Christmas expert James Cooper joins Bob and Ben to explain how Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and other Christmas traditions made their way into popular culture. He also shares stories of lesser known traditions, such as setting fire to the giant Swedish straw goat known as the Gävlebocken!
You can find out more about the history of Santa Claus and Christmas at James Cooper’s website WhyChristmas.com
This is a rebroadcast of RTN #82, which originally aired on December 18, 2017 and has since become a RTN Holiday Classic Episode. This reair was edited by Ben Sawyer.
On February 4, 1962, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened its doors in Memphis, TN with a promise to help victims of childhood cancer regardless of race, religion, or national origin. Since then the hospital has treated thousands of children from all over the world, and has played a vital role in increasing the survival rate of children diagnosed with cancer to more than 80%. And in more than five decades of operation, St. Jude has provided its services to children and their families for free.
As the CEO of St. Jude’s fundraising arm (ALSAC) and the son of one of its founders, Richard Shadyac knows a thing or two about the past and present of St. Jude Hospital. In our conversation he explains the positive impact that St. Jude Hospital has had across the world and how actor Danny Thomas’ promise to the patron saint of lost causes became a reality.
This is a rebroadcast of RTN #31, which originally aired on November 23, 2016. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
This week on the Road to Now, Bob welcomes leadership consultant, author, and speaker Dov Baron. Inc. Magazine has named Dov one of the top 100 leadership speakers in the country and his Curiosity Bites podcast the number one leadership podcast. For over two decades Dov has advised business leaders, politicians, entertainers, scientists, and musicians, about how to discover their emotional source code.
In this episode we get to meet Dov and hear him work his magic with his newest client: America. You don’t want to miss this unique episode of The Road to Now.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
The Netflix series The Last Czars and HBO’s Chernobyl have (in very different ways) brought Russian & Soviet history to televisions across the world. In this episode, Ben sits down with fellow Russian historians Dr. Philippa Hetherington and Dr. Jonathan Waterlow to discuss their opinions on the two series, what they think they got right, and ways that producers and scholars might benefit most from collaboration on future projects. Philippa, who is a featured scholar in The Last Czars, shares her experience being interviewed, her impression of the show after seeing it, and her work to correct historical errors that viewers identified after release.
This episode is a rebroadcast of RTN #141, which originally aired on Sept. 2, 2019. Tragically, Philippa Heatherington passed away on November 5, 2022 after a long fight with cancer. She was a brilliant scholar, an advocate for those living with cancer, and a genuinely delightful human being. You can learn more about her work at PhilippaHeatherington.com.
This reair was edited by Ben Sawyer.