A surge for Santorum in Iowa?

An unexpected changing of the guard in North Korea

• Prominent Iowa social conservatives Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley have endorsed former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) for the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus.
• Read Joel Hannahs WORLDmag.com Web Extra report on the Santorum endorsement.
• Mindy Belz is the editor of WORLD Magazine.

A TW&E Series: "Favorite Songs of Christmas"

• During December, our listeners are telling us about their favorite Christmas music.
• This week, WORLD News Group CEO Kevin Martin highlights "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." He also shares a recording of his father playing Christmas music on the piano. Kevin's dad made the recording just before advancing cancer robbed him of his ability to play.
• Download the Christmas album Let It Snow by Jukebox Logic here—for free!

Taking on the commercialization of Christmas—with satire

• Learn more about Stan Freberg's 1958 recording, Green Chri$tma$.

Listeners talk about their favorite songs of Christmas

• Canadian folk singer Cat Yahnke's recording of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"—and her entire album of O Night Divine—can be heard online here.
• Twila Paris's 1989 recording of "In the Bleak Midwinter" (under the title "Midwinter") is available as an mp3 download here.

Andrée Seu commentary: The Salvation Army does war with the devil

• Commentator Andrée Seu is a senior writer for WORLD Magazine. Today's commentary is adapted from an article that appeared in WORLD.

Legal roundup: Religious freedom vs. professional prerogatives; pre-trial arguments in WikiLeaks case; Sister Wives patriarch challenges polygamy law

Encouraging news on the economy

• Mary Reichard is the legal affairs correspondent for The World and Everything in It.
• Warren Cole Smith covers business and economic news for WORLD News Group.

A TW&E series: "Favorite Songs of Christmas"

• During December, our listeners are telling us about their favorite Christmas music.
• Today, we hear from Trevin Wax, managing editor of The Gospel Project for Lifeway Christian Resources. Trevin also blogs at Kingdom People.
• Learn more about the hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."
• "Christ Is Born," written by Domenico Bartolucci with English lyrics by choral director Ray Charles, was released on The Carpenters' 1978 album Christmas Portrait.

The story behind a well-known Christmas poem

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Christmas Bells" on Christmas Day 1864. The poem has been set to music as "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."
• Bill Mitchell, pastor of Florida's Boca Raton Community Church, spoke about Longfellow's poem in a December 2010 sermon, available here via YouTube.

A TW&E series: "Favorite Songs of Christmas"

• TW&E co-host Nick Eicher likes Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan's recording of "Silent Night."
• Learn more about the Ten Commandments parchment that is on display through Jan. 2 at Discovery Times Square in New York City.

The most influential person in all of history

• "One Solitary Life" was written in 1926 by Dr. James Allen Francis, pastor of the First Baptist of Los Angeles. Learn more about "One Solitary Life" here.
• Find out more about Jesus of Nazareth and the most consequential life of all time.