Hermey and Rudolph in Rankin-Bass' 1964 special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

In the Mom On Pop podcast, Bonney Teti—mother of A.V. Club senior editor John Teti—shares her unfiltered thoughts on the pop culture of the day.


In the previous installment of Mom On Pop, Mom and I reviewed two all-new Christmas specials, but this time, we’re taking a fresh look at the classics. For this extended edition of the podcast, we re-watched four classics that return to TV every December: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty The Snowman, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. We did our best to make our critical eyes see through the nostalgic haze, but we also had to acknowledge that the warm glow of tradition is a natural part of these specials’ appeal.


Mom also has a new contest for listeners and a happy update on her continuing battles with the post office.

Mom On Pop is available on iTunes, and there’s a podcast RSS feed if you want to subscribe to the show in other apps. Never miss an episode!