Christmas and Commerce

Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, originally broadcast in 1996 when our show was only a year old. Including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries," which first aired on NPR's Morning Edition in a much shorter version. Toys R Us: Host Ira Glass goes to one of the epicenters of modern Christmas — the world's biggest toy store — minutes before closing on Christmas Eve.  (5 1/2 minutes) Santaland Diaries: Writer David Sedaris's true account of two Christmas seasons he spent working as an elf at Macy's department store in New York.  When a shorter version of this story first aired on NPR's Morning Edition, it generated more tape requests than any story in the show's history to that point. David’s latest book is A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020). (30 minutes) Christmas Freud: David Rakoff tells about his experience playing Sigmund Freud in the window of upscale Barney's department store in Manhattan. For Christmas. This was the first of dozens of appearances on our show by David Rakoff, who died in 2012. His last book was Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel. In 2012 we aired a tribute episode titled Our Friend David. (15 minutes) Act Four: Tapes recorded in a Chicago home Christmas morning, more than 50 years ago. (3 minutes)