April 1, 2026: Selling Out Santa Out in the World: Podcasts

[My awesome wife Vaughn Joy’s book Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy has been out for about four months, which means Vaughn has had the chance to share it through a ton of book talks, podcast episodes, writing, and more. So this week I’ll highlight a handful of such occasions, leading up to a special post featuring my own thoughts on this must-read book!]

On takeaways from three of the many podcast episodes where Vaughn’s had a chance to share her book and its contexts.

1. History on Film: Of course film history has comprised one main throughline of Vaughn’s podcast appearances, whether talking directly about holiday films as she did for Pod Only Knows (with a focus on the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34^th Street) or engaging with other contemporary films as she did for You’re Missing Out (with a focus on 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy). But Ross Lennon’s History on Film podcast offers a particularly wide-ranging space to discuss not only film histories, but also related topics including media studies and technology. Given how often Vaughn’s podcast conversations have (understandably) focused on Christmas contexts, it was fascinating to hear her locate her focal films and historical period within the broad sweep of mid-20^th century film and media histories, as well as their longstanding 19^th century origins and ongoing 21^st century echoes.  
2. Unsung History: Vaughn’s had the chance to appear on Kelly Therese Pollock’s excellent Unsung History podcast multiple times (as have I, because Kelly is just a mensch like that), including this 2023 Christmas special and this 2021 live episode; she also appeared alongside fellow scholarly guest Reba Wissner on Kelly & Jamie Goodall’s delightful podcast Uncorked History in 2022. Going back on Unsung History to talk about Selling Out Santa was thus a no-brainer, and the conversation was as engaging and thought-provoking as they always are with Kelly. Perhaps more than any other podcast conversation for this book, this one allowed Vaughn to develop at length the kinds of multilayered, nuanced, close reading film analyses that are at the heart of Selling Out Santa, and that both open up new layers to seemingly familiar films like It’s a Wonderful Life and help us engage with largely forgotten but very telling ones like Susan Slept Here. We can always count on Unsung History to highlight our work at its best!
3. Freedom Over Fascism: To say that a book project on mid-20^th century federal government investigations into and interference with cultural works, McCarthy-era fears and prejudices, and the conflicts between social conservatism and American ideals has echoes in our own 21^st century moment is to understate the case. Vaughn has certainly made those contemporary connections frequently, whether in her own writing like this September article for Clio & the Contemporary or as an interviewed expert in pieces like Christopher’s Klein’s History.com article from December. But it was still great to hear her talk at length with Freedom Over Fascism host Stephanie G. Wilson (a longtime supporter of our work) about both such specific contemporary connections and complementary, crucial contexts such as media literacy and cinematic propaganda. Topics we sure need to think a lot more about if we’re gonna make it through this current moment—with the help of books and voices like Vaughn’s!

Next book convo tomorrow,

Ben

PS. If you’ve had a chance to check out the book, and/or have ideas for places or ways Vaughn can talk about it, feel free to reach out!