The Holiday Specials We Love

By Heal Squad

Welcome back, fellow Holiday fanatics, escapists, and nostalgics! It's Season 4 of the newly rebranded The Holiday Specials We Love Podcast! Join us on a walk down memory lane as the HSWL hosts break ... more

· TV & Film

4.7

136136 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about The Holiday Specials We Love:

How many episodes does The Holiday Specials We Love have?

The podcast currently has 73 episodes available.

The Holiday Specials We Love episodes:

January 30, 2026 The Holiday Specials We Love: Candy, Mints, and the Five-Cent Decision
Hey HSWL FANS!
On this The Holiday Specials We Love, we are simulcasting a Heal
Squad Regular Guy Friday with — candy history, childhood memory, Hollywood mess, and why certain things just don’t work the way they used to.
We correct a major oversight and talk Life Savers. The rolls. The
hole. Pep-o-mint, Wint-O-Green, butter rum. Checkout counters, impulse buys,
and whether Life Savers have been quietly pushed down. Cherry opinions. Mint loyalty. The rich-kid Life Saver gift packs.
Old gum, novelty candy, and flavors you remember forever — sometimes for
the wrong reasons. Gumballs at the bottom. Screwballs vs. Cannonballs. Circus Fun. Push-Ups. Why half of childhood treats were about the prize, not the taste.
We also talk sick kids, late nights, steam showers, middle-of-the-night
cleanups, and the moment you know everything’s fine again — when a kid looks at you and says, “Get up.”
We pivot to talk Hollywood. The Ryan Reynolds / Blake Lively / Justin
Baldoni situation, power plays, public pile-ons, and why the old Hollywood
rules don’t seem to apply anymore.
Tiki bars. Bar-arcades. Neon lights. Why vibe matters. Why independence
matters.
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple.
Text us your thoughts at 351 251 2511
Talk Shawtly
...more
1h 2min
December 24, 2025 Merry Christmas Eve
Hey HSWL FANS!
Merry Christmas Eve Holiday Specials We Love Fans,
coming to you from our phones and cars as we squeeze in the must-needed Christmas Eve chat. We talk the catering, colored lights, cookies, candies and a little Kardashians.
Kev is on the seen with Elf Emily at the Mart reporting on the status of the decoration availability. We talk the much anticipated Cookies of the Past Podcast launch, why fried dough is better than any holiday extravagant dessert display and why it really is all A few shout outs- a few
laughs and a bit of MPedness.
This one is raw- no edits- so if there please be patient with any flubs.
Merry Christmas Eve!
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Text
us your thoughts at 351 251 2511 and find us on Patreon.
Talk Shawtly.
...more
33min
December 23, 2025 Merry Christmas Eve Eve
Hey HSWL FANS!
Merry Christmas Eve Eve Holiday Specials We Love
Fans, coming to you from our phones as we squeeze in one more holiday chat. We talk the true meaning of the season, give an update on the progress of getting Rankin/Bass their duly deserved Star on the Hollywood walk of fame, and talk and how holiday spirit shouldn’t end when December 25th does.
We talk Boxing Day — what it actually is, why it needs better branding — and how Kwanzaa perfectly carries the season through the post-Christmas week. Why Church shouldn’t be from 6 to 8 and then AGAIN,
the next day- and how choosing between that and hanging with Dad and friends will empower your kids. We talk Christmas Eve expectations, and why this time of year should be about joy, generosity, family, and kids in pajamas — not obligation or guilt.
Keep pressing to make this day official – with “and so unto you” as your
response!
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Text us your thoughts at 351 251 2511 and find us on Patreon.
Talk Shawtly.
...more
28min
December 22, 2025 Rankin Bass The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
Hey HSWL fans! This episode of Holiday Specials We Love we take on
one of the more obscure — and mystical — Rankin/Bass specials: The Life
& Adventures of Santa Claus from 1985.
We talk the opening with immortals, spirits, and endless titles, and how
it immediately signals that this one hits different. We talk candy-cane ratings
-nine, plus an advent calendar or was it really a bag of circus peanuts? We
talk reused puppets, Japanese animation, immortals, whimsy, wizardry and just WHY.
We talk the Wizard of Oz connection with a little inside baseball
into L. Frank Baum — including his Hollywood home and how far ahead of his time he really was. More inside baseball when we realize the actor who voiced young Santa went on to produce shows we all know and love.
Let us know if you are amongst the cult members who watch this one on the regular-we- are not.
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, find us on
Patreon and text us your thoughts at 351-251-2511.
Talk Shawtly.
...more
33min
December 21, 2025 Christmas Sunday - Sunday Setup Simulcast
Hey HSWL FANS!
Welcome to a very Special Christmas Sunday Sunday Set UpHoliday Specials We Love/ Heal Squad simulcast.
We talk Christmas decorations, neighborhood light displays — the joy of
driving around, tuning in, and appreciating the effort people put in just to
make strangers smile. No competition, no spectacle — just holiday spirit doing what it does best.
We talk seasonal standards. Holiday cookies should not be everyday cookies. Holiday popcorn tins should not be carried by the tin alone. Is Crumble Cookie overrated? Is a more peanut, less brittle campaign needed?
We talk about missing people who are no longer here, and how the holidays
can make that absence feel louder — especially during firsts. We talk remembering, honoring, and the belief that those we love never really leave us. They’re still with us, in small moments, signs, and memories that show up right on time.
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts,
text us your thoughts at 351-251-2511,
and find us on Patreon-It’s Free
Christmas Sunday is here.å
Talk Shawtly

...more
40min
December 20, 2025 Christmas Q & A Chat
Hey HSWL fans! It’s another Holiday Specials We Love – Chat Edition,
driven by your questions and fueled by pure holiday nostalgia.
This time, we dive into childhood Christmas memories — from first-grade
holiday plays and forgotten Christmas songs to paper-plate reindeer, glitter
disasters, and classroom parties powered by Doritos, cupcakes, and Elmer’s
glue. There’s a deep dive into when we all really found out about Santa,
including one reveal that lingered in the Pumpkin Patch a little longer than
most, and another that hit hard on a kindergarten bus ride home.
We talk Gen-X parenting realities, why a little holiday magic still
matters, favorite Christmas movies, unforgettable gifts like Atari and Pong,
and why fourth grade might have been peak Christmas for a lot of us. We shout out listeners, candy-cane ratings, Monkees trivia, and the shared memories that keep this season feeling magic — even when the truth eventually catches up.
As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, text us your
thoughts at 351-251-2511, and find us on Patreon. The holiday season is
in full swing.
Talk Shawtly.
...more
29min
December 19, 2025 The Monkees’ Christmas Show
On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we dive into The
Monkees’ Christmas Show — an episode that sparks debate right away and
lands somewhere between two and a half candy canes and a half a ribbon candy-a new Holiday Specials We Love Low!
We talk the odd babysitting story, the ultra-serious rich kid who has
everything except love, and the way the show bounces between kid-show chaos and 60s hippie weirdness. We talk the long stretches, the mistakes and the moments where the message finally starts to click.
We go a little inside baseball on— the a cappella performance of “Ríu
Ríu Chíu.” how bold the choice was, how difficult it is to pull off , and
why it’s especially impressive coming from a group that was cast as actors
first, not an a cappella quartet.
We talk the fourth-wall-breaking finale, when the Monkees bring the cast
and crew on screen, thank them by name, and do something television simply didn’t do at the time.
Our new mission- to get the Monkees in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — they beat the best, outselling the Beatles and the Stones at their peak, actually sang their own songs, they’re due!
The march to Christmas is in full swing!
Text us your thoughts to 351-251-2511.
We are now on Patreon- It’s Free and shows drop early!
Please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Talk Shawtly!

...more
29min
December 18, 2025 Davey and Goliath: Christmas Lost and Found
On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we dive into Davey and Goliath: Christmas Lost and Found — the 1965 holiday special that takes a quieter, more serious approach to Christmas- and earns a solid four to four and three-quartas Candy Canes!
We talk Davey starting the special with no Christmas spirit at all, his
attempt to find it by decorating the house, buying presents, smelling the tree, eating cookies, and organizing a nativity play with the Jickets- who- by the way- may have turned dark in their teen years. Goliath stays by his side, Sally anchors the story, and the creche-whatever that is- sits at the center as Davey tries to make sense of what Christmas actually means.
We talk what makes this one feel so different — kids running the world,
no adults in sight, Christmas trees being sold on the side of the road, long
stretches of silence, and the bold choice to open a Christmas special with “I
hate Christmas”.
We talk why it works — how Christmas isn’t found through decorations or
tradition, but when Davey gives up the one thing he enjoyed most to help
someone else. It’s understated, sincere, and lands without ever spelling out
the lesson.
Text us your thoughts to 351-251-2511, and please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts!
Talk Shawtly
...more
36min
December 14, 2025 HSWL Sharing Heal Squad The Sunday Set-Up: Shadow Love
On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we are sharing an
episode of The Heal Squad’s The Sunday Set-Up, where we dive into
something most of us were never taught, but all of us are carrying: Shadow
Love.
We talk why the shadow has been mislabeled for so long — treated as
something to fix, hide, or overcome — when it might actually be doing the
opposite. What if the shadow isn’t the problem at all, but the bodyguard? The part of you that stepped in early to protect you, keep you safe, and help you survive.
We talk the idea that anger, ambition, desire, and intensity aren’t flaws
to be corrected, but signals with purpose — parts of you that got pushed aside, not because they were wrong, but because they were misunderstood.
We talk simple ways to reconnect with those parts: asking what your
shadow has been protecting, reclaiming your voice and fire, and letting
wholeness — not fear — take the lead.
This isn’t about becoming softer or smaller. It’s about integration.
About power that comes from knowing yourself fully.If you’re in a season of
growth or change, this one hits home. Because your next chapter isn’t about
fixing who you are — it’s about finally owning all of it.
Text your thoughts 351-251-2511, and please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts
Talk Shawtly!
...more
35min
December 12, 2025 Gilligan's Island- Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk
On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we head to the
island for Gilligan’s Island’s one and only Christmas episode — “Birds
Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk.”
We talk candy cane ratings, the reused pilot footage, and why this
episode feels different from most holiday specials. We break down the early TV budget tricks, the “bottle episode” energy, and how this installment doubles as both a Christmas episode and an origin story.
We also talk the moment that makes it all work — Santa’s appearance. Not
explained. Not the Skipper. Just Santa. And the simple reminder that gratitude matters: the castaways may be stranded, but they have each other, and that counts for something.
We talk the perfect casting that couldn’t be replicated, and how time
has been kind to shows once written off as corny. We have a little Kev on the
scene on Tina Louise, her weight of carrying an iconic role, her complicated
relationship with the show, and why Ginger Grant remains unforgettable.
As always let us know your thoughts as we march into the 12 days of
Christmas
Text us at 351-251-2511
Please us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Talk Shawtly
...more
55min

FAQs about The Holiday Specials We Love:

How many episodes does The Holiday Specials We Love have?

The podcast currently has 73 episodes available.

More shows like The Holiday Specials We Love

20/20 by ABC News

20/20

11,925 Listeners

Drink Champs by The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts

Drink Champs

6,818 Listeners

Christmas Past by Brian Earl

Christmas Past

798 Listeners

Tis the Podcast by Tis the Podcast

Tis the Podcast

141 Listeners

The Matt Walsh Show by The Daily Wire

The Matt Walsh Show

28,526 Listeners

Deck The Hallmark by Bramble Jam Podcast Network

Deck The Hallmark

2,472 Listeners

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities by iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

8,419 Listeners

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

47,772 Listeners

The MeidasTouch Podcast by MeidasTouch Network

The MeidasTouch Podcast

51,073 Listeners

The Dr. John Delony Show by Ramsey Network

The Dr. John Delony Show

7,625 Listeners

Christmas 365 by Geekscape

Christmas 365

20 Listeners

Christmas Countdown by A Countdown Network Production

Christmas Countdown

305 Listeners

Christmas Morning by Bramble Jam Podcast Network

Christmas Morning

304 Listeners

The Tucker Carlson Show by Tucker Carlson Network

The Tucker Carlson Show

17,061 Listeners

‘A Book a Day’ Kids Storytime by Ashley R

‘A Book a Day’ Kids Storytime

3 Listeners