Merry Christmas

December 1, 2005 2:35 PM

Is there any place I can download or purchase the complete NPR broadcast of the SantaLand Diaries, read by David Sedaris?

I've been able to find the 9 minute 16 second excerpt on npr.org, and it seems like the David Sedaris box set on amazon might contain it somewhere amongst its 14 discs, but I don't want to have to buy everything else just for this. Either a file to download or a cd to buy would be acceptable -- I can't find anything.

posted by ducksauce to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Response by poster: here's a link to the 9 minute excerpt, for those who are unfamiliar with the segment. It might inspire someone to seek out the answer to this question. =)
posted by ducksauce at 2:51 PM on December 1, 2005

Best answer: What about the CD of Holidays on Ice? It's abridged, but it might be more complete than the excerpt.
posted by tangerine at 2:59 PM on December 1, 2005

Best answer: The This American Life Store has a $33 CD called "Holiday Stories" that includes the Santaland Diaries, and the RealAudio stream is in their archives.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:06 PM on December 1, 2005

You can also buy just the "Christmas and Commerce" show on CD for US$13.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:07 PM on December 1, 2005

This is a link to a longer version on NPR's site. It's still in RealAudio format, but I imagine there are applications available that could help you capture the audio onto your computer (not that I'm advocating any such activity, disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer).

From the intro it seems like it might be the entire content that was recorded for NPR.

It seems that the SantaLand Diaries are also included on Sedaris' CD Holidays On Ice, based on the book of the same name.
posted by planetthoughtful at 3:12 PM on December 1, 2005

Here's all of episode 47 of This American Life, in RealMedia format. According to their website it contains the full story.
posted by Nelson at 3:12 PM on December 1, 2005

I bought and downloaded the abridged Holidays on Ice audiobook from the iTunes music store last week, and listened to it on a long car ride for thanksgiving.

I hadn't heard it before, so I'm not sure if it was the whole thing, but I'd say there was maybe 60min-90min of stories of his time as an elf.
posted by mathowie at 3:20 PM on December 1, 2005

by the way, here is all of episode 47 on the iTMS for $5.95 as a download.
posted by mathowie at 3:23 PM on December 1, 2005

I was going to point you to Geekymedia.com for a free download, but they've been asked to take the episodes down. Damn, I was going to update my own archive while I was there, too.
posted by jaysus chris at 4:16 PM on December 1, 2005

Christmas and Commerce is also available from audible for $3.95
posted by stefanie at 4:35 PM on December 1, 2005

I converted the Real Audio Stream of Episode 47 into an AAC file. Email me and I'll send you a copy.
posted by nathan_teske at 6:43 PM on December 1, 2005

Response by poster: You guys are the best. Thanks for all the great answers -- I listened to the episode of This American Life and it was fantastic, and exactly what I was looking for. I think I'm going to buy the Holidays on Ice CD as well.

nathan_teske, thanks for the offer, but I think I'm just going to get the CD instead.
posted by ducksauce at 7:19 AM on December 2, 2005

Nathan, you would be much easier to email if your email address was in your profile or the 'contact' link on your blog worked.
posted by phearlez at 1:14 PM on December 2, 2005