Amanda and Sarah head to Italy to dance with the puppets and cry blood with the saints. Amanda becomes a real girl with a dive into the disturbing, cautionary, pre-Disney origins of Pinocchio. Sarah prays to St. Lucy/Lucia, whose reputation for gouging out her own eyes has inspired traditions and desserts in Italy and Sweden. Other subjects covered include never buying a new car, making up Olivia Newton-John lore, and hating Elf on the Shelf. 

Recommendations:

Sarah recommends (so far) the Netflix show 1889. Amanda recommends (kinda) the Amazon Prime series Three Pines. 

Sources:

• Norwegian American (On the darkest day, a tale of two “Lucys”)
• Wyrd Designs (Glad Lussinatt)
• Tradition in Action (The Feast of St. Lucy Inspires
  Charming Customs)
• Slow Italy (Santa Lucia celebration in Italy)
• Wikipedia/Saint Lucy
• NBC News (Pinocchio's Real Roots Mapped)
• Smithsonian Magazine (The Real Story of Pinocchio Tells No Lies)
• The New Yorker (What the Original “Pinocchio” Really Says About Lying/The Transformations of Pinocchio)

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