Category: Align
New ‘Star Trek’ DEI disaster flops despite airing for free: A ‘huge, gay, glee club middle finger’
Paramount Plus gave away a very expensive product for free.
After reports that “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” cost between $10 million and $20 million per episode to produce, the network bizarrely posted the entirety of its premiere episode on YouTube, likely in hopes of garnering interest from a wider audience.
‘He goes to Starfleet Academy, makes a ton of friends, and they help him be OK with who he is.’
However the typically popular franchise hardly made a big splash, with just over 85,000 views in the first 24 hours. While the city-sized viewership would be nothing to scoff at for an independent operation, reviewers were shocked by the numbers, revealing that during its premiere, the show allegedly hit a peak of just 1,316 concurrent viewers.
Set phasers to ‘slay’
The show has been heavily criticized for its obvious diversity push, with sci-fi author Brad Torgersen even calling it a “huge, gay, glee club middle finger to everyone who liked” the franchise, back in December. Torgersen blamed “theater kids” for ruining the franchise as well.
Since its debut, it has become even more apparent how deep the production went down the diversity rabbit hole. One scene was described as cadets being “required to get DEI training.” In the scene, an instructor tells her students that being in the academy means “being open to the people around you” as a student is questioning his colleagues’ identities.
Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
The instructor is played by actress Tig Notaro, whose real name is Mathilde O’Callaghan Notaro.
Notaro has previously described seeing her 5-year-old son in rainbow-colored clothing — particularly for gay pride — as “incredible” and even apologized for not being active in gender politics until it affected her.
Space cadet
Series creator Alex Kurtzman has not shied away from revealing the show’s devotion to diversity either.
“I think we’re not slowing down on representation in any way,” Kurtzman said according to Comic Book Club. “We’re certainly planning like representation is at the beating heart of [‘Star Trek’ creator] Roddenberry’s vision, and we’ve already done the work of bringing it to that new place.”
“So there’s really no reason to change course there,” he added.
The cast of characters also has an obvious and plainly stated agenda. The same outlet reports that a new lesbian couple will be introduced in the series, and the Klingon character, played by actor Karim Diane, will have his sexuality “explored.”
Here to make friends
Diane alluded to as much in a recent interview posted on the show’s official Instagram page.
“He doesn’t like to battle. He wants to love people and heal people and save people,” he said about his character. “He goes to Starfleet Academy, makes a ton of friends, and they help him be OK with who he is.”
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Other cast members include Zoe Steiner, who has shown up nearly nude to press junkets, and even late-night host Stephen Colbert.
Colbert announced his participation in the series in October and appears in 10 episodes as the Digital Dean of Students, which serves as a comic relief voiceover. He has already been mocked for his “absolute cringe” voice work in at least one scene.
Before the show aired, it was picked up for a second season by Paramount Plus.
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FREE WILLY: Miffed Maher blames Hollywood speech police for awards snubs
Bill Maher’s first-ever Golden Globes nomination didn’t exactly leave him giddy with excitement.
Days before losing to fellow Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television nominee Ricky Gervais, the caustic comic seemed resigned to defeat.
‘I speak freely, and this woke town f**king hates that.’
Speech impediment
In a conversation with his “Club Random” podcast guest Joel Edgerton, Maher said he knows exactly why he’s always ignored when Hollywood hands out the hardware.
“Obviously, it’s something I said. Well, it’s everything I said.”
“I speak freely, and this woke town f**king hates that,” Maher continued. “And that’s OK. I’ve made my peace with that. So I know how this goes.”
Maher noted that he’s never won an Emmy either, despite a combined 33 nominations (a figure Variety later corrected to 41) for his shows “Politically Incorrect” and “Club Random.”
Thanks to the Globes’ new Best Podcast category, the pot-addled pundit has a whole new way to get snubbed. This year the award went to “Good Hang with Amy Poehler.” “Club Random” failed to secure a nomination.
I’m with stupid
As Maher’s rant built up steam, he rejected Edgerton’s gentle suggestion that as “two white dudes,” they should be careful with their critiques.
“The epicenter of woke stupid is this town. It really is,” Maher said, referring to accusations of “cultural appropriation,” which he said has been levied against everyone from Elvis Presley to Bradley Cooper.
“[Elvis] sang the way he sang. He grew up in the South. I mean, the cultures mixed, you know. I don’t — I think it’s just pointless to hate him for it,” Maher said.
RELATED: Socialism ‘will f**k you’: Bill Maher warns Democrats the radical left is leading party to ruin
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/CBS via Getty Images
Nose woes
As for Cooper, Maher mocked those who accused him of “Jewface” for wearing a prosthetic nose to play Leonard Bernstein.
“The ‘Jew nose’ they called it. … I mean, ‘Jew nose?’ Do they even know how stupid they sound?” Maher asked.
“I mean, to use that word. They made up this horrible word and then were like, ‘Oh, but we’re the good people. We’re saying, whoa, no Jew nose.’ It’s just so silly.”
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Pope Leo calls out ‘inclusive’ language as a painful, ‘Orwellian’ movement in the West
Pope Leo XIV says Western nations need to guarantee the freedom of expression.
The pope gave his “State of the World” speech from the Vatican in Vatican City on Friday and delivered remarks that may agitate some of his more liberal followers.
‘A new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding.’
Real name Robert Prevost, the noted Chicago White Sox fan championed free speech when he explained that words need to once again be used to “express distinct and clear realities.”
This is paramount in order to engage in “authentic dialogue,” the Catholic leader continued, noting that truth-telling is necessary for “preventing conflicts.”
This led Pope Leo into pointing out a “paradox” in modern self-expression in the West, which only strengthens his belief in the idea that freedom of speech and expression should be guaranteed.
“It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking,” the pope said. “At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it.”
RELATED: Pope Leo calls out gambling addiction and ‘demographic crisis’ in Vatican meeting
The 70-year-old explained that the inclusivity paradox leads to other consequences, such as the restriction of human rights, including “freedom of conscience.”
Those were not the only remarks the pope gave that were seemingly controversial. Rather, he also spoke strongly against the act of surrogacy.
Leo XIV said that surrogacy amounts to transforming gestation into a “negotiable service” that violates the dignity of both the child and the mother. Surrogacy reduces the baby to a “product,” the pope said, and causes a mother to exploit her body and the generative process, which distorts “the original relational calling of the family.”
RELATED: Catholic priest accused of changing the outcome of the last NFL game of the season
Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images
Observers of the speech, reportedly including 184 ambassadors from states that have diplomatic relations with the Vatican, also heard the pope condemn assisted suicide as a form of “deceptive” compassion.
The leader said that the elderly and isolated — “who at times struggle to find a reason to continue living” — should be offered solutions to their suffering, such as “palliative care … rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion such as euthanasia.”
Leo concluded his speech by emphasizing the need for peaceful dialogue and living in truth. He added that a “peaceful world” is built by those who act from humble hearts.
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Conan O’Brien calls out lazy Trump-hating comedians
Late-night host and writer Conan O’Brien says Trump-deranged comedians need to step up their game.
Speaking at the Oxford Union Society, the former talk-show host and “Simpsons” writer lamented that some in the comedy establishment have given up on laughs in favor of angry tirades about President Trump.
‘We don’t have a straight line right now. We have a very bendy, rubbery line.’
“I think some comics go the route of, ‘I’m going to just say F Trump all the time’ [and] that’s their comedy. And I think, well, now, a little bit, you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry.”
“You’ve been lulled,” added the Harvard alum, likening the allure of crowd-pleasing but joke-free anti-Trump material to a siren song.
The comedian continued, “You’ve been lulled into just saying ‘F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.’ I think you’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger.”
Finding the funny
The 62-year-old noted that he has always prided himself on finding a way to be funny in any situation, and he did not give his peers an out when it comes to political comedy.
RELATED: ‘I wouldn’t ask for no f**king charity!’ Mickey Rourke blasts ’embarrassing’ GoFundMe plea
“Any person like that would say, ‘Well, things are too serious now. I don’t need to be funny.’ I think, well, if you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny. You just have to find a way,” O’Brien told the audience at the esteemed student debating society.
“And you just have to find a way to channel that anger. … Good art will always be a great weapon, will always be a perfect weapon against power, but if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
Playing it straight
Earlier in the interview, O’Brien recalled that some of his most joyful memories in comedy were parodying different magazines or news outlets by mocking their tone and style. At the same time, he said it was impossible to parody something that doesn’t follow a “straight line.”
He referred to the National Enquirer, describing the outlet’s content as impossible to make fun of because it would print stories like, “Elvis found in Titanic lifeboat 105 years after sinking. He is now a woman, and he’s married a giant peanut-butter sandwich.”
“How do you parody that? You can’t,” he explained. “And I think with Trump we have a similar situation in comedy, which is people saying, ‘We’ve got a great Trump sketch for you. In this one, he’s kind of talking crazy and he’s saying stuff, and he tears down half the White House to build a giant ballroom, and he says it’s going to be the new Mar-a-Lago.’ Yeah, no, that happened yesterday,” O’Brien joked.
RELATED: How ‘conservative’ art can go from cringey to cathartic
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
“Comedy needs a straight line to go off of,” O’Brien added. “And we don’t have a straight line right now. We have a very bendy, rubbery line. We have a slinky. We have a fire hose that’s whipping around, spewing water at 100 miles an hour or something else.”
BURN NOTICE: ‘Hills’ heel Spencer Pratt to run for Los Angeles mayor
“It’s official. I’m running for Mayor of LA.”
After a year of calling out Democrat leadership for its handling of last year’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires, Spencer Pratt is offering Angelenos an alternative: himself.
Pratt, who shot to fame playing a villainous version of himself on hit MTV reality show “The Hills,” lost the Pacific Palisades house he shared with wife (and former castmate) Heidi Montag and their children in the January 7, 2025, conflagration. Since then, he has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both Democrats.
‘Gavin Newsom and his state park policies actually literally dictated that we let the Palisades burn.’
Fired up
The Palisades native has accused Bass of bungling the response to the deadly blaze, which eventually spread to 23,448 acres, costing 12 lives and destroying almost 6,000 homes.
Pratt has also claimed that Newsom’s inadequate brush-clearance policy helped cause what was otherwise a preventable disaster.
Pratt kicked off his mayoral campaign on Wednesday with an impassioned speech to at least 1,000 attendees.
RELATED: ‘Reckoning day’ for Newsom: Trump DOT yanks $160 million over illegal trucker licenses
“It’s official. I’m running for Mayor of LA,” Pratt announced in a post sharing video of the speech. “I’ve waited a whole year for someone to step up and challenge Karen Bass, but I saw no fighters. Guess I’m gonna have to do this myself. Let’s make LA camera ready again!”
Brush-off
Pratt addressed the enthusiastic crowd with a mixture of defiance and sorrow.
“Standing here one year later, I have to tell you the most heartbreaking part of the past year wasn’t being displaced or losing everything I own. It was the realization that all of this was preventable,” he explained, fighting back tears.
The 42-year-old continued, “The state and local leaders let us burn. Gavin Newsom and the state of California let brush grow wild … no wildfire maintenance.”
RELATED: ‘Send in the next guy’: Nicki Minaj savages Newsom over his desire to ‘see trans kids’
Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage
Policy pinch
Like many of the would-be constituents in attendance, Pratt faced the fires without standard homeowners’ insurance, after insurers declined to renew policies for thousands of homes in the Palisades, Altadena, and other designated fire-prone areas in recent years. Most notably, State Farm announced in 2024 that it would discontinue coverage for roughly 72,000 houses and apartments statewide.
Pratt’s sole coverage came from the state’s supplementary California FAIR Plan, which he has previously said did not provide enough money to rebuild.
In his speech, Pratt laid the blame squarely on Newsom, who he said “created an insurance market so hostile that every major carrier stopped writing policies” and thereby “dictated that we let the Palisades burn.”
The candidate also had harsh words for the Los Angeles Fire Department, which he blamed for “fail[ing] to deploy sufficient firefighters, fire engines, and firefighting resources, whether it be due to lack of budget, lack of knowledge, or simply DEI.”
Pratt concluded by touting his showbiz experience as something that made him uniquely attuned to the workings of power in the city. Singling out “NGOs, nonprofits, and unions,” he vowed to make it his “mission” to dismantle what he labeled a “machine designed to protect the people at the top.”
‘I wouldn’t ask for no f**king charity!’: Mickey Rourke blasts ’embarrassing’ GoFundMe plea
Actor Mickey Rourke says asking for handouts is not his style.
Earlier this week, a GoFundMe page was created by sources close to Rourke who claimed he needed help paying back rent on his Los Angeles home in order to avoid eviction.
”I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger.’
The fundraiser page was organized by Liya-Joelle Jones for the benefit of Kimberly Hines, the page says. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jones is Hines’ assistant, and Hines has been Rourke’s manager for nearly a decade.
Under the gun
“Fame does not protect against hardship, and talent does not guarantee stability. What remains is a person who deserves dignity, housing, and the chance to regain his footing,” the fundraiser wrote.
Stating that Rourke’s “full permission” was given, the page said he needed $60,000 to avoid losing his home. Now, with donations at over $100,000, the campaign has been paused after Rourke posted a video to his Instagram page denouncing the fund.
“I wouldn’t ask for no f**king charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger,” Rourke began, with his dog on his lap.
RELATED: ‘Frankenstein’ director’s AI warning: It’s here to ‘debase’ our humanity
“I don’t understand it,” the actor continued. “I wouldn’t know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years. My life is very simple. I don’t go to outside sources like that. And yeah, it is embarrassing,” he added.
Rourke explained that he would never approve a charitable cause for his benefit, and urged fans and supporters to stop giving money and seek refunds.
Anger management
Since the video was posted late Monday, Hines has spoken out about the campaign despite both her and Jones reportedly posting the page “with Mickey’s permission.”
In a phone call with the Hollywood Reporter, Hines said that in 48 hours, her management team had paid for Rourke to move into a hotel, have his clothing packed, and put his belongings in a storage unit.
“All of this is being paid for by his management team, which is me,” Hines said. “We said, ‘Mickey, there’s some people that want to help you out.’ He’s like, ‘OK, great.’ I don’t think he understood, and now it’s taken on this media frenzy, and he flipped out,” she went on.
Photo by Panayotis Tzamaros/NurPhoto via Getty Images
After confirming the fundraiser was legitimate, Hines further explained that the locks were being changed on Rourke’s home as she spoke, and she was setting him up with an apartment in Koreatown.
Return to sender
Hines blamed the state of Rourke’s home on the property owner, who allegedly raised the rent from $5,200 to $7,000 in mid-2024. The house was allegedly littered with black mold, had no running water, and was heavily damaged.
Hines added that Rourke told her he had been receiving calls from all over the world asking to give him money, and she told him to let them help. However, before stating that Rourke “has to say” that he did not know who started the fund, she was happy to return the money to donors if he would not accept it.
“This money has been to help Mickey. If Mickey doesn’t want the money, the money will go back. It’s putting me in a very bad position where now I’m financing his move and the hotel and the movers and his storage. Mickey was cool with getting help the other day. And now Mickey’s like, ‘I’m not taking charity.'”
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‘Frankenstein’ director’s AI warning: It’s here to ‘debase’ our humanity
Art created by artificial intelligence is an attempt to reduce a society’s sense of humanity, according to one Hollywood director.
This sort of treatment of art is “always a prelude to fascism,” the director also warned.
‘That is always the prelude to fascism.’
No ifs, ands, or bots
While accepting an honor from Variety at its 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro continued his recent onslaught against the use of artificial intelligence for art.
“Be kind, be involved, and believe in your art,” del Toro said, emphasizing that when art is minimalized, bad times are ahead.
“In a time where people tell you art is not important, that is always the prelude to fascism. Always. When they tell you it doesn’t matter, when they tell you a f**king app can do art, you say, ‘Well, if it’s that easy and if it’s that unimportant, why the f**k do they want it so bad?'”
The director answered his own question, warning that the reduction of art to a line of code removes a certain degree of humanity.
“The answer is because they think they can debase everything that makes us a little better, a little more human. And that, in my book and in my life, includes monsters.”
RELATED: Guillermo del Toro stops awards show music to drop ‘F**k AI’ bomb
Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Monster high
Del Toro’s tirade came on the heels of similar remarks last month at the 2025 Gotham Film Awards, where he made a point of announcing that his widely praised “Frankenstein” was “willfully made by humans for humans.”
After praising the movie’s “designers, builders, makeup, [and] wardrobe” teams, the director paused and added, “F**k AI.”
The 61-year-old — one of the most prominent Hollywood power players to speak out against the dangers of AI — also hinted at why he prefers to work in the horror/fantasy genre: “Sometimes the world gets so complicated, you can only explain it with the power of monsters.”
“We are in a time like that right now,” he added.
RELATED: The Oscars will leave TV — and may never come back
‘Death’ wish
Despite his anti-AI stance, del Toro is far from a techno-phobe.
In 2023, he praised Japanese video game auteur Hideo Kojima’s “paradoxical creation” and his ability to “break the barrier between cinema and games.”
Del Toro appears as the character Deadman in Kojima’s 2019 game “Death Stranding,” as well as its 2025 sequel.
Do blue-light glasses actually work?
It’s impossible to imagine that anyone reading this on their computer, tablet, or smartphone has made it to 2025 without hearing about the dangers of blue light.
What’s more, for every warning about those blue-light hazards comes the equally ubiquitous solution: blue-light glasses.
Blue-light glasses are built with lenses that shield the eye from shorter, higher energy wavelengths of light.
Since screens are ubiquitous now and there’s unfortunately very little chance that they will be going anywhere, the next best solution is to learn to live with them to the best of our ability. But that leaves an important question to be answered when it comes to dealing with blue light: Do those blue-light glasses actually work, or are they a gimmick?
RELATED: Hello, darkness, my old friend: How to get your body’s circadian rhythms back on the beat
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
LED blues
Most people have seen the studies: Blue light, which is emitted by screens and indoor LED lightbulbs, may cause quite a few health problems, including the disruption of your circadian rhythm, leading to poorer quality sleep. Some believe that this is because blue light signals to the body that it is time to be alert and awake, which is obviously problematic when phones are used at night.
Blue light may also increase stress and lower cognitive output, but one might be surprised to learn that other studies have found the opposite to be true.
It’s also important to note that blue light is natural and is emitted from the sun at a higher frequency than from screens or LED bulbs. However, many have turned to blue-light glasses as a solution to eye fatigue and other issues as well.
People whose job involves staring at a screen for long periods of time have often reported eyestrain, which is sometimes called computer vision syndrome.
Blue-light glasses are built with lenses that shield the eye from shorter, higher energy wavelengths of light, notably blue light.
Science ambivalent
However, the science is still quite ambivalent on the question of blue-light glasses and their effectiveness, with most sources leaning toward saying you do not need them.
In a 2023 study that examined 17 different blue-light-filtering lens trials, it was discovered that the blue-light glasses had little to no effect on any of the relevant symptoms, including sleep quality and eye strain.
So while you may not need to go get any blue-light glasses according to these studies, the question stands: Can anything be done to reduce the negative effects of blue light?
20-20-20 vision
The answer is yes, but it’s not nearly as fancy as a pair of new spectacles. Eye doctors recommend avoiding screens at night or turning on the “night” filter on your phone to reduce the blue-light display, effectively negating any need for lenses in the first place.
“There is reason to think blue-light exposure may signal our brains that we should stay awake, so reducing blue light in the evening may be beneficial and glasses may help,” Dr. Craig See, an ophthalmologist and cornea specialist, told US News. “However, devices can automatically reduce blue light in the screens.
Others recommend following the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds or more. This will hopefully reduce any eye discomfort without adding any unnecessary accessories.
Pope Leo calls out gambling addiction and ‘demographic crisis’ in Vatican meeting
Pope Leo XIV says people need more face-to-face interaction in their lives.
Speaking with Italian mayors from the association of local Italian authorities, the Assocazione Nazionale dei Comuni Italiani, the pope touched on some of the biggest issues faces the world today.
‘Democracy atrophies, becomes just a name, a formality.’
During the Vatican meeting, Pope Leo noted that a “demographic crisis” and “struggles” among families and young people remain top issues. According to Vatican News, the Catholic leader also stated that social isolation and “social conflicts” are pervasive issues in Italy.
At the same time, the pope — Robert Francis Prevost — said he wanted to focus on one of the biggest topics in today’s world: gambling. The Chicago native explained that he wanted to “draw attention in particular to the scourge of gambling,” which has “ruined many families.”
Citing a “major increase” in gambling in Italy in recent years, Prevost cited a recent report that described gambling as a “serious problem” in terms of education, mental health, and societal trust for Italians.
RELATED: New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan resigns; pope appoints his replacement
Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images
The pope stressed that gambling addiction is a form of “loneliness” and called on the local mayors to promote “authentically human relationships between citizens” as a way to tackle the issue.
Pope Leo reportedly drew from 20th-century Italian priest and activist Don Primo Mazzolari in order to illustrate the need for social interactions between Italians.
“[Italy] does not only need sewers, houses, roads, aqueducts, and pavements,” but also “a way of feeling, of living, a way of looking at one another, and a way of coming together as brothers and sisters.”
Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images for Philipp Plein
To solve many of these modern issues, authorities must listen to the weak and the poor, the pope said. If not, he said, “democracy atrophies, becomes just a name, a formality.”
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Where do Advent calendars come from?
While most people are very familiar with and practice the lighthearted tradition of Advent calendars, many might be surprised by its relatively recent development as a Christian tradition.
The Advent calendar is a Christian tradition dating back only to the 19th century, making it less than 200 years old. Advent, derived from the Latin word “adventus,” means
coming” or “arrival.”
‘Lacking windows at first, Lang’s design is essentially the same style we have today, though war and a few subsequent alterations would change it slightly.’
The calendar counts down the days until Christmas during the Advent season, which is also the very beginning of the liturgical calendar. The Advent calendar then, in its most basic form, is a method of counting down the days until the coming of Christ on Christmas day.
RELATED: More than a countdown: Do you know the full meaning of Advent?
Photo by AMAURY CORNU/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Often, in more recent iterations, small treats, gifts, and pictures are placed in the doors of the calendar, the number of which usually range between 22 and 28 days depending on the day that Christmas Day falls on. Because of the possible range, most Advent calendars simply begin on December 1 and end on December 24, Christmas Eve.
Counting down
The Advent calendar has seen quite a few variations in its relatively short-lived existence, though the basic idea has always been the same.
A tradition originating among Lutheran Christians, Advent calendars first involved chalk marks that would be erased as the day approached. This practice helped believers anticipate the coming of Christ.
Originating in and around Munich, Germany, in the 19th century, Advent calendars were used to count down the days until Christmas Day.
Gerhard Lang is widely regarded as the creator of the modern Advent calendar. A partner at the lithographic institute Reichhold & Lang, Gerhard Lang is credited with printing the first Advent calendar in 1908, though some say it was some years later.
Lacking windows at first, Lang’s design is essentially the same style we have today, though war and a few subsequent alterations would change it slightly.
Knock, knock
The small, numbered doors, a staple of contemporary calendars, were introduced in 1920. They sometimes had Bible verses or little pictures behind them.
Lang produced around 30 different calendar designs up until the end of the 1930s, when paper shortages and a national ban on paper calendars forced him to shutter the popular business.
However, Advent calendars made a post-war comeback. Richard Sellmer, the founder of the Sellmer Verlag publishing house, published the first Advent calendar after the Second World War, reviving the tradition.
Eighty years later, Sellmer Verlag still sells Advent calendars.
Coming to America
It is believed that American soldiers brought these calendars back after the war, and the tradition spread to the United States.
According to Britannica, the tradition of chocolate behind the doors was introduced in the 1950s, presumably to keep children engaged.
In America, the Advent calendar’s popularity spread quickly in the post-war era. These days, children and adults alike can enjoy counting down the days until the Lord’s Nativity with a vast array of different calendar designs.
