Our Holiday Gift-Giving Guide

我们的假日礼品指南

This American Life

2025-12-15

1 小时 1 分钟
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The vexing difficulty of finding the perfect gift. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Host Ira Glass goes to a busy Target store one week before Christmas. Most shoppers he talks to don't think any of their gifts will be returned. (3 minutes)Act One: Ian Brown tries, after decades of failure, to give his mother the perfect Christmas gift. He and his brother attempt something they haven't done since they were kids: Rehearse and sing her a program of Christmas carols. (19 minutes)Act Two: We play a 1959 original recording of Truman Capote reading his holiday story A Christmas Memory. (18 minutes)Act Three: Caitlin Shetterly reports on a true-life holiday fable from rural Maine, complete with a misunderstood recluse with a heart of gold, a deserving family in need, and a very special Christmas tree farm with secrets of its own. (16 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org This American Life privacy policy. Learn more about sponsor message choices.
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  • One week before Christmas, the Target store on Chicago's west side, middle of the day,

  • people are rolling shopping carts full of toys and games through the aisles,

  • teenagers and single people, parents from every income.

  • And I don't really understand this, but if you talk to them, it's an incredibly diverse group.

  • There's one question that always seems to get exactly the same answer.

  • Of all these things that you have in this basket,

  • what do you think is the most likely to get returned?

  • Actually, none of it.

  • Not my stuff.

  • No, I'd say no, not mine.

  • Actually, I'm not worth at all.

  • Actually, I did a pretty good job.

  • Majority of the stuff that I'm buying is really for my kids,

  • so they definitely ain't going to return anything.

  • So, not my stuff.

  • Yeah, I made a list of what I was getting everyone in.

  • Pretty confident in it.

  • When I report their bravado, their confidence,

  • to the store manager, Lee Crumb, This is his response.

  • Well, the day after Christmas is the busiest day in refunds.