The highlights from last week’s podcasts center around a “behind the scenes” theme, from an iconic rock band discussing their song-making process to a legendary TV producer talking about how he developed some of the most genre-changing TV of his time. Completing the theme, you get a behind-the-scenes look at the North Pole in the off season from a naughty elf and Santa himself.

Song Exploder: U2 legends Bono and The Edge joined Hrishikesh Hirway for last Monday’s Song Exploder. The guys discussed making the song “Cedarwood Road” from their most recent album, Songs of Innocence. The episode is a peek behind the curtain for many who’ve followed U2 through the years to see how the band constructs their songs, starting with guitar riffs by The Edge and finishing with Bono’s lyrics, which in this instance tell the story of the street in Dublin on which Bono grew up.

Nerdist Writers Panel: Kay Cannon, writer of the Pitch Perfect movies, discussed her movies, her career and her approach to writing on last week’s Nerdist Writers Panel. Cannon talked in detail about her first job in writing on the show 30 Rock and how one joke on that show sparked her idea for Pitch Perfect.

Star Talk Radio: Last Sunday’s Star Talk Radio featured a discussion between host Neil deGrasse Tyson and legendary television producer Norman Lear. Lear, responsible for creating TV shows like All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Sanford and Son, spoke about why he believes his shows struck such a note with viewers at the time and how they were able to find laughter in serious situations.

With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus: Christmas came early for fans of Lauren Lapkus as she brought her character Ho Ho, the naughty elf, to her weekly improvised comedy podcast last week. Ho Ho, a character Lapkus first developed on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast, joined Santa Claus (played by Paul F. Tompkins) for a shockingly foul-mouthed podcast from the land of toys and reindeer.

Material: A new podcast all about Google and Android launched last week. Material, which got its name from Google’s design aesthetic (material design), is hosted by mobile app developer Russell Ivanovic, designer and front-end developer Yasmine Evjen, and tech writer Andy Ihnatko. The hosts kicked off their new podcast by releasing two episodes last Thursday, including Episode 0 in which the hosts introduced themselves and talked about their first cell phones and Episode 1 in which they talk about why they all use Android today.