Christmas countdown day 24: midnight's anxiety

Challenging OCD on Christmas Eve to find freedom.

Paula Duncan

Paula Duncan is a PhD candidate at the University of Aberdeen, researching OCD and faith.

A nocturnal snow-covered scene of a tree, chapel and Christmas tree casting shadows.

A chapel in Krün Germany.

Andreas Kretschmer on Unsplash.

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The Christmas Countdown

It’s the season to be jolly, stressed, and all round Christmassy. On the Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast, we’re here for you with our Aloud Christmas Countdown!

Every day in December, we’ll drop some of the best seasonal content from Seen & Unseen Aloud. From how to survive Christmas, reviews of the best Christmas movies and the origin story of Santa Claus.

For when you’ve got your hands full of mince pies and baubles, but you still want to hear some thoughtful content, subscribe to Seen & Unseen Aloud for the Christmas Countdown.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon.

Throughout the year, the Seen & Unseen Aloud brings you the week’s best articles, in a short 20 minute podcast episode. Browse the index for episodes from Seen & Unseen Aloud, Re-enchanting and GodPod.

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Seen & Unseen Aloud

7 April 2025

1 min read

Seen & Unseen Aloud, by Seen & Unseen

A weekly editor's pick of the best of Seen & Unseen magazine.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

About Seen & Unseen Aloud

Listen to a curated short selection of the Seen & Unseen editor's top picks from the online magazine.

Episodes usually consist of three or four articles and go live on Mondays.

We also release themed boxsets from time to time.

About the host

Natalie Garrett, who also writes for Seen & Unseen, narrates and produces episodes. Find out more about Natalie and her writing.

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Support Seen & Unseen Aloud

Since April 2023, our readers have enjoyed hundreds of episodes of Seen & Unseen Aloud and its sister podcasts, All for free. This is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.
If you enjoy Seen & Unseen Aloud, would you consider making a gift towards our work?
Do so by joining Behind The Seen. Alongside other benefits, you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing my reading and reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.
Graham Tomlin
Editor-in-Chief

Support now