Mall Santas can make five-figures for just six weeks of work

Working as a mall elf is not always merry

Humorist David Sedaris’s classic radio piece on his time working as Crumpet the Elf at Santaland in a Macy’s revealed a darker side of Christmas, filled with tantrums and fights. First broadcast in 1992, Santaland Diaries was Sedaris’s breakout story, and NPR has annually aired the story ever since.

Mall Santas became a widespread tradition beginning in the 1900s

Santa Claus and commercialism are inextricable. In the early 1900s, department stores started putting “live” Santa Claus displays in their windows to help sell goods.

Track Santa and his industrious elves

Starting in December, you can follow along with Santa’s trek across the globe. Spend time on the map, play games, and even translate your holiday messages into other languages.

One man in Germany answers a large amount of Santa's mail

There are a few places in the world where much of Santa Claus's mail ends up, often because their name includes the jolly man's moniker. One of those places is Nikolausdorf, Germany, where Hubert Weddehage, a local government employee, has responded to Santa's mail for over 50 years.

Some believe telling children about Santa Claus is immoral

David Kyle Johnson, a professor of philosophy, thinks telling kids that Santa is real is psychologically damaging and sets them up for being more easily conned as adults.

Advent's length varies from 21 to 28 days each year

Because Advent always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, its duration varies. When Christmas falls on a Monday, Advent is unusually short, and when it falls on a Sunday, it can be nearly four full weeks long.

Mariah Carey earns millions each year from 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'

Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit has become a holiday cash machine, generating an estimated $2.5M–$3M in annual royalties. The song consistently tops the streaming charts each holiday season.

Go behind the scenes at the Macy’s Parade Studio

With dozens of balloons and floats, and thousands of costumes, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade requires year-round planning to pull off. Go behind the scenes with the designers and builders who make the magic happen. See how the floats come together and what makes this annual spectacle a reality.

What it takes to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Sentinels who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia, must do so around the clock, year-round, no matter the weather. They're also a select few: Only 735 have been permitted to serve since 1958. This documentary explores the history of the role and the strict requirements it takes to fill it.

Christmas trees are a $6B global industry

In the US, the real tree industry is valued at $2B, the reflection of nearly 30 million trees sold annually at an average profit of about $10 per tree. While each tree takes about 8 years to mature, their artificial counterparts can be made much more quickly, mostly in China, valued at over $1B as of 2020.

Newspaper delivery people, trash collectors, and more: who to tip and how much

The suggested holiday tip amount for garage attendants is between $10 and $50, whereas the suggested holiday tip amount for doormen in apartment buildings is between $25 and $100 each.

The average salary for full-time gig workers is roughly $60K a year in the US

High-earners can make more than six figures, while close to 15% make less than the federal minimum hour wage. Most gig workers in the United States still have to file a tax return every year.

A town in Peru holds a massive fistfight on Christmas

In Santo Tomás, Peru, Christmas Day features Takanakuy—organized public brawls where residents settle disputes through ritualized fistfights. The tradition, rooted in Andean customs, acts as a communal reset before the new year.

Training to be a K-pop idol is a high-pressure experience

The life of an idol is known to be arduous, but what does life look like before one even reaches fame? In this video, a reporter investigates the K-pop dance schools of South Korea and unveils a darker side of the industry. In hopes of "making it," students undergo relentless training routines and auditions to achieve their idea of perfection. While the pupils insist on their autonomy and belief in the system, there are clear pressures to conform and meet industry expectations.

Girl Scout cookies are so successful because buying them feels like giving to charity

The program generates $800M a year not because the cookies are exceptional, but because the salesforce makes refusal feel like a moral failure.

HSA spending spikes early in the year, while FSA spending peaks in December

Because health savings accounts are designed to alleviate high upfront costs for people with high deductible health plans, the majority of HSA spending happens early in the year. However, around 10% of flexible spending account funds are used in December—right before the use it or lose it deadline.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Six body doubles explain the hidden labor behind Hollywood's seamless performances

When actors faces are out of view in a film, it's likely you're seeing a body double. Six such actors describe their experiences: as a curvier set of legs in "Pretty Woman," Michael B. Jordan's double in "Sinners," Hermione when her face is out of view (to abide by child labor laws), pianist hands, and more. A rich behind-the-scenes look.

After the owner fell into a Ponzi scheme, one braiding shop in suburban Maryland began making $130K a day by staying open for 24-hours

Because braiding often takes a long time, the salon prioritizes fast, efficient styles, with two braiders often working together on a client, which increases revenue by increasing turnover. The salon has 120 seats and more than 400 contracted braiders across its 10,000-square-foot space.

Campaigning for the Westminster dog show can cost up to $6K

Before dogs make it to the high-profile Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, owners invest money in registering their dog in numerous shows, paying for professional photoshoots, and grooming services. While winning dog shows often doesn't come with cash prizes, it does usually result in more interest in the dog's breeding stock.

The complex science of snow removal

Plowing snow seems simple, but its actually a technically complex task and requires significant logistics, patience, and funding. New York City's 19,000 miles of roads require days to plow at a cost of $12M per inch of fallen snow, and roughly 17 million tons of salt were applied to road surfaces across the US in a recent year. Dive into the details of snow removal with an in-depth and funny video.

Most MBA programs require between 2 and 5 years of professional experience

There’s no blanket rule for MBA programs about how much work experience an applicant should have. However, an admissions officer at an Ivy League business school said that while they’ve seen great candidates with only a year of experience, they also saw applicants who would clearly benefit from more.

Temu ran the same Super Bowl ad five times in 2024

During 2024’s campaign, Temu spent millions of dollars on its five identical “Shop Like a Billionaire” Super Bowl spots that showed animated characters feeling extremely joyful upon receiving cheap products.

University of California Santa Barbara produced 6 Nobel prize winners

The public school system is ranked as the eighth best by Forbes, and 56 of its faculty are members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. See more figures on the school here.

Bizarre college donations and the strings attached

When donors give to a college, they regularly prescribe specific stipulations, typically to fund a professorship in their name in a certain subject. But some of those stipulations are unique, including requiring annual graveside flowers, pet adoption for 150 dogs, or the consistent teaching of Ayn Rand’s "Atlas Shrugged."

Six 'Vestal Virgins' kept the fire burning at Vesta's temple in Rome

Ancient Rome's Vestal Virgins were priestesses of the goddess Vesta and keepers of her eternal flame, tasked with keeping the sacred torch lit as a symbol of Rome's endurance. Children from well-connected aristocratic families would be selected for the role for decades of their lives.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Firework or sparkler burns, even if they cover a relatively small area of skin, can significantly affect our range of motion.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day