12:00am BBC World Service
6:00am Performance Today Live concerts by famous artists in concert halls around the globe and from the American Public Media studios as well as interviews, news and features. Daily program information is available in the HPR-1 program listings.
8:00am The Conversation with Beth-Ann Kozlovich and Chris Vandercook. For, by, and about the people of Hawaii, the co-hosts will be talking to all sorts of people about all sorts of things, from the state’s budget crisis to huli-huli chicken, with island-to-island interviews and features on science, arts and culture, agriculture, politics, tourism, and of course everyday life.
9:00am Monday-Thursday The Takeaway The Takeaway is the national morning news program that delivers the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what's ahead. Host John Hockenberry, along with the The New York Times and WGBH Boston, invites listeners every morning to learn more and be part of the American conversation on-air and online here at thetakeaway.org. The Takeaway is a unique partnership of global news leaders. It is a co-production of PRI (Public Radio International) and WNYC Radio in collaboration with The New York Times and WGBH Boston.
9:00am Friday Science Friday Journalist Ira Flatow is joined by listeners and studio guests to explore science-related topics - from subatomic particles and the human genome to the Internet and earthquakes. Flatow offers in-depth discussion with scientists and others from all walks of life, giving listeners the chance to hear from the people whose work influences their daily lives.
10:00am Monday-Thursday BBC World Service
11:00am The World
12:00pm All Things Considered
2:00pm BBC World Service
3:00pm Fresh Air Terry Gross hosts this multi-award-winning daily interview and features program. The veteran public radio interviewer is known for her extraordinary ability to engage guests of all dispositions. Every weekday she delights intelligent and curious listeners with revelations on contemporary societal concerns.
4:00pm-6:00pm (see below for daily programming)
6:00pm Marketplace Award-winning Marketplace is public radio's daily magazine on business and economics news "for the rest of us."
6:30pm-midnight (see below for daily programming)
1 THURSDAY
4:00pm Says You! Taped in front of live audiences at various locations nationwide, 'Says You!' features six panelists divided into two teams of three that bluff, guess, and expound their way through this fast-paced program.
5:00pm Town Square with Beth-Ann Kozlovich.
6:30pm With Good Reason with Sarah McConnell Advances in Heart Failure Care Only a fraction of the 5 million Americans with heart failure but are lucky enough to receive heart transplants. Dr. John Kern is a cardiac surgeon (University of Virginia). He says innovative programs and new technologies are improving the survival rates for people with advances heart disease. Also: A sunny day makes most of us feel better. Lisa Onega (Radford University) is exploring whether exposure to bright light that mimics sunlight can bring relief to people with dementia and depression and reduce reliance on medications.
7:00pm Freakonomics Radio with Stephen J. Dubner. How to Get More Grit in Your Life How you can increase your stick-to-it-iveness — otherwise known as grit. Stephen speaks with a research psychologist who developed a survey to measure grit — about how to become more gritty. Plus: advice from someone who’s taken self-improvement to the extreme: Tim Ferris — author of books with titles like The 4-Hour Workweek.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
2 FRIDAY
4:00pm Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen.
5:00pm On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. We tackle the thorny question of how journalists should cover President-elect Trump as he continues to flout traditional rules and criticize the press. Plus: a cognitive linguist explains how the brain normalizes fringe ideas.
6:30pm Left, Right & Center Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This weekly "love-hate relationship of the air" features the most insightful news analysts anywhere. Josh Barro, Senior Editor at Business Insider, moderates from the Center. On the Left is Katrina VanDen Heuvel, Editor and Publisher of The Nation. Rich Lowry of National Review is on the Right. Keli Goff of the Daily Beast, and host of WNYC's series Political Party, is our special guest.
7:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick. Three epic battles: Jane Mayer recounts her experience investigating—and being investigated by—Koch Industries; the boxer Heather Hardy forfeits the prize money for a fight before setting foot in the ring, but wins anyway; and Junot Díaz is stripped of his honors by the government of the Dominican Republic. Plus, the astronomer who wrote “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” lays out his evidence for the existence of a new ninth planet. (This episode originally aired on January 22, 2016)
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow. Bassist Jaco Pastorius is featured.
10:00pm B-Sides and Beyond with Jon Alan
3 SATURDAY
12:00am Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
9:00am The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We talk to spice merchant Lior Lev Sercarz about some of the more unusual spices we should be adding to our kitchens. His book is “The Spice Companion.” Molly Birnbaum, Executive Editor of Cook’s Science at America’s Test Kitchen gives us a fresh idea to launch the holiday baking season, Pineapple Buns who come to us via Hong Kong, and contributor David Leite talks to the baking legend Dorie Greenspan about her newest classic, “Dorie’s Cookies.” Listeners can call The Splendid Table at 800-537-5252 - anytime! We do call-backs.
10:00am Radiolab Choice (rebroadcast) Logic and emotion aren't the only forces that guide our decisions. From a steaming cup of coffee to brain surgery to the kindness of casino workers; the voices in our head don't necessarily equal free will.
11:00am Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Callers, panelists, and guests compete by answering questions about the week's events, identifying impersonations, filling in the blanks at lightning speed, sniffing out fake news items, and deciphering limericks. Bill Kurtis is official judge and scorekeeper.
12:00pm All Things Considered NPR's newsmagazine presenting breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.
1:00pm This American Life Once More, With Feeling A new idea. A new mission. This week, stories about individuals who change course mid-stride for the protection of themselves and others.
2:00pm The MOTH Radio Hour Pornography, Divinity and Mercy A father of twin teenage boys finds the internet a scary place for impressionable minds; a woman circles back to appreciate her strict minister grandfather; and a man strives to grant forgiveness after a devastating loss. Hosted by The Moth's Artistic Director, Catherine Burns.
3:00pm The Dinner Party Download Celebrated chef Anthony Bourdain gets tough and tender in our etiquette segment… Breakout actor Mackenzie Davis (TV’s “Halt and Catch Fire,” the new film “Always Shine”) opts for reality over (manic pixie) dreams… Kurt Wagner, front-man of Nashville band Lambchop, turns back the clock with his party soundtrack…Iconic silver screen rebel Toshiro Mifune gets a new close-up…And Nora McInerny, host of the new podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking,” travels through time and tragedy, with comedy. Plus, sinister smog, verboten leftovers, and maybe the most tongue-tied joke in DPD history.
4:00pm Brazilian Experience with Sandy Tsukiyama Social Commentary (originally broadcast December 5 2015)
6:00pm Bridging the Gap with Nicholas Yee
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow. Pianist Wynton Kelly is featured.
10:00pm Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
4 SUNDAY
12:00am Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
2:00am Blues before Sunrise with Steve Cushing
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
10:00am Krista Tippett On Being Before Pope Francis, James Martin was perhaps the best-loved Jesuit in American life. He’s followed the calling of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, to “find God in all things” — and in 21st-century forms. To delve into Fr. Martin's way of being in the world is to discover the "spiritual exercises" St. Ignatius designed to be accessible to everyone more than six centuries ago.
11:00am New Dimensions with Justine Toms Thomas Merton: A Mystic Lover of Life Thomas Merton was an American Catholic writer, mystic, and Trappist monk who died mysteriously in Bangkok, Thailand when he was 53 years old. The gifts he left behind from his short life were immense. He combined deep contemplation with social action. Here Fr. Matthew Fox shares his profound intersection with Merton via Creation Spirituality. Fox is the author of “A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey.” Program #3593.
12:00pm TED Radio Hour A journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, and new ways to think and create. Based on riveting TEDTalks from the world's most remarkable minds.
1:00pm Kanikapila Sunday with Derrick Malama
4:00pm Applause in A Small Room Double Bass Doubles Down
5:00pm Sinatra, the Man and the Music with Guy Steele
6:00pm A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile. We’re heading to our home-away-from-home in New York City, the historic Town Hall on West 43rd Street, for a live broadcast with special guests Marcus Mumford, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Trevor Noah. Plus: a new Song of the Week from our host, Chris Thile, and the band (singer Gaby Moreno, pianist and music director Rich Dworsky, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, bassist Paul Kowert, and Ted Poor on drums); our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman; and another chance to hear your song request performed live on the radio. It’s all brought to you, as usual, by Powdermilk Biscuits.
8:00pm American Routes with Nick Spitzer Robbie Robertson / Johnny Otis / Dew Drop Inn (repeat) A visit with legendary bandsmen including roots rocker Robbie Robertson and California jazz bandleader Johnny Otis. Robertson was a prime mover behind The Band, who, along with the Grateful Dead and others, defined the image and sound of American rock with folk roots in the 1960s and '70s. Johnny Otis shaped the West Coast jump boogie sound, working with artists such as Jackie Wilson, Big Mama Thornton, and Etta James. Also a trip back in time to the Dew Drop Inn, a halcyon New Orleans nightclub which also served as a hotel, eatery, barber shop and post office. We'll hear about one of the Dew Drop's most infamous characters, female impersonator and R & B singer Patsy Vidalia.
10:00pm Full Nelson with Tim Vandeveer
11:00pm Bluegrass Breakdown with Dave Higgs Rainy Days
5 MONDAY
4:00pm Living On Earth with Steve Curwood. Canada takes the bold step of planning to ban coal by 2030, and launching a nationwide carbon pricing program. The Trudeau administration has also nixed a new tar sands pipeline, but it has approved the expansion of two existing heavy crude pipelines. Also, a new ethane cracker plant being constructed in Pennsylvania could raise air pollution levels, thanks to a lag time in emissions credits use.
5:00pm The Body Show with Dr. Kathleen Kozak.
6:30pm Humankind with David Freudberg. New research suggests that people who actively cultivate gratefulness in their lives enhance both their peace of mind and become physically healthier. So what are ways to develop an attitude of gratitude?
7:00pm Intelligence Squared U.S. Should We Give Undocumented Immigrants A Path to Citizenship? There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and the question of what to do with them has sparked years of fierce debate, but no significant action. Should we give undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship? The debaters are Angela Kelley, Steven Camarota, Marielena Hincapié, and Rich Lowry.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
6 TUESDAY
4:00pm Travel with Rick Steves. Rick's son Andy joins us for a look at the kind of low-cost weekend adventures students and millennials are looking for in Europe. Find out why the nightlife and pop culture in Seoul, South Korea is attracting visitors from around the world. Plus, get into the holiday spirit at one of the many outdoor Christmas markets in Germany, or experience the "hard sell" at a street market in Cairo.
5:00pm Selected Shorts A Child’s-Eye View: Stories by John Irving “The Broken Side-view Mirror,” from Avenue of Mysteries, performed by Yul Vazquez Excerpt from In One Person, performed by Michael C Hall “Unhappy Mothers,” from A Widow for One Year, performed by Heather Burns.
6:30pm New Letters on the Air Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer, Geraldine Brooks talks about her 2015 book, THE SECRET CHORD, which was recently released in paperback. This historical novel about the Biblical King David and the women and men who surrounded him as told from the perspective of Nathan, a member of David's court, whose writings are now lost. Brooks recounts the lessons learned from her earlier career as an investigative journalist, her conversion from Catholicism to Judaism before her marriage to fellow writer, Tony Horwitz, how her two sons play a part in this fifth novel, and why riding a camel is a waste of time when attempting to relate to Israel’s Second Iron Age.
7:00pm BBC World Service
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
7 WEDNESDAY
4:00pm Tech Nation with Dr. Moira Gunn. Moira speaks with Dr. Alex Pang, Neuroscientist and the author of “Rest … Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.” Then on BioTech Nation, Kevin Cox, the CEO of Imanova, talks about better technologies to examine the state of the brain for people with Alzheimer’s, and Dr. Charles Stacey, President and CEO ofAccera, discusses working on a treatment for Alzheimer’s with the premise of glucose uptake in the brain.
5:00pm Bytemarks Café with Burt Lum and Ryan Ozawa.
6:30pm CounterSpin with Janine Jackson. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Combining lively discussion and a thoughtful media critique, CounterSpin is unlike any other show on the dial. CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news’ narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more.
7:00pm BBC World Service
8:00pm Latin Beat with Ray Cruz
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
8 THURSDAY
4:00pm Says You! Taped in front of live audiences at various locations nationwide, 'Says You!' features six panelists divided into two teams of three that bluff, guess, and expound their way through this fast-paced program.
5:00pm Town Square with Beth-Ann Kozlovich.
6:30pm With Good Reason with Sarah McConnell The Glass Ceiling and the Ivory Tower The glass ceiling in the ivory tower, according to Diane Hodge (Radford University), is real and frustrating to women’s aspirations. Women are now entering academia in equal numbers to their male counterparts, but fewer women are achieving tenure. Hodge thinks that barriers to female academics moving up in institutions of higher learning are still entrenched. Also: A new study from Mindy Urchill (University of Mary Washington) proves that sexual self-empowerment may be harder than we think — dressing provocatively may negatively impact perceptions of a woman’s qualifications.
7:00pm Freakonomics Radio with Stephen J. Dubner. Handwriting-is it an essential part of who we are and how we think — or a technology that served its purpose until something better came along? Plus, hear about a famous economics essay written in the voice of a pencil, arguing that “not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me.”
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
9 FRIDAY
4:00pm Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen. This week, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity: how Einstein upended the way we see space and time, his effect on pop culture, and how one of his most preposterous ideas was ultimately proven right.
5:00pm On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. The Justice department just vastly expanded the government’s power to hack into your devices. We examine how this change flew under the radar, and why it could be dangerous. Plus, a growing threat to free speech: billionaires suing news outlets.
6:30pm Left, Right & Center Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This weekly "love-hate relationship of the air" features the most insightful news analysts anywhere. Josh Barro, Senior Editor at Business Insider, moderates from the Center. Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com) is on the Left. Rich Lowry of National Review is on the Right. Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center is our special guest.
7:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick. What Is Trumpism? Will the Wall Street insiders Trump has picked to run his economy deliver on the populist promises he made? Sheelah Kolhatkar discusses Trump’s new cabinet appointees with David Remnick. Kelefa Sanneh talks with an unlikely Trump supporter—a socially conservative Catholic university professor. William Finnegan explores the tragic state of Venezuela, and Michael Chabon shares three things that bring him consolation in anxious times.
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow Donald Byrd
10:00pm B-Sides and Beyond with Jon Alan
10 SATURDAY
12:00am Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
9:00am The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We have an interview with a legendary iconoclast, South American chef Francis Mallman, from our 20th anniversary celebration recorded at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. His latest book is “Mallman of Fire.” We hear about some off-the-beaten-track Chinese cooking techniques with the award-winning author of Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees, and we learn an alternative to homemade stock with Susan Volland, author of “Mastering Sauces.” Listeners can call The Splendid Table at 800-537-5252 - anytime! We do call-backs.
10:00am Radiolab Speed (rebroadcast) We live our lives at human speed -- we experience and interact with the world on a human time scale. But this hour, we put ourselves through the paces, peek inside a microsecond, and master the fastest thing in the universe. We take a look at the longest running science experiment in history, and team up with NPR's Planet Money to try to wrap our heads around the speed of high frequency trading.
11:00am Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Callers, panelists, and guests compete by answering questions about the week's events, identifying impersonations, filling in the blanks at lightning speed, sniffing out fake news items, and deciphering limericks. Bill Kurtis is official judge and scorekeeper.
12:00pm All Things Considered NPR's newsmagazine presenting breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.
1:00pm This American Life 20 Years Later Samantha Broun talks to cops, politicians, inmates, and family closest to the crime that changed policy 20 years ago for inmates serving life sentences in Pennsylvania. It's a crime Samantha knows too well, because it happened to her mom.
2:00pm The MOTH Radio Hour Wedding Jitters and Kindergarten Battle Prep A basement fire leads to a wedding, a young man in Jamaica is obsessed with a comic book, a child from a strict home lets off steam with her two grandmothers and a protective father prepares to do battle with his kid’s school. Hosted by The Moth’s Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.
3:00pm The Dinner Party Download An hour-long celebration of culture, food, and conversation designed to help you dazzle your friends at this weekend's get-together. In every episode you'll learn a joke, bone up on an odd bit of history and then wash it down with a themed cocktail, meet an artist of note (say, Spike Lee or Willie Nelson), learn the answers to your burning etiquette questions, savor an emerging food trend, and hear your new favorite song. Plus, unconventional wisdom from hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam.
4:00pm Brazilian Experience with Sandy Tsukiyama
6:00pm Bridging the Gap with Nicholas Yee
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow Ray Nance
10:00pm Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
11 SUNDAY
12:00am Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
2:00am Blues before Sunrise with Steve Cushing
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
10:00am Krista Tippett On Being Of all the arts, singing is the most companionable. So says Alice Parker, a composer, conductor, and teacher who’s been shaping the universe of chorale music for most of her 90 years. She began as a young woman, studying conducting with Robert Shaw at Juilliard, and collaborated with him on arrangements of folksongs, spirituals and hymns that are still performed around the world today. Alice Parker is also a gorgeous thinker and writer, a wise and joyful woman, about why singing is able to touch and join human beings in ways few other arts can.
11:00am New Dimensions with Justine Toms The Public Purpose of Art (repeat) We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift in worldviews. It is as if two tectonic plates are rubbing up against one another. One is called “Datastan” – the paradigm that quantifies, counts, measures, and commoditizes everything. The other is “The Republic of Stories” where diversity, the artist, individual stories, and every contribution matters. Arlene Goldbard is the author of “The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & the Future and The Wave.” Program #3473.
12:00pm TED Radio Hour Just A Little Nicer Compassion is a universal virtue, but is it innate or taught? Have we lost touch with it? Can we be better at it? In this hour, TED speakers explore compassion, its roots, its meaning and its future.
1:00pm Kanikapila Sunday with Derrick Malama
4:00pm Applause in A Small Room Mexico to Argentina
5:00pm Sinatra, the Man and the Music with Guy Steele
6:00pm A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile. We’re back in New York City to wrap up our live broadcasts for the year with another show from The Town Hall, with special guests Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Marina Franklin. Plus: a hot-off-the-presses Song of the Week and a few musician birthday highlights from Chris Thile and the band (singer Aoife O’Donovan, Richard Dworsky on keys, drummer Matt Chamberlain, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, and bassist Tim Lefebvre); a selection or two for the holidays; and scripts and scenes from the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman.
8:00pm American Routes with Nick Spitzer Allen Toussaint: A Saint for All Seasons (repeat) We celebrate the songmaker, piano "professor" and producer from New Orleans who passed away suddenly in November, 2015. A beloved Creole gentleman, Allen Toussaint was a hometown hero and giant on the American music scene. He wrote over 800 songs and produced regional and national hit records such as "Java" (Al Hirt), "Mother-in-Law" (Ernie K-Doe), "I Like it Like That" (Chris Kenner), "It's Raining" (Irma Thomas), "Yes We Can" (Lee Dorsey) among others. Toussaint worked closely with the Meters, Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. He is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and received the National Medal of Arts. Allen Toussaint's famed autobiographical song is "Southern Nights."
10:00pm Full Nelson with Tim Vandeveer
11:00pm Bluegrass Breakdown with Dave Higgs New Releases
12 MONDAY
4:00pm Living On Earth with Steve Curwood. The Army Corps of Engineers has denied an easement to the Dakota Access Pipeline – but the fight may not be over. We’ll hear how the incoming Trump administration could influence the pipeline’s progress. Also, fish farms in China are a key source of protein both domestically and internationally. Consumer pressure has prompted farmers to use both high-tech and traditional techniques for keeping their fish healthy and their practices transparent.
5:00pm The Body Show with Dr. Kathleen Kozak.
6:30pm Humankind with David Freudberg. Daniel Goleman, best-selling author and former N.Y. Times science reporter, describes emerging brain research that shows we are wired to be "in sync with each other," and how empathetic communication can be learned and refined.
7:00pm Intelligence Squared U.S. Has Gerrymandering Destroyed The Political Center? It is alleged that the practice of gerrymandering—dividing election districts into units to favor a particular group—subverts democracy by making congressional districts “safe” for one party or the other. As a result, only those voting in primaries are in effect choosing our representatives. Are primary voters more extreme in their views, and therefore pulling democrats to the left and republicans to the right? Or is the impact of gerrymandering overblown? The debaters are Caroline Fredrickson, David Daley, and Chris Jankowski.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
13 TUESDAY
4:00pm Travel with Rick Steves. You don't just talk to someone in France, you converse. The Montreal-based authors of “The Bonjour Effect” explain that just knowing the grammar and vocabulary isn't enough. They share the unspoken expectations they discovered, that come with living in France. Also, reporter Peter Costantini updates us on Nicaragua, where he recently investigated the problems with a proposed canal to compete with the one in Panama.
5:00pm Selected Shorts Family Ties “The Dog of the Marriage,” by Amy Hempel, performed by Joan Allen “Partners,” by Veronica Geng, performed by Michael Cerveris, Patricia Kalember, and Isaiah Sheffer “Nightingale,” by Tobias Wolff, performed by William Hurt. Guest host: David Sedaris.
6:30pm New Letters on the Air In this compilation program, we'll hear from several Native American poets whose work has been influenced by the history & landscape of the Middle East. Poets Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhran, LeAnne Howe, Kim Schuck, Allison Hedge Coke, and Bojan Louis read work that intertwines the experience of Native Americans in North America to those in Middle Eastern Nations. Their poetry, along with the work of other Native American writers, has been pulled together in a collection co-edited by Diane Glancy & Linda Rodriguez called, THE WORLD IS ONE PLACE: NATIVE AMERICAN POETS VISIT THE MIDDLE EAST.(BkMk Press)
7:00pm SPECIAL: Marketplace Takes Care of Holiday Business 2016 Join Marketplace Weekend host Lizzie O'Leary as she examines where the holidays collide with real life. Lizzie and her guests explore that intersection, tell some stories, and offer ways your listeners can maintain their financial health this holiday season.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
14 WEDNESDAY
4:00pm Tech Nation with Dr. Moira Gunn. In the first installment of our three-part Winter Archive series, Moira speaks with Kevin Kelly, Founding Executive Editor of Wired magazine, and author of “The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 technological forces that will shape our future.” Then, on BioTech Nation, Dr. Paul Dempsey talks about an ongoing clinical study of women with breast cancer. He’s Chief Scientific Officer with Cynvenio Biosystems.
5:00pm Bytemarks Café with Burt Lum and Ryan Ozawa.
6:30pm CounterSpin with Janine Jackson. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Combining lively discussion and a thoughtful media critique, CounterSpin is unlike any other show on the dial. CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news’ narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more.
7:00pm SPECIAL: All Songs Considered for the Holidays Bob’s had it with the holidays. He storms out of the studio and finds himself taking a Dickensian journey, with visits from some old friends including Carrie Brownstein, Dan Auerbach, Aimee Mann, Ben Folds, and more. And um, they will also play the usual unusual holiday songs.
8:00pm Latin Beat with Ray Cruz
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
15 THURSDAY
4:00pm Says You! Taped in front of live audiences at various locations nationwide, 'Says You!' features six panelists divided into two teams of three that bluff, guess, and expound their way through this fast-paced program.
5:00pm Town Square with Beth-Ann Kozlovich.
6:30pm With Good Reason with Sarah McConnell Pulitzer100: Natasha Tretheway on Native Guard Former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Tretheway won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection Native Guard, where she confronts the complex racial legacy of her native South. Tretheway was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, the daughter of a mixed-race marriage, which was illegal in the Mississippi of that era. Her mother was an African American social worker and her father a white man who hitchhiked to America from Nova Scotia and became a poet and professor. In this interview Tretheway, who in 2012 was named Poet Laureate of Mississippi, reads her poetry from Native Guard and speaks movingly about the black men who served during the Civil War and her own experience of growing up bi-racial in the south.
7:00pm Freakonomics Radio with Stephen J. Dubner. (Repeat of last week's program; the new program was not available from the producer)
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
16 FRIDAY
4:00pm Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen.
5:00pm On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. As Russia's role in the US election comes in to focus, reported disagreement between the CIA and the FBI threatens to take center stage. We consider the long and tumultuous rivalry between the two agencies. Plus, how the US propaganda agency “Voice of America” might function under President Trump
6:30pm Left, Right & Center Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This week, Josh Barro, Senior Editor at Business Insider, moderates from the Center. On the Left is Jill Filipovic, a journalist based in NYC and Nairobi, and author of “The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness.” Rich Lowry of National Review is on the Right, and David Frum of The Atlantic is our special guest.
7:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick. David assesses the successes and failures of Obama presidency with political heavyweights from The New Yorker. Jeanette Winterson remembers Christmas as a singular bright spot in her Dickensian childhood, and poet Ocean Vuong shares one of his favorite places to write: a busy Asian food court in Flushing, Queens.
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow
10:00pm B-Sides and Beyond with Jon Alan
17 SATURDAY
12:00am Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
9:00am The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We meet Linnea Burnham, a woman who travels for cheese and records her adventures in her blog Journeys of a Cheese Girl. Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly introduces us to the wines of Verona Italy, perfect for holiday sipping and traditional rye bread is on the rise worldwide. We go deep into the topic with Stanley Ginsberg author of “The Rye Baker.” Listeners can call The Splendid Table at 800-537-5252 - anytime! We do call-backs.
10:00am Radiolab Weights and Measures How do we measure the world around us? Today we size things up: from universal standards for measuring mass, to the social cues that help us understand other people’s behavior. But what if our rules of measurement are arbitrary? And what happens when the thing you’re trying to measure might not be there at all?
11:00am Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Callers, panelists, and guests compete by answering questions about the week's events, identifying impersonations, filling in the blanks at lightning speed, sniffing out fake news items, and deciphering limericks. Bill Kurtis is official judge and scorekeeper.
12:00pm All Things Considered NPR's newsmagazine presenting breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.
1:00pm This American Life Kid Logic Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.
2:00pm The MOTH Radio Hour Unexpected Gifts of December A special Holiday Hour: holiday customs, brand new traditions, flying cows, fruit, luminaries and a magical forest. Hosted by The Moth’s Executive Producer, Sarah Austin Jenness.
3:00pm The Dinner Party Download Filmmaker Barry Jenkins finds magic in "Moonlight"...Actor Gael Garcia Bernal waxes poetic about art and "Neruda"... UK wit Caitlin Moran proposes steam baths for politicians and onesies FOR ALL...Folk phenom Lucy Dacus spins us a soundtrack built for living rooms and river beds. Plus: jedi poetry, tiny Jane Austens, and “Surfy Christmas.”
4:00pm Brazilian Experience with Sandy Tsukiyama
6:00pm Bridging the Gap with Nicholas Yee
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow
10:00pm Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
18 SUNDAY
12:00am Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
2:00am BBC World Service
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
10:00am Krista Tippett On Being Two legendary Buddhist teachers shine a light on the lofty ideal of loving your enemies and bring it down to Earth. How can that be realistic, and what do we have to do inside ourselves to make it more possible? In a conversation filled with laughter and friendship, Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman share much practical wisdom on how we relate to that which makes us feel embattled from without, and from within.
11:00am New Dimensions with Justine Toms Helping Teenagers to Find Their Inner Guide When messages abound that tell a young person they are not enough, they tend to concentrate their energies on being prettier, smarter, or more popular. Kelly and Tom Shelstad offer wilderness programs that have proven to be of help to teenagers as they traverse the treacherous waters from childhood to adulthood in a way that supports self-esteem and self-knowledge. Program #3592.
12:00pm TED Radio Hour Reconciliation In a world that seems more divided than ever, how do we begin to find middle ground? This episode, TED speakers on how to look past anger, fear, and even violence to reconcile our differences.
1:00pm Kanikapila Sunday with Derrick Malama
4:00pm Applause in A Small Room Troubador
5:00pm Sinatra, the Man and the Music with Guy Steele
6:00pm A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile. We look back to the winter of 2015 with a compilation of two broadcasts guest hosted by Chris at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota that February. We'll have music from Jerry Douglas and The Earls of Leicester, Rhiannon Giddens, Sarah Jarosz, and Chris and his fellow Punch Brothers. Plus: a few scripts and scenes from the Royal Academy of Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman; more music from our music director and pianist Richard Dworsky; and a tale of credit card fraud, pizza, and revenge from Minneapolis storyteller Tristan Jimerson.
8:00pm American Routes with Nick Spitzer Rock and Soul from Memphis to Muscle Shoals: Candi Staton, Sam Phillips and Barbara Sims (repeat) We talk to Barbara Sims about her time working at Sun Studios as a publicist and promoter, and the search for the next Elvis. Then we dig into the archives for classic interviews with Sun’s founder Sam Phillips, Elvis’ sidemen DJ Fontana and Scotty Moore and the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis. Then we head over to North Alabama for a conversation on love, God and music with soul and disco siren Candi Staton.
10:00pm Full Nelson with Tim Vandeveer
11:00pm Bluegrass Breakdown with Dave Higgs Bluegrass Counties Update
19 MONDAY
10:00am SPECIAL: Homemade Holidays It’s a team approach to holiday eating and entertaining this year when The Splendid Table joins forces with America’s Test Kitchen to simplify entertaining and the holiday kitchen. Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop and other America’s Test Kitchen personalities take it all on, whether you are cooking for two or twenty. Join us for foolproof ideas and recipes, gift guides for the eaters and cooks on your list and the perfect snack for Santa.
2:00pm SPECIAL: The Dinner Party Download Holiday Special Hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam offer this special stuffed with holiday goodness. Zooey Deschanel and M Ward of the band She & Him suggest some holiday music deep cuts, for the sun and the snow… Alton Brown waxes poetic about eggnog, before serving up etiquette advice… “Parks and Rec” alum Nick Offerman breaks down his Oscar-worthy YuleLog video (that’s just him sipping whiskey for 45 minutes)… Vanity Fair film critic Richard Lawson stuffs our stocking with unconventional holiday movies… And listeners chime in with tales of the WORST gifts ever. Plus: merry musings from Brendan and Rico, a generous helping of holiday history, and more!
4:00pm Living On Earth with Steve Curwood. In a boost for the fossil fuel industries, President-Elect Trump’s cabinet choices tilt toward climate denial, and away from environmental regulation. Also, soaring over chilly northern forests with one of the fastest and fiercest birds on the wing.
5:00pm The Body Show with Dr. Kathleen Kozak.
6:30pm Humankind with David Freudberg. The heir to the Oscar Mayer fortune, Chuck Collins, examines income inequality, sustainable local economies and his personal journey in a provocative new book, “Born on Third Base.”
7:00pm SPECIAL: Chanukah in Story and Song A celebration by The Western Wind performing Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe and modern Israeli tunes. This year, Chanukah starts at sundown on Saturday, December 24, and ends in the evening of Sunday, January 1.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm SPECIAL: An Afro Blue Christmas A special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue, and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. The a-cappela group performs a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions... music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
11:00pm SPECIAL: Jazz Piano Christmas Join the Kennedy Center and NPR Music for a special family affair at this year's holiday concert that features Chicagoans Willie Pickens and daughter Bethany Pickens, plus husband and wife Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
20 TUESDAY
10:00am SPECIAL: Marketplace Tech’s Codebreaker Solstice As the year turns over, host Ben Brock Johnson and a list of high profile guests look at how technology plays an ever deeper role in our lives, tackling our mixed feelings about tech with a sense of humor, a sense of awe, and a sense of holiday cheer. We’ll hear of virtual reality’s promise, and the quirky outcomes of using consumer technology to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges. In true Codebreaker fashion, you might even get the chance to crack our special holiday tech-powered puzzle!
4:00pm Travel with Rick Steves. Who makes the best chocolate in Europe? Food and culture expert Fred Plotkin explains what distinguishes the kinds of chocolate you'll find in different countries. Then, Jane and Michael Stern get us in the mood to enjoy wintertime American comfort food by eating out for the holidays. Also, listeners tell us what made Christmas vacation really special by spending in Europe, and we'll hear how they get into the Christmas spirit in Prague.
5:00pm Selected Shorts In an Instant “Small Fates,” by Teju Cole, performed by Blythe Danner and Jeffrey Wright “In the South,” by Salman Rushdie, performed by Michael Stuhlbarg. Guest host: Jane Kaczmarek.
6:30pm New Letters on the Air Since 1977, New Letters has been entertaining and informing audiences about contemporary writers and literature, focusing on a writer of poetry, fiction or essays, either in an intimate interview or in a public reading before an audience.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm SPECIAL: Echoes Winter Solstice Inspired by the first Windham Hill Winter Solstice albums and Paul Winter’s Winter Solstice Celebration, we play music inspired by the season in all its quiet majesty and interior warmth. With mostly original music, we’ll hear sounds that evoke the longest night of the year from artists like George Winston, Agnes Obel, Kate Bush and many more. We weave these sounds into seamless sets of music perfect for contemplating this celestial and seasonal event. It’s the calm before the Christmas storm.
21 WEDNESDAY
6:00am SPECIAL: The Christmas Revels A musical celebration of the winter holidays – Christmas, the Solstice, Hanukkah, St. Lucia's Day, The Feast of Fools, New Year's and Epiphany/Twelfth Night – featuring traditional carols, anthems, hymns, motets, wassails, children's game-songs, and folk dance tunes excerpted from live Christmas Revels productions presented around the country.
4:00pm Tech Nation with Dr. Moira Gunn. In the second installment of our three-part Winter Archive series, Moira speaks with SC Moatti, who uses her background with Facebook, Trulia and Nokia, to bring us “Mobilized …. An Insider’s Guide to the Business and Future of Connected Technology.” Then, on BioTech Nation, how much should we know about the clinical trials behind the drugs approved by the FDA? Jennifer Miller is the Founder and President of Bioethics, International and a professor at NYU Medical School.
5:00pm Bytemarks Café with Burt Lum and Ryan Ozawa.
6:30pm CounterSpin with Janine Jackson. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Combining lively discussion and a thoughtful media critique, CounterSpin is unlike any other show on the dial. CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news’ narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more.
7:00pm SPECIAL: Hannakuh Lights 2016 A perennial NPR favorite with all new Hanukkah stories. Authors include R.L. Maizes, Lia Pripstein, Elisa Albert, and Ellen Orleans. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
8:00pm Latin Beat with Ray Cruz
10:00pm SPECIAL: Paul Winter Solstice Celebrate the return of the sun and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's 2014 encore Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. The performance brings traditional holiday favorites and new sounds from around the world with special guests Ivan Lins and Renato Braz. Hosted by John Schaefer.
22 THURSDAY
6:00am SPECIAL: A Christmas Celtic Sojourn 2016 Brian O’Donovan’s A Celtic Sojourn has thrilled radio audiences for 28 years. For the last 14, the Christmas-time live version of the show has drawn on Celtic, Pagan, and Christian traditions to celebrate the music of this season. First launched in 2003, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn reflects the compelling and diverse offerings of the weekly national radio program.
7:00am SPECIAL: In Italia: A Renaissance Christmas In the sixteenth-century, the splendor of the Renaissance blossomed across Italy as a new Holy Roman Empire stretched its wings from the Urals to the Atlantic. This special presents wonderful sixteenth-century Christmas music from the Venetian world of Giovanni Bassano and Gioseffo Zarlino, moving westward to the Milan of Franchinus Gaffurius, and southerly to the Naples of Diego Ortiz. Music of the Nordic Venetian Michael Praetorius provides a glorious grand finale. Directed by Dr. Dana Marsh and Wendy Gillespie of the Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, with some of America’s most outstanding young voices and players, specializing in early music.
10:00am SPECIAL: Tinsel Tales 3 Extraordinary Christmas stories that transport you to unexpected places. Baxter Black ponders the meaning of Christmas for Cows, Bailey White sneaks into her neighbor’s yard in search of an elusive hemlock tree; Julie Zickefoose serenades her neighbors on the coldest night of the year.
4:00pm Says You! Taped in front of live audiences at various locations nationwide, 'Says You!' features six panelists divided into two teams of three that bluff, guess, and expound their way through this fast-paced program.
5:00pm Town Square with Beth-Ann Kozlovich.
6:30pm With Good Reason with Sarah McConnell The Lost Vault of Klezmer A new CD anthology: Chekhov’s Band: Eastern European Klezmer 1908-1913 reveals what traditional Jewish Klezmer music sounded like before the Russian revolution. Joel Rubin (University of Virginia) is a master Klezmer musician. He speaks about this treasure trove of music and plays from his work with the band Veretski Pass on their new CD Poyln. Also: There was a time when opera was as beloved in American society as sitcoms and movies are today — but it all came crashing to a halt in 1873. Katherine Preston (College of William & Mary) walks us through the forgotten history of the American people’s love affair with opera and how it turned into theater for the elite.
7:00pm Freakonomics Radio with Stephen J. Dubner. The Economics of Sleep, Part 1 (Rebroadcast) We sleep away a third of our lives, but are just now beginning to research what effect our sleeping habits have on our finances. Stephen speaks to sleep experts who are divided on whether it’s poor people or the rich who get more Z’s. Plus, why where you live within a time zone affects your sleep.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm SPECIAL: Echoes Christmas We create a soundscape of carols that departs from the shopping mall repetition to carry you through the Christmas weekend with a smile of serenity on your face. We'll bring you music from Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Kate Bush, George Winston, Loreena McKennitt and more in this chilled soundscape for the season.The chestnuts you hear will be fresh and the sounds serene with Al Di Meola's "Winter Nights," Enya's "And Winter Came", and R. Carlos Nakai's "Winter Dreams." It's music that's cool and chilled for a perfect Christmas.
23 FRIDAY
2:00pm SPECIAL: Jonathan Winters’ A Christmas CarolA public radio tradition hosted by NPR's Susan Stamberg. 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.
4:00pm Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen. Kurt creates a crossword with a New York Times puzzle-maker, a neuroscientist explains why so many people share the same false memory, and a theater company brings August Wilson back to his boyhood home.
5:00pm On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. President Obama’s clock is running down, and we consider what the president could do in his final weeks about issues ranging from surveillance to climate change to Guantanamo bay prison. Plus, an interview with the white house deputy press secretary about what the Obama administration will actually do before January 20th.
6:30pm Left, Right & Center Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This weekly "love-hate relationship of the air" features the most insightful news analysts anywhere.
7:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick. The Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) talks to David about her first solo museum exhibition, “Astro Noise,” which channels her investigations of government surveillance into immersive installation art. A group of jazz musicians recall how David Bowie found them in a hole-in-the-wall club and enlisted them to create “Blackstar.” And the poet Brenda Shaughnessy reads Hilton Als' poem about living in a loft full of lesbians, back when New Yorkers could still afford to smoke.
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow. Trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker is featured.
10:00pm B-Sides and Beyond with Jon Alan
24 SATURDAY
12:00am Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
9:00am The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Britain’s Nigella Lawson joins us with her deeply personal new book “Simply Nigella,” the Sterns have found first rate chocolate at L.A. Burdick in Walpole, NH and famed Spanish chef Ferran Adrià joins us with a conversation recorded at the Notes on Creativity exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Listeners can call The Splendid Table at 800-537-5252 - anytime! We do call-backs.
10:00am Radiolab Worth (rebroadcast) How do we assign a monetary value to something that can’t be sold? This hour, we explore worth. Talking to cancer patients paying for medicine needed to stay alive, and military officials compensating for the death of innocent civilians, we examine the value of a human life. And along the way, we look at dollar values of nature and try to price the priceless.
11:00am Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Callers, panelists, and guests compete by answering questions about the week's events, identifying impersonations, filling in the blanks at lightning speed, sniffing out fake news items, and deciphering limericks. Bill Kurtis is official judge and scorekeeper.
12:00pm All Things Considered NPR's newsmagazine presenting breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.
1:00pm This American Life Just What I Wanted Stories from people who want something desperately—for Christmas or otherwise—and then have their wishes fulfilled. Or do they?
2:00pm The MOTH Radio Hour Auctions and Boxers George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walkthrough of legendary NYC eatery Elaine's; rookie reporter Lewis Lapham learns a lot about the world when he has to break some bad news to a new widow; World Boxing Light Heavyweight Champion Jose Torres defines and then conquers fear; Christopher Hitchens is deified in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Hosted by George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth.
3:00pm The Dinner Party Download We revisit a special live(ly) edition of the DPD, recorded in front of a sold-out L.A. crowd! Actor Jason Schwartzman revisits his "Rushmore" audition...Comedian Jenny Slate talks Marcel the Shell and Michael Dukakis the Hottie... Father John Misty plays a few party-stopping songs...And TV writer-producer Lena Waithe (currently starring in "Master of None") tells the tale of becoming her girlfriend's first girlfriend. Also on the menu: questionable etiquette advice, a crash course in "hispandering,” and a joke that’s so corny, it’s golden.
4:00pm Brazilian Experience with Sandy Tsukiyama
6:00pm Bridging the Gap with Nicholas Yee
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow. The Yule Deal.
10:00pm Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
25 SUNDAY
12:00am Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan
2:00am BBC World Service
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
10:00am Krista Tippett On Being "Prayers are tools not for doing or getting, but for being and becoming." So says Eugene Peterson, the legendary pastor and theological writer whose faithful and literary biblical imagination has formed generations of pastors, teachers and lay seekers. His creative translation of the entire Bible, The Message, has sold millions of copies.21st-century lives and endeavors. We pursue wisdom and moral imagination as much as knowledge; we esteem nuance and poetry as much as fact.
11:00am New Dimensions with Justine Toms The Redemptive Power of A Near-Death Experience Until his NDE, material success was of utmost importance to Dr. Rajiv Parti. He routinely disregarded stories his patients told him about their spiritual experiences during surgery until he, himself, experienced his own spiritual awakening in an NDE. Hear his profound tale of traveling to the Hell realm, meeting his spirit guides, finding forgiveness, and melding with the light. Dr. Parti is the author of “Dying to Wake Up: A Doctor’s Voyage into the Afterlife and the Wisdom He Brought Back.” Program #3596.
12:00pm TED Radio Hour Believers and Doubters Why do some of us believe, and some of us don’t? Can our doubts bring our beliefs into sharper focus? Do we all need to believe in something, and to seek meaning by creating rituals, myths and symbols? And what is the difference between belief and faith? In this hour, TED speakers offer personal perspectives on belief from all ends of the spectrum, from ardent atheists to the devout faithful.
1:00pm Kanikapila Sunday with Derrick Malama
4:00pm Applause in A Small Room Celtic Waves-Winter Solstice
5:00pm Sinatra, the Man and the Music with Guy Steele
6:00pm A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile. A quick-turnaround rebroadcast featuring our holiday-flavored show from The Town Hall in New York City back on December 10. We get in the spirit of the season with Chris Thile’s Song of the Week, “Douglas Fir”; Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers play “Office Supplies” and “Pretty Little One”; Chris joins Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer for a little Bach, including the third movement from the Sonata No. 3 For Viola Da Gamba And Harpsichord; and Marina Franklin shares a few stories about single life in NYC. Plus: Aoife O’Donovan stops by to sing duets and her own “Glowing Heart”; our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman, celebrate memories of classic Christmas records and take on the quintessential annual Christmas letter; and a selection of tunes for the season with help from Richard Dworsky and the band, including “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “All Through the Night.”
8:00pm American Routes with Nick Spitzer A Sonic Season of Light & Evergreens For Solstice to Christmas and Chanukah to Kwanzaa we’ll spin tunes and tales of holidays and holy days that bring light to the darkness and greenery to the blues.
10:00pm Full Nelson with Tim Vandeveer
11:00pm Bluegrass Breakdown with Dave Higgs Bluegrass Christmas Things
26 MONDAY
4:00pm Living On Earth with Steve Curwood. “Hope For the Holidays” is the theme of this special celebration that shares the power of stories, optimism and music to bring joy and comfort in the shortest days of the year. Join us for tales and tunes from the Celtic tradition, and the true story of how one man discovers that his family tree includes people of many faiths and how he embraces that discovery.
5:00pm SPECIAL: Marketplace Takes Care of Holiday Business 2016 Join Marketplace Weekend host Lizzie O'Leary as she examines where the holidays collide with real life. Lizzie and her guests explore that intersection, tell some stories, and offer ways your listeners can maintain their financial health this holiday season.
6:30pm Humankind with David Freudberg. For Christmas week, we reprise the touching story of Mattie Stepanek, recorded at age 12 when he was already a N.Y. Times best-selling author, wise beyond his years and vibrantly positive in the face of a disabling illness.
7:00pm BBC World Service
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm SPECIAL: Echoes Sonic SeasoningsWe bring a quieter Holiday spirit to your radio with intimate, live performances of seasonal music. This year features the English duo, Smoke Fairies. Last year they released an all original “seasonal” album called Wild Winter. With intricate guitar melodies and beautiful vocal harmonies, Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies sing about the beauty and conflicts of Christmas.
27 TUESDAY
4:00pm Travel with Rick Steves. In some European countries, instead of Santa Claus or Saint Nick, it's the Baby Jesus who brings the presents to the good boys and girls, but not necessarily on December 25th. Friends from Madrid, Rome, London and Lisbon tell us how they celebrate the Christmas holidays. We'll also hear what people do in small town Holland and Austria, Northern Ireland and Bulgaria, to make it extra-festive this time of year.
5:00pm Selected Shorts Since 1985, Symphony Space in New York City has served as the stage for exciting pairings of authors and actors. Selected Shorts producers match Oscar and Tony Award-winning actors with short stories by acclaimed contemporary and classic authors. The results are magically entertaining events turned into captivating radio programs produced by WNYC, New York Public Radio.
6:30pm New Letters on the Air Since 1977, New Letters has been entertaining and informing audiences about contemporary writers and literature, focusing on a writer of poetry, fiction or essays, either in an intimate interview or in a public reading before an audience.
7:00pm BBC World Service
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm SPECIAL: Joy to the World: A Holiday in Pink The internationally acclaimed “little orchestra" Pink Martini bedecks the airwaves with festive holiday songs from across the globe. From timeless classics to rarely heard gems, hear a multi-denominational, multi-cultural jubilee, overflowing with enough holiday spirit to warm your entire family. Hosted by All Things Considered’s Ari Shapiro.
11:00pm SPECIAL: Song Travels: Home for the Holidays Join Michael Feinstein for an hour of yuletide cheer and music. This edition of Song Travels journeys from Hollywood’s vintage silver screen to New York City’s iconic Birdland club. The Michael Feinstein Big Band performs selections from the classic movie White Christmas, and Feinstein shares rare recordings from some of his favorite performers.
28 WEDNESDAY
4:00pm Tech Nation with Dr. Moira Gunn. In the final installment of our three-part Winter Archive series, Moira speaks with journalist Brian Christian and UC Berkeley professor Tom Griffiths about how human behavior and technology can inform each other. The are co-authors of “Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions.” Then on Biotech Nation, it’s all about Youth Rally, an annual camp for kids and teens with conditions of the bowel and bladder.
5:00pm Bytemarks Café with Burt Lum and Ryan Ozawa.
6:30pm CounterSpin with Janine Jackson. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Combining lively discussion and a thoughtful media critique, CounterSpin is unlike any other show on the dial. CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news’ narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more.
7:00pm SPECIAL: A Season's Griot A Kwanzaa celebration. The show’s poet laureate, Beverly Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return, and familiar and favorite elements of Griot will also be in place with plenty of music.
8:00pm Latin Beat with Ray Cruz
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
29 THURSDAY
4:00pm Says You! Taped in front of live audiences at various locations nationwide, 'Says You!' features six panelists divided into two teams of three that bluff, guess, and expound their way through this fast-paced program.
5:00pm Town Square with Beth-Ann Kozlovich.
6:30pm With Good Reason with Sarah McConnell Here We Come A Caroling! A music video by the all-female a cappela group Note-Reity (James Madison University) went viral and amplified their efforts to challenge the social pressures that were crippling their classmates. Also: Singer and accordionist Flory Jagoda is known as “the keeper of the flame” of the once rich Sephardic Jewish song tradition. Flory sings songs she learned from her Nona -- or, grandmother -- as a child in pre-WWII Sarajevo. Her accordion also helped her escape the holocaust as a young girl. And: John Brodie (Virginia Military Institute) has been working tirelessly with the VMI Regimental Band and Pipes Band. The band recently performed in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
7:00pm Freakonomics Radio with Stephen J. Dubner. The Economics of Sleep, Part 2 (Rebroadcast) Why getting more sleep can increase your salary — and tips from the experts on how to improve your sleep. Plus, Stephen interviews a competitive eating champion about how he changed the sport by thinking differently about eating.
8:00pm Evening Jazz with Charles Husson
10:00pm Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
30 FRIDAY
4:00pm Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen. From "Semi-Living Dolls" to glowing florescent illustrations, artists are using the tools of synthetic biology to grow their own materials and create works of art that are, essentially, alive. It’s one thing to wag our fingers at big scientific institutions for "playing God," but isn't it uncool to tell artists they shouldn't do something, even if it creeps us out?
5:00pm On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. This year marks four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare, and the Bard is as popular as ever... and just as mysterious. We look at all things Shakespeare: why he endures, what he represents, and especially, who he is.
6:30pm Left, Right & Center Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality. This weekly "love-hate relationship of the air" features the most insightful news analysts anywhere.
7:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick.
8:00pm The Real Deal with Seth Markow
10:00pm B-Sides and Beyond with Jon Alan
31 SATURDAY
12:00am Jazz After Hours with Jeff Hanley
5:00am Weekend Edition NPR's weekend morning newsmagazine covering hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.
9:00am The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We’re looking at willpower with John Tierney, co-author of “Willpower, Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.” Jane and Michael Stern are breakfasting at Green Salmon in Yachats, OR, and we learn what it takes to be a cheesemonger with Steve Jones, proprietor of The Cheese Bar in Portland, OR. Listeners can call The Splendid Table at 800-537-5252 - anytime! We do call-backs.
10:00am Radiolab Apocalyptical (rebroadcast) We all know what happened to the dinosaurs, right? Well, at least we thought we did. In this episode, Radiolab turns the clock back 66 million years to tell a story of cataclysmic destruction and surprising survival. Along the way, we get to meet our great, great, great, great, great (etc!) grandmother and a few other surprise guests.
11:00am Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Callers, panelists, and guests compete by answering questions about the week's events, identifying impersonations, filling in the blanks at lightning speed, sniffing out fake news items, and deciphering limericks. Bill Kurtis is official judge and scorekeeper. This week we enjoy some fun moments from 2016.
12:00pm All Things Considered NPR's newsmagazine presenting breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.
1:00pm This American Life Transformers We have stories of people deciding to take on some very big fears. A prisoner who hasn't talked to anyone in years comes up with a bold plan to re-introduce himself to the world, while a 90-year-old woman shocks her family when she announces a love interest.
2:00pm The MOTH Radio Hour Jury Duty, Walking Tests, Pepsi and NOLA In this hour, a member of a punk band gets summoned to jury duty; a man with MS hopes to qualify for a medical trial; a worker’s small rebellion at the reception desk; and a father attempts to make his son into a “man’s man.” Hosted by The Moth’s Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.
3:00pm The Dinner Party Download We look back at 2016 and give you our best moments of the year! Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro explains his love for insects and imperfections…Saoirse Ronan tells us a question she’s tired of being asked…Actress Mya Taylor (star of “Tangerine”) tells us about her love for North Dakota, and buffaloes…Jamila Woods gives us a dinner party soundtrack…And Phoebe Waller Bridge, creator of Amazon’s “Fleabag,” tells us when she bombed on the West End stage…Also on the menu: etiquette advice from Norm Macdonald, Cameron Diaz, Maria Bamford, Nick Offerman, Jessica Williams and Dick Cavett.
4:00pm SPECIAL: Toast of the Nation An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, it's festive jazz you can party to, all night long. Spirited, improvised, and swinging, each segment stops in a Blue Note venue throughout the country and the world! We’ll hear sets from Buika, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Joshua Redman and Brad Meldau, pianist Fred Hersch, Ron Carter, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
10:00pm Blues From the Basement with Jon Alan