Christmas music, whether you love it or hate it, has a power over us we can't control, and science can back it up. Musicologist Joe Bennett at the Berklee College of Music in Boston has done a brief analysis on how we can define what a contemporary Christmas song even is, and the patterns and themes that seem to hit us at the heart. What makes "White Christmas" tick? Joe has a guitar and the answer.

Olly Robertson, a research assistant in The Oxford Psychological Interventions for Children and Adolescents research group at University of Oxford, meanwhile has written about the science of Christmas cheer, and why things like mistletoe, the Christmas tree, and of course the music have such an emotional impact.

Christmas cheer for all to hear

Tapestry is your guide through the messy business of being human. You’ll hear surprising conversations and rediscover your connection to something larger than yourself. Tapestry: your time to pause and go deep.

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In this finale episode of Tapestry, Mary Hynes and co-host Chris Howden send off the show in style with some of our favourite interview moments, well wishes from past guests, and emotional calls from listeners —  all in front of a live studio audience.

Tapestry: Thanks for listening

For Tapestry's penultimate episode, we peek behind the curtain. Tapestry producers Rosie Fernandez, Arman Aghbali, and McKenna Hadley-Burke take the hosting reins to share what the show has meant to them, alongside three stories on unexpected gifts and goodbyes.

Saying goodbye

The Irish poet John O'Donohue is in a league of his own here at Tapestry — he stars in the single most requested episode we’ve ever broadcast. 

O’Donohue, an ex-priest, was also a beautiful writer, and a wildly eloquent partner in conversation. Talking to Mary Hynes in 2004, O’Donohue shares his poetry and soulful wisdom about what it means to live a good life and die a good death.

Our most requested interview: John O'Donohue

When he reached the peak of Snowmass Mountain, Fred Bryant made sure the moment lived with him forever. Bryant is a social psychologist and a leading expert on the science of savouring.

Later, Shane Sinclair is the founder and director of the Compassion Research Lab at the University of Calgary. He is putting compassion under the microscope to understand how healthcare workers can provide better experiences for their patients.

The science of sweetness

Writer, artist and priest Malcolm Doney has been tackling life's biggest questions about love, loss, meaning and purpose. Together with co-author Martin Wroe, Doney wrote a guide to living in harmony with the unknown called Hold On, Let Go: How to Find Your Life.

Christmas cheer for all to hear

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