This week on "Sunday Morning" (December 22)
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.)
Hosted by Jane Pauley
WATCH THE FULL DECEMBER 22 BROADCAST!
COVER STORY: The story of Handel's "Messiah" | Watch Video
Since its premiere in 1742, George Frideric Handel's "Messiah," a 3.5-hour work for chorus, soloists and orchestra that includes the "Hallelujah Chorus," has become one of the most-heard pieces of classical music on Earth. Correspondent David Pogue looks back on the creation of this masterwork with author Charles King and conductor-musicologist Jane Glover, and examines how Biblical passages assembled by a wealthy English landowner suffering from doom and despair would, in the hands of the German-British opera composer, become a timeless message of hope, and a Christmas tradition.
For more info:
- "Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah" by Charles King (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Conductor Dame Jane Glover
- Handel's "Messiah" at Trinity Church, New York City
- Hear the Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra's 2024 performance of "Messiah" conducted by Jane Glover
- The Morgan Library & Museum, New York City
- New York Philharmonic
- The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
- Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Royal Melbourne Philharmonic performance
- American Bach
- "Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah" streaming on PBS
ALMANAC: December 22 (Video)
"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.
ARTS: In Asheville, N.C., gingerbread houses reflect community spirit (Video)
For more than three decades, Asheville, North Carolina and the Omni Grove Park Inn have hosted the National Gingerbread Contest, a celebration of Christmas, creativity and carbohydrates. The flooding brought by Hurricane Helene this past fall cancelled the contest, but what had been a destination event for bakers and spectators has become an ad hoc celebration of Asheville. Forty-one gingerbread creations have been placed around town to help bring holiday cheer (as well as attract donations and tourist dollars) to the struggling city. Correspondent Conor Knighton reports.
For more info:
- Gingerbread Trail of Giving (November 23-January 5), Asheville, N.C. | Download map
- Explore Asheville: Gingerbread Celebration
- River Arts District Artists, Asheville, N.C.
MOVIES: Werner Herzog keeps working, predicts: "You'll have to carry me out from a set feet first" | Watch Video
Visionary director Werner Herzog has made more than 20 feature films and more than 30 documentaries. But it wasn't movies that prompted the German-born filmmaker to move to Los Angeles; it was love. He talks with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz about his recent memoir, "Every Man for Himself and God Against All"; about the epic making of his 1982 classic, "Fitzcarraldo"; and why he enjoys acting – when he gets to play the villain.
WEB EXTRA: Extended interview: Werner Herzog (YouTube Video)
For more info:
- "Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir" by Werner Herzog (Penguin Press), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- You can stream "Fitzcarraldo" via Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Peacock and other services
- Stream "Burden of Dreams," Les Blank's documentary on the making of "Fitzcarraldo"
HEADLINES: Why drone hysteria has taken off | Watch Video
By most accounts, alleged drone sightings have been multiplying exponentially, with more than 5,000 reported in just the past few weeks. But experts say the majority of reports about unusual lights in the sky are probably anything but drones. Correspondent Tom Hanson reports.
For more info:
- Missy Cummings. professor, College of Engineers and Computing, George Mason University
- Sheriff Shaun Golden, Monmouth County, N.J.
PASSAGE: In memoriam (Video)
"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week.
WORLD: West Bank settlements, and the expanding divide of Israelis and Palestinians | Watch Video
Inside the occupied West Bank, the Israeli settlement of Karnei Shomron is one of more than a hundred carved into Palestinian land. Today, upwards of 700,000 Israelis live in communities scattered inside the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the United Nations calls illegal. About 15% of settlers are Americans. Correspondent Seth Doane talks with two settlers, originally from West Virginia and Detroit, and with Palestinians in the West Bank now living on the other side of an Israeli security barrier.
For more info:
- Assaf Sharon, professor, Department of Philosophy, Tel Aviv University
- David Makovsky, director, Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
COMMENTARY: Bob Dylan's enduring love affair with the movies | Watch Video
The iconic Bob Dylan has long been a silver screen presence – as an actor, a subject of documentaries, and as portrayed by Hollywood heavyweights, from Christian Bale to Timothée Chalamet (star of the new biopic "A Complete Unknown"). But as historian Douglas Brinkley points out, Dylan's love of movies has been a recurring theme in his art, and his persona, all his life.
To watch a trailer for "A Complete Unknown," click on the video player below:
For more info:
- Douglas Brinkley on Bob Dylan (Rolling Stone, 2009)
- bobdylan.com
- Thanks to the Liebenberg & Kaplan Papers of the Northwest Architectural Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries
SUNDAY PROFILE: Darren Criss on counting his lucky stars | Watch Video
Darren Criss became a fan favorite on the hit TV series "Glee," and won an Emmy for "American Crime Story." Now he's starring in the acclaimed musical "Maybe Happy Ending." He talks with correspondent Kelefa Sanneh about his road to Broadway, his blessings and losses, and his credo that "Life is a cabaret."
You can stream the holiday album "A Very Darren Crissmas" by clicking on the embed below (Free Spotify registration required to hear the tracks in full):
For more info:
- "A Very Darren Crissmas" by Daren Criss (Verve)
- darrencriss.com
- "Maybe Happy Ending" at the Belasco Theatre, New York City | Ticket info
- Tram Stamp Granny's Piano Bar, Los Angeles
- So and So's Piano Bar, New York City
MUSIC: Music with Darren Criss: "Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season" (Video)
Darren Criss (the beloved star of television's "Glee," and the Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending") and the Young People's Chorus of New York City help "Sunday Morning" celebrate Christmas with a performance of "Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season."
For more info:
- "A Very Darren Crissmas" by Daren Criss (Verve)
- Young People's Chorus of New York City
COMMENTARY: Reflections on the messages of Christmas and Hanukkah (Video)
Wednesday will mark both Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah. Mariann Budde, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., and author and rabbi Steve Leder, of Los Angeles, offer their thoughts on what the holiday season means to us all.
For more info:
MUSIC: Holiday music with Darren Criss: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Video)
Darren Criss, the beloved star of television's "Glee," and the Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending," helps "Sunday Morning" celebrate Christmas with a performance of the Hugh Martin-Ralph Blane standard, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
WEB EXTRA: "Christmas Dance" by Darren Criss (Video)
In this web exclusive, Darren Criss and the Young People's Chorus of New York City help "Sunday Morning" celebrate the holiday in a performance of Criss' "Christmas Dance."
NATURE: Northern Lights above Alaska (Extended Video)
We leave you this Sunday morning in the spirit of Christmas, with the northern lights in skies above Alaska. Videographer: Michael Clark.
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Hollywood Legends IV (YouTube Video)
Watch more classic "Sunday Morning" interviews with some of the film industry's most luminous stars. From 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio talks about the making of "The Wolf of Wall Street"; from 2012, Jane Fonda discusses what she calls her "third and final act"; from 2015, Russell Crowe talks about his first film as a director, "The Water Diviner"; from 2010, Harrison Ford describes stardom and his responsibility to his audience; and from 2018, Denzel Washington discusses his career on screen and on stage, as he appears in a Broadway revival of the Eugene O'Neill classic, "The Iceman Cometh."
"HERE COMES THE SUN": Ted Danson and protecting whales (Video)
Actor Ted Danson sits down with Tracy Smith to discuss his latest project, "A Man on the Inside." Then, David Pogue learns how some companies are creating ways to prevent whales from getting hit by cargo and cruise ships.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.
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