Dear Santa, Howdy from Texas, big man. Hope things are well up at the North Pole, where I assume the ice hasn’t melted, the power grid works, and y’all haven’t deported any elves. I’m writing because I have a few tiny Christmas wishes for next year. Nothing huge. Just small, achievable miracles on par with, […]
Tag: Christmas
Posted inOpinion
Remember the ‘War on Christmas’? I Kinda Miss It.
Remember the “War on Christmas”? Yes, that early-2000s fever dream when Fox News convinced half the country that “Happy Holidays” was basically Sharia law in a festive font. A time when the right blamed “secularists” for everything, but everyone understood the subtext: post-9/11 panic, a dash of Islamophobia, and a preview of the endlessly escalating […]
Posted inCulture
An ‘Over-the-Top’ Megachurch Christmas Show Has Divided Social Media, Again
Over the weekend, thousands gathered to watch approximately 1,200 volunteers in17,000 costumes, a 50-piece orchestra, and 21 animals take the stage at Prestonwood Baptist Church’s Christmas show in Plano, among beaming lights and angels ‘flying’ on harnesses. The holiday show, titled “Gift of Christmas,” has been a tradition of the church for about 40 years, […]
Posted inCulture
The Most Thoughtful, Unusual Gifts We Received This Year
It is time once again to break out the Bonne Maman advent calendar, host festive dinner parties, and snuggle up on your green Joybird couch with a chic, overpriced blanket. With the holidays inevitably come gift guides. While we’re no Wirecutter (yet???), I’ve been an avid gift-guide consumer for most of my adult life. And […]
Posted inMusic
‘Beyoncé Bowl’ NFL Halftime Performance Was a Master Class in Black Joy & Authenticity
“As Black people, the world is a lot more surreal,” Tony- and Emmy-nominated multidisciplinary artist Daniel J. Watts told me in 2023. “You have to pay attention to it enough to acknowledge — awareness — and you can’t stare too directly at it, or it’ll steal your ability to do anything. So, it’s threading the […]
Posted inCulture
The Best Christmas Ever, and the Gift of a Lifetime
The year was 1987, and the Nintendo Entertainment System was all I thought about. The Japanese video game console was king of the universe, and I wanted one. I was 11 years old and my life sucked in the ways that every 11 year old’s life sucks. Adolescence was knocking, I was short, and I […]
Posted inCrime
Texas Takes Gold in the Stolen Package Olympics
It’s official: Texans get their packages stolen more than residents of any other state. Happy Monday! Yes, we’re the undisputed champion of porch piracy, according to a report from the sports betting site Action Network. With a whopping 29.8% chance of your holiday presents going MIA, Texans might as well start installing conveyor belts straight […]
Posted inCulture
This Holiday Season, Give Yourself Some Peace of Mind
Hey there listeners, and welcome back. It’s that fallow period between Thanksgiving, Christmas (Hanukkah!), and New Year’s. Time barely counts, calories sure as shit don’t, and your bank account is full of Monopoly money. I am not the man to tell you what to do with all that cash burning a hole in your pocket. […]