The Brief

Nearly every pop music holiday song written in the past 80 years owes at least some of its DNA to one Christmas tune in particular: "White Christmas," written by Irving Berlin and sung by Bing Crosby, which he first recorded in 1942.

It's reportedly still one of the best-selling songs of all time in any genre, though chart data from decades ago is unreliable. Even given that murkiness, the Guinness Book of World Records named it as the best-selling physical single of all time in 2012.

"White Christmas" wrote the formula for modern secular holiday songs — despite its complex and troubling history.

Songwriter Irving Berlin wasn't destined to be a Yuletide magic maker. He was born Israel Baline in Siberia to an Orthodox Jewish family; his father was a cantor turned kosher butcher. But Berlin embraced assimilation — he married an Irish Catholic woman and had Christmas trees in his house. Even so, for Berlin, Christmas was a holiday shadowed by personal tragedy.

"On Christmas Day, 1928, his only son died. He always told members of his family that he disliked Christmas for this reason, that he could never, never get past the sadness that he experienced on Christmas Day," said author and New York Times contributing writer Jody Rosen, who wrote a book called White Christmas: The Story of an American Song.

The infant Irving Berlin Jr. died suddenly, less than a month after he was born. And at its heart, "White Christmas" is a deeply melancholic song.

Most Christmas carols and pop songs were unabashedly joyful. Berlin's song represented a turn, Rosen said: "It was strange to have a song that was all about this nose-pressed-up-to-the-glass feeling."

It also set a certain standard for Christmas songs that are about nostalgia, about some lost Christmas past. (Think, for example, of another enduring hit that came shortly after Berlin's smash: "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," which Judy Garland sang in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis, and which was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.)

But there's other stuff going on too. Irving Berlin was a hit machine as a Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songwriter. As a New Yorker and an immigrant himself, he was intimately familiar with a particular genre of songs, Rosen said: "That tradition of so-called 'home songs,' you know, songs that pine for a lost place, a lost ideal. These songs are so huge because we have an immigrant population, lots of people who've done a lot of moving. So there were songs about Irish people longing for Ireland and Italians longing for the old country there."

He said Berlin took that genre and flipped it into a Christmas song.

That's especially true of a largely forgotten, tongue-in-cheek introductory verse Berlin originally wrote for "White Christmas." The narrator is a New Yorker stuck in California (as Berlin frequently was, churning out songs for Hollywood): "The sun is shining, the grass is green, the orange and palm trees sway ... but it's December the 24th, and I am longing to be up north!" the protagonist sings.

Rosen said most people listening to "White Christmas" are missing additional subtext. He said that much of that nostalgic vibe in "White Christmas" — all that longing for a pristine, innocent Christmas of yore — is a reference to explicitly racist minstrel songs like Stephen Foster's "Old Kentucky Home," sung by Al Jolson and others — music that was still a staple in Berlin's day.

Foster was inspired by the Harriet Beecher Stowe novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and the song, hailed by Frederick Douglass and Paul Robeson, was meant to be empathetic to the abolitionist cause — the narrator is longing to be reunited with his wife and children, but their family has been torn apart by slaveholders. It later became a popular tune at minstrel shows, with its saddest lines omitted and its meaning twisted.

In "Old Kentucky Home," Rosen said, "You have, grotesquely, the freed Black man longing for life back below the Mason-Dixon line, back on the plantation. Here, instead of a Black man in the north longing for the sultry south, we have a well-to-do white person longing for the wintry north."

But the racial dynamics of "White Christmas" aren't just a matter of subtle references to older songs. Irving Berlin had great commercial expectations for "White Christmas." He built a whole movie around it: 1942's Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

Holiday Inn is stuffed with racist stereotypes and an entire blackface number. (That scene is usually excised from TV broadcasts today, but the whole film is available to stream online.) As Crosby and his love interest, played by Marjorie Reynolds, prepare to perform a song about Abraham Lincoln, Crosby spreads greasepaint on her face, as the orchestra plays "White Christmas" underneath. Not only is "White Christmas" the movie's biggest hit, it's also the film's romantic theme.

Blackface on stage and on screen was very much a recent memory for 1940s audiences, said scholar Brynn Shiovitz. She's the author of the book Behind the Screen: Tap Dance, Race, and Invisibility During Hollywood's Golden Age.

In Holiday Inn, Shiovitz said, "We get a pairing of nostalgia for Christmas, but also nostalgia for blackface, because so many of the people that were watching Holiday Inn when it premiered in the theaters grew up watching vaudeville, grew up watching their parents maybe even perform in blackface."

Audiences loved the song "White Christmas" and its spotlight in Holiday Inn — and American GIs stationed abroad during World War II clamored for the Armed Forces Radio Service to play the song. "White Christmas" was so sturdily successful that Hollywood made another movie centering the song in 1954 — also called White Christmas — this time starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Since then, legions of musicians have recorded their own versions of "White Christmas" — including The Drifters, Elvis Presley, Iggy Pop and Sabrina Carpenter. And of course, each generation adds new layers of meaning to the song as it is stitched into our holiday season each year, said Shiovitz.

"With all of these other memories that people have of Christmas, whether it's being piped in while you're shopping, or it's playing on the radio in the car as you're driving to visit family — it's easy to kind of separate it from its history. People develop new memories with it. People have their own ideas of what the song represents, so it's just incredibly complex," Shiovitz said.

Today's audiences and artists don't necessarily hear or even know about the song's racist history, Shiovitz said — but that doesn't mean it's not there.
This story was edited for radio and digital by Jennifer Vanasco.
Copyright 2025 NPR

Canadian actress and screenwriter Catherine O'Hara has died at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, according to her agent and manager.

She was 71 years old and was known for absurdist comedy. She enjoyed a six-decade career in TV and film playing sometimes over-the-top, but endearing characters.

In one of her most memorable roles, O'Hara played the freaked-out mom of rascally son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) in two Home Alone movies. Later, she portrayed the self-centered, whiny matriarch in the riches-to-rags TV sitcom Schitt's Creek — a role for which she earned an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award in 2020.

Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin in "Home Alone."

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She won her first Emmy in 1982 for writing on the Canadian sketch comedy TV series Second City Television, or SCTV. She cofounded the show, and created characters such as the show biz has-been Lola Heatherton.

"I loved playing cocky untalented people," O'Hara told Fresh Air in 1992.

On SCTV in the '70s and '80s, she teamed up with another Canadian comic actor, Eugene Levy. Together, they — along with an ensemble — went on to perform in a string of films by director Christopher Guest.

O'Hara and Levy were dog trainers in the Guest's mockumentary Best in Show. And they were a folk-singing duo in A Mighty Wind.

Moira Rose (Catherine O'Hara) and Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) in "Schitt's Creek."

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O'Hara and Levy also acted together as the parents in Schitt's Creek. More recently, O'Hara acted with another Canadian, Seth Rogen, in his Apple TV comedy The Studio. She played a movie studio head who gets pushed aside.

O'Hara was born and raised in Toronto, and got her start as an understudy for Gilda Radner at the Second City Theater in Toronto.

She reportedly met her production designer husband Bo Welch on the set of the 1988 movie Beetlejuice. She reprised her spiritually possessed role in the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Since the news of her death some of her famous friends have paid tribute to her online.

"Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I'll see you later." wrote actor Macaulay Culkin.
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by The LA Local on Jan. 30, 2026.

Businesses across Los Angeles are shutting their doors on Friday for a national day of action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a coordinated effort to stand in solidarity with people saying no to work, school and shopping around the U.S.

The “ICE Out” general strike and protests were organized in Minnesota after weeks of aggressive tactics by federal agents and the killings of two people. Immigration enforcement has also surged in L.A. this week, and flyers announcing a local day of action on Friday have blanketed many neighborhoods, as well as spreading online. A protest was also planned for Friday afternoon at L.A. City Hall.

In Boyle Heights, restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores began posting signs on their windows that read “TODOS CON MINNESOTA! FUERA ICE! No trabajo y no escuela.” Many, including Accúrrcame Cafe and Xtiosu, also shared messages on social media.

Picaresca Barra de Café announced it would be closed for business but open as a community space from 8:30-10:30 a.m.

“Instead of operating as usual, we’ll open the space as a community meeting point—a place for people to gather, make posters, connect, and support one another,” the business wrote in an Instagram post. “We’ll be providing materials where we can, along with free drip coffee, and holding the space intentionally and respectfully.”

Sandra Gomez, who runs a tiendita on Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights, joined a protest in Boyle Heights on Wednesday and pledged to close her shop for the day.

Gomez spoke passionately about why it was important for businesses to take part in the action.

“We want to keep going and do our part so the country can move forward, but ICE has affected us,” she said in Spanish.

Melchor Moreno, the co-owner of La Chispa de Oro Mexican restaurant, decided Thursday that he would close on Friday.

Since last summer, his restaurant on Cesar Chavez Avenue has been strained by a lack of customers too afraid to leave their homes. Moreno said sales began picking up over the last few months, but recently tanked when the Eastside saw increased immigration enforcement activity.

“Normally, our lunch crowd is really busy,” he said. “But there are only two tables with people dining. No one’s been in here for the last two hours.”

It wasn’t an easy decision for Moreno, but his employees were urging him to close in a show of support for the community.

“I know it’s going to hurt financially, but something has to happen, something has to change,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, the owners of South LA Cafe announced they’d be closing all five of their locations.

Celia Ward-Wallace, one of the cafe’s co-owners, said the cafe was intentional about its decision, knowing it would mean loss of revenue, hours for employees and a gathering place for South LA Cafe regulars.

But the shop wanted to make a bold statement with its large platform, she said.

“Our community needs to stand in solidarity,” she said, with the nation, with Minnesota, and with the city of L.A. and its people.

In Pico Union, La Flor de Yucatán Bakery owner Marc Burgos said participating in the shutdown was a way to stand with his customers and neighbors. Burgos’ father, Antonio Burgos, opened the bakery’s first storefront in 1971 at Pico and Union, then the business relocated in 1975 to its current home near Hoover and 18th streets.

“I want to stand united with my community against brutality and indignity, inhumane treatment,” Burgos said. “We’re located in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Everyone fears being harassed, whether they’re here legally or not.”

Semantha Norris contributed to this report.

The Central Library building in downtown Los Angeles turns 100 this year. And on Thursday, library staff kicked off a year-long celebration by opening a very old box buried during its construction: a time capsule.

The opening was historic because the contents haven’t been shown publicly until now. Here’s how we got here, plus some items that caught our eye.

The Central Library cornerstone is laid on 5th Street, along with the time capsule, with City Librarian Everett Perry, and Board of Library Commissioners Frank H. Pettingell, Katherine G. Smith, and Frances M. Harmon-Zahn.

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About the time capsule

In May 1925, more than 100 library staff members came together with the Board of Library Commissioners for an informal ceremony to dedicate the Central Library’s cornerstone, which is a giant limestone block on the outside.

Inside a specially carved pocket in the stone, they placed a copper box filled with relics about the library and broader L.A. The 1881 time capsule from the California State Normal School, which previously occupied the land, was also put inside. (Fun fact: that school later became UCLA.)

Library officials weren’t even sure the box was still there — much less how to get it out. A team drilled a small hole into the grout to find it. From there, Todd Lerew,  special projects director at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, said it took about a year to figure out how to remove it.

“ When we were doing our tests with a little borescope camera to locate the capsule itself, we also found that the wall behind the cornerstone was not structural,” Lerew said.

That meant it could be broken down safely. To get the box, they took out a couple of historic wall panels, capped off the plumbing and got to work busting down a wall in the men’s bathroom. It took about a week to get it out.

The box was made of copper, but had been custom-made and soldered shut on all sides. They had to cut into it with shears, Lerew said.

The library's copper box, which had been soldered shut, had to be cut into with shears.

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The California State Normal School's capsule box.

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Exploring the contents

No one knew what to expect inside the box. When it was opened, to much anticipation, it turned out to be a unique snapshot of L.A. in the 1880s and 1920s. Inside were dozens of documents, photos and keepsake items that spanned everything from government records to community memories.

There were annual reports from city departments, rulebooks, portraits of library leaders and even employee lists that included janitors. It had multiple editions of the city charter — essentially L.A.’s constitution — and a population count from 1881 on a small card that showed just 11,000 Angelenos.

Library staff members in 1925 put these cards in the time capsule to add on to the Normal School's records.

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A scrapbook was also inside to document where the central library was before the main building (learn more about that here). It had newspapers from both time periods — including ones in Spanish, German and French. For some reason, the Normal School’s capsule included a copy of the Oshkosh Northwestern.

“ We’re still putting together why a newspaper from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, made its way into the 1881 time capsule, but I had a very puzzled look on my face when I pulled that out,” Szabo told the crowd.

Another oddity? The Normal School also had a memento from President James Garfield’s funeral, which happened in Cleveland, Ohio. He had been assassinated just months before the time capsule’s burial.

The black cloth and the dried moss are mementos from the funeral, according to librarians in 1925.

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Lerew said the newfound contents are helping restore library records, largely because a devastating arson fire in 1986 destroyed a fifth of its collection at the time.

“ We’re constantly trying to fill gaps in our collections,” he said. “When we’re able to do that for our own institutional history, that’s such a special thing and doesn’t come along every day.”

The capsule’s next steps

Part the contents included two editions of the L.A. city charter.

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A portrait of library commissioner Katherine G. Smith alongside two employee directories.

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The Central Library has centennial programming all year long — and the time capsule will be part of that.

A selection of the contents will be on display soon outside the literature and fiction department on the third floor. The rest will be stored in the special collections department, which you can make an appointment to see here.

And if you’ve ever wanted a chance to see a time capsule get made, the Central Library plans to create a new one sometime this year.

The Department of Justice released more than 3 million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, in its files tied to the death and criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says Friday's release means the DOJ is now in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed last November and which legally required the DOJ to release all the files.

Members of Congress who passed the law had earlier complained that the DOJ had failed to meet its deadline of mid-December to release all the files.

Blanche at a press conference on Friday morning said more than 500 lawyers and others worked through weekends and holidays to comply with the law, while making sure to protect victims' information. He said they had to review more than 6 million pages — "two Eiffel Towers of pages" — to decide what to release. They're continuing to withhold documents that depict violence or involve attorney-client privilege, he said. The department also said it discarded any duplicates or unrelated materials.

"I take umbrage at the suggestion, which is totally false, that the attorney general or this department does not take child exploitation or sex trafficking seriously, or that we somehow do not want to protect victims," Blanche said.

He also said the DOJ wasn't seeking to protect President Donald Trump while releasing the files, though some of the files contained sensational and false claims about the president and others.

"Through the process, the Department provided clear instructions to reviewers that the redactions were to be limited to the protection of victims and their families," the DOJ said in a statement. "Some pornographic images, whether commercial or not, were redacted, given the Department treated all women in those images as victims. Notable individuals and politicians were not redacted in the release of any files."

Epstein files political saga

The release of the Epstein files is the latest development in a political saga that has dogged Trump's second term in office and caused bipartisan backlash against Trump's conflicting and shifting commentary on the subject.

Trump amplified conspiracy theories about the files relating to his onetime friend Epstein on the campaign trail, vowing to publicize information about the financier's crimes and ties to powerful people that he alleged was being covered up by the government. But once he returned to the White House, Trump fought efforts by lawmakers and his supporters to release those files.

"There's this mantra out there that, oh, you know, the Department of Justice is supposed to protect Donald J. Trump," Blanche said on Friday. "That's not true. That was never the case. We are always concerned about the victims." He said Trump has directed the DOJ to "be as transparent as we can."

Separately, Blanche said the Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen who was shot by two immigration enforcement officers last weekend in Minneapolis. The investigation is being led by the FBI, but it is also coordinating with the DOJ's civil rights division, which is led by Harmeet Dhillon.

He also said the investigation was being done in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.

"I don't want the takeaway to be that there's some massive civil rights investigation that's happening; I would describe this as a standard investigation by the FBI, when there's circumstances like what we saw last Saturday," Blanche said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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