Hello from the Heartland. My name is Jenna, and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters.

Our Smarter series features unique people who help us think and live smarter.

I have a quick story just to kick us off for this conversation because it really speaks to why this topic is so fascinating.

So today I'm doing the regular holiday grind that so many parents are doing where your children are in school for just a couple hours before you have to pick them up.

I have my son with me who's sick, who happens to be

sick and not going to school today. So I have 90 minutes to drop off, a sick kid. The kids have to get picked up in just another hour because they're not in school at all during the before the holiday. And as I'm walking in, I say to my nine-year-old, I said, listen, I just need to, we're going to put something on TV, it's fine, it's nobody to, I just need a little bit of quiet because I have an interview. And he says, well, what is the interview? What is the interview about? And I said, well, the interviews about this poem that is 200 years old. And it's got this amazing history. me and just, you know, I'm going through, I'm trying

to make breakfast for him. And I just start saying, twas the night before Christmas and all through

the house. And I stop and he picks up. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Stockings were

hung by the chimney with care. And he's walking back to the back room, which just speaks to. Think about that. The poem

is 200 years old. And when I say, twas the night before Christmas, we all know what comes after it.

How is that even possible? So that's what we're going to talk about today. But here's the other

twist. Not only is this poem, which is officially a visit from St. Nicholas, although we often I'll call it

Twas a Night Before Christmas, not only is the poem 200 years old, but there's also periodically

been a little bit of drama and mystery around this poem, and who wrote it, although I think

we're going to solve that today. So joining us is Pamela McCall. She's an author and historian,

and she wrote the book

that so many of us needed, which establishes a collective history and context for the poem.

The title of the book is Twas the Night, The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem. And I love that, the art and the history.

Pam, how did you come up with that title?

And how did you even become interested in this poem?

Because it is a poem that we all just sort of hear

sort of washes over us every season.

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