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Ethan Kaye (he/him) is a writer/editor/book hoarder. He is scared of the Loch Ness Monster.

Headshot – Kaye, Ethan

Ethan Kaye

MAS – 2

The 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar Day 11: The 1996 National Christmas Tree Lighting

Latonya &#8220;Penn&#8221; Pennington (they/them) is a prolific freelance pop culture critic who has written for publications such as Into More, Popverse, Comics XF, and more. They are also a poet and have been published in Videodame, The Daily Drunk, and Sage Cigarettes, to name a few.

latonya-pennington

Latonya Pennington

Stars featuring characters from comics and gangs riding down a rainbow in front of pixelated christmas wrapping paper pattern

Queerly Nerdy – 2

Queerly Nerdy: ‘Tis the Season for Video Games and Comic Books

Matthew Jackson (he/him) is a writer, critic, podcaster, and nerd-for-hire who&#8217;s been writing about pop culture for more than 15 years. He lives in Austin, Texas, and when he&#8217;s not writing he&#8217;s usually counting the days until Christmas.

Matthew author photo cropped

Matthew Jackson

Advent Day 10

The 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar Day 10: The Dean Martin Christmas Show

Sebastian Deken (he/him) is a writer and musician originally from St. Louis, Missouri. He is the author of <a href="https://bossfightbooks.com/products/final-fantasy-vi-by-sebastian-deken">Final Fantasy VI</a> (Boss Fight Books, 2021), a critical exploration of the music from the 1994 game of the same name. He received his BA in music and French language and literature at Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University. He currently lives in Queens, New York, with his husband and two cats.

Headshot – Deken, Sebastian

Sebastian Deken

gooey butter cake on a melamine platter illustrated with a cartoon santa

Gooey Butter Cake

I Love This Cake and Her Gooey Body

Brett White (he/him) is a pop culture journalist and editor-in-chief of Pop Heist. Prior to this, he was a senior reporter/producer for Decider for seven years. Prior to joining Decider, he covered pop culture for Comic Book Resources, Marvel.com, and MTV News. His areas of expertise include Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Drag Race, classic sitcoms, Sam Neill, unexpected thirst traps, and unlikely menswear icons.
In his spare time, he cohosts the podcast Must Have Seen TV and is writing his first book: a biography of <a href="https://www.haydenrorke.com/">Hayden Rorke</a>.
He also lives out his feminine fantasy as <a href="https://www.barbhardly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barb Hardly</a>, his drag queen alter ego.
His hobbies include spending way too much money on action figures, swimsuits, and fashion accessories. He currently lives in Queens with his handsome husband and two large, orange cats.

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Brett White

Single on the 25th, lead characters dancing

Hallmark Hit or Miss: ‘Single on the 25th’ Thrives Despite Its Almost Anti-Hallmark Premise

Animated snowman and people marching in the snow, snowman holding a banner saying "#1 Dad".

frosty-snowman-family

Ho Ho Holy S—, Frosty Had Three Secret Families

Hives and Cyndi Lauper Christmas Duel single cover

A Christmas Duel

The 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar Day 9: “A Christmas Duel”

Two men dance with blue feathered fans. Their eyes have been blacked out so they look like skulls.

white-christmas-death

The REAL Meaning Behind ‘White Christmas’

The 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar Day 8: Ronald Reagan Selling Cigarettes, But Make it Festive

The 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar Day 7: The 13 Best Words in a Christmas Special