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Maya Thompson's son Ronan died of cancer three days before his fourth birthday. During his illness, she began a raw and sometimes angry blog that drew millions of readers. Thompson has since started a foundation and is funding clinical trials to find a cure for childhood cancer.

The flow of good classical Christmas albums seems to have slowed to a trickle. And that's got one holiday listener longing for holiday albums from years past, from Jessye Norman's Christmastide, Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite and carols led by Robert Shaw.

The U.S. military plans to send an Army brigade to Africa next year. Some 4,000 soldiers would deploy — in small units and at different times — to help train and advise African troops. It's part of an Obama administration plan to address the growing challenge posed by terrorism in Africa.

At a store near Boston, Cameron Sylvester, 3, had his chance to meet Santa. But the boy, who's legally deaf, stayed back. Santa saw his hearing aids and in sign language asked the magic question: "Are you a good boy?" Cameron's mother told WCBV news she wanted to cry. "A lot of people don't know sign language," she said, but then, "there's Santa."

Christians the world over are celebrating Christmas. India, the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, marks the birth of Jesus with a national holiday. In this land of great religions, Christians and non-Christians join in the festivities of this season with song and special meals.

An intense winter storm system will continue to bring rain, snow and icy conditions to our region through Wednesday evening.The Blizzard Warning for…

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

Rita Betush and Judy Bottomley grew up with a sense that something was missing. As a child, Betush's mother told her she had a sister who'd been put up for adoption. This year, after decades apart, Betush and her long-lost sister, Bottomley, connected by phone, and in February, they'll finally meet.

It turns out Rudolph wasn't the only reindeer with a bright red nose. All reindeer have red noses, and a new study in the British Medical Journal explains why. Their noses are packed with lots of blood vessels to warm cold air on the way in and soak up heat from their breath as they breathe out.

When we asked listeners to tell us what they ate on Christmas Day, we found a lot of commonality — puddings, cookies, egg nog — and a few quirks, including a drink called a "Holiday Harvey," and an odd Christmas Day sandwich made of biscuits, salami, cookies, and butter.