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On this edition of B-Side, Tamara Keith and Erika Kelly visit Union Square in San Francisco and find it filled with holiday cheer – and a couple of hundred intoxicated people dressed as Santa.  And the B-Side Radio crew brings you stories of holiday cooking, shopping, tree hunting and charity gone awry.

Liner Notes:

Learning to Make Latkes: Tamara Keith
It turns out making latkes the right way doesn’t involve following the family recipe.

Do it Yourself Tree: Ethan Lindsey
Ethan grabs a microphone and a saw and heads out into the woods to chop down his own Christmas tree.

Mom Made Toy: Erika Kelly
Who needs Toys R Us when you can make your son a wooden toy by hand.

I Love You Santa: Scott Gurian
Scott tells us about his father’s attempt to play Santa and what went wrong.

Kindle: Rene Gutel
Rene tells us about her husband’s Christmas present and an ethical dilema.

We started out putting together a show we were planning to call “Nerd Alert.” But soon we realized that most of our stories were really about games…nerdy games, but games nonetheless. So, B-Side’s Tamara Keith went to the E For All video game convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center in search of both games and nerds. They weren’t hard to find.

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In zoology, crepuscular refers to animals becoming active at twilight or before sunrise, as do bats and certain insects and birds. On this edition of B-Side Tamara Keith and Rene Gutel explore dusk, with a walk on a busy trail. Stories include a visit to the National Zoo, an exploration of “magic hour,” and a trip to the top of the empire state building with the man who lights it up.

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In zoology, crepuscular refers to animals becoming active at twilight or before sunrise, as do bats and certain insects and birds. On this edition of B-Side we look at what humans do between the hours of 4 and 6 AM. B-Side’s Tamara Keith and Rene Gutel visit a 24-hour big box super center to see who works and shops before dawn.

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How do you cope with a rough day? Perhaps some comfort food? On this edition of B-Side we’re talking about food and coping.

First: B-Side’s Tamara Keith cooks up a pot of her mom’s vegetarian lentil soup and explores food and our relationship to food.

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Then: We visit a bar. It’s the kind of place where you can get a strong drink a disappear. And it seems the appropriate location to do a show about coping.  B-Side explores the things we do to deal with the unexpected, the unpleasant, the sometimes miserable parts of life.

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Two shows we love, combined into one: The Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary People meets Clues.  First, B-Side’s Tamara Keith suits up for a game of roller hockey and brings us stories of ordinary people with extraordinary lives. Then we retire to the den for a round of Clue as we explore mysteries and clues.

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Rene Gutel is an award-winning journalist based in Phoenix, Arizona. She contributes stories regularly to National Public Radio and other radio programs across the country. Rene has won journalism awards in Alaska, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and five regional “Edward R. Murrow” awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In February 2009, the Associated Press, Television and Radio Association awarded her two “Mark Twain” awards for sports and feature reporting.