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482
December 21, 2012

Lights, Camera, Christmas! (2012)

This holiday season, we bring you a show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families, including: tales of Luna the guinea pig, Bambi the reindeer, and Jeko the super-powerful (and somewhat-scary) Christmas elf.

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Pirecua and Luna

Courtsey of Linda Lutton

Prologue

Linda Lutton and her eleven year old daughter Pirecua explain what happened the year Pirecua begged for a gift that she turned out to be allergic to. Linda is a reporter at our home station, WBEZ Chicago. (6 minutes)

Act One

Christmas in 3-D

Maya Gurantz tells the story of Glenn and Laurie Mutchler, who go further than most parents to create a magical Christmas for their kids, Colin, Erica and Adam. Theirs included a family mythology of Santas that had its own logic, with many Santas and a family elf named Jeko, who were never jolly and often thrillingly scary. (20 minutes)

Act Two

Deer in the Footlights

Ira talks with Connie Rex about the deer she and her sisters kidnapped and ended up putting into their school’s Christmas pageant in Woodruff, Utah, in a starring role. (11 minutes)

Song:

“Bambi” by Prince
Act Three

Piddler On the Roof

Ron Carlson reads from a short story — it’s fiction — about a man, his wife Drew, his daughter Elise, a Christmas sledding record, a tree, and horse manure. "The H Street Sledding Record" by Ron Carlson. Copyright © 1984 by Ron Carlson. From his story collection A KIND OF FLYING: Selected Stories by Ron Carlson, published by W. W. Norton & Co. Originally published in McCall's. (20 minutes)

Song:

“Merry Christmas, Baby” by Vernon Garett & Sir Stan & The Counts

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Act Three: Our Man Of Perpetual Sorrow

Dan Savage points a finger at the Catholic Church for being the kind of criminal organization that drives him to atheism—despite the fact that he still wants to believe he'll see his mom in heaven someday.
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Act Three: Latin Liver

In order to make foie gras — goose liver — the birds have to be treated inhumanely, strapped down and force-fed huge amounts of food.

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This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

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