Episode 41: "If These Shadows Remain Unaltered," A Christmas Carol Special – Dynamics of a Podcast
This December, we’re doing something a little different and taking a look at Ebenezer Scrooge as a villain. (Yes, of course, we still compare him to Moriarty.) Along the way, we talk about the uncomfortable parallels with our modern day, and what lessons we all can learn from A Christmas Carol. (Madeline especially gets a little spicy — and did we need to hear her Tevye impression? Maybe not, but we got it anyway!)
Then it’s time for some fun, talking through the various adaptations we’ve watched, out of the many, many that are out there. Yes, that includes Muppet Christmas Carol, don’t worry!
Compliments of the Season!
Handy-dandy links!
- A Christmas Carol on Project Gutenberg, which everyone should read at least once!
- Our own episode 7: “Christmas Special with Claire Daines” (no show notes, sorry!)
- Claire’s short story, “A Criminal Carol,” in which Moriarty is in the place of Scrooge.
- A little gem I stumbled across, a short story written by Mattias Boström!
- Script for the play A Sherlock Carol by Mark Shanahan.
- The Adapt or Perish episodes focused on A Christmas Carol: episode 6, episode 107, episode 121, episode 133, and episode 154.
- Monsters and Ghosts: A Christmas Carol, a biblioventure from the Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia.

Your hosts are Madeline Quiñones and Dixie Parkinson. Contact us at dynamicsofapodcast@gmail.com, and follow us on Bluesky, on Facebook, and on Tumblr. If you enjoy our show, please consider becoming a patron or leaving us a tip on our ko-fi page. Thanks for listening!
Thank you for an excellent discussion and a great resources list. I missed the Biblioventure discussion so am really enjoying being able to follow along, even if I can’t jump in with comments. As for your podcast, I appreciate so many of the things you “get” about the story, especially that Scrooge is ultimately not motivated by fear but by compassion and even love. An important line of Belle’s is often overlooked by those who think the ghosts are there to terrorize him. “You fear the world too much….All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach.” It’s FEAR that keeps Scrooge paralyzed and mean.
One more thing: I BEG you, BEFORE you WATCH the Patrick Stewart movie, LISTEN to his one-man show. For two things so closely related they are very different in tone and quality. The one-man show is wonderful. The movie is simply not, despite all the wonderful elements in it. You can listen to the show here: https://youtu.be/NFB6ikg9UpM?si=vzV2kUWdEmqhbtB_ Thanks for the holiday treat!
LikeLike