Happy December! 'Tis the season for hot chocolate, Snuggies and holiday celebrations for many different religions and cultures.
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa — or are just looking forward to New Years Eve and 2019 — WFPL has holiday programming for you. Here's what's on tap:
Sunday, December 2
8-9 p.m.: Hanukkah Lights 2018
A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features all new Hanukkah stories, written by R.L. Maizes, Lia Pripstein, Elisa Albert, and Ellen Orleans. Read by hosts Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Tuesday, December 25
10 a.m. and 10 p.m.: Jonathan Winters’ A Christmas Carol
An updated version of a 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. From NPR and KCRW.
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
This program features stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. These four, one-hour collections of stories feature NPR voices past and present telling stories of the season, including David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk, Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh and Nina Totenberg. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
3 p.m.: Happy(ish) Holidays From Terrible, Thanks for Asking
Some people celebrate the holidays with cheer and eggnog and magic. Some people don’t celebrate the holidays at all. And a lot of people endure the holidays with a grin on their face and a pain in their heart. Because the holidays are tough, and in this special host Nora McInerny (from the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking) is going to talk about it. With special guests and stories from listeners, it is an honest look at why some people aren’t so jolly during this difficult time of year.
Saturday, December 29
9 p.m.: A Season’s Griot
A Season's Griot is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for 23 years by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African-American and African peoples.
Monday, December 31
8 p.m.: Marketplace: Divided Decade
2018 marks the 10-year anniversary of the financial crisis, and Marketplace has spent the year exploring how it changed America. “Divided Decade” draws a line from 2008 to the tumultuous political, cultural and economic climate America is experiencing today.
Hosted by Kai Ryssdal, the “Divided Decade” special features a round-up and analysis of some of Marketplace’s best coverage on the crisis’ impact on housing, jobs, inequality and finance. It includes the historic interview with the three men tasked with saving the economy from total devastation –Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson – and an exclusive interview with the two men whose names will forever be synonymous with the reforms meant to shore it up – former congressmen Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.
“Divided Decade” also features an analysis of our listener engagement series “How We Changed,” highlighting some of the most prominent, interesting and surprising ways Americans feel the crisis changed them.
9 p.m.: Toast of the Nation 2018/2019
An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is the perfect audio complement for the occasion. It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long. Spirited, improvised, and swinging, each segment stops in a special venue, throughout the country.
Tuesday, January 1
8 p.m.: Marketplace: Divided Decade (rebroadcast)