New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Heights Hotline | The Best Thanksgiving Side Dish, Dry Ass Turkey & Is Halloween the New Christmas?

November 21, 2025

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  • The hosts and callers overwhelmingly agree that Christmas is superior to Halloween as the best holiday, attributing any contrary opinion to the caller's parents failing them. 
  • There is a strong consensus among the hosts that turkey is the worst dish at Thanksgiving, requiring frying or spatchcocking to be palatable. 
  • The debate over the best Thanksgiving side dish resulted in Jason favoring Green Bean Casserole and Travis choosing Mac and Cheese, while both expressed disdain for apple pie and sweet potatoes without marshmallows. 

Segments

Halloween Versus Christmas Debate
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Christmas is unanimously deemed the superior holiday over Halloween due to its cultural influence and spirit of giving.
  • Summary: The segment opens with a caller asserting Halloween is better than Christmas, which the hosts immediately reject. They argue Christmas moves the stock market and is deeply ingrained in American culture across religious lines. Halloween’s appeal is deemed insufficient to compare to the joy and family focus of Christmas.
Sponsor Reads and Rituals
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(00:05:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Jason Kelsey maintains pregame-like grooming rituals for his Monday Night Countdown broadcasting routine.
  • Summary: The conversation transitions to Jason’s current routines, which include production meetings, makeup, and hair preparation before going on set. Gillette Labs NFL licensed razors are promoted as a tool for maintaining facial hair during this new routine. Sponsors Reese’s Oreo Cups and KFC are also introduced.
Turkey’s Role in Thanksgiving
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(00:08:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Turkey is widely considered the worst, driest dish at Thanksgiving, often requiring gravy to be palatable.
  • Summary: KFC is promoted as an alternative to dry Thanksgiving turkey, with the hosts agreeing that turkey is beige and requires significant effort to cook well. They suggest frying or spatchcocking are necessary methods to redeem the bird from being dry. The KFC slogan encourages listeners to ‘cluck turkey’ this Thanksgiving.
Dessert Preferences and Apple Pie
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(00:11:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Apple pie is considered highly overrated due to excessive cinnamon and warm, compote-like texture, while key lime pie is favored for being cold.
  • Summary: The discussion shifts to Thanksgiving desserts, where apple pie is heavily criticized for being overpowered by cinnamon and having an undesirable warm, compote texture. Key lime pie is praised because it is a cold dessert, similar to cheesecake. Caramel apples are dismissed as a messy disaster for someone with a beard.
Sweet Potatoes on Thanksgiving Menu
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(00:13:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Sweet potatoes, especially when prepared with marshmallows and maple syrup, are defended as a necessary and delicious Thanksgiving staple against claims they are dessert.
  • Summary: A caller argues sweet potatoes have no place on the Thanksgiving menu because they are too dessert-like, suggesting honey-glazed carrots instead. The hosts strongly defend sweet potatoes with marshmallows, asserting that Thanksgiving is not the time for calorie counting. Roasted root vegetables like beets and turnips are dismissed as inferior alternatives.
Best Side Dish Showdown
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(00:18:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Green Bean Casserole is cited as the quintessential Thanksgiving-exclusive side, contrasting with Mac and Cheese, which is considered an everyday item.
  • Summary: When asked for the best side dish, Jason chose Green Bean Casserole and Travis chose Mac and Cheese, leading to a debate on their exclusivity. Green Bean Casserole is noted as a dish primarily reserved for Thanksgiving, unlike Mac and Cheese. Canned cranberry sauce is preferred by Kylie over fresh-made sauce, resembling Jell-O.
Podcast Wrap-up and Ad Read
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(00:22:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode concludes with thanks to the 92%ers and promotion for the next bonus content in December.
  • Summary: The hosts wrap up the ‘Heights Hotline’ segment, thanking their production crew and the listeners for engaging with the holiday hot takes. They announce that more bonus content is scheduled for December. A final advertisement promotes the ‘Tis the Grinch Holiday Podcast’ for family road trips.