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Listen: The Not-So-True Story Of Santa's Naughty-Or-Nice Division

Photo Illustration by NPR

You can listen to our special audio holiday card here.


Santa sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake ... but how does he do it? Sure, the elves lend a hand — but, as it turns out, hours of surveillance video make the job a lot easier.

This year, we present an audio Christmas card to share the real* story on how the North Pole decides who's naughty or nice.

Our radio drama, "Naughty Or Nice," comes from the podcast The Truth. It's a story about Santa and his elves — but these aren't the elves or the jolly, bearded patriarch you know from children's stories. Let's just say they're a bit ... edgier.

So open our holiday card and listen as the elves grapple with office politics and the ethics of an imaginary Christmas industry. You can listen now, download it for your travels or tune in on Christmas Day to hear it live on All Things Considered.


* And by "real," we mean, "entirely fictional."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.