Our discussion of Christmas starts with CS Lewis’ thoughts. He thought that Christmas consisted of three things... the religious festival, the secular holiday and ‘the commercial racket’.

He was particularly critical of the way that we all get locked into a kind of mutual moral blackmail, having to send cards to anyone who has sent us a card and a present, of equal value, to anyone who has sent us a present. He thinks we spend too much on rubbish at Christmas and that it causes stress and worry which outweighs any enjoyment. He was writing in the 1950s. But do you think customs have changed since then? Given the massive increase in the cost of sending Xmas cards do you think the custom will die out?

How much tradition do you think we have left in secular life in the UK? Is tradition just empty nostalgia, constraining progress by always looking backwards or does it promote a sense of civic solidarity and a feeling of belonging?

Listen to David Mitchell’s rant on Christmas 

• Christmas Traditions

• Kitsch & Sentimentality at Christmas

• Aunt Gertrude's Hideous Tie

• Christmas Legends & Urban Myths

• CS Lewis on Christmas

• What Christmas Means to Me by CS Lewis

• Santa Claus, Coke, and the Commercial Racket

• The Nativity Accounts in the Gospels

• Nativity Scene

• Why I celebrate Christmas

• Winterval an Urban Myth

• Attending the Carol Service

• Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

• American journalisms classic editorial

• Bah, Humbug Virginia

• Proof That Santa Could Exist