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
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
video
Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
video
Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
video
Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes