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4 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
4 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
4 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
6 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
2 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
2 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
3 episodes with dickens' a christmas carol
Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAPTlkoZJlg Modern day adaptation of Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” Evan Scrooge lives his life as a rich, greedy, bitter, closeted gay man, who despises the holidays. Until one Christmas Eve night, when his dead, ex-lover and business partner, Jake Marley, along with the three spirits of Christmas Present, Past, and Yet to Come, show Scrooge the errors of his ways. Leading Scrooge to open his heart and love for the holidays, as well as his sexuality. Get to know the writer: It's about two men seeking to find love, who spot each other, mutually attracted, but are unable to meet as one is whisked away in his cab.. Both now set on finding the other again, setting into motion a serious of comedic events. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it's only $3.99 per month. Subscribe to the podcast: https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/ https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod
Our annual performance of one of our most popular shows - Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol.Performed by the Classical Music Discoveries' Players.Help support our show by purchasing this album at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com
Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Stories read in the soothing style of a bedtime story
Enjoy the final part of this retelling of the classic festive story A Christmas Carol. Please leave a 5-star review & SUBSCRIBE on Apple and Spotify. Sleep Cove Premium Become a Premium Member for Bonus Episodes & Ad-Free listening: Visit https://www.sleepcove.com/support and become a Premium Member. Get Instant Access and sign-up in two taps. The Sleep Cove Premium Feed includes: - Access to over 200 Ad-free Episodes - Regular Exclusive Bonus Episodes - A Back Catalogue of Dozens of Exclusive Episodes - Full Audiobooks like Alice in Wonderland - Your name read out on the Show - Our Love! Get your 7-day free trial: https://sleepcove.com/support For Apple users, click the TRY FREE button for a 2-week free trial and become a Premium Member Today. Support our Sponsors: This episode of Sleep Cove is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/sleepcove and get on your way to being your best self. Our Sister Shows: - Calm Cove - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt - Relaxing Music & Ambient Sounds - Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Bedtime Stories - https://link.chtbl.com/skj6YFah - Let's Begin - Daytime Meditations with wake sections at the end - https://link.chtbl.com/Z--DgSH4 - YouTube Bedtime Story Channel - https://rb.gy/t7wyjk - YouTube Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation Channel : https://tinyurl.com/4v2r9svu Connect: - Facebook: https://rb.gy/azpdrd - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleep_cove/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sleepcovechris - Join the Newsletter for a Bonus Meditation - https://www.sleepcove.com/bonus Recommended Products: Comfortable Sleep Headphones - https://www.sleepcove.com/headphones The Best Mattress from Puffy: https://sleepcove.com/puffy Our Sister Shows in more detail: Calm Cove is our music channel, where you can find Relaxing Music, White Noise and Nature Sounds - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt Let's Begin is our brand new Day Meditation podcast. Start your day feeling relaxed and positive, or take some time out to unwind with these calming meditations with wakeners at the end so that you can continue your day. If you love our bedtime stories, check out Mysteries at Midnight, our brand-new podcast dedicated to the mystery stories our listeners love so much. Enjoy even more from Poirot, Sherlock and more classic mystery tales. _______________ All Content by Sleep Cove is for educational or entertainment purposes and does not provide or replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical professional before making any changes to your treatment and if in any doubt, contact your doctor. Please listen in a place where you can safely go to sleep. Sleep Cove is not responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from the use of this content. _________________ Sleep Cove content includes guided sleep meditations, sleep hypnosis (hypnotherapy), sleep stories (visualizations) and Bedtime Stories for adults and grown-ups, all designed to help you get a great night's sleep
Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Stories read in the soothing style of a bedtime story
Join us for the third part of this Christmas classic, as Scrooge continues his journey to discover the meaning of Christmas with three mysterious ghosts. Please leave a 5-star review & SUBSCRIBE on Apple and Spotify. Sleep Cove Premium Become a Premium Member for Bonus Episodes & Ad-Free listening: Visit https://www.sleepcove.com/support and become a Premium Member. Get Instant Access and sign-up in two taps. The Sleep Cove Premium Feed includes: - Access to over 200 Ad-free Episodes - Regular Exclusive Bonus Episodes - A Back Catalogue of Dozens of Exclusive Episodes - Full Audiobooks like Alice in Wonderland - Your name read out on the Show - Our Love! Get your 7-day free trial: https://sleepcove.com/support For Apple users, click the TRY FREE button for a 2-week free trial and become a Premium Member Today. Support our Sponsors: This episode of Sleep Cove is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/sleepcove and get on your way to being your best self. Our Sister Shows: - Calm Cove - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt - Relaxing Music & Ambient Sounds - Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Bedtime Stories - https://link.chtbl.com/skj6YFah - Let's Begin - Daytime Meditations with wake sections at the end - https://link.chtbl.com/Z--DgSH4 - YouTube Bedtime Story Channel - https://rb.gy/t7wyjk - YouTube Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation Channel : https://tinyurl.com/4v2r9svu Connect: - Facebook: https://rb.gy/azpdrd - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleep_cove/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sleepcovechris - Join the Newsletter for a Bonus Meditation - https://www.sleepcove.com/bonus Recommended Products: Comfortable Sleep Headphones - https://www.sleepcove.com/headphones The Best Mattress from Puffy: https://sleepcove.com/puffy Our Sister Shows in more detail: Calm Cove is our music channel, where you can find Relaxing Music, White Noise and Nature Sounds - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt Let's Begin is our brand new Day Meditation podcast. Start your day feeling relaxed and positive, or take some time out to unwind with these calming meditations with wakeners at the end so that you can continue your day. If you love our bedtime stories, check out Mysteries at Midnight, our brand-new podcast dedicated to the mystery stories our listeners love so much. Enjoy even more from Poirot, Sherlock and more classic mystery tales. _______________ All Content by Sleep Cove is for educational or entertainment purposes and does not provide or replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical professional before making any changes to your treatment and if in any doubt, contact your doctor. Please listen in a place where you can safely go to sleep. Sleep Cove is not responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from the use of this content. _________________ Sleep Cove content includes guided sleep meditations, sleep hypnosis (hypnotherapy), sleep stories (visualizations) and Bedtime Stories for adults and grown-ups, all designed to help you get a great night's sleep
Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Stories read in the soothing style of a bedtime story
Join us for the second part of this Christmas classic, as Scrooge begins his journey to discover the meaning of Christmas with three mysterious ghosts. Please leave a 5-star review & SUBSCRIBE on Apple and Spotify. Sleep Cove Premium Become a Premium Member for Bonus Episodes & Ad-Free listening: Visit https://www.sleepcove.com/support and become a Premium Member. Get Instant Access and sign-up in two taps. The Sleep Cove Premium Feed includes: - Access to over 200 Ad-free Episodes - Regular Exclusive Bonus Episodes - A Back Catalogue of Dozens of Exclusive Episodes - Full Audiobooks like Alice in Wonderland - Your name read out on the Show - Our Love! Get your 7-day free trial: https://sleepcove.com/support For Apple users, click the TRY FREE button for a 2-week free trial and become a Premium Member Today. Support our Sponsors: This episode of Sleep Cove is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/sleepcove and get on your way to being your best self. Our Sister Shows: - Calm Cove - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt - Relaxing Music & Ambient Sounds - Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Bedtime Stories - https://link.chtbl.com/skj6YFah - Let's Begin - Daytime Meditations with wake sections at the end - https://link.chtbl.com/Z--DgSH4 - YouTube Bedtime Story Channel - https://rb.gy/t7wyjk - YouTube Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation Channel : https://tinyurl.com/4v2r9svu Connect: - Facebook: https://rb.gy/azpdrd - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleep_cove/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sleepcovechris - Join the Newsletter for a Bonus Meditation - https://www.sleepcove.com/bonus Recommended Products: Comfortable Sleep Headphones - https://www.sleepcove.com/headphones The Best Mattress from Puffy: https://sleepcove.com/puffy Our Sister Shows in more detail: Calm Cove is our music channel, where you can find Relaxing Music, White Noise and Nature Sounds - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt Let's Begin is our brand new Day Meditation podcast. Start your day feeling relaxed and positive, or take some time out to unwind with these calming meditations with wakeners at the end so that you can continue your day. If you love our bedtime stories, check out Mysteries at Midnight, our brand-new podcast dedicated to the mystery stories our listeners love so much. Enjoy even more from Poirot, Sherlock and more classic mystery tales. _______________ All Content by Sleep Cove is for educational or entertainment purposes and does not provide or replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical professional before making any changes to your treatment and if in any doubt, contact your doctor. Please listen in a place where you can safely go to sleep. Sleep Cove is not responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from the use of this content. _________________ Sleep Cove content includes guided sleep meditations, sleep hypnosis (hypnotherapy), sleep stories (visualizations) and Bedtime Stories for adults and grown-ups, all designed to help you get a great night's sleep
Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Stories read in the soothing style of a bedtime story
This Christmas here at Mysteries at Midnight, please enjoy the all time classic Christmas tale "A Christmas Carol". In what is probably Charles Dicken's most loved tale, we journey through time with the infamous Ebanezer Scrooge as he is visited by three mysterious ghosts. Soak up the Christmas spirit with this classic festive mystery tale. Please leave a 5-star review & SUBSCRIBE on Apple and Spotify. Sleep Cove Premium Become a Premium Member for Bonus Episodes & Ad-Free listening: Visit https://www.sleepcove.com/support and become a Premium Member. Get Instant Access and sign-up in two taps. The Sleep Cove Premium Feed includes: - Access to over 200 Ad-free Episodes - Regular Exclusive Bonus Episodes - A Back Catalogue of Dozens of Exclusive Episodes - Full Audiobooks like Alice in Wonderland - Your name read out on the Show - Our Love! Get your 7-day free trial: https://sleepcove.com/support For Apple users, click the TRY FREE button for a 2-week free trial and become a Premium Member Today. Support our Sponsors: This episode of Sleep Cove is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/sleepcove and get on your way to being your best self. Our Sister Shows: - Calm Cove - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt - Relaxing Music & Ambient Sounds - Mysteries at Midnight - Mystery Bedtime Stories - https://link.chtbl.com/skj6YFah - Let's Begin - Daytime Meditations with wake sections at the end - https://link.chtbl.com/Z--DgSH4 - YouTube Bedtime Story Channel - https://rb.gy/t7wyjk - YouTube Sleep Hypnosis & Meditation Channel : https://tinyurl.com/4v2r9svu Connect: - Facebook: https://rb.gy/azpdrd - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleep_cove/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sleepcovechris - Join the Newsletter for a Bonus Meditation - https://www.sleepcove.com/bonus Recommended Products: Comfortable Sleep Headphones - https://www.sleepcove.com/headphones The Best Mattress from Puffy: https://sleepcove.com/puffy Our Sister Shows in more detail: Calm Cove is our music channel, where you can find Relaxing Music, White Noise and Nature Sounds - https://link.chtbl.com/bgSKfkbt Let's Begin is our brand new Day Meditation podcast. Start your day feeling relaxed and positive, or take some time out to unwind with these calming meditations with wakeners at the end so that you can continue your day. If you love our bedtime stories, check out Mysteries at Midnight, our brand-new podcast dedicated to the mystery stories our listeners love so much. Enjoy even more from Poirot, Sherlock and more classic mystery tales. _______________ All Content by Sleep Cove is for educational or entertainment purposes and does not provide or replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical professional before making any changes to your treatment and if in any doubt, contact your doctor. Please listen in a place where you can safely go to sleep. Sleep Cove is not responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from the use of this content. _________________ Sleep Cove content includes guided sleep meditations, sleep hypnosis (hypnotherapy), sleep stories (visualizations) and Bedtime Stories for adults and grown-ups, all designed to help you get a great night's sleep
Toch nog een verlate kerstspecial! In deze aflevering bespreken we 'A Christmas Carol' van Charles Dickens. Een wonderlijk verhaal over Scrooge—een verbitterd man, die toch op kerstavond uit de duisternis treedt. Wat doen de geesten precies in dit verhaal? Wat kunnen we van de ontwikkeling van Scrooge leren? Hoe komt kerst in dit verhaal terug? Tijdens deze aflevering blijven we nog even in de kerstsferen, juist omdat we daar zoveel van kunnen leren! Het werk dat ik hier gebruik, is ‘A Christmas Carol' van Charles Dickens, gepubliceerd door Penguin Group, London, Engeland, uitgegeven in 2007 (oorspronkelijke versie uitgegeven in 1843 Vriend word je op https://vriendvandeshow.nl/eenwereldaanliteratuur. Daar vind je ook de exclusieve Kierkegaard-serie! Mailen kan naar eenwereldaanliteratuur@gmail.com, of stuur me een berichtje op Instagram: eenwereldaanliteratuur.
Our annual performance of one of our most popular shows - Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol.Performed by the Classical Music Discoveries' Players.Help support our show by purchasing this album at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com
It's the season for Dickens' A Christmas Carol. With all of the various adaptations (Alistair Sim, Patrick Stewart, Muppets and Michael Cain) which one should you choose this year? Well, I'm going to make the case that you should be reading A Christmas Carol instead. I'm going to talk about three aspects of Charles Dickens' a Christmas Carol that are often neglected: Jacob Marley's true cause for suffering; Fan meeting Ebenezer Scrooge at the school; and how time functions in the story. We get different accounts of time from Jacob Marley, the ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Does this miracle actually happen all in one night, or is Charles Dickens doing something more interesting here with time? We talk about Cain and Abel, Milton's Satan, and I make my plea for people to stop letting politics get in the way of family. If you find the discussion interesting at all, consider subscribing to the channel. We're trying to bring civility back to discourse one conversation at a time. And, we can certainly use your help. // WEBSITE // Head over to the website to learn more about me and to contact me. https://theneutralgroundpodcast.com/ //MUSIC// From YouTube Audio: DJ Williams // EPISODE OUTLINE // 00:00 Introduction 01:37 My favorite adaptation: Alistair Sim 1951 Christmas Carol 02:34 The three sections we need to look at 03:07 Brief summary of A Christmas Carol 03:54 Section 1: Jacob Marley's Visit and why he's really suffering 05:10 Am I My Brother's Keeper? The Cain and Abel Story 08:31 Marley and Satan from John Milton's Paradise Lost 14:43 Section 2: Fan visits Ebenezer Scrooge at school 21:20 A New way to view Fred, Scrooge's Nephew 24:02 Section 3: What is going on with the time in A Christmas Carol? 30:36 My quick plea to those of you who are not talking to loved ones because of politics 32:41 My closing thoughts // EPISODE SUGGESTIONS // 1. Why we crave narrative? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVqv1TIwLU4&t=129s 2. What we don't hear about incel culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynYdpuhqjLw&t=43s 3. Why not violence? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohhht-zwNaU&t=1010s 4. The need for the heroic narrative - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoCLHOpM03o&t=202s 5. Why are we fascinated with psychopaths? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQgL13gP9ZE&t=50s Would you like to do your part to help bring civility back to our conversations? We need to get The Neutral Ground message in front of more people, and you can help with just a few keystrokes and some clicks of a mouse. 1) Start by hitting the subscribe button and turning on notifications. 2) Then, hit the like button. 3) Leave a thoughtful/uplifting comment for others to engage with. 4) Watch another video on the channel. 5) Share the channel or a video with someone else on your social media accounts 6) Head over to my website at https://theneutralgroundpodcast.com/ Once on the website, you can actually go to the contact section and leave an audio comment for me to use on the podcast. 7) You can also subscribe to the podcast on any one of the following platforms as well: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music I realize that you do not have to do any of this. Therefore, even f you do just one of those items listed, I am genuinely grateful. Try to keep one foot firmly planted on the Neutral Ground, and have a great day. #christmascarol #scrooge #dickens #christmas #christmasmovies #christmasspecial --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/joemeyer/message
Clocks are always striking in A Christmas Carol, emphasizing the passage of time now that Scrooge knows how little time he has let to change his ways. Yet Scrooge's three days of ghostly visits also have an odd timelessness, with Scrooge seeming to sleep from night to night, perhaps implying the sort of endless purgatory he might end up in. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ang189/support
I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C. D. December, 1843. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ang189/support
On this Taste Test Epsiode Jezzie samples the movie he has on repeat, "Spirited," now streaming on Apple TV. This tale is a post-modern, post-truth retelling of Dickens “A Christmas Carol” where Clint, an unredeemable media consultant played by Ryan Reynolds, meets Will Farrell's Ghost of Christmas Present and the entire Industrial Haunting Crew. Find out why Jezzie would pair this treat of a movie to a delicious peppermint candy cane crinkle cookie and why you should jump on the bandwagon and root for Will Ferrel to create a Christmas Movie Trifecta.
Relax and fall asleep fast to this Bible meditation for deep sleep with relaxing Christmas music for sleeping. Let your body sleep and your mind rest during this dramatic retelling of the famous story of A Christmas Carol. Be reminded of the scripture "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Unlock the premium ad-free Christian Bible sleep meditation experience in the Abide app: https://abide.co/signup?ref=podcast
Professor Sharon Hickson of Christendom College delivered a talk on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The talk touches on the paradoxes in the novel, the season of Advent as a season of hope, as well as a reflection and commentary on the Victorian Age.
Each year we are asked to repost Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol."Even though broadcasts from previous seasons are still online, we are pleased to repost the broadcast.Purchase the music (without talk) at:Dickens: A Christmas Carol (classicalsavings.com)Your purchase helps to support our show! Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you!http://www.classicalsavings.com/donate.html staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com
Today, let's discuss how you can enjoy a truly rich Christmas—nay a truly rich life. Joshua If you'd like to follow along with my reading, you can find the text here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19337/19337-h/19337-h.htm
Today on the Almanac, we remember the publication of Dickens A Christmas Carol on this day in 1843. #OTD #1517 #churchhistory — SHOW NOTES are available: https://www.1517.org/podcasts/the-christian-history-almanac GIVE BACK: Support the work of 1517 today CONTACT: CHA@1517.org SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Overcast Google Play FOLLOW US: Facebook Twitter Audio production by Christopher Gillespie (gillespie.media).
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Episode 2 - Ghosts, Innocence, Redemption And The Conclusion! Hi, I'm Christy Shriver and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us. I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. This is our second episode discussing Charles Dickens and his classic Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol. Last episode we began our discussion talking a little bit about Dickens' life and the early experiences in Victorian England that shaped his career and his understanding of the world in general- in particular, the year he spent at the age of 12 as an outcast on the streets of London working in a blacking factory. We talked about the governmental report on the conditions of the over 30,000 urban poor children that inspired the tale. Finally, we discussed the blended choice of genres in which he chose to communicate his message of social responsibility and personal redemption- a carol, in prose, as he called it, but also a ghost story- an unusual combination. We ended where we want to start today, talking about the man who has charmed the world with his miserly ways, Ebenezer Scrooge. Yes, and even before we get into the fictional character of Scrooge, I'd like to start this episode getting back into the historical context of the book. Garry, wasn't there a real historical character Dickens' knew that inspired this timeless character? Well, interestingly enough, there was a member of parliament by the name of John Elwes who actually lived and died before Dicken's day but was famous to almost a silly degree of being a miser. Elwes inherited a fortune, a multi-millionaire by today's standards, but was absolutely famous for being stingy-beyond anything a reasonable person would do- as was his mother, who literally starved herself because she was too cheap to eat. But in Elwe's case, he and his uncle, also a millionaire who would eventually leave his fortune to his nephew, would pride themselves on how little they could live off of. They'd sit up and rail against how much other people were spending while they were making it on so much less- they would do this while splitting one glass of wine. Elwes would go to bed when it got dark so he wouldn't have to spend money on candles, he wore clothes so raggedy, people mistook him for a beggar, he would eat putrefied food, one time he famously ate a hen a rat had pulled out of a river so as not to waste it. He refused to go to the doctor because he didn't want to pay them, and he would travel longer out of the way on roads that didn't have tolls on a skinny horse back and forth to parliament. And the worst, even on the coldest nights of the year,he would sit without a fire saying that eating was exercise enough to keep him warm- sounds a little like Scrooge with his coal in the fire safe box. Dang, I do see the resemblance. It was only a partial inspiration though, Ewles, unlike Scrooge, was extremely generous with others. He was only stingy with himself. He lost huge sums of money loaning money to people who couldn't pay him back. He also financed the construction of some of London's famous landmarks including part of Oxford Circus and Piccadilly- so, you can see, as with all fiction, he got inspiration and then went his own way. Indeed, and Scrooge is way more than a miser. Stephen Prickett in his book Victorian Fantasy said that “the strength of A Christmas Carol lies quite simply in its psychological credibility.” And I think this starts with Scrooge. In the pages we read last episode, we saw way more than miserliness. He is apparently a workaholic. He has shut himself off from his family. He has no friends and seems to have zero concern for other people. In one of the famous passages that actually comes back to haunt Scrooge when the ghosts repeat his own words to him later on, he callously rejects helping the poor, not just by refusing to help them, but by almost slandering them. Let's start by reading these famous words because in some ways they reverberate for the rest of the book. Page 7- top of 8 I'd like to speak a little bit about the historical references Scrooge makes here. There are several and they matter. Workhouses were not something Dickens invented. They were real things in Victorian England. Last week we talked about the idea that in this time period if you owed money and couldn't pay it back, your entire family was sent to debtors prison until you did. Workhouses were notoriously miserable with awful food and harsh conditions- not very different from prison actually. In theory they sound like a good idea. They are free places to live and work for people who couldn't find a job or shelter on their own. But they were terrible and founded on this false premise we see reflected on what Scrooge says here. The general opinion of the upper and middle classes at the time was that poor people were responsible for their own poverty because they were too lazy, too sinful- like they drank too much or something like that- Scrooge says he can't afford to make “idle people merry”. Yes, well no one in a workhouse was in danger of that problem. Workhouses were designed to be so bad that any normal person would do everything to get out of one, which of course was true, but getting out of poverty, as we all know takes far more than not being lazy or having good morals- although those are definitely helpful and necessary. Moving out of poverty takes high levels of intelligence, discipline and maybe even some luck or kindness from people with means. The natural and complex obstacles to upward mobility was not something people without those impediments understood or even saw. Beyond that and perhaps even worse, there was a very influential man by the name of Thomas Malthus who convincingly propagated the idea that Britain was heading to famine because of overpopulation. He termed this problem with the expression the “surplus population”. Basically his idea was, although this is a simplification, but basically he believed the more helpless in society were surplus population- and this group needed to die off or starve. For Malthus, poverty and suffering were God's way of teaching us the value of hard work and virtuous behavior. If we suffer it's our own fault- pretty much always. This term, “surplus population” which Scrooge actually uses, was literally Malthus' term and almost all educated people at the time were familiar with it. The third interesting reference Scrooge mentions are the treadmills in the prisons. These were famous or rather infamous features of Victorian prisons. Are you suggesting they were not peloton bikes made to help keep inmates fit and happy? A penal treadmill was where the inmates would walk constantly, and by walking they would move a huge wheel while also holding bars. They were basically fueling a system to generate energy to grind corn, if you can imagine how exhausting this would be. I have read that prisoners were given 12 minutes of break between hours. Good Lord, and I complain that 30 minutes on a treadmill is mindnumbing, nevermind physically exhausting. Yes- they definitely were a grind- pun pun So, being in prison obviously is horrible; living in a workhouse is terrible, and that left the group who were working in factories or lower wage jobs- the ones Scrooge references as only receiving 15 shillings a week. Ironically, Scrooge was in full power to make this wage whatever he wants, but this is not something he seems to see at this point. Bob Cratchet's family embodies this hardworking group of people who are neither lazy nor immoral by any definition. Bob Cratchett worked for Scrooge, but he's not the only worker. His children are obviously working and we can only assume working in factories- we are even told that Martha comes in thirty minutes earlier this year than last year on Christmas. When we visit their Christmas celebration, they have cleaned up, are dressed as best they can, and are all pitching in to create a humane and vibrant environment. Their poor home was way more warmth then the coldness we saw at Scrooge's. We've talked about was the working conditions of these factories before, but it's hard to conceptualize today how massive this industry was in England at the time. Just to put this in perspective, Britain had 1.8% of the world population but it was producing 2/3rd of the worlds output just in coal. Britain was producing millions of pounds of iron. They were leading the world in cloth made from cotton, and so many other consumer goods. It's nice to have stuff made in factories, but what is the human cost, especially at this level? This is a problem we're still talking about and have not resolved on a global scale. Every country that emerges into the industrial age does so on on the backs of its working population and most often in factories. But honestly this idea of building with human capital goes back to the beginning of time. Every time Archeologists dig up civilizations that date back thousands of years and find fundamentally the same thing, a few rich graves full of treasure surround by a graveyard full of graves with nothing but bones- the poor. Every society confronts the issue of how it will evolve and progress. The British were having this discussion as the first industrialized nation-state- but they are not the last to struggle with industrialization. Every country in the world who becomes industrialized has already had the conversation as a nation, or is having it right at our current moment. Manchester, the town Dickens visited, was the “workshop of the world”. It was fueling so much production but was also notorious for working children like slaves. Just to show you what I'm talking about six months after The Christmas Carol was published a law was passed that limited children between the ages of 9-13 to working only 9 hours a day and 6 days a week. Just to know how bad things were, this was regarded as a humane reform. The middle class was a growing group, but they were also de-sensitized to so much that was going on because they were living good lives and didn't actually see any of this stuff for themselves. Thomas Carlyle, coined the phrase, “the condition of the England question” describing what was happening all over England. Society was dividing between the haves and the have nots- as socieities have always done since the beginning of time- and with every other society- Britain would respond- one way or another? Dickens illustrates not just the obvious problem, but what he views as the coldness of the evolutionary and even instinctual idea me-first first- Scrooge literally vocalizes the sentiment. But are we only products of biology, of evolution? Dickens wanted to say that our humanity, our consciousness makes us different. Because we are aware of ourselves, our relationship to others, and many other things, we can act against our own interest and instead act in the interest of others - I can strive to be better and kinder. Dickens believed that any people group could be seen for who they are by how they treat their children. He also did not believe the solution was institutional- be it church, government, school, etc. For Dickens the solution was in the character of each individual who lived in any space. Scrooge as expressed in stave one has lost that which makes him human- that which connects him; Scrooge's problem is apathy. Apathy is certainly a problem, but is it THE problem? I want to talk about Scrooge's mental state. Scrooge is neurotic- in other words- he has anxiety that is causing behaviors that are not rational. And although apathy is there, I see it as a symptom of a deeper problem. What is causing his apathy? Why would you want to keep your home so miserably home? Why would you make fun of a nephew in love? Why would you mistreat your employee and be angry at others celebrating anything? Some of Scrooge's behaviors we have experienced ourselves and perhaps, although I don't venture into literary criticism, may account with why he's hard to hate him and easy to pity him. Why do we do stuff like this? Interesting, you know, one of the things people criticize about this story, and I have read this, in more than one place is that A Christmas Carol just isn't realistic. It's not realistic to suggest that a mean person can become a nice person in one night. That a person can just change- that they are capable of seeing the evil in their ways with just a few examples and then be willing to reform. Many suggest that an apathetic person, who has spent years practicing cruelty, can easily be made sympathetic. You know, I can see that, and, of course, that's true in real life. It's not realistic that we change in one night, but for me the suspension of reality is something that I find myself doing easily in this story. The story literally says, “once upon a time” which makes me think fairy tale, and then not too soon after that, the knocker in the door transforms into Marley's face- not the most realistic thing to believe in. Indeed, I guess that's a good point. Ghost stories are also not usually realistic. And so, we meet dear ole' Marley. He's definitely a ghost, but not one that's floating around a room covered in a bedsheet and slamming doors. He's wearing his regular clothes; he's also transparent through to the bowels. He's weighed down by a chain made by cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel, as it were- all elements of money. Marley is fettered, and according to him, by the chains he forged in life. He says, “I made it link by link, yard by yard, I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” Again, he's talking about us doing things that become our chains- the example Dickens chooses is a common one- our finances-why do people hoard money- I'm not saying save money- I'm saying hoard it? Why do some rich people accumulate way more money than they could ever spend? Is there a responsibility with wealth to contribute personally to the general welfare of others or is that something you pay the state or another institution to do for you? Also, Is my wealth a product of my being better than other people- in one way or another- smarter, more talented, more beautiful- all the things Malthus thinks- or is my place in this world a matter of a biological jackpot of sorts like Warren Buffet teaches? These are tough issues. Dickens is very interested in this story in money and what it actually does and can do. I want to say, that Dickens, like all of us, struggled with money his whole life. He never really resolved the problems he raises. Honestly, when I read Dickens biography, there are a few ways, he modeled Scrooge after himself, if I'm just being honest. I don't think Dickens is criticizing Scrooge for having money. No, I don't think so either. In fact, there's no way Fred his nephew is poor. He's throwing a really nice party with lots of people and seems to have a pretty nice house. Dickens isn't criticizing money, having money, or telling us how to distribute it. He's pointing out something different. For Marley and obviously also for Scrooge- All that money had produced an undesired effect in Scrooge- in the words of Kierkegaard in his book about anxiety- It created- instead of freedom which is what people want from money- it created unfreedom. It became an obsession. Unfreedom- that's a strange turn of phrase, but I think I understand what he means. It's not that you're a slave- you're not- you're just un-free- chains of your own making -so says Marley. Interestingly enough, Scrooge compliments Marley on his sense of business, but he doesn't seem all that sad that he died. Marley was his best friend, but that doesn't mean much- their relationship to money was closer than their relationship to each other. That seemed to be their mutual understanding. When Scrooge basically tries to be kind and pay marley a compliment saying he was good at business, Marley responds, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity; mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” It seems Marley, as well as the many ghosts that Scrooge saw with Marley as Marley floated out the window, were fated with a curse- now they had the empathy they didn't have in life. These ghosts were floating out in the world, seeing and feeling the pain and suffering of living people, but were unable to help them- they could only feel their pain. It's a very unusual perspective on the afterlife- not founded in any Sacred Text that I'm aware of- but founded on this idea of metaphysical regret- which we do see in Sacred Texts. When we get into Stave 2, we start hearing bells- which I just gave up trying to understand. I could not follow the sense of time in this book. Well, as I said last week, it's a carol not a linear story- it's a cyclical one, so you are supposed to be utterly confused by the bells and by time in general. All of the ghosts visit Scrooge at 1 am. He goes to sleep at 2am, but then wakes up at midnight- so time obviously is resetting itself. Then at the end, we finally get to Christmas day. That reminds me of that movie Ground hog Day Bill Murray. Ha! You're right. I guess it does, and Bill Murray is another actor that I think could play a great Scrooge. I do think those bells create tension, they strike- that would freak me out. But time is an important idea for Dickens. This book is obsessed with time- the other great commodity for humans here on earth. For one thing, we do a lot of time traveling, but notice that Scrooge from the very beginning associates money with time- he's all bitter because he's losing an entire day of wages by giving Cratchett a single day off all year. Dickens in some ways, is asking us to think about time- what do we do with this valuable resource? It is the only non-renewable resource we all have in equal measure independent of money…until one day, we don't. Indeed, and so we meet the ghost of Christmas past and this unusual ghost with white hair and no wrinkles takes Scrooge to where he grew up as a child and what we are immediately struck with is the insecurity of Scrooge's early years. His father was cruel; there is no mention of a mother which suggests to me tragedy of some sort; they get to the boarding school and everyone has left except one solitary child neglected by his friends. And strangely enough, when Scrooge sees himself he sobs. The child is reading fantasy stories by what Dickens describes as a “feeble fire”. He's imagining heroes- Ali Baba, larger than life ones- the kind that find princesses; he's living vicariously a life he knows he can't have because those responsible for loving him have betrayed him. This insight offers understanding as to why Scrooge is so cold. It's a matter of self-protection that makes him so mean and dismissive of his nephew for falling in love. Here's he's crying as he sees the young boy because he's experiencing all that pain all over. As an adult, he learned to shield himself- to kind of kill that part of himself so that it doesn't hurt anymore. If you want to use Dickens language, in this way, Scrooge has already made himself “dead as a doornail”. If you are dead you can't feel, and if you can't feel, you don't experience pain. He references his sister, little Fan, Fred's mom, talking about how big of a heart she had, how much she loved, but then she died on him. He was abandoned. This is the kind of pain that makes people want to withdraw. All very Freudian. We see this withdrawal, for me, vividly illustrated with the scene with the fiancé. The fiancé accuses Scrooge of replacing her for money. Page 27 She literally says, “You fear the world too much…all your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach.” In other words, you think that through money you can insulate yourself from the world. And of course, don't we all. Money can sure buy solutions to a lot of problems. Absolutely it can. But what we see emerging in Scrooge is the maladaptive and irrational use of money. It's the end all be all. It insulates him from everything. He has purchased a way to push beyond everything- heck not even the extremities of the weather affect Scrooge- he's that cold. He's that self-reliant but he's also that apathetic- he's cold to everyone- including himself. Dang- I guess he is. Which brings us to Stave 3- and the ghost of Christmas present. So, we see that Scrooge in some sense, got what he wanted or at least what he thought he wanted. He got what he strove for- independence- something he bought for with money…but he lost something in the process, he lost his innocence, and I don't mean that word like naivete- but innocence in a positive sense. When we look at the comparisons we're getting to make with Fred's family and the Cratchetts' the word innocence comes to mind- innocence as in the opposite of cynicism. Innocence in the sense of the ability to wonder at the world, to find delight in life, to find joy. Scrooge has none of that. Stave 3 is about seeing. There is a lot of references to eyes. Christianity, the faith of Dickens, teaches that we must confess or openly acknowledge what the Bible terms as “sins”- or harmful behaviors- before we can be free from them- this is the Catholic concept we see in the confessionals. But what is confessing? It's just this same concept of seeing- really seeing and acknowledging what you're seeing. Confessing is the same thing as seeing really seeing. Homer, who we are going to talk about next week as we introduce The Odyssey explores this exactly same idea when he has Odysseus go to Hades. Many ancients of different cultures emphasized that you have to stare at your own darkness in order to get out of it. Lots of writers have said it differently and you will notice tons of stories with this idea embedded in it- think Star Wars for an easy example. In order to see the light, you have to stare into the darkness- the darkness around you and the darkness in you. You can frame it in religious terms, philosophical terms or psychological terms Dickens frames it with ghost terms- and this second ghost is Father Christmas. Father Christmas sits among a world of plenty, he sprinkles incense from his torch on people's food, and it has the magical effect of making people not argue. Father Christmas is an enormous ghost, but he can fit into any home- Christmas can and does fit inside any home of any size or wealth, but what exactly does he want Scrooge to see? Well, if we're just looking at the Cratchetts, we see a group of people that are obviously poor and he makes a point to emphasize they are an unattractive family. The older children work, the youngest is going to die because of lack of medical health care, but they have dignity and grace. The mom and the daughter Belinda wear ribbons to make themselves pretty. No one wants to complain about the insufficiency of the food. They have a true sense of respect and generosity. Let's read how Dickens describes them. paragraph on page 40 describing them They are happy because they love each other, they strive to protect their own innocence- but life is a cruel master. Scrooge's name is brought up, the entire family know he's partly responsible for their situation because he's the father's employer, but Bob Cratchett refuses to allow them to descend into bitterness- he fights against the cynicism. He makes them bless Scrooge against their will- not for Scrooge's sake but for their own. The ghost wants Scrooge to see this. Scrooge made different choices when confronted with his own pain and hardship. This scene is where Scrooge is clearly moved to pity, but the ghost won't let Scrooge off the hook. He uses Scrooge's own words against him when Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will die. The Ghost says, “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.” No, no, said Scrooge, “Oh no kind Spirit! Say he will be spared.” If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race, returned the Ghost will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” He uses Malthus' term that had come out of Scrooge's mouth in Stave one when the charity people asked him for a donation. Exactly, and he's not done looking. The ghost takes Scrooge to the moors. He says, “See!” He looks at another old man and woman with their children and their children's children all singing. He goes to sea and sees men on a ship in miserable conditions but humming Christmas tunes and thinking of their family. They are all fighting cynicism- holding on to their innocence when they could relinquish and make the choice to be like Scrooge. He then is swept away to his own family- the family he should be a part of- his sister's son's house. His nephew Fred has a beautiful home and even more beautiful wife, many friends, seemingly a good education- all things Scrooge has dismissed as worthless. He hears Fred talk about him. Fred describes how miserable of a person Scrooge is- Fred is also overly generous in his description of Scrooge. Finally the ghosts introduces him to Ignorance and Want. This is where Dickens takes his argument to a social dimension. What happens to a society full of Scrooges? These are children, but they are hideous. They are not images that we can feel pity for. They are foul children- totally depraved, feral, beyond redemption- there is no innocence left only darkness. And as he looks at these two awful and horrific monsters, he again uses Scrooge's own words against him. Page 47 And this brings us to the final ghost. The first ghost kind of showed Scrooge how he got to the place he was at. The second ghost wanted Scrooge to see who he was at this moment, what the world really was for those who fight cynicism and preserve innocence and those who don't. But the third ghost is different. The third ghost shows him the way out. This third ghost to me seems to be the darkest of the three ghosts, and section is the most psychological. Neurologists and those psychologists that study the science of stories, tell us that our brains are wired to understand the world through stories. Our brains, the most powerful thing on planet earth, bar none, differ from computers in how it processes information. Our brains process information through stories. Stories help us navigate our future and see the different options we have before us. They help us answer the question- what should I do? Well, this story says, you should just die and start over. Scrooge doesn't want to, he denies who the dead guy is, he refuses to look, but finally, he relinquishes and he goes to the grave- his grave. Which, of course, is what no one wants to do. We build our lives making decision, think of it as climbing a hill, we climb, we climb, we climb, the last thing we want to do is tumble to the very bottom, admit we've been climbing the wrong hill and start over- except sometimes that's the best option. Sometimes it's the only option, but it feels like a waste of…and a here's the word that Dickens plays around with…it feels like a waste of time. And yet, but it's also the Christmas idea of the nativity, of baby Jesus- being born again- starting over- becoming a baby. The last ghost basically shows Scrooge everything that will happen after he's gone from this earth. It's all pretty terrible, of course. It ends with Scrooge's death. Page 58 And then Stave five, we get the resurrection- or the redemption- Yes- the idea being, if you are willing to go to Hades, look in the darkness, see who you really are- it will be painful- it will be something you don't want to do, because a lot has to die- ego, negative relationships, who knows what. You have to be willing to burn yourself to the ground, but if you do it- you get out- out of the chains you built for yourself- out of that anxiety ridden- unfreedom- back to Kierkegaard, and I know I'm quoting a philosopher, but it's what Dickens is talking about. No matter if you have a lifetime of neglect and mistakes, anyone can, pull themselves out of their linear existence, and jump into another cycle- start over and re-invent yourself which of course is what Scrooge does. The language of rebirth stands out, “I don't know what day of the month it is. I don't know how long I've been among the Spirits. I don't know anything. I'm quite a baby. Never mind. I don't care. I'd rather be a baby.” And there is a sense that when you do that, you get to reclaim some sort of lost innocence. William Wordsworth another British poet who came a little before Dickens said that “the child is father of the man” – meaning to some degree that your childhood defines your adulthood- your experiences, your habits, etc. And of course that is true, but Dickens seems to say, yes, but you can reclaim that by dying- and being reborn like a new child. There's another child inside of you. The innocence can live again. And perhaps that is the appeal of Christmas- it reminds us that life is linear, true= but it's also cyclical- we are always in the past, of course that's there more to it, we're not computers and what went in does not have to be what comes out-- we are always in the present and we are always in the future. And what does that mean, well for Scrooge it means agency. He clearly has regret with how he's treated the Cratchetts, so the first thing he does is buy a turkey and send it over to them. But then he lives in the present by walking through the streets and really looking around. He then goes to Fred's house. Read 62 Finally, he changes his attitude to the future. The one thing that happens to you after you die, I would imagine, since I've never died, but I would imagine that once you die, you lose your fear of death and the power death had is finally broken. Well, and this is where, I do want to suggest, this really is a fairy tale and we must remember it's an allegory not a textbook. What happens to Scrooge in one night- this journey from bondage to freedom, is a long difficult journey. I want to say, and I'll speak personally for myself, I've made the journey to Hades, to use the language of the Greeks myself, and my experience was more like Odysseus' in that it took years- nothing overnight like we see here with Scrooge. But- having said that- the truth still remains that the path out of Hades does exist, even for someone as far gone as Scrooge, but no one gets out alone- we all need Marley's ghost to show us the way. Well, of course, the final pages kind of allude to the fact that even for Scrooge- we are only seeing day one of a much longer journey. People talked about him, people laughed at him; others criticized him- but he was free- and he just didn't have to care. Let's read the last page of this carol in prose. Read page 64 And there is the song of redemption- any one of us can be made new- anyone can reclaim childlike innocence in the face of guilt or cynicism- maybe we don't need a ghost to show us the way- we have Dickens at our elbow. Or Tiny Tim with that ALL-inclusive- God bless us everyone. So- from Christy and myself, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays of all sorts to you- wherever you live in the world we share together. We hope you have a wonderful end of year and more than that, may you find something that is innocent, exciting and maybe even redemptive in the New Year to come. As always, please feel free to connect with us via any social media option, visit our website howtolovelitpodcast.com, leave us a review on your podcast app.
When: Friday, December 17th @ 6pm EST Where: https://www.twitch.tv/chadfallout76podcast This is Kenneth Vigue wishing you the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of holidays and the warmest of season's eatings. I want to update you on what we've been up to. Since December 4th, we've organized a global superstream charity initiative to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital under the umbrella of an initiative I started last year: Fallout For Hope. Over 300 Fallout streamers and content creators from around the globe working together to raise funds for life saving surgeries for kids fighting for their lives at a time of year when they should be home. As of right now we've raised over $122 thousand dollars with 5 days to go. The pinnacle event the cast and crew has been working on however is a live broadcast episode of this podcast, with the cast and some exceptionally special guest voice actors bringing Charles' Dickens A Christmas Carol to Appalachia. This live broadcast pairs live performance with stage performance on movie scale soundstages built in Fallout 76. The cast is a dream with iconic voice actor Wes Johnson, voice of Sheogorath in Elder Scrolls and loads of Fallout characters is starring as Lord Alastair Olivier whose travelling caravan of performers arrive in Appalachia to bring that classic holiday story to life for raiders, settlers and Brotherhood alike. As you can imagine, it goes downhill from there. Bethesda's Pete Hines will be joining us again as Jacob Marley. Alex will not be playing Chad, but Oliver's protégé Tarquin Blowhard…and …ehm Alex came up with that name. Also joining us are Courtenay Taylor who voiced the female Sole Survivor in Fallout 4, Jan Johns whose voice work has been heard in Fallout 3, 4 and 76 from Bittercup way back when to Enola Walker in 76. Mike Rosson who voiced almost all memorable ghouls in Fallout 3 including Gob and even Charon. Craig Sechler whom you know better as that vault bully and original Chad in Fallout 3 Butch DeLoria. Bethesda's Sean Baptiste is also joining us as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Twitch streamer Dust Monkey will be playing Fred Scrooge's nephew. From our cast, Jessica Dickey and Dr. Mark Hauswirth will be brining Brian and MaryAnne to the stage to annoy Lord Alastair and Dr. Mark's children Logan and Sophia will also be joining us again. Last but not least that silver voice on the microphone Fenwa Teryen will be playing a very musically gifted Peter Cratchit. This performance will be for charity with us dropping it after airs into your feed to enjoy as a standalone episode. It'll be happening this Friday starting at 6pm Est at twitch.tv/chadfallout76podcast I very much hope I'll see you there and of course, in the Wasteland. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fallout76podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fallout76podcast/support
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Episode 1 - The Architect Of The Victorian Christmas! /Hi, I'm Christy Shriver and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us. I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. If you are listening to this in real time, we are nearing the end of 2021, a year that has been lackluster by most measurements albeit an improvement to 2020. Most of us began 2021 tucked away in quarantine. I was teaching on Zoom; Christy was meeting with only half of her students half the time on a hybrid schedule. No year, in my lifetime, has began in such a strange way. In some ways, it felt that the Covid era would never end. And yet, here we are, celebrating the end of 2021 with family and friends. We started this end of year holiday season cooking turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner in our home- American staples. We have attended friendsgivings, Christmas parties and on December 23rd we will participate in another Memphis tradition that was suspended for the 2020 year, attending with most of our children: Anna, Lizzy, Ben and Rachel- Theater Memphis' annual performance of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. For those who don't know our family dynamic, we are a growing blended family. Anna and Lizzy have lived in Knoxville, TN for most this year as students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxviille. Ben and Rachel live her in Memphis, and Emily and Joel live in Atlanta with their three children- Selma, Polly and Ezra. I love Christmas. I love the food, decorating our home, visiting with friends, the special services at church- all of it. Well, I do too, but I will say, since marrying into the Shriver family, I have learned to take it to the next level. Shriver's are notable for their holiday passion- all holidays really but especially Christmas. I will also say, that before studying for this podcast, I had no idea so many of the Christmas traditions that we love so much we owe to Victorian England. Oh for sure, in fact, Christmas was not even a federal holiday in this country until 1870. And even then it was an unpaid holiday. It didn't become a paid holiday until 1938. Well, that is very Scroog-ish. So, let's talk about which Christmas traditions we inherited from Victorian England- many of which have found their way all around the globe. You know, growing up in Brazil, just by nature of the weather we had different holiday traditions- we were in the Southern hemisphere, so instead of wishing for a white Christmas- we were always looking forward to heading to the beach after Christmas, but even in a climate with more palm trees than pine trees although, my friends parents were putting up little Christmas trees and other decorations- I emphasize little not because they were belittling the traditions but there was much more limited economic access ( remember Brazil in those days was a military dictatorship with high government control) but even as such- It's interesting to see some of these same Victorian traditions. In 2017 a very interesting movie came out, The Man Who Invented Christmas, based on a 2008 book by Les Standiford of the same name, but this book and movie credit Charles Dickens who lived in England during the Victorian era with basically inventing the holiday with this Novella A Christmas Carol. Of course that clearly is hyperbolic. Christmas was already celebrated all over the Christian world, and that included Great Britain, but it is not wrong to say that Dickens strongly impacted the way the British and then ultimately the rest of the world would perceive and even celebrate Christmas. For one thing, although Christmas is a Christian holiday and obviously celebrates the birth of Christ- the emphasis of Dickens is on Christian virtues, many of which are shared by faith traditions besides Christianity. So in this way he opened up the celebration to something larger than a Christian sacred day. This book with its emphasis on human kindness, generosity and mercy contributed to universalizing the festivities- extending the sense and holiday sentiments beyond the sacredness of the religious elements of the day- which is why Lizzy and Anna's friends, many of whom are Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu, still feel comfortable celebrating Christmas in their own way without necessarily feeling as if they are violating their own faith tradition. Even if you just focus on the historical context of Victorian England, I would suggest, instead of seeing Dickens as creating anything, a better way to look at it is that was part of the Zeitgeist of the moment that was already emerging. Of course, this is debatable and I do not want to take away a single thing from the greatness of this book, but as I see things, this new way of viewing Christmas was an emerging trend, and his book hit at that right moment, extending it further and perhaps cementing some of these ideals into the ethos that would become the holiday spirit we understand Christmas to embody today. I would also say, just like the Americans, the British had also been a little Scroog-like in doling out holidays to the working man up to that point. In 1843 when A Christmas Carol came out, it was a bank holiday in Britain but not a holiday for everyone else. That's why Scrooge could buy a turkey at the end of the story- it was a regular work day for the butcher. Christmas was definitely a religious moment, and it definitely was a moment to share a meal together, but nothing like we think of today. We didn't point this out when we were analyzing Emma (the Jane Austen book from 1815)- but in that book we saw the Woodhouses celebrating Christmas by eating a meal but there wasn't a tree or caroling or anything else you'd expect to see in a British novel featuring Christmas. Christmas, as we celebrate it today, emerged in Britain in many ways due to the elevation of the working class- and even though there were many struggles with this second industrial revolution- it is partly responsible. For example, in order to protect workers, in 1833, a new set of laws were introduced that gave the working class a set number of days off- finally! Also, companies with their mass production of goods began to see the holiday as a commercial opportunity- and although this has been received with mixed reviews over the years- it did incentivize the spreading of Christmas cheer so to speak. There was also a German tradition that was introduced into the British culture which has trended around the world since then and that is the big emphasis on the Christmas tree. That tradition can, in large part, be attributed to King Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. Of course we must remember that King Albert was German, and, of course, the Germans and the Austrians had been celebrating Christmas, from my perspective, much more festively for some time. In fact, and I know we don't have time to get into this here, but both the Americans and the British had actually banned Christmas a different points in their historys= but not Germany and Austria. They had Christmas markets, Christmas music including the very popular Silent Night. They had Santa Claus, the advent calendar and of course- the Christmas tree. Tradition has it that Martin Luther set up a tree, complete with lit candles in his living room and there it started. But almost 250 years later, King Alfred introduced this wonderful tradition to the British public in 1848 with a drawing of the Royal family celebrating Christmas around their tree. That drawing went viral- and there you have it- the Christmas tree was a thing. It's so amazing to me, how some things catch on and others don't. I was also interested to learn this is the era where we got the idea of the Christmas card- a practice I love but hypocritically don't practice. Every Christmas when I get cards from my friends and family, and tape them to the door and then vow that next year will be the year I send out cards- but then I don't. I will vow again- 2022 will be the year!! But back to 1840s, a man by the name of Henry Cole commissioned an artist to design a card for Christmas. He sold these for 1 shilling a piece, which is kind of expensive, but the idea took off. People made their own and mailed them to friends and family. By 1880, Britain was producing and selling over 11.5 million Christmas cards. And of course, returning to the successes and excesses both good and bad of that second Industrial Revolution. Those horrible factories that often employed children and overworked and exploited workers which are things we're going to talk about- the technology within them also made it possible to mass produce toys that were finally affordable for average people. And although feasting and gifts for the average person couldn't be a part of the year as a whole, these technologies made it possible at least once a year for toys to become things that would eventually end up under that Christmas tree, and cheap mass produced decorations could be brought into ordinary homes in ways that had been reserved for only the wealthy previously. Which brings us to Christmas Carols – The Victorians re-popularized this tradition as well. Again, back to industrialization- it was affordable to print and multiply copies of music. Middle class people were buying pianos and singing around them- but even in working class homes where a piano was out of the question- carols were holiday entertainment and popular- and still are- and for good reason. Singing together is a communal activity- it's fun and a shared experience that's actually bonding, It's something friends and families can do together- no matter age differences. Paul Dooley, a friend of ours, taught English and then Latin at Bolton High School. And I will never forget the years he got his Latin classes to sing Christmas Carols to us in the halls of Bolton High School. He has since told me that his students were very reluctant to get out there in front of their peers, but once they got going they loved it- as did we all- and it's still a Christmas memory for me. OH for me too- as a musician I love all the Christmas music- it may be one of my favorite parts- and I do nothing but listen to Christmas music in my car from Thanksgiving until Christmas- I will admit I do try to avoid getting whammed though, as much as possible. Oh yes- I also avoid getting whammed- although that expression may need a little clarifying. Explain to us what you mean when you say, you don't want to get whammed! Well Wham is the name of a a British Duo- Wham released in 1984 what is likely the most overplayed Christmas song in America- “Last Christmas”. You cannot go to Target or the Mall without hearing it- in fact, hearing “Last Christmas” is how you know the Black Friday shopping season has begun. This year, our daughter-in-law Rachel, who works part time at Target, came into Thanksgiving and said, “I've already been whammed”!! She got whammed BEFORE Thanksgiving. It has become a joke. But a fun one- because even getting Whammed is a fun thing- Which brings me to this question- isn't “A Christmas Carol” a strange title for a ghost story? And taking it a step further, isn't a ghost story an inappropriate genre for Christmas. When you see a title like “A Christmas Carol” you don't expect the first chapter to be named “Marley's Ghost” and the first three words to be “Marley was dead.” Exactly- and of course, as all great writers do- Dickens very cleverly and intentionally linked this ghost story with the idea of music and Christmas music. Of course, as we talked about with Shirley Jackson and Hill. House, Gothic literature was very popular during the Victorian era- and a money maker for sure- so ghosts were a go-to idea, but that, for my money, isn't the best reason I see Dickens chosing the genre for his Christmas tale- although it is an ingenuous idea. As you know, I don't like ghosts or ghost stories, so for me, it was a negative that this story is ghost story. I remember watching the version that came out in 1984 with George C Scott and being scared out of my mind. But, the more I understand the purpose- the thematic ideas behind these choices- the less these Christmas ghosts frighten me and the more it makes sense. It also helped after I looked a little bit at Dickens life and the world he lived in. For me, it helped highlight the thematic focus I may have missed in 1984- although- as with all great literature- we do want to again make the disclaimer that context is interesting- but not everything to understanding any piece of art. Art, by definition takes a life of its own. Of course, that goes without saying, and I'm sure this is my history and psychology background, but for me, I really do enjoy a book more when I know a little about the person who wrote it and the world in which he or she lived. Well, le me introduce you then to the great- Charles John Huffman Dickens. He was born on Feb 7 1812, the second son of John Dickens who was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. This was a middle class lifestyle and for a while Charles had an upper middle-class upbringing that included a private school education. However, John Dickens spent more than he made, and at some point- the creditors came for him. And at that time as you know, if you owed money, the government threw YOU and your family into prison and you had to stay there until someone paid your bills for you. This was an extremely traumatic experience, as you might imagine, so much so that it shows up in some form or another in almost all of Dickens works. Little Charles, however, because he was 12 didn't go with his family to prison. He was old enough to work, so instead of prison he went to work at Warren's blacking Warehouse, and for ten hours a day he would paste labels on to pots of shoe polish. He made 6 shillings a week and with that he had to pay for his own room and board. Any money left over went to the pay off his family's debts- although at that rate, he was never going to pay that debt off. It was a brutal and extremely lonely experience. Fortunately, he only had to do this for a year before a relative died and left money to John. The family then got out of prison ,and Charles could go back to school- but that year was enough. For one thing, as a 12 year old, he spent the hours he wasn't working in the streets unattended and most of the time starving. Charles later said,”I suppose myself to know this large city as well as anybody in it.” He saw it from the underside through the eyes of a hungry, lonely overworked dirty child. He never got over that- and he never forgave his parents for it either. In fact, he was so ashamed of that year and his father's incarceration that he kept the whole thing a secret for years. He said this years as an adult when he was finally able to talk about the experiences of that year, “It is wonderful to me how I could so easily have been cast away at such an age- no one had compassion enough on me.” Dickens saw and experienced to the bone, the horror was is the complacency and cruelty of humans can have towards other humans- this he felt was at the heart of things. His experiences were shameful to him, and he could hardly talk about it except through his fiction. Anyway, he did finish school; he got a job working for a lawyer and eventually got into journalism where he the courts of Law and House of Commons. He also began to write not just news things but stories too. This was during a period of English history where books were only for rich people, but he didn't publish books. He published stories in periodicals- and this is how he became popular. Eventually he did publish these stories in book form that book he called Sketches by Boz; two months after that was published, he married a woman named Catherine Hogarth. Soon after that he started writing serials and there he was-well on his way the road that would eventually lead him to celebrity- truly. Of course, there is a lot about his personal story that I'm not super-cool with, and I'm not sure I would have liked Dickens if I had met him in real life- I always wonder about that- although it makes zero difference one way or the other. But we won't focus on that for the Christmas Carol, maybe if we do another Dickens novel- but getting back to our narrative by the beginning of the 1843, he's already a pretty famous public figure. He's even gone on a year long tour of the United States (a place he kind of had negative things to say about- btw- including our poor hygiene apparently) That's funny- during that time period- he likely was right. Americans hadn't adopted the daily bath routine yet. Ha anyway, Dickens read a parliamentary report by a man named Thomas Southwood Smith titled The Second Report of the Children's Employment Commission. That does not sound like a bit of light reading. HA! I should think not. This report delineated many abuses and realities surrounding the untold numbers of child workers. Reading this really upset him, of course he knew all too well the realities facing these children and many unmarried women, as well. He took it upon himself to visitwhat he called “ragged schools” – we'd call them urban poor schools- but he called them ragged schools because everyone was dressed in rags. So many of the children were working as prostitutes and thieves. In October he went to Manchester and traveled around that industrial city. He saw whole families in the streets starving. The complacency and inhumanity of it all was something he wanted to write about it. He said this, “ I have very seldom seen, in all the strange and dreadful things I have seen in London and elsewhere anything so shocking as the dire neglect of soul and body exhibited in these children. And although I know; and am as sure as it is possible for one to be of anything which has not happened; that in the prodigious misery and ignorance of the swarming masses of mankind in England, the seeds of its certain ruin are sown.” His first idea was to write a pamphlet entitled ‘An Appeal to the People of England, on Behalf of the Poor Man's Child'. But then he got a better idea, a lecture is not something people want to hear. Why not deliver his idea as a carol- a Christmas Carol- and why not make it a ghost story- but a short one- a novella designed to be read out loud in under a couple of hours. And that is what he did. It took him only six weeks once he got started. He wanted it out by Christmas. He wanted it illustrated in beautiful colorful illustrations. His vision was so pronounced he was uncompromising when it came to making it a reality, so much so that he ended up having to pay for the publication himself. And history was made. It was a smash hit from the first review and I quote, “Mr. Dickens has produced a most appropriate Christmas offering and which, if properly made use of, may yet we hope, lead to some more valuable result then mere amusement.” It sold out immediately and the publisher went on to produce as many as they could as quickly as they could. Within weeks it became a play (which to Dickens chagrin and the lack of copyright laws, he never got any royalities from). No, he didn't cash in on its success sadly, nor has his ancestors cashed in on the 13 full-featured movies, the 17 made for tv movies that I know about, nor even the Mr. Magoo version. The story took on a life of its own. It was a blockbuster, and he never was really able to monetize it like he would have wished. He did monetize it some, though, for the rest of his last he would perform public readings of A Christmas Carol and some of those had over 2000 people in attendance. Apparently, Dickens was as good of a performer as he was a writer- maybe better- and he could do all the different voices of the different characters. People loved it- I imagine something- Jim Carey style. Oh- I bet a Jim Carey reading of A Christmas Carol would be hilarious. I agree! Maybe someone will forward this podcast to him and he'll get the idea to do it! Anyway, back to the book- it is a carol- in more than just the ironic sense of the world. It was designed to do the exact sort of thing carols are supposed to do- bring a certain idea to Christmas- and that is the idea of redemption. It's an idea that is lost on adults- for many of us, life, myself included, life takes turns we didn't mean for it to take. In some cases, it feels like redemption is impossible that it's dead- and that of course is Dickens starting point- but even if redemption is dead- does that mean it's lost- or is it possible- no matter who we are- how far gone we are- redemption is still a ghost- shall we read the introduction? let's read the words Dickens chose to include as the preface to this book: I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, D. December,1843 I think it's interesting to include the preface for a couple of reasons- First of all, In the preface he capitalized the word Ghosts. He also alliterated haunted with houses and it even connects with the h word humor in the sentence above. There is something that he wants to haunt us with- a dark side of Christmas perhaps- a dark side in ourselves perhaps. And yet- this book wouldn't be a classic if it were preachy- moralistic tales are annoying and unfun to read- even if I agree with every moral in the story. I saw somewhere that Virginia Wolf couldn't stand Dickens for several reasons but one of which was that he made her feel like she was supposed to take out a checkbook when she read him. HA! Dickens might not have found that insulting- but I get it- and in his other books, I do think maybe that is a fair criticism- but A Christmas Carol, even as a ghost story, when you read it isn't dark like that. Dickens goes to a lot of trouble to make it funny- something that sometimes is lost when people perform it on stage and it the movies, but is really evident when you read the story out loud. I really think if I had read it before I had watched the movie as a child, I wouldn't have been frightened by the ghosts. Let's read the first page of Stave one and you'll see what I mean. Read page 1 So, we must first talk about the narrative voice- for me, it's what takes the edge off the ghost in the ghost story. The tone is cheerful and fun. There is an omniscient narrator and we will see that he very much can see inside Scrooge's thoughts, but he's intrusive. That means he injects himself personally into the text and in this case, addresses us in the second person as if he were in the room talking to us. In fact in Stave two the narrator actually tells us that the ghost of Christmas past was as close to Scrooge and I quote, “as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.” Of course, it's funny and takes the edge of the scariness of it- of course the narrator isn't at our elbow and so of course, we need not be afraid of Scrooge's ghost. Well, the narrator says several funny things right at the beginning here- this big about door-nails's being the “deadest piece of ironmongery” – it's pointing out the ridiculous in something we are very used to- the same kind of thing Jerry Seinfeld made famous in his comedy. Exactly, and it has the same effect here- we are left smiling- why do we say, “dead as a doornail” except for the fact that it alliterates, there's no point in it at all. And so we are detached from all of the death of marley talk. If the narrator who clearly knows Marley isn't sad that he's dead, then we shouldn't be sad either. We immediately trust this narrator because he's funny, and our first act after buying into the story is to decide we don't care that Marley's dead. We also then buy into his description of Scrooge- which is also funny. “He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scroogr! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster- again a funny comparison. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gail, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewedly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wire chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him, he iced his office in the dog-days, and din't thaw it one degree at Christmas. Then he goes on to say Scrooge's fire was so small, but he kept his clerk's first even smaller that it only had one piece of coal. He also says that Scrooge is so stingy that he keeps the coal in a his own room under a lock and a key. That's crazy. Scrooge is crazy. In fact, Scrooge is such an awful person that even the blind men's dogs knew him and when they saw him coming, they tugged their blind owners to go a different direction. Man- this guy is terrible. Exactly, he's portrayed as ugly, mean, cold and stingy but he seems to be hurting no one but himself. Well, and the poor clerk that works for him. True. Scrooge is a disaster but doesn't realize it. But he's also kind of funny himself. When his nephew comes over to invite him to dinner we have a funny exchange. Let's read this. Page 5 Again, Dickens goes to a lot of effort to make all of this kind of funny. And of course, this is very important. We can't hate Scrooge, if we hate him, then there would be no pleasure in his redemption. He's not an evil person. He's a lost person, and as I said and I want to go back to this idea- redemption is the point- the entire point of Christmas really- and the point of this story. And Dickens gives it this away in the first line as well. The way Dickens writes his first sentence is grammatically incorrect. Marley was dead colon to begin with. That's not now we use colons. In some versions, and I think maybe the first version, there was a period after dead- making to begin with a rhetorical fragment. But either way the punctuation tells a story. And of course, as every English teacher will tell you- in the English language- punctuation is always rhetorical- it always is there to deliver meaning- to show us where ideas stop and start, which ones are connected more significantly to each other- and what is the emphasis of any set of words. And what is the punctuation doing here- it is forcing us to stop before and after the words – to begin with- This is a story of beginnings- it is a story of death- we must clearly understand that- but death is not final- it is a story of beginnings. Of course, that's another reason to write the story as a carol. Exactly, expand on that thought. Garry is a musician, and although Dickens was NOT a musician, he did love music and writing the story in staves is not just a clever take on calling the story a carol, but it adds another layer of meaning. Garry, explain to us what exactly a stave is. Well, to be honest, a stave isn't exactly the right word musically for a division. Divisions in music are called verses- a stave is another word for staff. And the staff is where the music is written. It's the five parallel horizontal lines that with the clef indicate the pitch of the musical notes. Also, another important point musically is that the musical notation allows the music to be played on any instrument. If I can read the music, I can play a song on a guitar, or on the piano or on the violin. Yes, and so look at the many layers of the metaphor here. There are five chapters in this book- each called a stave- each stave in our story also has a very different pitch. If we understand the story, it can be applied to many generations, to many social classes, to many types of people of many cultures. But, I think there is another interesting idea, at least for me, although we could mine this metaphor for a lot of different things, is that songs are cyclical as well as universal. Songs are contain loops- like the famous wham song, How many times do we have to hear, “Late Christmas, I gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away”. Scrooge will get visited by four ghosts- his life will get repeated by each ghost as he goes back and revisits it. But more importantly, time is meaningless in this story- just as time is meaningless in a song. Songs are not chronological even if wham loses his love every single stanza- and in fact every single Christmas season all season long. Time is so central to understanding this book- as it's about endings and beginnings= as it's about childhood and innocence, as it's about starting over and redemption. Maybe that's why it's impossible to hate Scrooge- he's gotten lost which isn't the same as evil- he's a man of anxiety which we'll talk about next episode- but we can all get lost- we all can be obsessive and anxious- Exactly, and in that sense there is a little scrooge in all of us-but on the flip side- no one is as crazy as Scrooge- he's the worst case scenario- and what Dickens story points out that hopefully, there is a little of Scrooge's nephew in us too- we can still smile at the cranks of the world. We hopefully we have a bit of Bob Cratchet, that's the poor clerk with the on solitary piece of coal- at least Dickens will encourage us to be like the Cratchetts later in the story. But more importantly than those two male characters, Dickens is going to emphasize and re-emphasize that Christmas is a time where we have to remember there is a child still in each one of us as well. Next episode, we will start by meeting the ghost of Christmas past, we'll meet Scrooge as a child and we'll meet the array of children that populate this book. Again, a strong sense of cyclical timelessness. Paul Davis, in his book “The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge” quotes another Victorian writer who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens- Theodore Watts-Dunton. In his book he quotes a story Dunton would tell- who knows how true it is, but it's a cute story. According to Dunton he was walking down Drury Lane near Covent Garden Market on June 9th on the year of Dickens death and he overheard a Cockney barrow-girl's reaction to the news of the great novelist's death: ‘Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?'” That's such a cute quote- and of course, Dickens would like to say, of course not, “I'm standing in the spirit at your elbow” every time you read A Christmas Carol.
The Tony Award-Winning SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE Debuts a NEW Activist Adaptation of the Dickens Classic as a Radio Play A RED CAROL An Activist Adaptation of the Dickens Classic Written and Directed by Michael Gene Sullivan Begins streaming FREE on Fri. Nov. 26, 2021 - Jan. 9, 2022 (donations accepted) For the first time the SF Mime Troupe presents a Holiday Audio offering with a worker's take on the Dicken's classic in A Red Carol. With its particular blend of activism, comedy, music, and passion the SFMT's labor-oriented adaptation of Dickens "A Christmas Carol” reclaims this revolutionary classic as a story not of the redemption of one bad man, but as the never-ending story of all of us making the world a more progressive place. In A Red Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is a corporate banker, busy foreclosing on the hapless masses. Bob Cratchit and his beleaguered family live in a chilly tent in an anonymous homeless encampment. The ghost of Christmas future sports a flowing black robe of taped-together trash bags and plastic sheeting. Tiny Tim dies. At least that's how the SF Mime Troupe's resident playwright, Michael Gene Sullivan, has reimagined A Red Carol for the troubled 21st century. A Christmas Carol” has become “the closest thing to a modern myth that we have. It wasn't much of a stretch to place Charles Dickens' Victorian classic into today's Covid-19 world. And that, as Sullivan would be the first to tell you, is exactly the point. Dickens' novella was written in the heart of the “Hungry '40s,” a time of labor unrest, unemployment and starvation across 19th-century Europe. The gap between rich and poor was wide - and getting ever wider. With the limited release of A Red Carol, the San Francisco Mime Troupe hopes it will become an annual alternative holiday tradition for the workers of the world. For more information visit www.sfmt.org or call 415-285-1717. CRITICS SAY “The play, in its skewering of America's social ills—racism, corporate greed, the plight of the working class—is so funny, and so well acted by the Troupe, including longtime ensemble members Velina Brown, Keiko Shimosato-Carreiro and Brian Rivera , that it comes to life even without visuals and minus the appreciative laughter of a sun-soaked audience. The second half of “The Mystery of the Missing Worker” airs Aug. 29.” SF Examiner - July 6, 2020 “As a spoof of serials past, it's solid, quick-witted, and sets the bar high for subsequent episodes, which will satirize other radio-drama templates—namely adventure, horror, and science fiction." KQED - July 8, 2020 _____________________________________________________ MICHAEL GENE SULLIVAN Actor, Director, Teacher, and Resident Playwright Michael Gene Sullivan has performed in, written, and/or directed over thirty SFMT productions. As an actor Sullivan has also appeared in productions at the American Conservatory Theater, Californian Shakespeare Theatre, Theatreworks, San Francisco Playhouse, Denver Center Theater Company, The Aurora Theatre, The Magic Theatre, The Marin Theatre Company, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and San Jose Repertory Theater. Michael has been a principal actor in Mime Troupe plays since 1988, performing in Freedomland, Ripple Effect, For The Greater Good, 2012: The Musical, Posibilidad, Too Big To Fail, Making a Killing, GodFellas, Doing Good, Showdown at Crawford Gulch, Mister Smith Goes to Obscuristan, Eating it, Damaged Care, Soul Suckers form Outer Space, Revenger Rat, Escape to Cyberia, Offshore, Social Work, I Ain't You uncle, Back to Normal, Rats, Seeing Double, and Ripped Van Winkle. His directing credits at SFMT include Schooled, For The Greater Good, Red State, Veronique of the Mounties, 1600 Transylvania Avenue, Killing Time, and Coast City Confidential, Michael has also directed for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, African American Shakespeare Company, Mystic Bison Theater, and Circus Finelli. Michael is a Resident Playwright for the Playwrights' Foundation, a 2017 Resident Artist at the Djerassi Arts Center, from 2009 - 2016 he was a blogger for The Huffington Post, and Michael has been SFMT's Resident Playwright since 2000.
Rocky Fortune starring Frank Sinatra, originally broadcast December 22, 1953, 67 Christmases ago. Rocky gets a job as a department store Santa Claus, and gets caught up in a plot to murder Santa! Also the Treasury Star Parade, originally broadcast December 24, 1942, 78 Christmases ago. Lionel Barrymore stars in a sketch based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol entitled A Modern Scrooge. Barrymore refuses to buy War Bonds until he has a visit...
Orson Welles as Scrooge!
Join Kim as she talks to Professor Chris Gosden of Oxford University about the historical and prehistorical links to Christmas books we all know and, perhaps, love. We take in an ambitious collection of four books from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, to John Masefield’s Box of Delights, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising and Terry Pratchett’s The Hogfather. Links Chris Gosden's profile on the University of Oxford's website Chris Gosden's book The History of Magic A Christmas Carol on Project Gutenberg The Box of Delights from publisher Egmont The Dark is Rising from publisher Penguin The Hogfather on Terry Pratchett Books Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton on Oxford Scholarship Online Herne the Hunter Contact Twitter: @prehistpod, @kimbiddulph
Orson as Scrooge!
The Last of the Spirits
The Second of the Three Spirits
The First of the Three Spirits
An abridged readers' theater production of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol.
In this 59th in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we discuss the state of the world through an evolutionary lens. In this episode, we discuss the CDC recommendations to engage in race-based vaccine distribution, the New England Journal of Medicine jumping the shark on sex and birth certificates, and the role of markets in journalism. We also pay attention to this moment in time: Chanukah, Christmas and the solstice, plus a reading from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We begin the episode by making a few corrections from episode 58, on the subjects of ligands and adaptive immunity. DarkHorse merchandise now available at: store.darkhorsepodcast.org Find more from us on Bret’s website (https://bretweinstein.net) or Heather’s website (http://heatherheying.com). Become a member of the DarkHorse LiveStreams, and get access to an additional Q&A livestream every month. Join at Heather's Patreon. Like this content? Subscribe to the channel, like this video, follow us on twitter (@BretWeinstein, @HeatherEHeying), and consider helping us out by contributing to either of our Patreons or Bret’s Paypal. Looking for clips from #DarkHorseLivestreams? Here are some, updated frequently: @DarkHorse Podcast Clips Theme Music: Thank you to Martin Molin of Wintergatan for providing us the rights to use their excellent music. Q&A Link: https://youtu.be/qiaGWeoV4MA Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bretweinstein)
Bücher: John Grisham - Das Fest Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol Timestamps: 00:00 Start 01:00 Das Fest 16:30 A Christmas Carol 42:15 Große Ankündigung und kommendes Buch
Oregon State University Theatre presents an immersive audio drama production of Charles Dickens’ beloved tale of redemption A Christmas Carol adapted and directed by Elizabeth Helman. The story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and Bob Cratchit has delighted audiences for generations since it was first published in 1843. This new adaptation featuring the vocal talents of OSU students and led by Marion O. Rossi as Ebenezer Scrooge will surely infuse a sense of magic and conviviality into this holiday season! Help support the work of OSU Theatre by purchasing a virtual ticket to the production HERE. For more information, visit our website at: https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sac/theatre For questions and comments, contact us at damthedistance@oregonstate.edu Graphic design by Santiago Uceda.
This P3 Meditation was given by Fr. Edward Horkan. This meditation was given on December 911, 2020 as a talk for P3: Prayer, Penance, and Pub, which is a time of Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament with Confession available followed by young adult pub time. Adoration and confession starts at 6:30pm, a meditation is given at 8pm, and pub time follows at around 8:30pm. **Pub time is suspended due to the pandemic. Stay safe everyone!
Scary Creepmas, Fright Schoolers! 'Tis the season to be ghoulish and we are kicking off our Scary Xmas 2020 series! First, the world remains an awful place fast approaching the plot of a Stephen King novel (soon to be a CBS All Access Miniseries!) and we just want you all to stay happy and healthy. We were both wowed by the latest incarnation of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL starring Jefferson Mays as... well... everybody. It's a fantastic one man show that echoes Dickens' own performance of his classis warning to miserly, miserable, mean old bastards. I'm sure you can think of a few of those ruining your life, Dear Listener. Check it out and help support regional theatres in your community! FOLLOW US! Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkTree Recommended Reading: First Look! "A Christmas Carol" Unlike Any Other) A CHRISTMAS CAROL Official Site for tickets and information EXTRA CREDIT: WE HAVE ALL NEW TEES AND MERCH AVAILABLE! Fright School Recommended Texts: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror by David J. Skal Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror by Robin R Means Coleman Projected Fears by Kendall R. Phillips The Horror Genre: From Beelzebub to Blair Witch by Paul Wells Support FRIGHT SCHOOL by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/fright-school Find out more at https://fright-school.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
If there is anything consistent about 2020, it is how inconsistent it is. We’re not doing the things the way we always have, whether it is doing curbside pickup, outside-only masked visits with friends, or book clubs via Zoom. The same can be said of the performing arts--to stay relevant, they are doing things differently, including shows that they’ve done more or less the same for over 40 years. Actors Theatre of Louisville’s run of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has become a beloved holiday tradition to so many families in the region over the years, including mine. This year, theater lovers will experience the journey of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts in an imaginative radio play. While the in-person Christmas Carol performance has long been a feast for the eyes, the radio program will be a feast for the ears. Our guest this week, Amy Wegener, will give us the scoop on how we can interact with The Christmas Carol in a whole new exciting way. She is the literary director and a dramaturg at Actor’s Theater. Amy tells us why rereading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol helped her find the humor in Dickens’ writing that she had forgotten, why she finds constraints to be a spark for her creativity, and why theater is a unique art form based on its ability to transform depending on who interacts with it. To Access The Play: To buy a ticket for The Christmas Carol, simply go to their website at actorstheater.org. After your purchase, you’ll be sent an email with a link to listen to the project. Click the link to get to the streaming site. Once there, simply press play and you are ready to go! The play begins November 24 and you will have until December 31 to finish listening. This play is also a pay what you can event. The website offers you different levels from $15 - $100, based on how many people may stream this play with you. According to the Actor’s Theater website, The Christmas Carol is a completely audio-based experience—like a podcast or radio show on your drive to work. Gather your loved ones to share the story or just pop your headphones into your ears and press play. Books and Plays mentioned in this Episode: 1- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 2- Dracula by Bram Stoker 3- Patron Saints of Nothings by Randy Ribay 4- How to Be an AntiRacist by Ibram X. Kendi 5- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi 6- Girl Waits With Gun (Kopp Sister #1) by Amy Stewart 7- Humana Festival anthologies 8- Detroit 67 by Dominique Morisseau (play) 9- Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau (play) 10- Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau (play) 11- Beast on the Moon by Richard Kalinoski (play)
Many of our listeners have requested that we upload our radio program performance of "A Christmas Carol." Here you go! Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock #ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive #LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans #CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain #ClassicalMusicLivesOn #Uber Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4186107 staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com
It’s been five years since VR director Justin Denton last joined Chris on the CG Garage Podcast, and in that time he has truly pushed the boundaries of the medium. He’s produced jaw-dropping tie-in experiences for Ghost in the Shell, Mr. Robot and Legion. And he’s indulged his passion for Dickens’ A Christmas Carol via Chained: A Victorian Nightmare, which uses techniques from games and immersive theater to deliver a unique, personalized experience. Justin is an authority on how the VR industry has shifted and settled, and its uses as a tool and a medium. Meanwhile, in his new role as Staff Director at Blur Studio, he’s taking VR techniques into filmmaking with his exhilarating PUBG trailer. He also details his contribution to DD and Time Magazine’s project, The March, which takes participants into a VR recreation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic rally.
Happy Holidays! Please join us for a holiday episode where we talk about Dicken's A Christmas Carol.
Chris and Rifa's latest adventures in culture, the arts, tech and diversity – or in this case, watching a load of festive telly with faces full of mince pies. This week we watch the BBC's intense, new adult three part re-imagining of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring Guy Pierce, Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy. We also binge-watch HBO's extraordinary new TV series version of Watchmen. starring Regina King and Don Johnson. Rifa is reading the collected late blog entries of Ursula K. le Guin, which were published as No Time To Spare. Chris didn't read a book this festive week, instead he played through the 2016 horror platform videogame INSIDE by PlayDead. Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please leave a nice review and a five star rating. Thank you for listening to us this year.
FPCS (First Presbyterian Church of Sharpsville) Services & Sermons
Enjoy the music of a a brass quartet and the message of redemption and hope as Pastor Mike brings the Christmas series based on Dicken's A Christmas Carol to a conclusion.
Charlyn and Mark discuss capitalism, empathy, and spontaneous deliveries of unreasonably-sized turkeys in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and "The Muppets Christmas Carol." Show notes:You can read the entirety of "A Christmas Carol" here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm
X-mas X-travaganza!!! Part One! “I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Look upon me!” Our music is "Back to the Grind" by Billie Stevens. Podcast logo by Lazy N & Micah Myers. You can find J & Lazy N Ramble On... at Anchor.fm and Spotify, or subscribe wherever you currently subscribe to podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, &tc. We now have merch! Check out our wares at TeePublic. You can also support us at Patreon, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, leave us a voice message, or email us at jandlazyn@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
With 2019 rapidly coming to a close, State Bar of Texas host Rocky Dhir takes a moment to review the latest changes in the legal landscape. It may not exactly be Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but Rocky is in fact visited by three guests explaining big cases and other developments from the past year, highlighting issues lawyers should be aware of today, and even providing a glimpse of what may be coming in the future. Helping guide Rocky through this process are special guests Shawn Tuma, providing insights on cyber law and data security; Warren Harris, sharing the latest on appellate practice; and Beth Sullivan, discussing developments in family law. Shawn Tuma is a partner at Spencer Fane LLP in Cyber Risk Management, Cyber Incident Response, and Cyber Security, Hacking and Data Breach Litigation Warren W. Harris is a partner in Bracewell in Houston, where he heads the firm’s appellate practice group. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Beth Johnson is an associate at Calabrese Budner LLP serving as an appellate family law attorney.
This 1980s era remake of Dickens' A Christmas Carol stars Bill Murray fresh off his role in Ghostbusters. The question is: will Nick and Lucé's endorsement cause Cozi's heart grow three sizes and tell him to watch this movie? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/youneedtoseethis/support
In the Season 2 finale, Dave Pezza and Daniel Ford take a shot of Christmas cheer and discuss Charles Dickens' holiday classic A Christmas Carol. Today's episode is sponsored by OneRoom.
I watch the final performance of my son in his high school production of "A Christmas Carol" and reflect on it's Advent theme of transformation. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/presence/support
The Ghost of Christmas Past: Episode two in our series dovetailing Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Christmas Story.
It was Christmas Eve at the Dragon Café so what better to accompany your Dragon Roast with all the trimmings than a reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" from Lois and others, the presentation of an 'Ice Dragon' by Ivan and Julia, Jill Rock telling us about some of the beautiful artworks made by Café patrons in 2012 and looking forward to 2013, and Max's shadow puppet show, all topped off with an instrumental rendition of "Puff The Magic Dragon".
In which Carla revisits the Victorian Christmas tradition of scary stories at Christmas by reading two classics of the era--and, in doing so, explores the not-well-known genesis of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, to boot. Things get silly and eerie in turn. Come sit by the fire and enjoy some cupcakes and wassail. Related and Referenced Episode: 32: What the Dickens Facebook Page: theremightbecupcakes Facebook Group: There Might Be Cupcakes Twitter: mightbecupcakes Instagram: theremightbecupcakes Host: theremightbecupcakes.podbean Sponsor: Audible Patreon: Cupcakes A picture a day project on Instagram: #apictureaday2018carla Goodreads: Goodreads podcast bookshelf. add Carla as a friend, Goodreads podcast group (newly born!)
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol by Museum of the Bible
Tiny Tim's "God Bless Us, Every One!" is the rousing conclusion to Charles Dickens' festive fable A Christmas Carol. But what is the Christian message behind this enduring story? Joining Ernie to discuss Charles Dickens' faith and the religious themes in his work are three fans, all of whom have written books about him: actor Simon Callow, author Claire Tomalin and John Bowen - Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of York. Also interviewed is Rev Cheryl Kincaid, an American Presbyterian minister author of "Hearing the Gospel through A Christmas Carol". She has a deep affection for Dickens and the plight of Tiny Tim in particular. Producer: Helen Lee.
Tiny Tim's "God Bless Us, Every One!" is the rousing conclusion to Charles Dickens' festive fable A Christmas Carol. But what is the Christian message behind this enduring story? Joining Ernie to discuss Charles Dickens' faith and the religious themes in his work are three fans, all of whom have written books about him: actor Simon Callow, author Claire Tomalin and John Bowen - Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of York. Also interviewed is Rev Cheryl Kincaid, an American Presbyterian minister author of "Hearing the Gospel through A Christmas Carol". She has a deep affection for Dickens and the plight of Tiny Tim in particular. Producer: Helen Lee.
In comedy, timing is everything and the timing is so off in 6th Street Playhouse’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge that the fact that it still manages to extract any laughs at all from its audience is somewhat of a Christmas miracle. Plagued with pre-production challenges ranging from a change in director due to the fires to the untimely passing of its lead actor, director Jared Sakren and his cast have done their best to present local audiences an option for alternative holiday fun. Christopher Durang’s musical parody of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – with detours through the worlds of Oliver Twist, The Gift of the Magi, and It’s a Wonderful Life amongst others– has not aged well since its 2002 premiere. Full of political and pop cultural references that might have seemed dated even them (Remember Enron and Kenneth Lay? Harry and Leona Helmsley? TV’s Touched by an Angel?), it follows Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Kit Grimm) on his Christmas Eve journey through his past as guided by an incompetent ghost (Debra Harvey, alternating in the role with Serena Flores). Their visit to the Cratchit household reveals an angry and bitter Mrs. Bob Cratchit (played by an appropriately crotchety Tika Moon), who’s fed up with her milquetoast husband (an earnest Conor Woods), their twenty children - most of whom live in the root cellar - and her lot in life. Soon it’s off to the pub for her where she’ll knock back a few followed by a London Bridge plunge into the Thames. Scrooge and Cratchit’s fates become intertwined, as Scrooge finds himself oddly attracted to his underling’s miserable wife and Cratchit wishes she had never been born. The show concludes with a decidedly un-Christmas-like moral – you can be poor, loving, and noble, or rich, mean, and happy. God bless us, everyone! The play contains four original songs by Durang and Michael Friedman that offer a few chuckles, but you won’t be hearing carolers singing any of these any Christmas soon. Dicken’s original story is ripe for parody, and Durang does manage to mine a few silly laughs out of it, but this show never really gets off the ground. There are hints at what Ms. Harvey might have been able to do with the lead role of the ghost with sufficient rehearsal time, but the necessity of her reading from a script played havoc with the show’s pacing. Without a strong, central performance, it was left to the supporting cast to veer out on their own and bring the laughs. The most successful of those were Moon’s bitingly sarcastic Mrs. Cratchit, Laura Levin’s ebullient, cherubic Mrs. Fezziwig, and Eric Weiss’s rubber-limbed not-so-Tiny Tim. Credit to them and the entire ensemble for gamely marching on in the hopes of producing some Christmas cheer. While the punchbowl they’re serving it from is far from full, there’s at least enough in it for a couple of glasses. Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through December 23rd with evening performances at 7:30 pm and matinees at 2:00pm For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
As Laurel and Derek settle in for a long winters nap, we bring you our last episode of 2017 discussing the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas. In this episode, we ask what makes a good Christmas story, as we delve into Charles Dickens perennial holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Just like the holiday itself, Dickens’ story strikes a chord with its roots deep in history, myth, and the human condition. We hope everyone had a great year, and thank you all for coming on this adventure with us. Pod bless us, everyone. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midnightmyth/support
An Oregon Cottage Podcast: Simple Real Foods, Gardening & DIY
Jami and Brian talk about their favorite Christmas movies and TV specials. Brian really likes Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" of which there are about two dozen versions. Among her many other favorites, Jami explains why she likes "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" but not "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer." Then they discuss the time-saving gift-wrapping system Jami discovered. And Jami talks about how to offset holiday treats with simple, healthy dinners. Plus a hot sauce favorite and healthy Oreo knockoff.
Miss x acts out Scrooge and Marley and the ghosts of dickens' London tale a Christmas carol..every Christmas eve
Sometimes we get a second chance and sometimes it seems we had no chance at all. What we can count on getting is a cycle of the heartwarming followed by heartbreak, the mundane punctuated with despair and assuaged by moments of joy. But greater than our earthly concerns, the cycle of life continues. Birth follows death as spring follows winter. And within this cycle, every once in a while just to keep it interesting, the wondrous happens. Whether you view the seemingly impossible as merely a coincidence, as a mistaken observation, or as proof that miracles do happen and that love never dies the choice is up to you. Which one sounds like more fun? Tonight's Quote: “It is not known precisely where angels dwell whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode.” — Voltaire Show Links: We've found that some sites are not showing these links as clickable unless they are URLs, so until those outlets improve their show notes section, we are providing actual URLs next to the clickable description of each link to make things easier for our listeners! Forrest's favorite version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol http://bit.ly/2hDWXP0 Rod Hull and his Emu on the Hudson Brothers' Razzle Dazzle Show http://bit.ly/2h3JSgX Rod Hull on Wikipedia and his Untimely Death http://bit.ly/2hWN8rW Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to Orbit Earth http://bit.ly/2hG8XMR Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer http://bit.ly/2hPfDM9 Greg Lake on Wikipedia http://bit.ly/2gTiaD8 Kingman, Arizona, 20 Miles West of Where Scott Broke Down http://bit.ly/2hG37ex Alcides Moreno's Miraculous Survival after a 47 Floor Fall http://nyti.ms/2gTj5n2 Fox News report on Alcides Fall http://bit.ly/2gJzcQM Guardian Story on his Recovery http://bit.ly/2gSHhHY The Splat Calculator http://bit.ly/2h90LUS Highest Freefall Ever Survived http://bit.ly/22za9CY Skydiver Survives 12,000 Foot Fall http://dailym.ai/2hWVeAD How to Fall 35,000 Feet and Survive: Popular Mechanics http://bit.ly/25ao7fW Amazing Old 'Desert' Magazine Article on the Hatbox Baby http://bit.ly/2hDyRBk The Hatbox Baby from Our Favorite Show, Unsolved Mysteries Wiki http://bit.ly/2h96ASp Pro Crime Writer's Blog Entry on the Hatbox Baby http://bit.ly/2gTnV3N Fascinating Arizona Republic Interview with the Hatbox Baby http://bit.ly/2hWSO5d Wordsmith Blog on 'Tunket' http://bit.ly/2hDxjar More on 'Tunket' http://bit.ly/2hCLbEm Tophet, the Origin Word for Tunket http://bit.ly/2hsgFN3 Tophet on Wikipedia http://bit.ly/2h99oP4 Ma Dana of Mesa, Arizona http://bit.ly/2gSPtrF Newsreel of United 610 Crash http://bit.ly/2hDBHXc Wreck Chasers at the Crash Site http://cbsloc.al/1uXBr56 NY Daily News on the Spanish Fork Car Crash http://nydn.us/1E7e26p Officer Beddoes' Bodycam Footage from Crash Site (Warning: Emotionally Intense) http://bit.ly/2hCQjZ9 Special Offers from our Special Sponsors: The Great Courses Plus — Go to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/legends and get one month of free, unlimited access to over 500 courses and 8000 lectures on a wide range of subjects HARRY'S quality shaving essentials at an affordable price. Go to harrys.com and enter the promo code: LEGENDS at checkout to receive $5.00 off your order Blue Apron – Home cooking never tasted so good or was so much fun to make! Go to blueapron.com/astonishing to get 3 meals FREE on your 1st order, with FREE SHIPPING Shari's Berries – Go to Berries.com, click on the microphone in the top right hand corner of the webpage and type in, ALPod to get delicious, decadent Shari's Berries delivered to you or someone you love! The Dark Myths Collective http://darkmyths.org Credits: Episode 057 - "2nd Chances" Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Edited by Sarah Vorhees, Ryan McCullough Sound Design; Research Assistance by Tess Pfeifle and the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a,k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2016 (last...
Who doesn't love the holidays? Well, to be honest, a lot of us. But we muddle through. In this episode, we take a little stress off with some stand-up comedy from Michael McIntyre, who talks about our interesting food choices at holiday time. There is an excerpt from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", as Scrooge parts ways with the Ghost of Christmas Present (which looked nothing like Donald Trump, promise). And what would any holiday observance be without some music? Here we have Kyle Bledsoe, bluesman extraordinaire, who happens to be celebrating Christmas One with his new baby. Check out his happily bluesy version of "Silent Night". Enjoy!
Tis the season and Merry Christmas to you all. Join us as we play the Campbells Playhouse 1939 version of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol featuring Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore.
Tis the season and Merry Christmas to you all. Join us as we play the Campbells Playhouse 1939 version of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol featuring Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore.
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2009 film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Perhaps a surprise to anyone who ignored this one back in 2009, the film is a loose adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol- but with … Continue reading →
A pensioner's headgear is filling up with change, and geese are looking obese! Yes, Christmas is coming! And to get the festive season underway, Mr Jim Moon reads a suitably seasonal vintage ghost story - Our Dear Little Ghost by Elia Peattie, chats about the Victorians and Christmas, and presents an audio version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Chicago playwright Doug Armstrong shares memories from 1989 about writing his now nationally, critically acclaimed holiday theatre comedy A Christmas Twist (a parody of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist). Los Angeles stage and television actors Lauren McCormack and Jen Ray (from the hit ABC series The Middle) are interviewed about their co-starring roles in the Los Angeles revival of A Christmas Twist at the Victory Theatre Center directed by State of the Arts’ own Paul Stroili who also co-stars in the production. The State of the Arts/Breakdown Services Sweepstakes claims another weekly winner. McCormack and Ray recall embarrassing career moments. Sponsored by Breakdown Services (http://www.breakdownexpress.com/)
As we begin the season of Advent, the story of John the Baptist is front and center. This message looks at the preaching of the Baptist through the lens of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol."
Tis the season and Merry Christmas to you all. Join us as we play the Campbells Playhouse 1939 version of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol featuring Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore.
Michael Crocker begins a new series on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."
A few words to clarify some old-fashioned language, and explain some of the choices made in this recording.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge how his death will improve his world; yet offers hope in repentance.
His partner's ghost warns Scrooge of Spirits who will scare greed out, and generosity into him.
The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to happier times, and shows how he lost his way.
The Ghost of Christmas Present acquaints Scrooge with the Cratchits, his nephew's family, and the very poor.
His heart changed by the Spirits of Christmas, Scrooge begins to change his life with a rush of joy.
It's Christmas time and this week's podcast is a special one! Staying in the vein of our detective theme, I present a variation on Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" with the puckish Dick Powell in his Richard Diamond hat.Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
It's Christmas time and this week's podcast is a special one! Staying in the vein of our detective theme, I present a variation on Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" with the puckish Dick Powell in his Richard Diamond hat.Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
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