It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics,

the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history.

So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore.

Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This special edition, Christmas Eve show is brought to you by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Welcome, and thanks for joining us for a special Christmas Eve edition of Clay and Buck.

As so many of us prepare to celebrate the Christmas season, presents under the tree, hugs

and laughs with loved ones, family, friends, it is worth taking a moment to look back in time at some of the great challenges,

struggles, and battles that were fought over Christmas,

and one that immediately comes to mind takes us to World War II,

the Battle of the Bulge.

Now, before I get into what happened and how it stretched over the Christmas holiday

in 1944, and in fact, that was a major turning point.

You can imagine being deep in the snow, fighting in the dense forest of Europe against Nazis, SS, right

there on the front lines. We'll dive into that in a moment, but let's just talk about what led up to

the Battle of the Bulge and the turning point on Christmas. It was a summer of 1944, and the entire war was at a marked change.

The Allied invasion of Normandy in June had broken through Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall,

and by August, Paris was liberated.

The German army was in retreat across most of Western Europe, and the Allies were advancing

rapidly toward the borders of the Third Reich. By September, the situation seemed grim

...