her father. I loved that it worked out that way. As for the picture discs, I have quite a few more that I’ll talk about eventually. Keep an eye on my social media for pictures of them. As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know. Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Half of any proceeds or donations received will be donated to support the people of Ukraine, while the rest will be used to purchase new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!
14 Days until Christmas. Have you ever heard the story, The Cinnamon Bear?
If you would like to pick up the Closer to Christmas Coloring Book that I released, for yourself, or as a gift for someone, you can do so, by clicking here: https://a.co/d/7n5QjOr… can follow me here: @closertoxmas You can also email me, I would love to hear your feedback. Email me at closertochristmaspodcast@gmail.com Please rate and review the podcast wherever you are listening, it helps spread the word, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. To check out any visual component to this epidode, check out my Youtube page: / @closertochristmas…
And finally, and HUGE thank you to my brother, Kevin, for allowing me to use his music throughout my show. If you like what you hear, you can pick up his album on Itunes, which can be found here: A solstice night on Apple music or A Solstice Night on Amazon (https://amazon.com/music/player/album…)
https://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Christmas-Morning.png20482048e_xanderhttps://christmaspodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/logo4-300x138.pnge_xander2024-12-11 03:13:332024-12-11 06:13:5114 Days Until Christmas! (“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Song Battle)
A Bahamian Christmas and a cozy family cabin? What an episode!
In the latest installment of the beloved CCP series, “My Favorite Christmas Ever” series, Cousin Chad is joined by none other than Brian Earl, host of the amazing Christmas Past podcast. Brian takes a stroll down memory lane, sharing the magical details of his most cherished Christmas. From favorite traditions to the moments that define the season, you’ll feel the joy of Christmas past.
/ @closertochristmas… 
