Merry Christmas, Nerds | The Complete LTN Resource List

Christmastime is here. And we like to keep our yuletide nerdy here at Love Thy Nerd. Here is a collection of Christmas-focused articles, podcasts, and videos to make you think, pray, laugh, and prepare for the most festive day of the year.

Article Series | Advent Calendar (2021)

• Hope and Superman by Drew Hood | Week One – Hope (Prophet’s Candle)
• Love and Final Fantasy X by Andrea Racoti | Week Two – Faith (Bethlehem’s Candle)
• Joy and Tabletop Roleplay by Colby Whittaker | Week Three – Joy (Shepherd’s Candle)
• Peace and Coffee Talk by Amy Cokenour | Week Four – Peace (Angel’s Candle)
• Christ and The Wheel of Time by Jon Campoverde | Christmas Day – Light (Christ’s Candle)

Article Series | Advent Calendar (2018)

• Hope and Kingdom Death: Monster by Madeline Turnipseed | Week One – Hope (Prophet’s Candle)
• Faith and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by Madeline Turnipseed | Week Two – Faith (Bethlehem’s Candle)
• Joy and Wandersong by Madeline Turnipseed | Week Three – Joy (Shepherd’s Candle)
• Peace and Rakuen by Jon Campoverde | Week Four – Peace (Angel’s Candle)
• Light and Pyre by Steve Miller | Christmas Day – Light (Christ’s Candle)

LTN Buying Guide | Stuff Those Stockings!

• The Love Thy Nerd Merch Store | LTN shirts, hoodies, mugs, pins, and the perhaps the best water bottle on the whole planet.
• Skullz: Love Thy Nerd Collection | Premium-quality gamer gear! The LTN Esports jersey, hoodie, joggers, armbands, flag, hats, laptop sleeve and more.
• TableTop Makers: Love Thy Nerd Collection | Hand-crafted wooden tabletop items! Dice trays, goblin hives, and coasters.
• This Little Bean of Mine: Matt & Bubba in the Morning Blend | A light roast with subtle notes of cocoa, light nuttiness with a sweet citrus finish. The perfect cup for your morning.
• Sunday School Answers: Love Thy Nerd Edition & Expansion Packs | Sunday School Answers has released a 600+ card Core Deck for Love Thy Nerd, and also has several expansion packs that were collaborations between the LTN community and a few of the LTN podcasts.
• Know Thy Gamer: A Parent’s Guide to Video Games by Drew Dixon | A book that offers an opportunity for parents to understand their children and the kinds of games they are playing. By discussing some of the most important movements in the gaming world, Drew guides parents to understanding and loving their gamers through a Christian lens.

Articles | Help for the Holidays

• Keeping the Gadgets Fun: 3 Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe Online This Christmas by Lisa Eldred | How to protect your kids from gateway toys to unhealthy problems later in life, like porn habits, technology addictions, cyberbullying, or even just picking up bad habits from the gross trolls in the comments on YouTube.
• Ghosts of the Holidays by Chris Fogle | Taking a horrific tour with the ghosts of our past, present, and future can help us make significant changes to our lives and those around us.
• All They Want for Christmas is a New Gaming System by the LTN Writers | When choosing a video game system for your kids, there’s lost to consider… and LTN’s parents are here to help. (Though slightly outdated, there are still plenty of good thoughts to help you make a decision.)
• Need a Gift Idea? Here Are Our 11 Favorite Games from PAX Unplugged by the LTN Writers | A spotlight on 11 tabletop games from 2018. (Games never go out of style, right?)
• ‘Tis the Season to Partner with Love Thy Nerd by Drew Dixon | Why should you consider gifting your donations to LTN?

Podcasts | Deck Your Earholes

• Church Nerds 86: The Church Nerds Christmas Eve Eve Special | Bubba & Anna share nerdy Christmas traditions here at home and around the world in this special episode.
• Back Row Morning Show 540: Tier-Ranking Christmas Specials | Radio Matt & Mo shares their memories and hot takes on made-for-TV Christmas specials.
• Back Row Morning Show 539: Sunday School Answers – Christmas Edition | Radio Matt & Mo play their own Christmas game.
• Back Row Morning Show 538: Tier-Ranking Christmas Movies | Radio Matt & Mo shares their memories and hot takes on Christmas movies.
• Back Row Morning Show 537: Christmas Music Memories | Radio Matt & Mo welcome several Back Row Buds on to discuss favorite Christmas hits and hymns.
• Free Play 164: Nerds of Christmas Past | Bubba, Matt & Kate share their nerdy Christmas memories from childhood. Plus, Game of the Year!
• Church Nerds 85: The One about Advent | Bubba & Anna discuss how Christians and Nerds are accustomed to waiting.
• The Pull List 80: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year | Chris & Hector take a magical journey through time and revisit their favorite pulls of 2022 (Great stocking stuffer ideas!).
• Church Nerds 61: Church Nerds Christmas Eve Special 2021 | Bubba & Anna set out to rank the definitive Christmas Movie Tier Chart! Plus, a Christmas Traditions Quiz and loads of holiday cheer.
• Back Row Morning Show 429: The Christmas Eve Eve Special 2021 | Radio Matt & Mo spend the evening ranking new Christmas candies, playing the Christmas edition of Sunday School Answers, and sharing their favorite Christmas memories.
• Back Row Morning Show 428: All I Want for Christmas is You | Radio Matt & Mo take a deep dive into the biggest Christmas hit of all time by Mariah Carey. Plus, a Christmas quiz and our favorite cookies & carols.
• Back Row Morning Show 427: Why We Prefer Christmas Oldies | Radio Matt & Mo take a look at some studies as to why, when it comes to Christmas music, most people prefer the old standards instead of newer music, and how the most popular Christmas song of all time, which came out 27 years ago, is still considered a “newer” entry. Plus, the worst Christmas special.
• Back Row Morning Show 426: The Top 100 Christmas Songs of All Time | Radio Matt & Mo go through the Billboard Top 100 Holiday Songs list that is a report of the last decade of recording the charts. Plus, a fiery but mostly peaceful Christmas.
• Back Row Morning Show 313: Matt & Mo Ruin Christmas for Everyone | Radio Matt & Mo wrap up 2020 with a Super-sized special. They will ruin Christmas movies, play some Christmas-y games, and do the One Chip Challenge.
• Church Nerds 33: It’s a Christmas Miracle! | Bubba & Anna wrap up 2020 with a Christmas episode we all really needed this year.
• Bible Thump 11: Appreciate the Gift | Hector Miray brings us a special Christmas devotional.
• Back Row Morning Show 311: Ranking Every Little Debbie Christmas Treat | Radio Matt & Mo have perhaps the best Christmas-themed episode ever as they taste test and rank every Christmas Little Debbie. Can anything beat the Christmas Tree Cake?
• Back Row Morning Show 309: The Best Christian Christmas Albums of All Time | Radio Matt & Mo welcome “AA Batteries” to help rank all the best Christmas albums from Christian artists.
• Two Words 4: Holiday Madness | John & Radio Matt discuss wrestling around the holidays, including the good and bad holiday-themed matches and crazy movie cameos.
• Free Play 74: The Free Play Holiday Gift Guide | Bubba, Matt & Kate have created a little holiday shopping guide for those hunting for the perfect gift for someone… especially if that someone is you, yourself.
• Humans of Gaming 170: Josiah Martindale on Being Liberally Minded | The writer of a Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” inspired D&D campaign on Kickstarter, Josiah is not talking politics as much as traditionalism vs new chaos.

Shorts | Podcasts for Elves

• Faith & Fandom 180: Every Good Gift | A quick devotional inspired by Christmas gifts.
• Reviews of the Nerds: Die Hard (The Christmas Movie) | A quick classic movie review from Julien Jamar.
• Faith & Fandom 180: Buc-ee’s Brotherhood | A quick devotional inspired by Christmas shopping at Buc-ee’s.
• Nerd History: That’s What Christmas is All About, Charlie Brown | A quick history lesson from the Peanuts gang.
• 5 Random Facts: Christmas Facts | A quick Christmas fact list from The Back Row Morning Show.
• Back Row Binge-Watch: Prep & Landing 1 | A quick devotional inspired by Disney’s Prep & Landing.
• Back Row Binge-Watch: Prep & Landing 2 | A quick devotional inspired by Disney’s Prep & Landing: Naughty vs Nice.

Videos | Like Presents for Your Eyeballs

• Back Row Morning Show: A Christmas Fireball | Radio Matt almost burned down his house two days before Christmas.
• Church Nerds: The Christmas Eve Eve Special | Bubba & Anna celebrate Christmas in this full fun show.
• Back Row Morning Show: Christmas Gift Exchange | Radio Matt & Mo give to each other. One nearly cries.
• Back Row Morning Show: Mo Gets Fired from the Morning Show? | Mo conspires with a loyal Back Row Bud to pull a Christmas prank on Radio Matt.
• Back Row Morning Show: Tier-Ranking Christmas Movies | Radio Matt & Mo share their tastes and hot takes around Christmas movies.
• Free Play: Nintendo 64 Moments| Bubba, Matt & Kate share their nerdy Christmas memories from their childhoods. Plus, Christmas movie recommendations.
• Church Nerds: It Has Begun… | Bubba & Anna discuss Advent and Anticipation.
• Two Words: Wrestling Gift Exchange 2022 | John & Radio Matt try to out-do each other with wrestling-themed Christmas gifts.
• Reviews of the Nerds: Spirited | A quick Christmas movie review.
• Back Row Morning Show: A Decent into Madness | Radio Matt & Mo have a blast with some Christmas games and memories.
• Two Words: Wrestling Gift Exchange 2021 | John & Radio Matt try to out-do each other with wrestling-themed Christmas gifts for the first time.
• Back Row Morning Show: A Fiery, but Mostly Peaceful Christmas | Mo shares the story and footage of a Christmas-season housefire at her home.
• Back Row Morning Show: The One Chip Challenge (Christmas Special) | Radio Matt & Mo both attempt the Paqui One Chip Challenge for the first time.
• Back Row Morning Show: Reacting to Our 2017 Spicy Challenge (Christmas Special) | Radio Matt & Mo re-watch a react live to their very first spicy challenge, pre-LTN.
• Back Row Morning Show: Ranking Every Little Debbie Christmas Treat | Radio Matt & Mo have perhaps the best Christmas-themed taste test ever as they rank every Christmas Little Debbie. Can anything beat the Christmas Tree Cake?

Music | Exclusive to LTN Radio

• Merry Christmas, Here’s to Many More by White Lantern | A reimagined cover of Relient K. This song is about coming out of your holiday blues and finding joy in your relationships.
• Do a Little Good by White Lantern | A reimagined cover of Will Ferrell & Ryan Reynolds. This song is about how change comes with time.
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by White Lantern | A Christmas classic written by Ralph Blane.
• My Last Christmas with You by White Lantern | An original song written a year after losing his father, recounting the story and committing to make his father proud.

Radio | Blasting Out Santa’s Speakers

• LTN Radio | Every year, from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Day, we add the best Christian Rock, Rap, Pop and Indie Christmas Music to our radio rotation. From Dec. 14th through Dec. 23rd, we play a 6-hour block of Christmas music every night beginning at 6pm E. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we play it 24/7 (and sometimes have a special episode of one of our amazing morning shows).

This resource was compiled by Rachel Knight and Radio Matt. Last Updated February 8, 2023.