EPISODE · Dec 23, 2025 · 39 MIN
🎙️ Episode 28: Keeping Up With The Clauses
from Awesomely Off-Topic: Books, Brands, Business and Everything Else We’re Not Supposed to Say Out Loud · host Taz Thornton and Asha Clearwater
Christmas feels ancient, cosy and untouchable.It’s also been aggressively meddled with - mostly by the Victorians.In this episode, we unpack how angels ended up policing the top of the tree, how Christmas pudding started out (you really would NOT have wanted custard with it!), why tinsel wasn't always tacky, and how class, comparison and respectability quietly rewired the season.This is Christmas traditions through a brand lens - part folklore, part rebrand, part Victorian PR disaster. Also, I think we deserve points for not calling it 'Brand AId: Do They Know It's Christmas?'. Ahem... moving swiftly on...This is festive, fascinating and just uncomfortable enough to make you look at your tree differently. Get it downloaded, you cheeky little Christmas elf, you! xSomething you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d love to hear from you. Support the show✨ Unfiltered. Unedited. Awesomely Off-Topic. New episodes every Tuesday.Follow us on Instagram for more rants, rambles and random brilliance: 👋 @AwesomelyOffTopic, plus our co-hosts @thetazthornton + @ashaclearwater
What this episode covers
Christmas feels ancient, cosy and untouchable. It’s also been aggressively meddled with - mostly by the Victorians. In this episode, we unpack how angels ended up policing the top of the tree, how Christmas pudding started out (you really would NOT have wanted custard with it!), why tinsel wasn't always tacky, and how class, comparison and respectability quietly rewired the season. This is Christmas traditions through a brand lens - part folklore, part rebrand, part Victorian PR disaster. Als...
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🎙️ Episode 28: Keeping Up With The Clauses
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