A holly jolly episode with Brian Moylan from ’12 Gays of Christmas’ and Bran Gray from ‘Deck the Hallmark’

December 20, 2021

On this festive episode of Podsauce, Dax and Alesha interviewed 2 jolly guests. Brian Moylan stopped by the show to chat about his pop culture and film review series, “12 Gays of Christmas,” and “Deck the Hallmark” host Bran Gray explained why he loves Hallmark’s films and Christmas.

Brian gave Alesha and Dax the 411 on his podcast, a series where he chats with guests about their favorite holiday films. The podcast has released 12 episodes, running 45 minutes on average. Hear advice columnist Dan Savage on It’s a Wonderful Life, and more discuss holiday classics like The Grinch, The Family Stone, and Home Alone, Dax’s fave holiday film.

Alesha listened to the Gremlins episode with Joe Dombrowski, and she explained what she has in common with them (no bright lights, etc.). Dax listened to former Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon’s takes on Elf, and the guests share their holiday traditions on each episode. Brian shared his love of cheesy and campy holiday TV movies like VH1’s A Diva’s Christmas Carol starring Vanessa Williams.

Brian’s favorite podcast is “Bitch Sesh,” a Real Housewives breakdown show he has appeared on. Tune in to watch the complete interview to find out which Housewives franchise he’d ditch in a heartbeat.

Next, Dax shared two podcasts for people who’d like to learn about Hanukkah. “Stuff You Should Know” released a Hanukkah episode in 2010 to walk listeners through the holiday’s history. “The Kibitz Podcast” first episode, “Light,” aired in 2015, and is hosted by Dan Crain who explains the meaning of Hanukkah in the 21st century.

Bran Gray told Alesha and Dax all about the podcast he co-hosts, “Deck the Hallmark.” The series has released over 550 episodes, creating 6 episodes a week in the span of two months to gear up for the holidays. Dax listened to the episode on the Hallmark film, “8 Gifts of Hanukkah.” Bran shared his favorite Hallmark films and why Jordin Sparks’ “A Christmas Treasure” was a disappointing watch.

This is the 4th holiday season Bran has been podcasting, and he says this year is responsible for so many excellent releases including ones he personally recommends such as “An Unexpected Christmas,” starring Bethany Joy Linz, and the time travel movie, “Next Stop Christmas.” Bran is proud of the podcast companion book he co-authored, I’ll Be Home for Christmas Movies. Then, Bran shared his podcast picks including “Business Wars” and “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.”

Lastly, Alesha shared this episode’s Holiday Pick, “It’s a Wonderful Lie,” a series reading between the lines of people’s picture-perfect-sounding holiday newsletters.

And that’s all for this episode! Happy holidays! Check out all podcasts mentioned below: