47:
Christmas and Commerce
Originally aired 12.20.1996
Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries," which was first broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition many years ago in a much shorter version.
Host Ira Glass visits a Toys R Us on Christmas Eve at closing time. (4 minutes)
The diaries are about David's two Christmas seasons working as an elf in Macy's department store on New York's Herald Square. When it was first broadcast, it generated more requests for tapes than any story in Morning Edition's history except the death of Red Barber. (34 minutes)
David Rakoff on playing Freud in the windows of Barney's department store. (15 minutes)
Song: "Christmas Freud Caroling", The Formerly Known As Family
