Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime“ is both a song people love to hate and a song people love to love. Musicologist Nate Sloan has some ideas as to why the song is so polarizing.

POP CULTURE
Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-nominated take on Patricia Highsmith’s crime novel remains wonderfully suspenseful a quarter-century on—and it inspired another, non-Oscar nominated film you might be familiar with.
The performer, who is currently playing Armstrong on Broadway in ‘A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,’ dropped by the Mental Floss studios to walk us through some fascinating details about Armstrong’s life.
For close to 20 years, Nick gave kids a chance to indulge in toy greed. Not everyone came out unscathed.
Here are 25 of the best things the year 2000 gave us, from the birth of iconic franchises to scientific advancements that we may take for granted.
From deleted subplots to a very different original opening to a Santa suit so bad it almost made Tim Allen start a fight, here are 14 facts about the making of 'The Santa Clause.'
Each December, "Baby, It’s Cold Outside"—a ’40s-era American standard that some modern listeners hear as a depiction of sexual misconduct—invites a barrage of controversies, radio bans, and think pieces.
With Bing Crosby’s star power and Michael Curtiz directing, ‘White Christmas’ overcame early struggles to become a holiday classic.
A critique of wealth inequality never tasted so good.
For years, rumors circulated that CBS had made season after season of a ‘Blazing Saddles’ spin-off with no intention of airing it.
“Dominick The Donkey,” Lou Monte's 1960 holiday earworm, is a novelty song even by Christmas music standards.
More than 75 years after it premiered, the holiday classic can still make a believer out of anyone.
Over the course of his illustrious career, George Michael gave the world many gifts. One that keeps on giving is “Last Christmas,” the 1984 holiday classic by Wham!, Michael's pop duo with Andrew Ridgeley.
The chain was taken down by a hepatitis A outbreak and financial troubles in the early 2000s.
The Mattel hovercraft was a figment of imagination, but that didn't stop kids (and their parents) from demanding where to buy one.
Discover more fun facts about the Will Ferrell Christmas movie that has since become a holiday classic.
Carrey has given us an array of looks, laughs, and lamentations in his career—did your favorite performance make the list?
Fans of the horrorcore group Insane Clown Posse find themselves on the outskirts of society. They like it that way.
Discover these fascinating facts about "Home Alone," the John Hughes Christmastime classic about a couple of bungling burglars and a kid left behind for the holidays.
The man going by D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane in 1971 and got away (almost) without a trace. Now, new evidence has been uncovered that might point to his identity.
The Atari 7800+ makes it possible to play the games you haven’t touched since childhood.
In its very first season, ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’ created the greatest Thanksgiving special about a misguided turkey delivery ever made.
John Hughes’s own hellish trip from New York City to Chicago inspired ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’ the 1987 Thanksgiving classic starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
The 1996 sci-fi bomb was said to have more monsters behind the camera than in front of it.