This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. When the holidays start to feel a bit repetitive, reach for a sprite winter spice cranberry and put your twist on tradition. It's a refreshing way to shake things up this sip in season and only for a limited time. Sprite, obey your thirst.
This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability, and concentration issues, it may be due to OSA. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation.
Learn more at don'tsleep on osa.com. This information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company. Mm-hmm.
So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage? Just adds more to manage, on top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages. Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business.
Let's create smarter business. IBM. This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. For the second season in a row, I partnered with T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T-Mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to the next level.
Now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. A huge congrats to Derricks High School in Derricks, Arkansas, home of the Outlaws and your 2025 T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights Champion. They scored a home field upgrade, Gronk Fitness Weight Room, a 2026 tailgate party, and an all-expense paid trip to the SEC Championship game. To every school that competed, posted, and rallied your communities. Thank you.
And a big thanks to T-Mobile for making it all possible and helping community shine under the Friday night lights. This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for season three in 2026. Did you know Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop.
Voted PC Mag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop Brand for 2025. Thin and ultra-lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere. And Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com/slash iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PC Mag Reader's Choice used with permission.
All rights reserved. The first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. The second day of Christmas, my true love came to me. Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. The third day of Christmas.
This is Our American Stories, and today we're telling the story of a song. And since it's Christmas time, we thought we'd do it. About one of our most beloved Christmas songs. And that's serving Berlin's white Christmas. Irving Berlin was a Jewish immigrant from Russia.
who came to America fleeing anti-Semitism. That's right. The man who gave us white Christmas. One of the most popular Christmas songs of all time. was Jewish.
By the way, he also wrote God Bless America. And he was from Russia. Only in America, folks. Irving Berlin had no formal musical education. He could not read or write music.
and taught himself how to play piano. In fact, he only used the black keys. At one point Berlin even boasted of his ignorance of music. He said that because he didn't know the rules of music, he was actually free to violate them. Berlin wrote over 1,000 songs, many of which have become American standards.
The one we are focusing on today rises above them all. Along with God Bless America. It's hard to write one. like that in your lifetime. Berlin wrote dozens.
Most of us know the Bing Crosby version of White Christmas. That version sold over fifty million copies, and it is still the best selling single of all time, along with one of the most recorded songs in history. In nineteen forty two it spent eleven weeks on the top of the Billboard charts. The first performance of White Christmas by Bing was on Christmas Day, nineteen forty one, on NBC radio show called The Craft Music Hall. This was a mere eighteen days after the tragedy at Pearl Harbor.
The US had officially joined the war.
Soon, very soon, we would be sending thousands, hundreds of thousands, of our sons. Overseas. In nineteen forty two Bing traveled abroad to perform for our troops. Which song did American GI s ask for the most? You got it.
White Christmas. a song that reminded them of hearth and home. Bing said, quote, I hesitated about doing it because invariably it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men. That it made them sad, and Heaven knows I didn't come that far to make them sad. For this reason several times I tried to cut it out of the show, but these guys just hollered for it.
Although Crosby dismissed his role in the song's success, saying later that a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully. He was associated with it for the rest of his career. Sadly, the original recording from nineteen forty one was lost, but was later re recorded in nineteen forty seven. Since then it has been covered by a number of others, including Sinatra Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, even Bob Marley and the Whalers. Other covers of this song, along with Crosby's, have sold over one hundred and fifty million copies.
Let's hear a few of these renditions. The American punk rock band Bad Religion, known for their harmonies and controversial lyrics, tried to make this their own. Come on. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know where the tree tops close and chill.
Okay, maybe that one's not playing around the old family tree. Just could be. Here's another unexpected version of White Christmas. Bye, Bob Marley. And his whalers.
I am dreaming of a white Christmas Not like the ones I used to know You and the bells are cheerful and cheerful Okay, maybe that one's not the one we're listening to around the Christmas tree either. Hey, let's take a listen now. to Elvis Presley's White Christmas. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Just like the One like Do you know where those streets are literally?
I'm Cheers. Really sun. Two Yeah. Slave Yeah. And see, that's the thing about trying to record a song that's just perfect.
I mean, these are great people. You know, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, I'm not sure about Bad Religion. But These are some of the greats. And when you try to add your own twist. To something that's just straight and perfect?
Sometimes you just have to leave things alone. It's like some movies you shouldn't do a remake of. You just should leave him alone. That's why our favorite will always be Bings, because it's just sung straight as an arrow. Bing gets out of the way, gets out of the way of the words.
and jest sings it. Fellow composer Jerome Kern once said of Irving Berlin And we're going to get to that in a bit. Uh Bing Crosby's version. Irving has no place in American music. He is American music.
And a similar thing can be said about White Christmas, Christmas. And this version Of Bing Crosby's. Classic. About 25 years ago, Mr. Irving Berlin strung together a touch of words and music.
It'll become sort of a special sound at Christmas to a lot of people.
Now, if I may, I'd like to. You're talking about White Christmas, aren't you? Yeah.
Well, we were just wondering, since there are so many wonderful voices on the show, we thought it would be fun to take a. Take a vote and and see who would sing it. Nope. As I was saying, Mr. Berlin wrote this song 25 years ago and through.
Dad? About White Christmas? Not a chance. Seems to be an excess of zeal here this evening. I applaud zeal, but after all, there are certain things.
Bing? Forget it, Bob. Hit it, Nick. Come on. I dreaming of a white.
Christmas just like the one I used to know. And by the way, a little side note. White Christmas won Irving Berlin the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942. Irving Berlin actually presented himself with the original song Oscar at the 15th Oscar Ceremonies on March 4th, 1943. When he opened the envelope and saw his name, you see he was the presenter Irving Berlin told the audience, I'm glad to present the award.
I've known him a long time. By the way, that was the last time a presenter was actually in the running for an award. Leave it to Irving Berlin to write that kind of history. We will go out now with Bing Crosbie's very last recording. of white Christmas This recording is from his last T V appearance On a Christmas special filmed in London in September 1977, it was on this same Christmas special that Bing performed The Little Drummer Boy.
With David Bowie. Bing died of a heart attack just a few weeks later. This special aired on November 30, 1977, shortly after his death. As you can hear, Bing's voice never lost. Its richness.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas just like the one. This is Our American Stories: the story of White Christmas, of Irving Berlin, and of course Bing Crosby. More after these messages. And children listen. To head.
Slay bells and there's no one This is Eva Longoria from Hungry for History with Eva Longoria and Maite Gomez Rejon. Like the song says, it's the most wonderful time of the year, and also a wonderfully busy one. All that merriment can weigh down even Santa Slay.
So keep it wonderful by keeping yourself wonderful with a crisp, cold Coca-Cola. Ugh. pause for fizzy joy. Look out for yourself, and then look out for everyone else, and together we'll make this season as wonderful as it's meant to be. Enjoy a Coca-Cola.
Refresh your holidays. Did you know Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop. Voted PC Mag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop Rand for 2025. Thin and ultra-lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades.
Visit lgusa.com/slash iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. TC Mag Reader's Choice Used with Permission. All rights reserved. At CVS, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night.
And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and yeah, healthy snack. At CVS, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters.
So visit us at cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. Damn! 10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points.
You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is when mindset comes in.
Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. Trainer Games on Prime Video, January 8th. Watch the trailer on TrainerGames.com. Season 2 of Unrivaled Basketball is here, and the talent is unreal.
The best women's players on the planet are running it back with even bigger moments and bigger stakes. Don't miss as Paige Becker, Snafiza Collier, Kelsey Plum, Brianna Stewart, and more take the court and redefine the game. This isn't your regular season. This is Unrivaled, where the pace is faster, the energy is higher, and every athlete shines. Unrivaled Basketball, Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5th on TNT, True TV, and HBO Max.
This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Mm-hmm.
