Dickens and Christmas
Guest: Lucinda Hawksley, author, broadcaster, lecturer, great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, author of, "Dickens and Christmas."
Charles Dickens’ young life sounds like it came straight out of A Christmas Carol: his father was arrested and sent to debtors’ prison, and young Dickens went to work in a factory to help support the family. Listen here to learn more about the man who started the Victorian obsession with Christmas, and penned the most beloved Christmas classic of all time.

The Making of Christmas As We Know It
Guest: Ainissa Ramirez, Material Scientist, Science Communicator and Author of “The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another"
You probably haven’t heard of Henry Bessemer, but he may be as important as the beloved Saint Nick in our modern Christmas traditions. Today, we are talking to Ainissa Ramirez about this unexpected Christmas hero and how railroads made modern Christmas possible.