The Musers The Podcast
Episode 25: Santa & the Tim Biakabutuka Jersey
Release Date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: George Dunham, Craig “Junior” Miller (Bob), Gordon Keith
Main Theme
The Musers, three legendary Dallas-Fort Worth radio personalities, gather for a festive holiday special focused on their most memorable Christmas stories, the joys and trials of childhood wishes, the quirks of family celebrations, and that magical (or occasionally disappointing) moment when dreams meet reality under the tree. With classic Musers banter and introspective tangents, the trio taps into nostalgia and humor, reflecting on what makes the holiday season meaningful.
Table of Contents
- Opening Banter & Holiday Movie Talk (00:28–01:46)
- Letter of the Week and Podcast Therapy (02:00–04:57)
- Why Podcasting Feels Different & Lowering Walls (04:57–06:17)
- George’s Three-Generations Christmas Story (06:17–16:14)
- Craig’s Magical Christmas in Colorado (17:50–26:46)
- Gordon’s Putt Puttmobile—Longing & Childhood Disappointment (26:46–34:53)
- The Santa Question: Magic, Skepticism, and Kid Logic (39:40–47:06)
- Holiday Traditions: Desserts & Christmas Dinners (48:04–50:25)
- How Families Do Presents—Chaos, Rituals, and Gift Wrapping (50:30–53:44)
- Childhood Gifts: The Ones That Got Away (53:44–57:19)
- Closing Wishes & Holiday Sign-Offs (57:19–end)
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1. Opening Banter & Holiday Movie Talk (00:28–01:46)
- The group kicks off with playful ribbing about Christmas dinner traditions—Denny’s is jokingly cited as a family staple.
- Spirited defense of Home Alone as a top holiday film, and a tangent about tensest movie scenes—Joe Pesci’s famous “funny how?” scene in Goodfellas and the firecracker scene from Boogie Nights receive mention.
- Quick detour: The tension of the Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter.
“Joe Pesci is so great. I love Joe Pesci and Home Alone. Again, another vote for Home Alone. As we talk about great holiday movies.”
—George (01:16)
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2. Letter of the Week and Podcast Therapy (02:00–04:57)
- George reads a heartfelt fan email from Philip: listeners appreciate the authenticity and vulnerability of the podcast, especially around hard moments and loss.
- The Musers reflect on how the podcast feels more therapeutic than their morning radio show, with more freedom for candid, emotional conversation.
- Gordon muses about the “walls being down,” and jokingly attributes their candor to recording shirtless.
“At least for me, it has been very therapeutic at points… I think I need to go into some therapy. I think in some ways this has been very therapeutic for me.”
—George (03:17)
“Yeah, we're saving you money, Giorgio… Don't have to go to therapy.”
—Gordon (03:42)
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3. Why Podcasting Feels Different & Lowering Walls (04:57–06:17)
- They discuss why the podcast format allows more vulnerability: slower, longer form, less time-pressure than radio.
- The comfort of the podcast setting (“shirtless” aside) leads them to deeper places than timed broadcast segments.
- The group reiterates their enjoyment of the format and the opportunity to speak freely.
“Maybe we just think about it too much on radio. That's okay. We've got this much time and we got to get to the good stuff.”
—George (04:17)
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4. George’s Three-Generations Christmas Story (06:17–16:14)
- George shares an emotional story from the mid-’90s when his young son wanted a real NFL ball and a kicking tee.
- In last-minute Christmas Eve panic, he discovers the kicking tee is missing; suspects it was accidentally thrown out.
- George retrieves his own childhood tee from his parents’ house at 1 am, enlisting his father to clean and “restore” it for his son.
- The experience of three generations coming together to save Christmas was profoundly meaningful.
- Afterward, he sits in silence on the porch—“five most peaceful moments of my life”—a powerful moment he’s tried and failed to recapture since.
“My dad was a former marine. If he would have you, you would have gotten cast.”
—George (10:55)
“I just sat out on a front porch, and I sat down on the stoop, and I just sat there for 15 minutes looking at the lights and just enjoying quiet. And I've tried to duplicate that since, and I have not had them… almost what has been 30 years, I've not had another experience like that.”
—George (13:22)
“And you had the three generations of men involved... that’s so alpha and omega.”
—Gordon (14:01)
- The story ends with laughter about how kids sometimes react less than rapturously to homemade or “used” gifts—with George’s son giving the “game-used” tee a quizzical look.
- Gordon shares a related anecdote about playing with a boxed football all December, ruining both the surprise and the box.
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5. Craig’s (Bob’s) Magical Christmas in Colorado (17:50–26:46)
- Bob recalls his parents moving to Evergreen, Colorado, and spending his first Christmas in the snowy mountains as a college student.
- The drive up I-70, town square with a frozen lake and skating, and shopping with his sister in a snowy, idyllic setting made it feel like living in a movie.
- Christmas Eve traditions: nice dinner out, gift opening, midnight mass—all surrounded by snow and “movie set” atmosphere.
- Bob ties this to his ongoing love affair with mountain Christmases and how setting informs his own family’s traditions.
- George and Gordon riff on the romanticization of “white Christmases” by Texans, the desire for postcard-perfect celebrations, and the perennial grass-is-greener mentality.
- The group jokes about odd “summery” Christmases (like those in Honolulu), and Gordon reminisces about miraculous snowy holiday trips to places like Bruges and New York.
“That just always stuck out to me as the most magical Christmas ever. The first one in the snow… from that moment on, I wanted every Christmas to be like that for the rest of my life.”
—Bob (21:54)
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6. Gordon’s Putt Puttmobile—Longing & Childhood Disappointment (26:46–34:53)
- Gordon describes his intense childhood longing for a pedal car (“Putt Puttmobile”) found in the Sears catalog—he cut out its picture and kept it in a pipe tobacco tin, staring at it daily.
- Christmas morning joy: Santa delivers the pedal car, which becomes his most treasured possession… until it’s destroyed by his older brother and friends, who race it downhill and break the wheels off.
- He movingly describes visiting its “skeleton” in the basement after the family moves; many years later he searches online for the rare toy but never finds another.
- The crew riffs on childhood obsessions, pedal-car mechanics, and the sensory nostalgia of pipe tobacco and old basements.
“That picture from the catalog had turned to tissue paper... so soft and feather light because of all the wear from the pennies that had been shaken around it.”
—Gordon (32:49)
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7. The Santa Question: Magic, Skepticism, and Kid Logic (39:40–47:06)
- Bob tells of the Christmas he decided, with scientific rigor, to test the Easter Bunny and Santa myth: he marked a carrot with a green X, only to find it relocated to the crisper drawer by morning.
- The group discusses the moment kids start questioning Santa, with stories ranging from helpful local Santas who read a kid’s mind (with help from the radio show) to complicated parental ethics around “perpetuating the magic.”
- Gordon exposes his childhood heartbreak and trust issues when his mother insisted Santa was real—prompting a spirited debate about when parents should “be honest” about the myth.
- Musers trade personal anecdotes about the age they stopped believing and how families handled “the truth.”
“That was smart of him to do that, because I had the traumatic experience...I experienced that as a betrayal.”
—Gordon (46:38)
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8. Holiday Traditions: Desserts & Christmas Dinners (48:04–50:25)
- The group compares Christmas desserts: pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, banana pudding, gingerbread cookies (with George touting his mom’s unbeatable recipe).
- The Christmas dinner lineup mirrors Thanksgiving: breakfast casseroles (assembled and refrigerated the night before), with some discussion of changing up the standard menu.
- Bob notes the tradition of tamales at Christmas in New Mexico.
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9. How Families Do Presents—Chaos, Rituals, and Gift Wrapping (50:30–53:44)
- Debated present-opening rituals:
- One-at-a-time (with everyone watching) versus everyone tearing in together (total chaos).
- Rotating “Santa” (the present distributor), youngest starts, trash-bag management.
- “Brothers’ Christmas Eve” for sibling gift exchanges, with in-box practical jokes for extra mystique.
- Dads and gift wrapping:
- Bob’s dad: methodical, careful, always guessed “slippers,” never tore wrapping paper; “ooh, I wonder what this is?”
- George brags about his own expert-level gift-wrapping skills.
- Gordon and Bob admit they’re hopeless at wrapping.
“That's one of the few things I'm really good at. I can drive a boat, I can back a trailer, and I can wrap a gift.”
—George (53:00)
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10. Childhood Gifts: The Ones That Got Away (53:44–57:19)
- George’s white whale: four years of asking for “electric football” (the classic vibrating metal field game); Santa’s “helper” (his dad) considered it junk and never delivered—until George’s wife surprised him with one as an adult.
- Bob’s heartbreak: yearned for a real Cowboys uniform, got a generic “Hutch” brand Packers-style set (“the worst number you could possibly get as a kid: 66”).
- Gordon boasts of finally getting a Dolphins uniform, only to outgrow it—teasing about being the only fully suited-up kid tackling others in the yard.
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11. Closing Wishes & Holiday Sign-Offs (57:19–end)
- The Musers offer cheerful holiday wishes to listeners, sprinkling in light jabs about “Happy Christmas” vs. “Merry Christmas,” and referencing Paul McCartney’s preference.
- Tease for next week’s “Best of” episode as a sharable holiday audio gift.
“We all hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas, happy holiday, a happy New Year… Thanks to our producer Peter Welton for putting up with this once again.”
—George (57:19)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On capturing the magic of Christmas:
“I can still, I can put myself in that place… just hearing that silence for 15 minutes or so.”
—George (14:46)
On wanting what you can’t have:
“That was my penny collection… I would take this picture out… and just stare at it and dream of all the exotic locations I was going to go to in this pedal car.”
—Gordon (29:45)
On the myth of Santa:
“I got my 4 year old sister to the side and I said, I don't think there's anything to this Easter bunny thing or Santa Claus thing… we put it at the table for the Easter Bunny… and I pulled out a carrot and it had the X on the side of it.”
—Bob (40:24)
On family ritual and chaos:
“I know several families though that… on Christmas morning, it's okay, go. And everybody unwraps at the same time. That seems like chaos to me.”
—Bob (51:26)
On finally getting your wish:
“When I was, I guess, around 30 or 35, my wife got me electric football… And as I bring it up 56 years later, I eventually got over it.”
—George (54:12)
Tone and Style
Warm, nostalgic, and peppered with dry, sometimes absurdist humor. The Musers’ legendary chemistry shines in affectionate teasing, wistful memories, and unsparing self-deprecation—creating a rich, relatable, and highly entertaining portrait of family, holiday tradition, and the small, poignant moments that stick with us for life.
For longtime Musers fans and newcomers alike, this holiday episode is a cozy, laughter-filled journey into the heart of what makes Christmas memories endure.