It's the most wonderful time of the year - the annual Comradio Christmas episode. This year our theme is the beard. From what beards tell us about sociology and policy to the rich history of hairy faces, including what Atlee said about beards, how the Chartists delayed the age of the Victorian beard, New Labour's approach to beards, the role of the beard in Abraham Lincoln's electoral success, fake beards, beard taxes, the edicts about beards that have been used for political ends through the ages, and The Charge of The Light Brigade. All leading us to our thrilling conclusion: the truth about Santa's beard.  

 

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Why does Santa have a beard but Mrs Claus doesn’t? - BBC Science Focus Magazine 

 

Beards augment perceptions of men's age, social status, and aggressiveness, but not attractiveness - Dixson and Vasey (2012) 

 

Women are more attracted to men with beards, says study - Sophie Foster for Wales Online (2020) 

 

A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology - Tessa R. Clarkson et al (2020) 

 

ALMOST HALF OF WOMEN REFUSE TO DATE MEN WITH HIPSTER BEARDS, SURVEY FINDS - Sarah Young for The Independent (2018)  

 

Let’s talk about Oscar Isaac's magnificent Dune beard - Gabrielle Paiella for GQ (2020)  

 

The Beard-Battle that Almost Split Christendom - Luke T. Harrington for Christianity Today (2016) 

 

What's In A Beard? - Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman 

 

The men evading Tajikistan’s de-facto beard ban - Global Voices Online in The Guardian (2015) 

 

5 UK Sikh doctors ‘removed’ for refusing to shave beards - Naomi Canton for Times of India (2020) 

 

Sikh Front-Line Workers Make Enough Sacrifices. Their Beards Shouldn't Be One. - Harman Singh in HuffPo (2020) 

 

Depiction thought to be Loki with no beard 

 

Beard: Masculinity in Early Modern England - Will Fisher (2001) 

 

Peter the Great’s Beard Tax - Amelia Soth for JSTOR Daily (2021) 

 

The Beard Movement in Victorian Britain - Christopher Oldstone-Moore (2005) 

 

Five Things You Didn't Know About The Crimean War - The Royal Collection Trust 

 

Roger Fenton's Crimean War photographs at the US Library of Congress  

 

Pioneer photographer's stark images of Crimean war go on display - Caroline Davies (2017) 

 

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Lord Tennyson (1854) 

 

The six reasons beards are everywhere - BBC Radio Four 

 

The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture - Les Wright (1997) 

 

“Grow the Beard, Wear the Costume”: Resisting Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigmas in the Bear Subculture - Patrick B. McGrady (2016) 

 

Understanding the Bear Movement in Gay Male Culture - Eric Manley et al (2008) 

 

What is a Blind Item? - Mary McMahon 

 

This Trans Woman Kept Her Beard And Couldn't Be Happier - Patrick Strudwick for Buzzfeed (2015)  

 

Why famous dudes grow beards to deal with existential crises - Luke Winkie for Vox (2020) 

 

Rick and Morty - Abradolf Lincler 

 

Santa, is that you? But where’s your white beard? - Peter Holley in WaPo (2014)