holiday specials 2012
A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features Hanukkah stories and memoirs written by acclaimed authors expressly for the show, as read by NPR's Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz. Airs Sunday, December 9th at 6 p.m.
Chanukah in Story and Song
A returning one-hour Chanukah celebration by The Western Wind, performing Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe, and modern Israeli and American tunes. Airs Sunday, December 9th at 7 p.m.
Tinsel Tales:NPR Christmas Favorites
This year a radio tradition continues with stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk — these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Airs Sunday, December 23rd at 6 p.m.
Tinsel Tales 2
NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary. Airs Sunday, December 23rd at 7 p.m.
Jonathan Winters' A Christmas Carol
A public radio tradition updated this year with NPR host Lisa Simeone. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy. From NPR and KCRW. Airs Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25th at 9 a.m.
What makes a song last? Join host Philip Furia for an enduring body of holiday songs, performed generation after generation by musicians and singers in styles that range from jazz to blues, rock to country. Hear the stories behind the songs, and hear familiar artists singing them. The program shows how The Great American Songbook came into being during the first half of the 20th-century through the interplay of the sheet-music publishing industry known as "Tin Pan Alley," the Broadway musical, the emergence of radio in the 1920s, the advent of sound movies, the creation of a jazz repertoire, and developments in the recording industry. Airs Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25th at 10 a.m.
A Season's Griot is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African-American and African people. Familiar and favorite elements of Griot will also be in place with plenty of music, and an original composition by the show's poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette. Airs Wednesday, December 26th at 9 p.m.
To celebrate 2012 and ring in 2013, Toast of the Nation is jazz that you can party to, all night from coast to coast, with countdowns to midnight in all four continental time zones. Spirited, improvised, grooving and swinging, each segment is a stop in a sequence of celebrations and contributing something new to the musical feast. WBGO's Rhonda Hamilton anchors the show. Begins Monday, December 31th at 7 p.m. until 3 a.m.
