Reason magazine, a periodical dedicated to hipsterifying the libertarian set, hosted a secular Christmas party in their Dupont Circle offices last night. The marquis attraction was a reading of Tom Lehrer‘s sardonic poem, A Christmas Carol.

Maybe it was the forced crowd participation (who wants to read along to an off-kilter poem you don’t know) but the presentation was a bit ho-hum. I’d never heard of Lehrer, but he’s a relic worth re-examining. Here’s the man himself, singing about the periodic table.