This week on "Sunday Morning" (December 22)
WATCH THE FULL DECEMBER 22 EPISODE!
COVER STORY: How the crowdsourcing website GoFundMe is changing charity | Watch Video
In the old days people might have turned to the government or to charities such as churches for help; today the first place many people seem to turn to is GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing website, now almost 10 years old, where anyone can appeal to the public to contribute money for pretty much anything – medical bills, disaster relief, funeral expenses, acts of kindness. "Sunday Morning" Contributor David Pogue examines the acts of good will, and occasional fraud, on crowdsourcing sites, and looks at the economics and transparency of charity via social media.
For more info:
- GoFundMe.com
- Morgan Stickney #backonmyfeet on GoFundMe
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston
- Una Osili, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
- Thanks to TFA Group/acowsay
ALMANAC: Baldness | Watch Video
On December 22, 1997, the FDA approved Propecia, a once-a-day pill for combating the genetic condition known as male pattern baldness. Jane Pauley reports.
FOOD: Behind the Hanukkah tradition of latkes | Watch Video
Why are latkes – crispy, fried, slightly oniony potato pancakes – associated with the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah? The story of the miracle of the oil is anything but simple, as correspondent Martha Teichner notes. She talks with Jewish food historian and cookbook writer Jayne Cohen, and with Niki Russ Federman, a fourth-generation owner of Russ & Daughters, a New York City institution of Jewish food for 105 years.
WEB EXTRA: Classic latke recipes from Jayne Cohen
For more info:
- Russ & Daughters, New York City
- "Jewish Holiday Cooking: A Food Lover's Treasury of Classics and Improvisations" by Jayne Cohen, (Wiley), available online on ckbk.com
- 11th Annual Latke Festival, Brooklyn Museum
MUSIC: Irving Berlin, the quintessential American songwriter | Watch Video
Some of our most cherished holiday songs, including "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade," as well as "God Bless America," were written by the prolific composer-lyricist Irving Berlin (1888-1989), a Jewish immigrant from Russia. Mo Rocca talks about the remarkable life of Berlin, who wrote hundreds of standards, with granddaughter Katherine Swett; Broadway musical director and conductor Andy Einhorn; Josh Perelman, Chief Curator at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, and ultra-Orthodox singer Shulem Lemmer.
WEB EXTRA VIDEO: Shulem Lemmer sings "God Bless America"
WEB EXTRA VIDEO: Irving Berlin's "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning"
In 1918 songwriter Irving Berlin, then a U.S. Army draftee, composed a song about one of the most difficult aspects of Army life: the bugler's Reveille. "Sunday Morning" correspondent Mo Rocca sings "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" with Broadway musical director Andy Einhorn.
BOOK EXCERPT: "Irving Berlin: New York Genius" by James Kaplan
For more info:
- irvingberlin.com (Irving Berlin Music Company)
- Follow @Irving_Berlin on Twitter and Instagram
- National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia
- Shulem (Official site)
- "Irving Berlin: New York Genius" by James Kaplan (Yale University Press/Jewish Lives), in Hardcover and eBook formats, available via Amazon
HARTMAN: Foster father, many times over (Video)
Back in 2001, divorced dad-of-two Lamont Thomas took on a foster kid named Michael Perez. Thomas eventually adopted Perez, who now works as a nurse. Turns out, that was just the beginning. Over the next 15 years Thomas fostered more than 30 kids in Buffalo, New York, adopting five of them. Recently, when a family of five siblings was in danger of being split up, Thomas knew what he had to do. Steve Hartman reports.
SUNDAY PROFILE: Jennifer Lopez on happiness, celebrity, and Oscar buzz | Watch Video
Jennifer Lopez, the celebrated singer-dancer-actress-businesswoman and mom, speaks with "CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil about her work in the film "Hustlers"; her upcoming movie, "Marry Me"; her future marriage to baseball great Alex Rodriguez; and what it meant to turn 50 this past year.
WEB EXTRA VIDEO: Jennifer Lopez on relationships and tabloids in the "Bennifer Era"
Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez talks with CBS News' Tony Dokoupil about the media frenzy over her relationships, in the 1990s, with rapper Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, and with actor Ben Affleck (to whom she was engaged in 2002), both of which became grist for the gossip mill.
For more info:
- jenniferlopez.com
- Follow @jlo on Twitter and Instagram
OPINION: December sucks | Watch Video
Commentator Jim Gaffigan has some thoughts about "the most wonderful time of the year." Spoiler Alert: There are no visions of sugar plums dancing in his head.
For more info:
- jimgaffigan.com
- Follow @JimGaffigan on Twitter
- Jim Gaffigan's special, "Quality Time," is available on Amazon Prime
ART: Nativity scenes, from the artistic to the living | Watch Video
In 1223, in Italy, St. Francis of Assisi created the very first nativity scene as we know it, to inspire the local townspeople. Meant to mark the birth of Jesus, each nativity is an artistic expression of personal faith. Correspondent Nikki Battiste talks with Professor Eric Barreto of the Princeton Theological Seminary about the history of nativities, and visits the University of Dayton's Marian Library collection of nativities from around the world. She also checks out a living nativity scene in Mount Laurel, N.J.
For more info:
- Eric Barreto, Princeton Theological Seminary
- Manger Exhibition: "A Labor of Love," at the Marian Library, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio
- The Living Nativity, Mount Laurel N.J.
- Friends of the Creche
- Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (through January 7, 2020)
MUSIC: The Young People's Chorus of New York City: Hitting all the right notes
More than 1,700 students participate each year in the program, which extends far beyond just music
For more info:
MUSIC: Holiday music performance
"Sunday Morning" welcomes the Young People's Chorus of New York City, and Jon Batiste, musical director from "The Late Show Starring Stephen Colbert."
CALENDAR: Week of December 23 | Watch Video
"Sunday Morning" takes a look at some notable events of the week ahead. Jane Pauley reports.
NATURE: Reindeer (Extended Video)
"Sunday Morning" takes us among the reindeer of Lapland, in northern Finland. Videographer: David Cohen.
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
"MOBITUARIES": The legacy of the Orphan Train
Mo Rocca shares the story of a largely-forgotten social experiment, begun in the 1850s, in which children were transported from the cities to live in the heartland.
MOVIES: How to watch Oscar shortlisted documentary features
15 non-fiction films chronicling such subjects as the horrors of war-torn Syria, an epic spaceflight, social justice fights, sustainable farming, and the indefatigable forces of nature, are up for an Academy Award nomination; check out options to stream or watch on demand.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.
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