Revisionist History: "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Host: Malcolm Gladwell • Guest/Producer: Ben Nadaff-Haffrey
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this holiday special, Malcolm Gladwell and Ben Nadaff-Haffrey investigate the true authorship of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” America’s most ubiquitous poem. While commonly attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, a centuries-long family quest claims the true author is Henry Livingston Jr. The episode explores family legend, literary forensics, and the complex ways in which traditions—and authorship—are constructed, contested, and mythologized.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How “Twas the Night Before Christmas” Shaped American Christmas

[02:49–04:23]

• The poem, originally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is presented as the blueprint for modern American Christmas.
• "It's the first time the reindeers are named. It's the first time he gets eight and not one. And it is the blueprint for American Christmas." (Ben Nadaff-Haffrey, [03:40])
• Gladwell and Ben reflect on the poem’s cultural pervasiveness, with Gladwell noting, “I suspect that an insanely high percentage of Americans can get a significant way into this poem from memory.” ([04:36])

2. The Authorship Mystery Emerges

[05:05–05:38]

• The poem was first published anonymously; the original editor’s note admits they do not know the author.
• Family legend—and persistent rumor—has long suggested Henry Livingston Jr. as the real writer.

3. The Livingston Family’s Multi-Generational Quest

[06:30–10:14]

• Mary Van Dusen, Livingston’s descendant, describes discovering a website suggesting her ancestor wrote the poem.
• The Livingston family spent generations looking for proof, with only oral histories and lost documents due to a house fire.
• Mary reflects: “Having your name in your birth announcement as having to research [the] Night Before Christmas puts a burden on your shoulders. That is very heavy.” ([10:04])

4. Christmas Before Moore: A Social Transformation

[10:47–16:02]

• Gladwell and Ben discuss how poetry was central to early 19th-century public life.
• Historian Stephen Nissenbaum explains how Christmas was once a raucous, class-inverting holiday—almost akin to “a cross between Halloween and New Year’s Eve”—and how the Knickerbockers (elite New Yorkers) reimagined it as a family-friendly, child-oriented tradition through the poem. ([12:44–16:02])

  “The new Christmas... It was the grownups changing places with the kids.” (Stephen Nissenbaum, [15:35])

5. The Livingstonian Stylistic Argument

[17:32–18:46], [27:48–30:34]

• The family lacks definitive documentary evidence but turns to literary forensics.
• Enter Don Foster, literary detective, known for forensic authorship analysis (famously unmasking Joe Klein as the author of "Primary Colors").

6. Literary Forensics: Don Foster’s Case Against Moore

[22:38–33:50]

• Don Foster uses computer analysis and close reading to argue for Livingston’s authorship of the poem.
• Formal qualities, such as anapestic tetrameter (the poem’s bouncy, memorable meter), supposedly fit Livingston’s style more than Moore’s.

  “Foster alleged that Moore was way too serious to be a big anapaestic tetrameter guy. He says that Moore condemned the ‘depraved taste in poetry’ of those who read anapestic satire.” (Ben Nadaff-Haffrey, [29:23])

• Personality contrast is drawn ("good cheer to the ladies kind of guy" vs. "The Grinch… Scrooge, you could say.").
• The case spreads—mock trials, city proclamations, even the Poetry Foundation list Livingston as author.

  "Don Foster, the man of eminent literary attainments, had apparently solved the mystery. At long last, the press went wild." (Ben Nadaff-Haffrey, [31:48])

7. The Moore Defense: Pushing Back on Foster’s Findings

[37:32–42:43]

• Seth Kaller, rare documents expert, methodically debunks Foster’s arguments and upholds Moore’s authorship.
• Style comparisons reveal Moore actually used similar language and meter elsewhere (“all snug,” “visions of sugar plums,” etc.).
• Kaller points out timing inconsistencies in the Livingston family’s stories and exposes misinterpretations and context-omitting quotes in Foster’s book.

  "What I found wasn't just that it was misinterpreted, but that it was elided to the point where if you just read the full sentence, it actually proves the opposite of what is being used to argue." (Seth Kaller, [40:42])

8. Intellectual Humility & the Power of Tradition

[42:58–43:37]

• Mary Van Dusen accepts others may reach different conclusions:

  "It's fine with me that you come to a different position than I do… At least you examine the issue and you feel peace in yourself at the answer you come to." ([42:58])

9. The Key Evidence (and Gladwell’s Final Take)

[43:37–47:25]

• Ben highlights that Moore did indeed write other Christmas poems in similar styles—contradicting the “Scrooge” stereotype.
• Ben quotes one of Moore’s sentimental snow-themed poems in the same meter.
• The episode closes on the note that the debate endures—fitting for a holiday built around myth, inversion, and family legend.

  “Christmas is a made up holiday. The core of it is these weird social inversions… In that sense, it’s easy to see why the story that Henry Livingston Jr. actually wrote this poem gets retold so often. It’s another Christmassy inversion, one about as old as modern Christmas itself.” (Ben Nadaff-Haffrey, [47:25])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the poem’s ubiquity:

  “I would stake my life on the fact that more people—this is the only poem that most people know.”
  — Ben Nadaff-Haffrey ([04:46])

• Mary Van Dusen, on family legacy:

  “They saw a wrong that needed to be righted.”
  — [08:04]

• Stephen Nissenbaum, on Christmas inversion:

  “It was commonly celebrated as what I would call something of a cross between Halloween and New Year’s Eve because of what amounts to trick or treat.”
  — [13:24]

• Don Foster, on authorial fingerprinting:

  “Each of us has a style, a kind of fingerprint in the way we write that if revealed, would prove conclusively that we wrote something.”
  — [24:04]

• Seth Kaller, on evidence:

  “There are all these words, feelings, thoughts, phrases. These would all be evidence that Moore could have written the Night Before Christmas and in fact did write the Night Before Christmas as opposed to, you know, just making the arguments that he couldn't have because he didn't use these words.”
  — [39:25]

• Gladwell, on tradition and scrutiny:

  “The story that Henry Livingston Jr. actually wrote this poem gets retold so often. It’s another Christmassy inversion, one about as old as modern Christmas itself.”
  — [47:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:49] – Poem’s significance and ubiquity
• [05:05] – Publication history and the authorship mystery
• [06:30] – The Livingston family quest
• [12:44] – Christmas as a social inversion; St. Nicholas reimagined
• [22:51] – Don Foster’s literary forensics
• [27:48] – Anapestic tetrameter and stylistic analysis
• [37:32] – Seth Kaller’s counter-investigation
• [42:58] – Mary Van Dusen on intellectual humility
• [43:37] – Ben presents Moore’s holiday poetry
• [47:25] – The meaning of myth, inversion, and Christmas stories

Tone & Style

• Playful, curious, scholarly, with Gladwell’s signature wry asides
  • Intellectual rigor, narrative drive, and humor channeling the holiday spirit
  • Respect for myth and family tradition even as scrutiny is applied

Conclusion

This festive Revisionist History episode deftly navigates literary mystery, family lore, and historical context to reassess our most beloved Christmas poem. Gladwell and Ben ultimately let listeners draw their own conclusions—mirroring the poem’s transformation from anonymous invention to enduring tradition, and reminding us that sometimes, the greatest magic is how we retell our stories.

Recommended if you enjoy:

• Literary detective stories
• Social history
• Holiday myth-busting
• The quirks of family legend