Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Flying reindeer? Gifts delivered by a jolly, all-seeing man via chimney? Was someone tripping on mushrooms when they thought up Santa Claus? Well… maybe. As is usually the case with myths, Santa’s origins are hard to pin down. However, researchers such as Carl Ruck, a classicist at Boston University, and Lawrence Millman, a writer and mycologist, believe the legend of the sleigh-borne, gift-bearing figure might have emerged from the ritualistic consumption of the mushroom Amanita muscaria (fly agaric). These psychoactive fungi are thought to have been used in healing rituals by the Sámi people, indigenous to parts of modern Finland, Sweden, Russia and Norway – not far from where Santa’s workshop is purportedly located. With suitably trippy visuals, the US filmmaker Matthew Salton consults with Ruck and Millman in this holiday short exploring one potential origin of Santa Claus’s heady mythology.
Director: Matthew Salton
video
Stories and literature
Robert Frost’s poetic reflection on youth, as read in his unforgettable baritone
5 minutes
video
Sex and sexuality
After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation
14 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
‘Bags here are rarely innocent’ – how filmmakers work around censorship in Iran
8 minutes
video
Language and linguistics
Closed captions suck. Here’s one artist’s inventive project to make them better
8 minutes
video
Architecture
The celebrated architect who took inspiration from sitting, waiting and contemplating
29 minutes
video
Anthropology
Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?
4 minutes
video
Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
video
Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes