December 24, 2025 • 27 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's that time time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Very Show.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Is on the air.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Well, Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our
Christmas show for Boulevard, the gift of a lifetime at Chesterfield.
Speaker 5 (00:20):
My Sior, Happy birthday still creative.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Director Jim Mudd who joined the show. It was in November.
We found out in September that we would be guest
hosting for the Rush Limbaugh Show, but we were asked
not to announce that yet, but we began preparing for
the the It was about ten days at Christmas, and
so I brought Jim Mudd on.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
To help us staff up.
Speaker 6 (00:49):
And it was kind of a trial run to see
if he was going to be able to keep up
because we produce a lot and well, I'll leave it
at that.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Not everyone could keep up.
Speaker 6 (00:58):
And it turned out he was such a great addition
to the show that he developed into being our creative
director and it's been a big boon to our show
and a lot of times, a lot of segments we do.
He will pull together a news story and maybe some
audio and audio clip to go with that, or he
might write a parody. Chance McLain makes a lot of
(01:19):
our funny songs, but Jim has also started writing.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
More and more of our parodies.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
And whether it's a song that's chosen to go with
a segment, or a sound clip or a parody, he
will write a little background for us as to why
he wrote that. And the background is not meant to
be shared on air. It's not part of the segment.
It's just for us to know why he considered that newsworthy.
And a lot of times I will take what he
(01:45):
has written and I will work that into my own narrative.
I'll call it my truth, ramon my truth. Let me
start using liberal language. I will speak my truth. I
will find my voice anyway. I'll take what he's written
about something and I'll say, well, that's not accurate, that's
not my perspective. But here, let me make it my perspective.
(02:06):
And he will have been the conversation starter. But he
wrote a little background for us, and I liked it
so much that I asked him to record what he
had written for y'all to hear from Jim at Christmas
in his own voice. Really, ramon, that's what you Seriously.
Speaker 7 (02:28):
As I get older, I find myself reflecting on the
Christmases of my childhood, I look back and I long
for those days. I remember that my parents will let
us open one gift, and that was before we went
to my grandma's house. It was always the Christmas outfit
and new shoes that we would wear to Grandma's and
then later to church, and we would always get excited.
And not because we were happy to get some nice clothes. No,
(02:48):
it was because we knew it was time to get
ready and go to Grandma's soon. Christmas at Grandma's was
the best. Everyone was there, all my aunts, uncles, and cousins,
and they would be dressed up too, and they were
happy to see you. Now, my grandma only lived three
blocks away from us, and I used to walk down
there all the time, but on Christmas she may as
well have been across the country because that drive took forever.
(03:09):
Now Dad would pull up and let Mom out in
front of the house, and I would ride with them
to find a spot to park the car. Now, we
had a big family, so there were a lot of
people there and you had to find a spot down
the street to park. I know now that this was
more than just my dad making me feel like I've
grown up, because you know, he needed help with the presents. Now,
it really it was him showing me that my mom
was worth letting out at the door. He didn't want
her to walk all the way down the street and
(03:31):
her good shoes and they were probably new too, and
you know how new shoes can be. We would get
the gifts that were brought for the gift exchange and
head to the house. Now, when we walked through that
back door, everyone agrees with a hug and a Merry Christmas.
My grandma would have the biggest smile on her face,
probably because I was her favorite.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
It's a fact. Everyone knew it.
Speaker 7 (03:49):
Everyone knew that I was the favorite, but a little
bit because it was Christmas. She would give you a
big hug and tell you to go put your coat
and Grandpa's room. Now, Grandma and Grandpa slipped in separate
room at this point, and if you asked them why
this up and separate rooms, they would both say that
the other one snored too loud and they couldn't sleep.
Besides the warm welcome, the smell of Grandma's house was amazing,
(04:10):
the smell of food and baked goods, cookies, pies, I mean,
it filled the air. My grandma, and I'm sure like
yours was a great cook. Sinatra, Jerry Mathis, Nat King Cole,
Elvis was surely playing on the stereo ed if I
am just loud enough to be heard under the conversation
happening throughout the house. Now, as a kid, you're excited
(04:31):
about getting presents. Now that I'm all grown up, I
really can't remember anything that ever got at Grandma's. Honestly,
not one thing. Turns out it wasn't as important as
I thought at the time. Now, I do remember one
gift that my grandpa got my grandma. He was so
excited to give it to her. He rapped it all
by himself, and he waited to the very end of
the gift exchange for her to open it. She was
(04:53):
all smiles opening that box. But let me give you
some background on my grandpa. He was not the romantic type,
not as all now. He loved my grandma, he had
ORed her, He worshiped the ground she walked on. But
he was not the romantic type, and he wasn't going
to get her jewelry or anything like that. He was practical.
He had grown up on a farm during the depression
and fought the Nazis. He worked at the gas company
(05:13):
for forty years and fished every weekend. He was very
much a function overformed kind of fella. So when she
opened her present to find a shiny, brand new fire
extinguisher for the house, she shouldn't have been as surprised
as she was. He was beaming and she was seating.
You see, Grandpa thought that that extinguisher was a sign
of just how much he loved her. He wanted her
(05:34):
to be safe if a fire broke out, and he
took that fire extinguisher and he mounted it on the
wall right outside her bedroom door. Now, that fire extinguisher
outlasted Grandma and was still hanging on the wall when
Grandpa sold the house fifteen years later. It was a
lasting monument of his love to her. I can never
go back and live those moments. Those are gone forever.
But I still carry with me the greatest gift that
(05:55):
I have ever received, a Grandma's house, the love that
was in that house.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That love is what I bring.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
With me as I make the rounds this Christmas. The
love from Grandma's house is the love that my kids
will carry with them as they get older and have.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Families with their own.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
That love has endured longer than any material gift ever
could longer, even than that fire extinguishment.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
I'll bet you we've got ten thounds, sweet little ladies
of seventy or more, that would make a pound cake
that you could eat.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Cold and enjoy. Michael Verry Show the Christmas Song.
Speaker 6 (06:35):
That's actually the title commonly subtitled Chestnuts Roasting on an
open fire, because that's how we know it. It was
originally subtitled and Merry Christmas to you, So it was
originally the Christmas song with the subtitle Merry Christmas to you,
but now it's come to be known as the Christmas
(06:57):
song subtitled Chestnuts Wrote on an open file May classic
Christmas song written in nineteen forty five by Robert Wells
and the Velvet Fall Mel Tourmae. According to Tourmee, the
(07:18):
song was written in July during a blistering hot summer,
in an effort to quote stay cool by thinking cool,
the most performed Christmas song was born.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
According to bm I, that's where the royals pay.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
The Christmas Song or Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire
is the most performed Christmas song of all time.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Quote.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I saw a spiral pad on Robert Wells piano with
four lines written in pencil. They started chestnuts, roasting jack frost,
nipping yule Tide carols, folks dressed up like Eskimos. Bob
didn't think he was writing a song limit lyrics. That
he thought if he could immerse himself in winter, he
(08:03):
could cool off. It's been forty minutes later that song
was written.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Mini Ty wrote all the music in some of the lyrics.
End quote.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
That was in nineteen forty five. That King Cole's nineteen
sixty one version is generally regarded as the definitive and
in two thousand and four was the most loved seasonal
song with women aged thirty to forty nine and Ramone
robot I asked our team to give me one Christmas
(08:34):
song that is their absolute favorite, and you're.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Going to hear those now. That one was Ramones.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
This next song was released on the Andy Williams Christmas
album titled the Andy Williams Christmas Album and they didn't
hire a consultant for.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
However, it wasn't released as a single.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
His rendition of White and Christmas was the single promoted
for that.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Album, The Kids Jingle Ballet.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
The song peaked at number twenty one on the UK
Singles charts back in seven and into the top ten
consistently over the past several years, peaking at number five
in twenty twenty on the Billboard Hot one hundred Singles
Charts in the US.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Oh game with.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Those holidays agreed, he was in gay happy meetings.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
When friends come.
Speaker 8 (09:29):
To car.
Speaker 9 (09:31):
It's the scenes.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
There'll be parties for hosting mar spells, for toasting.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And carrying out in the snow. They'll be scary.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Those stories and tales of the glories Christmases long long ago.
It's the most wonderful time ole.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
This next song is a favorite of Chad'soie, it's a
very unique song, and that it was written by Brad Paisley.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Now, I don't really care for Brad.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Paisley, but I can't speak ill of Chad because he's
executive producer and we all kind of work for him.
So I'm going to pretend that this next song is
fantastic because it's his favorite, but it's not mine. It is,
I will say, a unique song, and that it was
written by Brad Paisley when he was still a kid.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I gotta give it credit for that.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
It starts with him singing it as his younger self.
It was then morphs into an adult Brad Paisley, and
I have to admit that's kind.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Of cool, even.
Speaker 10 (10:48):
Born and then made to bring.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The world joy.
Speaker 8 (10:54):
So little bit, you know what you'll do.
Speaker 11 (11:03):
Your brain the world desonal and teach them.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
While you do.
Speaker 10 (11:09):
You have nothing to babe, because you know God is
with you of a way, that little important baby.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
In fact, that kind of reminds me of Travis Thibodeaux Christmas,
the guy who first.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Wrote take My Hand.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
I think he was twelve years old singing with his
dad when he saying when he wrote that, and he
first recorded it, and then of course Wayne Toobs.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Made it a big hit.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
That time run perhaps the best song of the bunch.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He is the one I chose. It's my favorite day.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
This comes from a TV movie A Year Without Santa
Claus and I love it.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
It's called mister Heat.
Speaker 9 (11:53):
Nice harm.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
Christmas Carden song time.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
Mister hundred line, I.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Too Much Chance.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
McLean's pick is by a musical genius, Ray Charles. You
may recognize it from the attic scene in the movie
Christmas vacation.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
It's the spirit.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
Of Christmas and it's Ray Charles and can there be
anything more?
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Christmas is the time movie be with the ones we love,
sharing so much joy sheer, what.
Speaker 9 (12:54):
A one of pup.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Watching the wandry Love.
Speaker 6 (13:05):
A Christmas classic My Old Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra. It
was written for June for uh No, It's written for
Judy Garland for the musical Meet.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Me in Saint Louis.
Speaker 6 (13:19):
Sinatra sang the song later with reworked lyrics and it's abduce.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Have your self a merry little Christmas.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Let your heart line from no.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Troubles will be out of side. Have yourself merry little Christmas.
Speaker 8 (14:00):
Make the mule tide game.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Time from no.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Lot troubles will be miles away. We are as an
old and.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Happy golden days.
Speaker 10 (14:30):
This is the Michael Berry Show, Locked and loaded, Loaded.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
This next one took it to the next level.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
This was a parody featuring the fictitious hood Rat Airlines
when LaToya the Destroyer, the Mayor of New Orleans had
to pay back thirty thousand dollars for her flight to France.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
This is your.
Speaker 12 (14:58):
Captain speaking, thank you again for flying Hoodrat Airlines. We'll
be landing in New Orleans in just about twenty minutes
or so, where the temperature is currently eighty five degrees
with a little bit of an overcast.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
By the way, just.
Speaker 12 (15:13):
A quick reminder that flying in coach is never a
safe place, especially if you're the mayor of New Orleans.
That's why here at Hoodrat Airlines, we're always happy to
upgrade any female Democrat mayor of a city in the
South for freeda first class. That's our policy and we're
sticking to it. You got a problem with that record
(15:35):
with a.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Study it out, You've got a dirty ruse.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
Study it out.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Aside down is across. This next parody was a major
coup for us.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Remember when Joe Biden was ushered around by the Easter Bunny. Well,
we received an insider communication from the person wearing that
bunny costume.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yes, I was in the bunny costume that day at
the White House. It was my job to shadow the President.
It was easter, so someone thought that it'd be a
good idea to dress me in a bunny outfit. They
thought that if I'd dressed up like the Easter Bunny,
I could blend into the crowd, and if the President
went off script, I would be able to steer him
back to a more appropriate conversation. Now it was time
(16:39):
for the event in the White House long Things were
going pretty well at first, but then the President decided
to mingle with the people. First, he saw a man
in the crowd that was, how do I say it?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Slow?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the President kind of leaned in a stage whisper
to me, tell me about the head. It's George. I
think he thought that Reverend Lenny of Mice and Men,
when he saw someone that was a little slow, was
funny because I was dressed like a giant rabbit. However,
this is the type of situation that I was there
to steer him away from. My job in that scenario
was to mention how much his dead son Bo loved Easter.
(17:16):
I mean that always works to get the President back
on course. If he strays away from the script, we
always bring it back to Bow.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Always.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
And later when he tried to talk about Pakistan with
a toddler, I mentioned Bow nothing. But this time it
didn't work. He was going to talk about Pakistan with
that toddler. No matter what, I'll admit, I panicut at
this point, I start waving my arms and I saved
the code word Lansbury. See Lansbury is the code we
(17:47):
have with the President. When we see he's starting to
get a little tired or maybe end over his head,
we say Lansbury. He knows it's time to go up
to the residents and lay down on watch Murder, She wrote.
The President loves a good Who've done it? We played
that same episode right before his nap every day. He
never remembers that he's seen it, and it's his favorite episode,
(18:09):
So it's a win win for us. But I'm telling
you right now, if they asked me to dress up
like his mother again for Mother's Day and he trains
to breast feedlay last year, I'm out of here. I
don't need this job that bad.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Next up, New Orleans Mayor LaToya the Destroyer. She was
involved in another scandal with her quote unquote charity face
Forward New Orleans.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Hello, it's me LaToya Cantrail, the Mayor of New Orleans.
I just wanted to clean some things up for gotten.
My non profitabook organization called Forward Together New Orleans and
my now you're a fund also name Forward Together New Orleans.
You see I strongly believe that New or Leans needs
(19:00):
to face forward, and we need to do that together.
We don't need none of y'all to be facing backwards now,
no way, no how. I'm sure as hell ain't facing backwards.
Speaker 9 (19:11):
Ever since I was a little.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Girl, people always said, girl, why are you facing forward?
Speaker 9 (19:16):
That's just how my mama raised me.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Can't help it, Thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That's why I named everything I do forward together, New
Orleans for my mama. I ain't heard no one complain
when George Foreman name all his children George, not once.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Some people say that I'm cooking, they round.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Some people say that I'm making myself rich.
Speaker 8 (19:38):
They round.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Some people say that I'm a nightmare. But I'm here
to tell.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
You that I'm a mayor during the daytime, too loud, Jesus,
I'm the toy of the destroyer. Peace y'all into your
new world to will not get.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Arrest me or take me to Texas so talk Mandy gets.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Out of this state.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
I think Michael Barry robs Michael very show.
Speaker 13 (20:14):
I like it.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
A visit from Saint Nicholas, or as you more commonly
know it, the night before Christmas and twas the Night
before Christmas. From its first line is a poem first poe, No, okay,
now you're interrupting.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Okay, So the.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Actual poem is called a Visit from Saint Nicholas. The
first line of the poem is twas the Night before Christmas.
It has come to be known as twas the Night
before Christmas or the Night before Christmas because people don't
(20:57):
know how to write twas, which is apostrophe.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then its so.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
The actual name of it is a visit from Saint Okay,
all right, I will agree.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Most people probably did not know that. Yes, I will
give you credit.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
Most people probably did not know that, all right, So
please don't interrupt, But you are right. That is okay,
So well, all right, then let me complicate the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Even worse.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
The original title was not a visit from Saint Nicholas.
The original title, I believe was account of a visit
from Saint Nicholas, account of a visit from Saint Nicholas,
and it became a visit from Saint Nicholas or twas
the Night before Christmas, but I digress.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
It emerged in eighteen twenty three.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
It was later attributed to Clement Clark Moore, who fourteen
years later would claim authorship.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
In eighteen thirty seven.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
On the night of Christmas, a family is settling down
to sleep when the father is disturbed by noises on
the lawn. Looking out the window, he sees Santi Claus
or Saint Nicholas, in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer.
(22:19):
After landing his sleigh on the roof, Santy Claus enters
the house by sliding down the chimney. He carries a
sack of toys, and the father watches his visitor deliver
presents and fill the stockings hanging by the fireplace, and
laughs to himself. They share a conspiratorial moment before Santa
(22:44):
bounds up the chimney again. As he flies away, Santa
Claus calls out Happy Christmas to all, and to all
a good night. While this poem has been read by many,
maybe your mother or your father, your grandmother, your grandfather.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
A school teacher.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Maybe you've seen it read by a celebrity or a friend.
But I don't know that there is a better version
than from the late Great Charlie Daniels. We share it
proudly with you now.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The
stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes
that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The children were
nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar.
Speaker 14 (23:44):
Plums danced in their heads. And Mom and her kerchief
and I my cap.
Speaker 9 (23:49):
Had just settled down for a long.
Speaker 11 (23:51):
Winter nap, when out on the lawn there rose such
a clatter, and I sprang from my bed to see
what was the matter with the window.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
I flew in a flash.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
And tore open the shutter and threw up the sash,
and the moon on the breast of the new fallen
snow gave luster of midday to the objects below.
Speaker 14 (24:10):
Then once, to my wondering eye, should appear but a
miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein here with a little
old driver, so lively and quick, and I.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Knew in a moment that it must be seeing Nick.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
More rapid than.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Eagles as coursers.
Speaker 11 (24:30):
They came, and he whistled and shouted and called him
by name, now Dasher, now dancer, now prancer, now vixen.
On combat on Cupid on Donner, on Blizzen, to the
top of the porch, to the top of the wall.
Now dash away, dash your way, dash away, all as
(24:50):
dry leaves before.
Speaker 9 (24:52):
The wild hurricane fly when they meet with an obstacle.
Speaker 14 (24:55):
Mountain to the sky, so up to the housetop the
courser's they flew with a.
Speaker 9 (25:01):
Sleigh full of toys, and looked at Saint Nicholas too.
Speaker 15 (25:05):
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
the princing and pawing of each little hoof, and I
drew in my head, and I was turning around and
down the chimney.
Speaker 9 (25:16):
Saint Nicholas came with a man.
Speaker 14 (25:20):
He was dressed all in firm from his head to
his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished and ashes
and soot, and a bundle of toys that he hung
on his back. And he looked like a peddler, just
opening his pack.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
His eyes high they.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
Twinkled, his dipples high merry. His cheeks were like roses,
and his nose like a cherry. His droll little mouth
was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on
his chin was as white.
Speaker 9 (25:48):
As the snow.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
The stump of.
Speaker 14 (25:50):
A pipe he held tight in his teeth and smoke
it and circled his head like a wreath. He had
a broad face and a looking around belly that shook when.
Speaker 9 (25:59):
He laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
Speaker 11 (26:02):
He was chubby and plump, all right, jolly old off.
Speaker 9 (26:06):
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
Speaker 14 (26:09):
A wink of his eye, a twist of his head.
Soon he gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his
work and filled all the stockings. And he turned with
a jerk, laying his finger aside of his nose and
giving a nod up the chimney.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
He rose, He.
Speaker 14 (26:29):
Sprang to his sleigh, to his team, gave a whistle,
and away they all flew.
Speaker 9 (26:34):
Like the dawn.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
But this.
Speaker 9 (26:37):
That I heard him explain before he drove it out
of sight.
Speaker 13 (26:41):
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
I'm charnye, Daniels. We all know what Christmas is about.
Twas the night before Christmas is a fun forum, but
it's really about the birth of the Savior, man.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Kind of Jesus Christ. We wish you a very very
merry Christmas. Allow of the spooks. You have charted English fans.
God bless
It's that time time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Very Show.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Is on the air.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Well, Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our
Christmas show for Boulevard, the gift of a lifetime at Chesterfield.
Speaker 5 (00:20):
My Sior, Happy birthday still creative.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
Director Jim Mudd who joined the show. It was in November.
We found out in September that we would be guest
hosting for the Rush Limbaugh Show, but we were asked
not to announce that yet, but we began preparing for
the the It was about ten days at Christmas, and
so I brought Jim Mudd on.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
To help us staff up.
Speaker 6 (00:49):
And it was kind of a trial run to see
if he was going to be able to keep up
because we produce a lot and well, I'll leave it
at that.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Not everyone could keep up.
Speaker 6 (00:58):
And it turned out he was such a great addition
to the show that he developed into being our creative
director and it's been a big boon to our show
and a lot of times, a lot of segments we do.
He will pull together a news story and maybe some
audio and audio clip to go with that, or he
might write a parody. Chance McLain makes a lot of
(01:19):
our funny songs, but Jim has also started writing.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
More and more of our parodies.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
And whether it's a song that's chosen to go with
a segment, or a sound clip or a parody, he
will write a little background for us as to why
he wrote that. And the background is not meant to
be shared on air. It's not part of the segment.
It's just for us to know why he considered that newsworthy.
And a lot of times I will take what he
(01:45):
has written and I will work that into my own narrative.
I'll call it my truth, ramon my truth. Let me
start using liberal language. I will speak my truth. I
will find my voice anyway. I'll take what he's written
about something and I'll say, well, that's not accurate, that's
not my perspective. But here, let me make it my perspective.
(02:06):
And he will have been the conversation starter. But he
wrote a little background for us, and I liked it
so much that I asked him to record what he
had written for y'all to hear from Jim at Christmas
in his own voice. Really, ramon, that's what you Seriously.
Speaker 7 (02:28):
As I get older, I find myself reflecting on the
Christmases of my childhood, I look back and I long
for those days. I remember that my parents will let
us open one gift, and that was before we went
to my grandma's house. It was always the Christmas outfit
and new shoes that we would wear to Grandma's and
then later to church, and we would always get excited.
And not because we were happy to get some nice clothes. No,
(02:48):
it was because we knew it was time to get
ready and go to Grandma's soon. Christmas at Grandma's was
the best. Everyone was there, all my aunts, uncles, and cousins,
and they would be dressed up too, and they were
happy to see you. Now, my grandma only lived three
blocks away from us, and I used to walk down
there all the time, but on Christmas she may as
well have been across the country because that drive took forever.
(03:09):
Now Dad would pull up and let Mom out in
front of the house, and I would ride with them
to find a spot to park the car. Now, we
had a big family, so there were a lot of
people there and you had to find a spot down
the street to park. I know now that this was
more than just my dad making me feel like I've
grown up, because you know, he needed help with the presents. Now,
it really it was him showing me that my mom
was worth letting out at the door. He didn't want
her to walk all the way down the street and
(03:31):
her good shoes and they were probably new too, and
you know how new shoes can be. We would get
the gifts that were brought for the gift exchange and
head to the house. Now, when we walked through that
back door, everyone agrees with a hug and a Merry Christmas.
My grandma would have the biggest smile on her face,
probably because I was her favorite.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
It's a fact. Everyone knew it.
Speaker 7 (03:49):
Everyone knew that I was the favorite, but a little
bit because it was Christmas. She would give you a
big hug and tell you to go put your coat
and Grandpa's room. Now, Grandma and Grandpa slipped in separate
room at this point, and if you asked them why
this up and separate rooms, they would both say that
the other one snored too loud and they couldn't sleep.
Besides the warm welcome, the smell of Grandma's house was amazing,
(04:10):
the smell of food and baked goods, cookies, pies, I mean,
it filled the air. My grandma, and I'm sure like
yours was a great cook. Sinatra, Jerry Mathis, Nat King Cole,
Elvis was surely playing on the stereo ed if I
am just loud enough to be heard under the conversation
happening throughout the house. Now, as a kid, you're excited
(04:31):
about getting presents. Now that I'm all grown up, I
really can't remember anything that ever got at Grandma's. Honestly,
not one thing. Turns out it wasn't as important as
I thought at the time. Now, I do remember one
gift that my grandpa got my grandma. He was so
excited to give it to her. He rapped it all
by himself, and he waited to the very end of
the gift exchange for her to open it. She was
(04:53):
all smiles opening that box. But let me give you
some background on my grandpa. He was not the romantic type,
not as all now. He loved my grandma, he had
ORed her, He worshiped the ground she walked on. But
he was not the romantic type, and he wasn't going
to get her jewelry or anything like that. He was practical.
He had grown up on a farm during the depression
and fought the Nazis. He worked at the gas company
(05:13):
for forty years and fished every weekend. He was very
much a function overformed kind of fella. So when she
opened her present to find a shiny, brand new fire
extinguisher for the house, she shouldn't have been as surprised
as she was. He was beaming and she was seating.
You see, Grandpa thought that that extinguisher was a sign
of just how much he loved her. He wanted her
(05:34):
to be safe if a fire broke out, and he
took that fire extinguisher and he mounted it on the
wall right outside her bedroom door. Now, that fire extinguisher
outlasted Grandma and was still hanging on the wall when
Grandpa sold the house fifteen years later. It was a
lasting monument of his love to her. I can never
go back and live those moments. Those are gone forever.
But I still carry with me the greatest gift that
(05:55):
I have ever received, a Grandma's house, the love that
was in that house.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That love is what I bring.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
With me as I make the rounds this Christmas. The
love from Grandma's house is the love that my kids
will carry with them as they get older and have.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Families with their own.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
That love has endured longer than any material gift ever
could longer, even than that fire extinguishment.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
I'll bet you we've got ten thounds, sweet little ladies
of seventy or more, that would make a pound cake
that you could eat.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Cold and enjoy. Michael Verry Show the Christmas Song.
Speaker 6 (06:35):
That's actually the title commonly subtitled Chestnuts Roasting on an
open fire, because that's how we know it. It was
originally subtitled and Merry Christmas to you, So it was
originally the Christmas song with the subtitle Merry Christmas to you,
but now it's come to be known as the Christmas
(06:57):
song subtitled Chestnuts Wrote on an open file May classic
Christmas song written in nineteen forty five by Robert Wells
and the Velvet Fall Mel Tourmae. According to Tourmee, the
(07:18):
song was written in July during a blistering hot summer,
in an effort to quote stay cool by thinking cool,
the most performed Christmas song was born.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
According to bm I, that's where the royals pay.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
The Christmas Song or Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire
is the most performed Christmas song of all time.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Quote.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I saw a spiral pad on Robert Wells piano with
four lines written in pencil. They started chestnuts, roasting jack frost,
nipping yule Tide carols, folks dressed up like Eskimos. Bob
didn't think he was writing a song limit lyrics. That
he thought if he could immerse himself in winter, he
(08:03):
could cool off. It's been forty minutes later that song
was written.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Mini Ty wrote all the music in some of the lyrics.
End quote.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
That was in nineteen forty five. That King Cole's nineteen
sixty one version is generally regarded as the definitive and
in two thousand and four was the most loved seasonal
song with women aged thirty to forty nine and Ramone
robot I asked our team to give me one Christmas
(08:34):
song that is their absolute favorite, and you're.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Going to hear those now. That one was Ramones.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
This next song was released on the Andy Williams Christmas
album titled the Andy Williams Christmas Album and they didn't
hire a consultant for.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
However, it wasn't released as a single.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
His rendition of White and Christmas was the single promoted
for that.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Album, The Kids Jingle Ballet.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
The song peaked at number twenty one on the UK
Singles charts back in seven and into the top ten
consistently over the past several years, peaking at number five
in twenty twenty on the Billboard Hot one hundred Singles
Charts in the US.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Oh game with.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Those holidays agreed, he was in gay happy meetings.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
When friends come.
Speaker 8 (09:29):
To car.
Speaker 9 (09:31):
It's the scenes.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
There'll be parties for hosting mar spells, for toasting.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And carrying out in the snow. They'll be scary.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Those stories and tales of the glories Christmases long long ago.
It's the most wonderful time ole.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
This next song is a favorite of Chad'soie, it's a
very unique song, and that it was written by Brad Paisley.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Now, I don't really care for Brad.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
Paisley, but I can't speak ill of Chad because he's
executive producer and we all kind of work for him.
So I'm going to pretend that this next song is
fantastic because it's his favorite, but it's not mine. It is,
I will say, a unique song, and that it was
written by Brad Paisley when he was still a kid.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I gotta give it credit for that.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
It starts with him singing it as his younger self.
It was then morphs into an adult Brad Paisley, and
I have to admit that's kind.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Of cool, even.
Speaker 10 (10:48):
Born and then made to bring.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
The world joy.
Speaker 8 (10:54):
So little bit, you know what you'll do.
Speaker 11 (11:03):
Your brain the world desonal and teach them.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
While you do.
Speaker 10 (11:09):
You have nothing to babe, because you know God is
with you of a way, that little important baby.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
In fact, that kind of reminds me of Travis Thibodeaux Christmas,
the guy who first.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Wrote take My Hand.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
I think he was twelve years old singing with his
dad when he saying when he wrote that, and he
first recorded it, and then of course Wayne Toobs.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Made it a big hit.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
That time run perhaps the best song of the bunch.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He is the one I chose. It's my favorite day.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
This comes from a TV movie A Year Without Santa
Claus and I love it.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
It's called mister Heat.
Speaker 9 (11:53):
Nice harm.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
Christmas Carden song time.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
Mister hundred line, I.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Too Much Chance.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
McLean's pick is by a musical genius, Ray Charles. You
may recognize it from the attic scene in the movie
Christmas vacation.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
It's the spirit.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
Of Christmas and it's Ray Charles and can there be
anything more?
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Christmas is the time movie be with the ones we love,
sharing so much joy sheer, what.
Speaker 9 (12:54):
A one of pup.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Watching the wandry Love.
Speaker 6 (13:05):
A Christmas classic My Old Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra. It
was written for June for uh No, It's written for
Judy Garland for the musical Meet.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Me in Saint Louis.
Speaker 6 (13:19):
Sinatra sang the song later with reworked lyrics and it's abduce.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Have your self a merry little Christmas.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Let your heart line from no.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Troubles will be out of side. Have yourself merry little Christmas.
Speaker 8 (14:00):
Make the mule tide game.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Time from no.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Lot troubles will be miles away. We are as an
old and.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Happy golden days.
Speaker 10 (14:30):
This is the Michael Berry Show, Locked and loaded, Loaded.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
This next one took it to the next level.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
This was a parody featuring the fictitious hood Rat Airlines
when LaToya the Destroyer, the Mayor of New Orleans had
to pay back thirty thousand dollars for her flight to France.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
This is your.
Speaker 12 (14:58):
Captain speaking, thank you again for flying Hoodrat Airlines. We'll
be landing in New Orleans in just about twenty minutes
or so, where the temperature is currently eighty five degrees
with a little bit of an overcast.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
By the way, just.
Speaker 12 (15:13):
A quick reminder that flying in coach is never a
safe place, especially if you're the mayor of New Orleans.
That's why here at Hoodrat Airlines, we're always happy to
upgrade any female Democrat mayor of a city in the
South for freeda first class. That's our policy and we're
sticking to it. You got a problem with that record
(15:35):
with a.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Study it out, You've got a dirty ruse.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
Study it out.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Aside down is across. This next parody was a major
coup for us.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Remember when Joe Biden was ushered around by the Easter Bunny. Well,
we received an insider communication from the person wearing that
bunny costume.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yes, I was in the bunny costume that day at
the White House. It was my job to shadow the President.
It was easter, so someone thought that it'd be a
good idea to dress me in a bunny outfit. They
thought that if I'd dressed up like the Easter Bunny,
I could blend into the crowd, and if the President
went off script, I would be able to steer him
back to a more appropriate conversation. Now it was time
(16:39):
for the event in the White House long Things were
going pretty well at first, but then the President decided
to mingle with the people. First, he saw a man
in the crowd that was, how do I say it?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Slow?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the President kind of leaned in a stage whisper
to me, tell me about the head. It's George. I
think he thought that Reverend Lenny of Mice and Men,
when he saw someone that was a little slow, was
funny because I was dressed like a giant rabbit. However,
this is the type of situation that I was there
to steer him away from. My job in that scenario
was to mention how much his dead son Bo loved Easter.
(17:16):
I mean that always works to get the President back
on course. If he strays away from the script, we
always bring it back to Bow.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Always.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
And later when he tried to talk about Pakistan with
a toddler, I mentioned Bow nothing. But this time it
didn't work. He was going to talk about Pakistan with
that toddler. No matter what, I'll admit, I panicut at
this point, I start waving my arms and I saved
the code word Lansbury. See Lansbury is the code we
(17:47):
have with the President. When we see he's starting to
get a little tired or maybe end over his head,
we say Lansbury. He knows it's time to go up
to the residents and lay down on watch Murder, She wrote.
The President loves a good Who've done it? We played
that same episode right before his nap every day. He
never remembers that he's seen it, and it's his favorite episode,
(18:09):
So it's a win win for us. But I'm telling
you right now, if they asked me to dress up
like his mother again for Mother's Day and he trains
to breast feedlay last year, I'm out of here. I
don't need this job that bad.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Next up, New Orleans Mayor LaToya the Destroyer. She was
involved in another scandal with her quote unquote charity face
Forward New Orleans.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Hello, it's me LaToya Cantrail, the Mayor of New Orleans.
I just wanted to clean some things up for gotten.
My non profitabook organization called Forward Together New Orleans and
my now you're a fund also name Forward Together New Orleans.
You see I strongly believe that New or Leans needs
(19:00):
to face forward, and we need to do that together.
We don't need none of y'all to be facing backwards now,
no way, no how. I'm sure as hell ain't facing backwards.
Speaker 9 (19:11):
Ever since I was a little.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Girl, people always said, girl, why are you facing forward?
Speaker 9 (19:16):
That's just how my mama raised me.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Can't help it, Thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That's why I named everything I do forward together, New
Orleans for my mama. I ain't heard no one complain
when George Foreman name all his children George, not once.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Some people say that I'm cooking, they round.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Some people say that I'm making myself rich.
Speaker 8 (19:38):
They round.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Some people say that I'm a nightmare. But I'm here
to tell.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
You that I'm a mayor during the daytime, too loud, Jesus,
I'm the toy of the destroyer. Peace y'all into your
new world to will not get.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Arrest me or take me to Texas so talk Mandy gets.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Out of this state.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
I think Michael Barry robs Michael very show.
Speaker 13 (20:14):
I like it.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
A visit from Saint Nicholas, or as you more commonly
know it, the night before Christmas and twas the Night
before Christmas. From its first line is a poem first poe, No, okay,
now you're interrupting.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Okay, So the.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Actual poem is called a Visit from Saint Nicholas. The
first line of the poem is twas the Night before Christmas.
It has come to be known as twas the Night
before Christmas or the Night before Christmas because people don't
(20:57):
know how to write twas, which is apostrophe.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And then its so.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
The actual name of it is a visit from Saint Okay,
all right, I will agree.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Most people probably did not know that. Yes, I will
give you credit.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
Most people probably did not know that, all right, So
please don't interrupt, But you are right. That is okay,
So well, all right, then let me complicate the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Even worse.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
The original title was not a visit from Saint Nicholas.
The original title, I believe was account of a visit
from Saint Nicholas, account of a visit from Saint Nicholas,
and it became a visit from Saint Nicholas or twas
the Night before Christmas, but I digress.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
It emerged in eighteen twenty three.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
It was later attributed to Clement Clark Moore, who fourteen
years later would claim authorship.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
In eighteen thirty seven.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
On the night of Christmas, a family is settling down
to sleep when the father is disturbed by noises on
the lawn. Looking out the window, he sees Santi Claus
or Saint Nicholas, in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer.
(22:19):
After landing his sleigh on the roof, Santy Claus enters
the house by sliding down the chimney. He carries a
sack of toys, and the father watches his visitor deliver
presents and fill the stockings hanging by the fireplace, and
laughs to himself. They share a conspiratorial moment before Santa
(22:44):
bounds up the chimney again. As he flies away, Santa
Claus calls out Happy Christmas to all, and to all
a good night. While this poem has been read by many,
maybe your mother or your father, your grandmother, your grandfather.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
A school teacher.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Maybe you've seen it read by a celebrity or a friend.
But I don't know that there is a better version
than from the late Great Charlie Daniels. We share it
proudly with you now.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The
stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes
that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The children were
nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar.
Speaker 14 (23:44):
Plums danced in their heads. And Mom and her kerchief
and I my cap.
Speaker 9 (23:49):
Had just settled down for a long.
Speaker 11 (23:51):
Winter nap, when out on the lawn there rose such
a clatter, and I sprang from my bed to see
what was the matter with the window.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
I flew in a flash.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
And tore open the shutter and threw up the sash,
and the moon on the breast of the new fallen
snow gave luster of midday to the objects below.
Speaker 14 (24:10):
Then once, to my wondering eye, should appear but a
miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein here with a little
old driver, so lively and quick, and I.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Knew in a moment that it must be seeing Nick.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
More rapid than.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Eagles as coursers.
Speaker 11 (24:30):
They came, and he whistled and shouted and called him
by name, now Dasher, now dancer, now prancer, now vixen.
On combat on Cupid on Donner, on Blizzen, to the
top of the porch, to the top of the wall.
Now dash away, dash your way, dash away, all as
(24:50):
dry leaves before.
Speaker 9 (24:52):
The wild hurricane fly when they meet with an obstacle.
Speaker 14 (24:55):
Mountain to the sky, so up to the housetop the
courser's they flew with a.
Speaker 9 (25:01):
Sleigh full of toys, and looked at Saint Nicholas too.
Speaker 15 (25:05):
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
the princing and pawing of each little hoof, and I
drew in my head, and I was turning around and
down the chimney.
Speaker 9 (25:16):
Saint Nicholas came with a man.
Speaker 14 (25:20):
He was dressed all in firm from his head to
his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished and ashes
and soot, and a bundle of toys that he hung
on his back. And he looked like a peddler, just
opening his pack.
Speaker 9 (25:34):
His eyes high they.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
Twinkled, his dipples high merry. His cheeks were like roses,
and his nose like a cherry. His droll little mouth
was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on
his chin was as white.
Speaker 9 (25:48):
As the snow.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
The stump of.
Speaker 14 (25:50):
A pipe he held tight in his teeth and smoke
it and circled his head like a wreath. He had
a broad face and a looking around belly that shook when.
Speaker 9 (25:59):
He laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
Speaker 11 (26:02):
He was chubby and plump, all right, jolly old off.
Speaker 9 (26:06):
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
Speaker 14 (26:09):
A wink of his eye, a twist of his head.
Soon he gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his
work and filled all the stockings. And he turned with
a jerk, laying his finger aside of his nose and
giving a nod up the chimney.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
He rose, He.
Speaker 14 (26:29):
Sprang to his sleigh, to his team, gave a whistle,
and away they all flew.
Speaker 9 (26:34):
Like the dawn.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
But this.
Speaker 9 (26:37):
That I heard him explain before he drove it out
of sight.
Speaker 13 (26:41):
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
I'm charnye, Daniels. We all know what Christmas is about.
Twas the night before Christmas is a fun forum, but
it's really about the birth of the Savior, man.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Kind of Jesus Christ. We wish you a very very
merry Christmas. Allow of the spooks. You have charted English fans.
God bless
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.