A Christmas Tree Thrives On Farms, Struggles In The Wild The Fraser fir is found in a lot of homes around Christmas. But its wild cousins have been in decline for almost a century because of a small invasive pest. Irina Zhorov
Why Certain Poor Shepherds In Nativity Scenes Have Huge, Misshapen Throats In some historical Nativity scenes, the shepherds have grossly enlarged thyroid glands — also known today as goiter. It's an apparent symbol of their poverty and iodine-deficient diet. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Ho Ho, Oh No! Germany Has A Santa Shortage Across Europe and North America, throngs of Santa impersonators have been busy preparing children for Christmas. But in Germany, there's a lack of interest among people to play the jolly character. Rob Schmitz
Opinion: A Ye Olde Holiday Tale For 2019 NPR's Scott Simon has gotten tired of clichéd holiday stories, so he wrote one of his own. Scott Simon
Why Are There No New Christmas Songs? Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is back at the top of the chart a quarter century after it was first released. So why haven't there been any lasting Christmas songs to take its place? Chris Klimek
Candy Canals: Architects Craft Gingerbread Replica Of Venice A competition brought hundreds of architects, designers and engineers together to build a mini version of the Italian city out of Snickers, Mars bars, Jellybeans, cereal, gummy bears and more. Sophia Alvarez Boyd
'Britain's Most Famous Christmas Tree' Criticized For Looking Sparse, Droopy And Sad Every year, a Norwegian city gives London a Christmas tree in gratitude for British aid during World War II. However, many are not impressed with this year's present. Paolo Zialcita
Girl Still Believes In Santa, Even After Trump Casts Doubt On His Existence The president caused a stir when he asked a 7-year-old caller to the Santa tracker hotline whether she still believed in Saint Nick. Laurel Wamsley
Love The Holidays? The Philippines Celebrates 4 Months Of Christmas Mania Counting down from September, nine days of Mass, heaps of roast pig, colorful lights and festivities all over the place — the Filipinos know how to make the season bright, and eternal. Julie McCarthy
Gingerbread Cred: Bakers Craft Winning Edible Art Down To The Last Detail Tiny working gingerbread clock gears, meticulously hand-painted playing cards, scenes that tell stories — all comes into play at the annual National Gingerbread House Competition in North Carolina. Kristen Hartke
