Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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One day in December 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup received an unexpected call on his red phone — a top-secret hotline — at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). It was the height of the Cold War, and Colonel Shoup was in charge of a radar system built to give early warning of a Soviet attack.

To his surprise, it was a call from a child asking to speak to Santa Claus. At StoryCorps, Terri Van Keuren, Rick Shoup, and PamFarrell—three of Colonel Shoup’s four children—share the tale of what happened next, and how their father created a beloved Christmas Eve tracking tradition.

Directed by
Richard O’Connor

Executive Producers
Michael Garofalo
Rachel Hartman
Dave Isay

Producer
Savannah Winchester

Senior Audio Producer
Michael Garofalo

Audio Produced by
Jasmyn Morris

Supervising Sound Recordist
Mayra Sierra

Audio Mixed By
Jarrett Floyd

Animation by
Ace & Son Moving Picture Co., LLC

Design
Taisiya Zaretskaya

Animator
Taisiya Zaretskaya

Art Production
Taisiya Zaretskaya
Ruyin Tsai
Natalie Greene

Original Music
Joshua Abrams

Music Performed by
Joshua Abrams
Hamid Drake
Marquis Hill
Emmett Kelly
Adam Thornburg

Music Mixed by
Joshua Abrams
Neil Strauch

Outro Music by
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas”
From the Album Cocktail Christmas
Published by SOHO Metro Park

Special Thanks
Terri Van Keuren
Rick Shoup
Pam Farrell

In Partnership with
American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress
NPR
POV

Original Production Funding Provided by
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
A private corporation funded by the American people.

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