Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Programming Schedule

MONDAY, DECEMBER 24 Christmas Eve

9-10 am:  Stephen Henderson’s Christmas Picks  

10 am-12 pm:  On Point

12-1 pm: Culture Shift 

1-2 pm: Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular: Rock ‘n’ Pop Christmas. In this hour, holiday music collector and expert Andy Cirzan scours record stores, dustbins and basements to find the best and most unique tunes for the season. And each year he treats Sound Opinions listeners to a much-anticipated hour of music and a free mix to download. 

2-3 pm: This American Life

3-4 pm: Fresh Air

4-6 pm: All Things Considered 

6-7 pm: Marketplace/Daily

7-8 pm: Stephen Henderson’s Christmas Picks 

8-9 pm: Soul Christmas. An hour-long special featuring some of the greatest Soul and R&B holiday winter classics ever recorded. 

9-10 pm: Afterglow Soul. In this hour, a holiday special for all classic soul fans! Some old-school soul versions of Christmas tunes, by Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Darlene Love, and more.

10-11 pm: A Vintage Rhythm and Blues Christmas. Juke in the Back with Matt the Cat presents an hour of the greatest R&B Christmas records from the late 1940s and 1950s. It’s the yuletide soul that came before rock n’ roll. From the all-time classics by Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters and The Orioles to some rarer Christmas plattahs from Amos Milburn, JB Summers and The Five Keys.

11 pm-12 am: A Sound Opinions Hillbilly Christmas. In this hour, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are joined by avid music collector Andy Cirzan for the annual Holiday Spectacular featuring seasonal country, bluegrass, and hillbilly tunes you won’t hear anywhere else.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 25 Christmas Day

 12-1 am:  Sound Opinions Holiday Special featuring Warblings from the Enchanted Forest. In this hour, rare pop, psychedelic, and soul Christmas recordings.

1-2 am: Sound Opinions’ Holiday Pop Parade. In this hour, fun and joyous selections from the 1960’s and 1970’s, including tracks by Miles Davis, Claudine Longet and The Free Design.

2-3 am: NPR’s Holiday Tinsel Tales. In this hour, 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.

3-4 am: NPR’s Holiday Tinsel Tales. In this hour, 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.

4-5 am: NPR presents 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.

5-9 am: Morning Edition

9-11 am: A Holiday Special with Rob Reinhart  

11 am – 1 pm: Ann Delisi’s Happy Holidays Special 

1-3 pm: Jon Moshier Not So Modern Music Holiday Special featuring Special Guest Dave Lawson

3-4 pm:  A Sound Opinions Hillbilly Christmas. In this hour, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are joined by avid music collector Andy Cirzan for the annual Holiday Spectacular featuring seasonal country, bluegrass, and hillbilly tunes you won’t hear anywhere else.  

4-6 pm: All Things Considered 

6-7 pm: Marketplace/Daily

7-8 pm: Frank Sinatra and Friends

 8-9 pm: Broadway Hollywood Christmas

 9-10 pm: 40’s Radio Christmas 

10 pm-12 am:  Nick Austin’s Holiday Special

12 am-1 am:   A Vintage Rhythm and Blues Christmas. Juke in the Back with Matt the Cat presents an hour of the greatest R&B Christmas records from the late 1940s and 1950s. It’s the yuletide soul that came before rock n’ roll. From the all-time classics by Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters and The Orioles to some rarer Christmas plattahs from Amos Milburn, JB Summers and The Five Keys.

1-2 am:   Sound Opinions Holiday Special featuring Warblings from the Enchanted Forest. In this hour, rare pop, psychedelic, and soul Christmas recordings.

2-3 am: On Being (regular programming resumes)