WABE Holiday Specials 2019

A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features all new Hanukkah stories. written by Lynne Bronstein, R.L. Maizes, Susan J. Gordon, Jennifer Lang, and Kate Schmier. Read by hosts Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.

Monday, December 23 – 11 a.m.
Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories Told Through Song

For many of us, Christmas is about family and traditions, and it’s quite likely to include music. This episode of Tinsel Tales includes stories of the season told through music with interviews from the NPR Archives. Kenny Rogers, Katie Melua, Sting, Amy Grant and Jon Batiste talk about the power of music at Christmas. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

Monday, December 23 – 8 p.m.
Tinsel Tales 2: NPR Christmas Stories

NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. This special hour is a collection of some of the best and most requested holiday stories, including “Santa Claus: Private Eye,” and “The Night Before Christmas, Latin Style.” Joy, hope and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

Monday, December 23 – 10 p.m.
Paul Winter’s Annual Winter Solstice Celebration

Celebrate the Return of the Sun – and the warming of the heart – with Paul Winter’s Annual Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head 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 Fabiana Cozza, Gary Booker, Theresa Thomason, Paul McCandless, Eugene Friesen and the percussion troupe Forces of Nature.

Tuesday, December 24 – 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Host Michael Barone presents this live service of spoken-word and music from the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King’s College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.

Tuesday, December 24 – 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Christmas with the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs

One of the great holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges — two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation — get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. This year’s program features the best works of the last several years. It’s a joyous celebration of the schools’ tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols. Hosted by Korva Coleman.

Tuesday, December 24 – 11 p.m.
Christmas with H. Johnson: A Jazz and Blues Celebration

Legendary WABE music host H. Johnson helps Santa boogie down the chimney with three hours of jazz and blues on Christmas Eve. This special program includes Christmas-themed songs from Donny Hathaway, James Brown, Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and more.

Wednesday, December 25 – 11 a.m.
Tinsel Tales 3: NPR Christmas Stories

Listeners tune to NPR for 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

Wednesday, December 25 – 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The Big Tiny Desk Concert Holiday Special

Celebrate the season with amazing holiday performances from The Tiny Desk Concert series including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Steve Martin, Hanson, The Polyphonic Spree and more! Hosted by NPR Music frenemies Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.

Wednesday, December 25 – 8 p.m.
Tinsel Tales 1: NPR Christmas Stories

The radio tradition continues, with stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

Thursday, December 26 – 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.
A Season’s Griot

A Season’s Griot is public radio’s only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for 25 years by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. The show’s poet laureate, Beverly Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.

Thursday, December 26 – 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The Keepers: Archiving the Underground

Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand hosts this special hour about activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors and historians. These guardians of history, large and small, protect the free flow of information and ideas. The program is produced by The Kitchen Sisters and PRX and features the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard, The Pack Horse Librarians of Eastern Kentucky, The Lenny Bruce Archive and more surprising stories of preservation and civic life.

Friday, December 27 – 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
All Songs Considered for the Holidays

This year, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton decide to get away from it all with a holiday cruise to Bermuda. Along the way they meet a few special guests aboard the ship, including John Legend, Aloe Blacc, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, William Shatner, Lucius, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and Rodney Crowell, who all try to share their own good cheer for the holidays.

Monday, December 30 at 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Listening to the Arctic

When you hear statistics that tell you the oceans are warming or the glaciers are melting, you might wonder where those numbers come from. This is where: From scientists measuring precisely what’s happening in the Arctic and what it could mean for all of us. In this program from the National Science Foundation, we go to the top of the world to meet scientists who are trekking over glaciers and diving into Arctic oceans, and engineers building brand new tools to figure out what’s going on up there, how it might change, what its impacts and solutions might be – for the Arctic and the rest of the globe.

Tuesday, December 31 at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Hamilton: A Story of US

In New York City, thousands of students from underserved neighborhoods went to Broadway to see the smash hit “Hamilton” as part of an innovative American history curriculum. Captivated by the production’s hip-hop music and engagement with both historic and contemporary issues, students have been able to garner extensive knowledge of the Founding Era in American history. “Hamilton: A Story of US” follows students at three New York City high schools as they explore the stories and personalities of America’s Revolution in their own words and stage their own musical performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, the same stage “Hamilton” performs on. Hear the voices of students, “Hamilton”cast members, biographer Ron Chernow, and Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda — who says that “Hamilton” is “a story about America then, told by America now.”

Tuesday, December 31 – 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
New Year’s Eve Special with H. Johnson

Legendary WABE music host H. Johnson pulls out some of his favorite holiday recordings from past years to bring you an hour of jazz and blues music. It’s a great way to bring 2019 to a close.

Tuesday, December 31 – 11 p.m.
H. Johnson’s New Year’s Eve Spectacular Jazz and Blues Celebration

Legendary WABE music host H. Johnson helps you swing into 2020 in style. His “New Year’s Spectacular” includes songs from Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Anita O’Day, Clark Terry and many other jazz and blues musicians.

Wednesday, January 1 at 11 a.m.
New Year’s Day from Vienna

The Vienna Philharmonic with conductor Christian Thielemann presents its annual New Year’s Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. You’ll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more — a festive way to start off the New Year. It’s presented by NPR Music and hosted by WBUR’s Lisa Mullins.

Wednesday, January 1 at 8 p.m.
Best of the Best: The 2019 Third Coast Festival Broadcast

Best of the Best is an annual ode to audio storytelling, taking listeners on a journey through the full breadth of what’s possible in stories made from sound. This hour of the program showcases two of the winning stories from the 19th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. Host Gwen Macsai introduces the winners of the Best New Artist Award and the Best Documentary Award, plus a behind-the-scenes interview with producer Sayre Quevedo.