Episode Recap      

First we address a few discussions from our social media community before diving into Krampus, the anti-Santa. Then we cover a variety of interesting Christmas-y liqueurs and the multi-cultural fruit cake. And as always, we end with mental health tips!

Lower your expectations. In this special *SpOrtS* edition, we talk football in our own style - including confessing to what we don't know. We highlight the importance of the sport to our Portuguese culture. And of course, we would never leave you without at least a few nuggets about alleged corruption.

A cross-cultural Christmas journey beginning with our very own Portuguese-American experiences with "O Sanny Claus". We discuss the pros and cons of thirteen Icelandic Yule Lads including sausage-snatcher and window-peeper. Then we dissect the history of Saint Nick and how he allegedly became known for gift-giving. An instant classic!

Nature or nurture? Mel & Kel discuss a sample platter of specific anxieties they were brought up to have and whether or not they've been able to kick them to the curb. Fears not limited to burglary, trafficking, driving, cramping while swimming, cutting your hair after you eat, drinking wine with watermelon. Wait, these got weird...!

We are joined by one of our listeners with a pretty neat life journey to share with us. Kyler Canastra is a fourth-generation Azorean-American from Massachusetts who studied linguistics and now lives full time in Lisbon. He shares his personal journey and academic knowledge with us, including what it was like to live abroad during the height of the pandemic lockdown. And of course, we also discuss mental health and generational traumas!

We kick off by hilariously reacting to your responses on our Instagram poll about the "weirdest things people have snuck onto planes". Next, we touch briefly on some Azores travel items before we get passionately sidetracked talking about our immigrant parents' specific furniture items for the remainder of the episode. A wild journey you don't want to miss.

We are joined by Indy Santos, a bad-ass Brazilian who immigrated by herself to California nine years ago and became a US citizen. We compare our Azorean Portuguese culture to her Brazilian culture and learn about our similarities and differences. Indy is a strong, independent woman with a really good grasp on how to live a full life while balancing physical, emotional, and mental health! Indy most recently appeared on CBS' Season 24 of Big Brother, however our conversation focuses on Indy herself and not her experiences on the show.

We share some of the more intriguing and ridiculous stories we could dig up (pun intended) on saints and their miracles for All Saints Day. There's a little bit of everything: fasting on nothing but the eucharist for 8 years, mules genuflecting to the eucharist, murder, foreskin wedding rings, cures for rabies, exhumations, dismemberments, stolen heads, and a touch or two of ~*magic*~. And these stories are just the tip of the iceberg, folks!

We are joined by Joseph Abdin, an attorney and first-generation American of Syrian and Palestinian descent. We talk culture and upbringing in our immigrant families. We knew we would find common ground even though we are from different cultures. Yet, we were shocked at how identical the immigrant experience is -- we are simply all the same. Joseph most recently appeared on CBS' Season 24 of Big Brother, however our conversation focuses on Joseph himself and not his experiences on the show. You can watch the full episode on video on our YouTube Channel (Folk and Fad).

We are joined by guest Vanessa Medeiros, our former schoolmate who keeps us belly-laughing as part of The Portuguese Kids comedy trio! We discuss how appreciating, joking about, and trying to improve our culture are not mutually exclusive things. Vanessa also puts on her therapist hat for an extended mental health segment with us!