Christmas Past, Christmas Present

Join us to uncover the past and present of festive maladies and find out why this is Santa's most difficult Christmas ever!

First Kevin O’Dell (Professor of Behaviour Genetics, University of Glasgow) will explain why this is going to be Santa’s most difficult Christmas ever. How is Santa going to cope with the world’s ever-expanding population, meaning more children to visit on Christmas Eve and an ever more complicated route? And how are Santa, the reindeer and the elves going to deal with the ever-changing Covid-19 restrictions? Kevin will reveal how Santa’s remarkable understanding of biology will help save the day.

Charlotte Holmes (University of Edinburgh) will then examine the history of early recipe books and their use to treat a wide range of complaints, including festive maladies such as hangovers and over indulging. Where treatments can include bat blood and stale urine – this is definitely not one to try at home!