Danny Pellegrino is a bestselling author, actor, and screenwriter. His latest book, The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories, is a nostalgic trip through his most festive memories in a collection of stories that are heartfelt, hilarious, and — for better or worse — true. I caught up with Danny earlier this year to talk about the book, Christmas, family, and more. 

Music in this episode

"Christmas Jazzy Bells" — BFMC Music, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Actor John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones) joins Brian to discuss Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. Rhys-Davies plays Dickens's narrator in this four-part audio drama podcast, set for re-release on November 22. 

Music in this episode

"O Holy Night" — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

We're in the early Christmas preseason. It's the perfect time to discover some new Christmas music before the radio stations start overplaying the standard set of classics. In this episode, we've got some new-to-you Christmas songs from independent artists you may not have otherwise discovered on your favorite station or streaming service.

Music in this episode

• "Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• "Christmas Cheer" — Robert Lawlor
• "Vermont Christmas" — The Predicates
• It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas" — Winterval
• "The Christmas Song" — Birdie Nichols
• "Good King Wenceslas (Slassin' In) — The Staven Wassailers
• "HOME" — Lewis Barfoot

Lewis Barfoot's HOME is available on vinyl! Check Bandcamp or her website for more. It's also available at most records stores in Ireland.

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Happy Halloween, everybody! And more than that: welcome to another season of Christmas Past.

Yes, it’s still Halloween. But that's the perfect time to kick things off, because it gives us a chance to honor the classic Christmas tradition of sharing a ghost story. Our Victorian forebears really loved their ghost stories — for all occasions, but perhaps especially for Christmas. Many magazines of the era published ghost stories specifically for the Christmas season. The stories didn’t necessarily involve Christmas; but they were meant to be enjoyed on Christmas Eve, adding a little extra chill to a cold winter’s night.

Though the tradition has faded, it’s not gone altogether. And that’s thanks in part to my friends at Biblioasis publishing. Every year, they publish a series of classic ghost stories beautifully illustrated by the acclaimed artist known only as Seth. It’s become a yearly tradition here on Christmas Past to start the season off with a story from their current series. 

In today's story, when a group of tourists visits the deserted island of Podolo, one wants to rescue a feral cat they find there, and the others reluctantly agree. Unfortunately, the rescue proves more difficult than they expect — and they soon discover they’re not alone on Podolo. 

Music in this episode

• “Didion” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Frequency of Sleep Meditation" — Leigh Robinson, via Pixabay
• "Endless" — MildRelaxation, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

It's our eighth consecutive Christmas together. As we close out the 2023 season, we're taking a look back at the news and trends that made this Christmas what it was.

Thank you all for another wonderful Christmas season together.

Merry Christmas! And until we meet again, may your days be merry and bright.

Music in this Episode

"Deck the Halls A" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here in America, the day after Christmas is simply that: the day after. The party's over. But in England, it's an official holiday. December 26 — Boxing Day — is the Christmas afterparty you've been missing out on. What's the story? And what does it have to do with boxing? Paul Kerensa joins Christmas Past to...unpack the box.  

Mentioned in this Episode

• Paul Kerensa
• Hark! The Biography of Christmas, by Paul Kerensa

Music in this Episode

• "Good King Wenceslas" — U.S. Army Band, via Wikimedia Commons
• "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" — DJ Williams, via Youtube Audio Library
• "In the Bleak Midwinter" — Julius H., via Pixabay
• "Emotional Piano Improvisation" — Alexander Nakarada, via Film Music
• "Holiday Gift" — Kai Engel, via Free Music Archive

Section from A Christmas Carol read by Peter John Keeble, courtesy of Librivox

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Christmas Day is less than a week from now. In this final stretch of the 2023 season, let's have another gathering of the Christmas Past family. Yes, it’s time once again for an episode dedicated just to you and your Christmas memories. Cozy up by the fire with us for a little Christmas reminiscing. 

Music in this Episode

• "A Very Brady Special" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

For many families, the Christmas Eve feast is a so-called "meatless meal." It's a tradition of European Christian roots that has gone on to take many forms.

Mentioned in this episode

Plating Grace

Music in this Episode

• "Italian Trip" — wildsound159, via Pixabay
• "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist
• "First Snow" — Scott Buckley, via ScottBuckley.com.au
• "Silent Night" — DJ Williams, via Youtube Audio Library
• "Mortality" — Podington Bear, via Free Music Archive

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Old Fezziwig sure knew how to throw an office Christmas party. Dickens's description of Christmas Eve in Fezziwig's counting house included vigorous fiddling and elaborate dancing. That style of dance may belong to a bygone time, but it lives on in the annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair. In this special episode, Cathleen Myers joins Christmas Past to explain how Victorians danced their way to Christmas.

Mentioned in this Episode

• The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
• Period Events and Entertainments Re-Creation Society (Peers)

Music in this Episode

• "Toe Tapper" — Primal House Music, via Pixabay
• "Ambient Grand Piano for Meditation or Background" — Julius H., via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In the late nineteenth century modern postal systems were still coming into their own. Around the turn of the century, many countries, including England, began issuing Christmas themed postage stamps. You might think that America would have been among them, but boy would you be wrong. 

In fact, America was one of the last countries to get on board. American Christmas stamps are only a few decades old. And the story there has to do with simple economics and America’s system of government.

Mentioned in this Episode

Christmas Philatelic Club

Music in this Episode

• "Christmas Jazz" — Denys Kyshchuk, via Pixabay
• "Running Waters" — Audionautix, via Youtube Audio Library
• "Noel" — Audionautix, via Youtube Audio Library
• "Acoustic Guitar 1" — Audionautix, via Youtube Audio Library
• "Dreamland" — Aakash Gandhi, via Youtube Audio Library
• "Wish Background" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Brady Bunch is an iconic American sitcom that ran for five seasons. But it produced only one Christmas episode during its original run. "The Voice of Christmas" from season 1 finds Carol with laryngitis days before she's scheduled to sing a solo for her church's Christmas service. The one and only Christopher Knight joins Brian to break this episode down.

Mentioned in this Episode

The Real Brady Bros

Music in this Episode

• "A Very Brady Special" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• "Brady Bunch Image Sound-Alike Music" — Noisepatterns, via SoundCloud
• "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• "Working Time - Soft Acoustic Guitar" — Dream Protocol, via Pixabay
• "Invisible Beauty" — Aakash Gandhi, via Youtube Audio Studio

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: [email protected]
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday's Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.