A special Christmas briefing
‘The most wonderful time of the year’
Christmas carolers serenaded a herd of 28 cattle at a New York dairy farm this month. Christmas markets appeared all over Europe as fairytale street markets. And even in the farthest reaches of the cosmos, cheer can be found: the winking lights of the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster shine from a distance of about 4.3 billion light-years.
For much of the Northern Hemisphere, late December brings the shortest days of the year. The holidays are a welcome explosion of light, cheer and relief in the darkness.
You don’t really have to celebrate Christmas either. It’s the season of Kwanzaa, founded less than a century ago by a Southern California Black Power activist who offers an alternative to a “white” Christmas. Hanukkah wrapped up a few weeks ago, but latkes and donuts are a welcome addition to any table.
Maybe you plan to watch “Die Hard,” “A Christmas Story,” or “The Snowman” today. Maybe you started your Monday with Christmas, or you ended it with Chinese food and a movie. Maybe you’re visiting family, taking time to volunteer, or being grateful for a day of relative peace to spend in blissful solitude. Maybe you work as Sinterklaas. (And if today is another workday for you, we tip our hats to you.)
Whatever Christmas Day you are hoping for, we wish you a Merry Christmas. (Tomorrow we return to normal programming.)
For now, your briefing writers in Melbourne, Australia (Natasha) and London (Amelia) toast to you, and to another year together.
Great Holiday reads:
IN BRIEF
The coming year
A groundbreaking Supreme Court justice, a 1950s pop superstar turned civil rights activist, a major first lady, a producer who changed the sitcom, one of the most fearsome players in football history and many more notable people died in 2023. We looked back and remembered them.
1. Can you name the four people pictured above?
2. Which word – slang for ‘style, charm or attractiveness’ – has Oxford chosen as its 2023 Word of the Year?
3. What was the first name of half of all authors shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize?
4. The puggle is the offspring of which egg-laying species?
5. Where did this year’s UN Climate Summit take place?
6. What is the name of the founder of the crypto trading company FTX?
7. Which American pop singer has been responsible for kick-starting local economies around the world during the world tour?
8. How long was Britain under Roman rule to the nearest century?
9. What is the name of the baking technique in which butter is folded and rolled into dough?
10. What color is the gemstone peridot?
The answers to this quiz are at the end of this email.
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Your holiday memories
We asked readers to share their fond memories of the holidays. These have been lightly edited and condensed.
“To make sure our boys wouldn’t wake us at dawn on Christmas morning, we asked Santa to leave a present at their bedside to keep them busy until a reasonable hour. Always a book!” — Jacqueline Pepper in England
“Every year in Michigan my grandmother would send us big tins full of homemade Christmas cookies. On Christmas Eve we drove around town with cookie jars in tow, listening to Christmas music and stories and looking at the lights. We stopped wherever poor souls had to work, and each of us donated some cookies to the lonely workers.” — Michael Hilliard in Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.
“We lived in a middle-class neighborhood in Erie, Pennsylvania, with a mix of cultural backgrounds. On Christmas Eve we would have a big tree cutting party for our family and all our adult Jewish neighbors. There was no ecumenism or any religious difference – they were just neighbors sharing their different cultures and joys with others.” —Michael Warner in India
“Every December 24 we go to church in the evening to hear the Christmas mass. At midnight our family enjoys a simple ‘Noche Buena’ meal. On Christmas morning, the highlight of the day is gift giving, from our “Ninong/Ninang” (godfather/godmother) or to our “Inaanak” (godson). Philippine Christmas. This is what it’s all about.” — JT Cuenca in the Philippines.
“As an only child of divorced parents, Christmas can be difficult. There were no big, noisy family gatherings. But my mother and I developed a “just right” tradition. On Christmas Eve we ate Chinese takeaway meals straight from the square containers printed with cheerful, Christmas-red dragons. Then we drove through the city, looking at the lights.” — Sascha Gleckler in Berlin, Germany