Christory/ Histmas

In 'A Christmas Carol', Charles Dickens wrote: “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” While Dickens clearly wasn’t keeping abreast of the latest developments regarding mutant coronavirus strains, his heart was most probably in the right place. After all, who isn’t moved to tears by that moment in ‘A Christmas Carol’ where Michael Caine buys a turkey for Kermit and his son Robin?

In this Christmas cracker of a podcast (cheaply made, bad jokes, and ultimately disappointing), James and I look at the history of winter revelry. We talk about the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, the (first) cancellation of Christmas, and disconcerting Victorian Christmas cards.