NPR Music - A very tolerable Christmas, 2025

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

We take a motorcycle road trip to Wisconsin in our annual search for the true spirit of the season. And, of course, we meet some special guests along the way.Thanks for another amazing year, and happy holidays!Listen to the songs featured on this episode and more in our holiday playlist in Apple Music and Spotify.Tell a friend about the show and leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Oh, hello? Hey man, I'm close. Are you almost ready? Yeah, I got all my bags all set to go. Awesome, I'll be pulling up in just a minute. Great. See you soon. Angels up in the pound. A gem is knowing we found something so out.

With an hour. Oh, what the... Robin. Robin, when you said we should road trip back to Wisconsin, I assumed you meant in a car? Oh, don't be a lump of. Cole, Stephen. This is a beautiful ride. I've got a sidecar here for you. You can sit in. I'll do most of the driving. You just got to sit back and enjoy it. Have you ever been to Wisconsin in December? I have not. I know it's probably cold, but look, I got a little blankie here for you. Just give me your

bag. You're not going to need that. Just get in. Let me tuck you in. You're going to be nice and warm. Can I put my bag inside? We don't got time for that. Just get in. Here, you're going to need this helmet. I'll put mine on too. Robin, how are we even going to do it here? Here, I got it for you. It's got a built-in headset. We can hear each other just through the headphones and the built-in mics in these.

I guess, I mean, at least we'll be able to keep each other awake, but, you know, we'll talk. It'll be nice. It'll be a chance for us to catch up a little bit. Listen, I wanted to do this for a long time. This is going to be awesome. Go back, see your hometown, see where you grew up, find the true spirit of the season.

Wisconsin, here we come. Hark the Herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies. With the Anjah Khans proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark the Herald angels sing, Glory to the angel's proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark, the Herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king.

Christ the highest heaven a dog of a virgin's wolf. How are you holding up, Stephen? Got to say it's a little brisk, Robin. Brisk, it'll keep you awake. It's a long drive. It's just you feel alive, don't you? I mean, honestly, if I found myself falling asleep right now, I would assume it was hypothermia.

Yeah. Yeah. Can we, speaking of staying awake, Can we listen to some music on these things? Yeah, and actually, here, just click that little button on the right. Okay. It's noise cancelling. Oh, nice. Okay.

Yeah. Is there something you want to hear? Yeah, you know, going back to Wisconsin, I think about the last few years I spent in my hometown. You know, I worked at the grocery store. And so often when I think about the holiday season, you know, I'm just kind of thinking about working on Christmas, kind of working in the run-up to Christmas. And one of my favorite holiday songs is by Harvey Danger. they have a song called Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas.

All part of Seattle, a strand of light suspended by a thumbtack in the drywall. The restaurants are closed, so are the record shops, the banks and bars and bar, sell, drugs, and so's the half-price bookstore. But the movies are always open. Repertory movie house where life is not so wonderful For 15 soggy patrons who have no better place to be Not to mention me I'm working for a holiday wage

My family's two times owns away I'm supposed to call them my vodka and snow It is melting The alcohol isn't helping You got a lobby Sitting on the coffee table Strangers and spare changers stand in line Like correlations at some kind of sad reunion

And I'm selling the tickets They come in out of the weather for Christmas alone together You know I worked in a in a grocery store too Oh yeah it's five years what was your what was your chain? It was an IGA and I was an IGA independent grocers association Yeah you know I went back to my hometown recently it's a sentry foods now and I just spit just spit on the ground Century foods that what are they thinking you know what you're gonna kill me but I need to pull over for gas I should have

I know, I should have done this. Dude, we left like 20 minutes ago. I know, I should have filled up before I came to your house to get you, but let's just pull over here. Let's only take a minute. I'll just fill it up. I'll go inside, you know, stretch my legs. You know, it's been a long time since I've stood up. It's been at least, at least 15 minutes.

Okay. Ty Siegel, as I live and breathe. Hey, man. Oh, Robin. Hey, how are you? What are you doing here? This is crazy. Stephen and I are just road tripping back to Wisconsin for the holidays.

Oh, nice. That's cool. How's the tour going? Oh, it's good, you know, we're winding down. I've got a couple more shows, you know, just cruising in the van. You're going to be able to make it home for Christmas for the holidays? Yes, yes, I'll make it home in time for, you know, nice warm cup of eggnog. I'll put on my sweater and hang out.

So you just normally spend the holidays at home? That's what you usually do? Yeah, I'm getting more and more into the holidays as I get older. and I'm less of a, you know, a harsh human. But, no, they're great. Great to hang with family. Well, and you're a dad now. I mean, you've got to try to recreate that childhood magic from, you know, like when you were growing up.

But my family woke up really early. It was like five in the morning. My mom would wake us up and listen to Christmas music and the whole thing. So I'm a little scarred with Christmas music. But now I've, you know, I'm working on a Christmas album right now. Oh, wow. Do you have a favorite Christmas song, like your go-to Christmas song? One of my favorites is Wizard, Roy Woods Band, after The Move and ELO. I wish it could be Christmas every day. That's a good one.

Well, save travels, Ty. Thanks. I'm thinking about getting a hog when I get back to. Maybe that's my Christmas present for myself, you know. Well, now that you're a dad, I can't think of any smarter move than to get a motorcycle. Totally. All right, happy holidays, ma'am. Happy holidays. Enjoy, enjoy the road. We will. Be well. Enough energy drinks to trigger a panic attack sometime in Ohio.

Okay, next. Would you have pigs in blankets here? Pigs in, no, no, no, we don't have that. I thought the British colonized era, but you're not taking any of our traditions. Okay, next. Hey, Ed? Hey. Hey, it's Stephen Thompson from NPR Music. What are you...

How are you doing? Good. You in town for the tour? Yeah, I haven't been in D.C. in a minute. It's nice. Are you going to make it home for Christmas? Yeah, totally. I think it's forced time off. Like, it's kind of a sacred time. Oh, absolutely. What did he got planned?

Yeah, it's all about the kids, I think. And also the key to making memories is always, like, events and things to do rather than actual objects and gifts. Like, I remember all of the Christmases that I had, like, we, my grandmother and grandfather lived in Ireland, and we spent Christmas there once when I was, like, six, and I remember it so. clearly and it's because where we were, how we were with my cousins and blah blah, blah. I don't remember what I got as a gift that Christmas. So really gifts are secondary to memories. We tend to do family stuff.

I built a chapel in my garden. We do, you know, Christmas carols there and mince pies and mold wine and all of that. You mentioned you sing carols when your family gets together. Do you have a favorite? Silent Night, I love, really gentle. I like Ocome, O'Cum, Emmanuel, you know that one? For sure. That's a good one.

And then Muppets Christmas Carol, that must have been big here, right? Yeah, the Muppets, perfect. Perfect pick. Are you a Muppet fan? I grew up on the Muppets, yeah. Yeah, I got to meet the Muppets with Ricky Jervais, weirdly. He was filming a movie with them. I've never seen a man happier in my life than Ricky Jervais with the Muppets.

I don't blame him one bit. Hey, I'll let you go, but safe travels, happy holidays. Happy holidays. It's in the singing of the street corner choir, It's going home and getting warm by the fire. It's true wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas. A cup of kindness that we share with another, A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother.

In all the places you find love, it feels like Christmas. It is the season of the heart. A special time of caring the ways of love make clear. And it is the season of the spirit. The message here we hear it is make it last on here. Giving up a gift to another, a pair of mittens that were made by your mother. It's all the ways that we show love that feel like Christmas. Upon a giant will always remember,

It is the summer of the soul in December. Yes, when you do your best for love, it feels like Christmas. It is the season of the heart, A special time of caring the ways of love made clear. It is the season of the spirit, The message if we hear it is make it last all year. It's in the singing of a street corner choir. It's going home and getting warm by the fire.

It's true wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas. It's true wherever you find love. It feels like Christmas. feels like Christmas So Stephen, what are we going to do when we get to Wisconsin? Tell me all about it. What is, are you asking me what there is to do in Wisconsin? Yeah, I mean, there is so much.

I feel like I've talked to you about this a million times. Do you not listen to me when I talk? Maybe I just need reminding. I mean, where to begin? I mean, Friday fish fry. You know, have you ever had Friday fish fry? I actually have, you know, I'm from rural Kansas. It's not that, you know, different.

I imagine. We've done that. We've done the fish fry. Yeah, it's not a Wisconsin fish fry. You can do a Wisconsin fish boil. That's different from a fish fry. But basically, you get like deep fried white fish, you know, like a cod, something like that. It's really lovely. And, you know, you go to really, you know, any supper club, you know, even some bars, you know, we'll do fish fry on Fridays. But you go to a bar. Honestly, you go to a bar. There are two things that you're going to need. If you're a person who drinks, you want to get a spotted cow. And you can get spotted cow beer. It's by the new glariroarical. Brewing Company, you can only get Nuglerus beer in the state of Wisconsin. There have actually been bars outside the state of Wisconsin that have been rated for trying to sell Nuglerus beer. You can't do it. It's illegal. But you can get a spotted cow just about any place, even the diviest bar you can imagine.

And the thing is, Newlaris, it's good beer. But the other thing you've got to get, and I know some people, they might be lactose intolerant. Carry a little can of lactate around. Wisconsin is just lean and me. back in a big old chair, watching the Green Bay Packers, watching the Wisconsin Badgers, watching the Milwaukee Brewers, watching the Milwaukee Bucks. Like, you know, Wisconsin sports, you know, just a great, great tradition. You know, the Brewers, they were pretty good this year.

Right now, you know, bad. I'm not a big hunter or fisherman, but, you know, Wisconsin's got tons and tons of wildlife. You know, I always say Wisconsin, that's like Illinois's playground. You know, anytime you see somebody driving like a maniac, you know, up on one of those highways in Wisconsin 41. or whatever. And you're like, oh, yep, Illinois license plate, don't you know? You know, so, you know, a lot of people kind of come to Wisconsin to participate in from Wisconsin. The actor Tony Shalube, he's from Wisconsin.

You know, when he played the tiny desk as part of a Broadway show, he saw the Packers Helmet on my desk and walked over and was like, hey, man, are you from Wisconsin? And we started talking about, you know, him being from that state and me being from that state. I mean, there's Bonnie Verre, too, you know, Justin Vernon. He's from O'Clair. Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve. This is amazing. I truly cannot wait to get there. It's you've... Greatest state in the union. I'm actually getting kind of hungry. Do you have anything? Do you have any snacks? Did you get anything at the store?

Well, Robin, you know where I had a lot of snacks? In my suitcase? You know where my suitcase is? Yeah. It's in my yard. All right. Well, we just need to pull over then. It looks like there's maybe a truck stop up here. Yeah, what's this place? The Wizard's Breath? And I don't want to spend a lot of time. I know we've got a long. way to go. I just want to pick up a snack or something. Yeah, yeah, no, I get it. Wow, this place is huge. They need IDs? What kind of truck stop needs IDs? That's weird. Just grab a basket here. Hey, isn't that Sarah Tudson? Here? Yeah, the Illuminati Hotties. Yeah, no, where are she? Hey, Sarah. Hey, guys. Hey, how you doing? I'm doing good. I feel great. Yeah, you feel in the spirit of the season here at the Wizard's Breath? The holidays are a very strange minute.

of beauty and wonder and also sort of like profound loneliness in a weird way. Just because I feel like it is such like a time to think about your whole year and like what's led you to the holidays. But also it's great to be around family. It's great to see people that come back into town that I haven't seen. No, but I completely hear you. I mean, I think that sense of melancholy and loneliness is a part of the swirl of emotions that goes into the holidays.

And it's honestly, it's one reason that Robin and I are taking this trip. You know, we're going back to Wisconsin, see my mom, see some friends. What about you? Usually I spend Christmas with my partner's family because my folks don't really do Christmas, but then my sister and brother-in-law come in for Thanksgiving and, like, you know, we'll do a little New Year's thing. It's also beautiful to me. Like, I think there's just, like, lights and, like, you know, telling each other we love each other

is like a beautiful celebration that's just in our culture, you know? You actually did a Christmas song with the Luminati Hotties, right? Christmas wish list, what we all asked for? To me, it just feels like a time for reconnecting, and a time for eating good food and, like, being cozy. And also, yeah, just like thinking about everything that's sort of, it's a pause on the year, I guess, in a way that we don't usually get.

So I made a Christmas song just because it feels like a universal truth, I think. Do you have a favorite Christmas song? I do. I think that, I think, this is tough, actually. There's a lot of great ones. I'm going to say white Christmas. To me, what's special about, like,

white Christmas or I'll Be Home for Christmas, songs in that sort of canon, they do this, like, amazing thing of speaking about a holiday and joyousness, but with this sort of, like, nostalgic, dark, emotional tilt, and it's just sort of like the classic chords that are being used

and the melodies that are being used and the content of sneaking in deep sadness with sort of wonder at the holiday season has always been so deeply sort of deep sadness disguised by the beauty and the comfort of what's going on in the music. I couldn't agree more. Happy holidays. Yeah, Sarah, we got to hit the robe.

Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Have a great one. You too. Dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where those streets are, listen, and children listen. Slee bells in the snow, the snow. But then I am dreaming of a white Christmas.

with every Christmas card I ride May your days, may your days be merry and bright Where the tree tops Now I'm dreaming What did you get from the store? They had some, you know, it was weird I expected kind of more like your usual Slim Jims and sunflower seeds and stuff

But it was mostly a bunch of pre-wrapped kind of organic health snacks Let's see, I got something called called Jolato 41. That could be good. White chocolate. Oh, something called Northern Lights. That could be nice. We're heading north.

Hmm. Yeah. You know what? Let's try the Northern Lights. Let's see what that tastes like. Okay. It's kind of earthy. Mm.

It's dry. Yeah. It's very crunchy. I don't know. I mean, I guess, you know, it's healthy. You're not going to get the kind of preservatives and got a weird kind of aftertaste. Mm. Well, look, the snow's really coming down right now.

We've got a long way to go. I'm hoping to just drive straight through. We need to get going. But anyway, get yourself some cheese curds. And look, you can get the cheese curds, you know, like in a little bag at the supermarket. Yeah. And they're super delicious. And if they're really fresh, they're sweet.

Into Christmas. I'm sliding into New Year. He says, Eve since you're a special phone. Robin, the snow is terrible. Can you see? I can see fine in the snow, but I don't feel so good, Stephen. Yeah, I gotta say, do you feel hot? Is it hot? I feel hot. I feel hot.

I'm feeling very weird. Oh, coat is just so restrictive. Steve, keep your coat on. It's freezing. Oh, I'm just burning up. I'm gonna take off my helmet. What are you doing? Stephen, do you see that thing in the road up ahead? Robin, have you ever seen a book called Wisconsin Death Trip?

It's like a picture book of photos from this town in Wisconsin. There's no time for that right now. Do you see? It's what is it? It's pulling us in. Stephen, are you okay? I think so. Where are we? Must be Wisconsin. I think we still had 13 hours to go.

Oh, I don't think so. Do you see the lights? Yeah, the swirls of green, but even like little notes of purple. It's just beautiful. What is it? Is that Sarah McLaughlin? Yeah, it's the timeless classic Angel from her Juno and Grammy Award-winning 1997 album surfacing. No, not the song. Sarah, there, in the clouds.

Hi, Robin, how are you? Are we? Is, is this heaven? Um, the world is very cyclical and things come and things go and... That's not terribly reassuring, Sarah. Have you ever really looked at your hands? Sorry, that's Stephen. We're just trying to get to Wisconsin. Is there a way out of here?

Like, what should we do? We have to pick ourselves back up and dust ourselves off and keep moving forward and keep trying to stay open and, you know, keep our hearts open and not shut down. It's wild. I've got two hands, but then each one has five little hands. Okay. Well, I'm so sorry, Sarah.

Stevens just, I think he's just really feeling the wonder and awe of the season, you could say. I know you love this time of year, too. I love it. I love that everybody gets together. I mean, when you think about the Christmas songs, for me, singing, I love singing, I love singing with other people. And caroling is a super fun thing to do. We have the singing in Vancouver called the Christmas train. And we all go every year when we had kids, and now we just all go as adults.

And you wait in this ridiculously long line. They put you in these pins. And I'm just like, okay. We're all going to sing. We all just start singing at the top of her lungs, and I kind of get everybody going to sing, and they're like, who is this weirdo in the Santa hat?

Do you ever, like, find yourself kind of going through the day and thinking, like, what would Santa think of how I'm making my way through this day? Am I being nice? Am I being naughty? Stephen, you're not helping. Maybe, Sarah, maybe there's a song, I think, you know, maybe a song, something to get us back down to earth. Do you have like a favorite holiday song that can help?

River, Joni Mitchell. The most depressing Christmas song ever. It is a modern, modern Christmas song. But yeah, it's just, you know, I think a lot of people are sad at Christmas. I mean, it really conjures up a lot of big emotions about family and loss and holidays can be tough. That song just epitomizes that so perfectly, yet it's so devastatingly beautiful. at the same time. Well, I don't even know if you're really here, but happy holidays, Sarah.

Happy holidays. Cutting down trees, they're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace. Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on. But it don't snow here stays pretty green. I'm going to make a lot of money. Then I'm going to quit this craig. He's seen I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to could skate away on tried hard to help me you know he put me at ease

and he loved me so naughty made me weak in the knees oh I wish I had a river I could skate away so hard to handle I'm selfish and I'm sad now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had oh I wish I had a river I could skate away I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to skate away they're putting up reindeer singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could ski Old, but my skin feels hot but also numb. Dude, you don't even have a coat.

Oh, look at, look. You were making, you were lying in a snow angel, Stephen. You've been making snow angels. Aw, I have two. It's pretty. Listen, we need somebody to come and get us here. I have no idea. I don't have my phone.

Do you have your phone? Yeah, it's... Oh, Robin. It's in my suitcase. Oh. Alright, that one's on me, buddy. I'm sorry. Do you know how many Pokemon I could have caught by now?

You and your Pokemon. That game is like 50 years old now. You're the only person who's still playing that. Oh, man. You know what? Pokemon go to the farmhouse I see in the distance. Just come on, it's close. We'll be there in a minute.

You know if we were in Wisconsin right now, you know where we'd be? We'd be in Silver Lake Lanes, Scandinavia, Wisconsin, bowling up a storm, cheese cream. Enough with Wisconsin. All right? Look, there's a light coming from that barn up there. Let's just, we'll just walk up to it. Hey, fellas.

Randy, Carlisle, is this? Can we come in? You're more than invited. It's just I've had the same, I've lived in the same log cabin since I was 21 years old, and it looks like it was built for a Christmas decoration. Well, it's beautiful. I can't believe how you've got it all decorated.

It's really incredible. I live for this time of year. I start putting up lights on November 1st, and then it never stops until around March when I haven't taken down. I don't know. I think when I was, you know, growing up with my brother and sister and mom and dad

in a single-wide mobile home, there were some pretty sparse holiday seasons. But my mom, that was like the one time of the year that my mom was just not having the poverty thing. She was not going to do it. And it didn't matter what we had, the over-the-top drama around how she would engage with us around Christmas was just like the most joyful thing. Like, it didn't matter what we had or didn't have. We wake up in the morning and she would just be ridiculous yelling, Santa came and making everybody get out of bed, like up until we were like 17.

And I don't know. I think I've just carried that sort of just toxic enthusiasm into my adult. life around holidays. Well, thanks for having us in and happy holidays, Brandy. Yeah, happy holidays, Brandy. You know, we didn't make it to Wisconsin, but I'm glad we made it here. Happy holidays to you.