Auld Lang What? The surprising origins of the New Year’s song

Twenty Thousand Hertz - The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Every New Year’s at midnight, we raise our voices to sing a song that few of us understand: “Auld Lang Syne.” So when and why did this become the anthem of the holiday? In this episode, our friends at the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast trace the mysterious rise of “Auld Lang Syne” from rural Scotland, to a New York jazz club, to a classic film and an iconic actor. Featuring folklorist Jim Deutsch.


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2025-12-31 22 min

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