Holiday Programming on BTPM NPR
BTPM NPR presents a wide variety of memorable holiday programming. With specials from NPR and American Public Media, BTPM NPR has festive entertainment offerings for everyone.
December
Thursday, December 4
11 a.m. - Tinsel Tales 1
This program features 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
Saturday, December 6
6 p.m. - Tinsel Tales 1 (repeat)
Thursday, December 11
11 a.m. - Tinsel Tales 2
This program features 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
Friday, December 12
11 a.m. - Jonathan Winters’ A
Christmas Carol
Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of this holiday classic, using a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. He re-creates Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley's spirit and the three Christmas ghosts: Past, Present and Future. Mimi Kennedy also performs.
Saturday, December 13
6 p.m. - Tinsel Tales 2 (repeat)
Sunday, December 14
4 p.m. - Hanukkah Lights 2025
NPR's Hanukkah Lights features stories about the festival of lights, including original fiction, some with a humorous guide, and stories about the miracle of the oil.
Thursday, December 18
11 a.m. - Hanukkah Lights 2025
(repeat)
Friday, December 19
11 a.m. - Tinsel Tales 3
This program features 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
Saturday, December 20
4 p.m. - Selected Shorts: What You Wish For
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three Christmas stories in different moods—satirical, fantastical, and nostalgic: “A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner),” by James Thurber, performed by James Naughton; “O’Brien’s First Christmas,” by Jeanette Winterson, performed by Jayne Atkinson; and “One Christmas,” by Truman Capote, performed by John Shea.
Credit: APM
6 p.m. - Tinsel Tales 3 (repeat)
Sunday, December 21
4 p.m. - A Paul Winter Solstice (2023)
In 1980, Paul Winter's saxophone first echoed through New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to mark the Winter Solstice. It was the beginning of an annual tradition, featuring musical
guests from around the world, and
NPR's broadcast of those concerts became a seasonal tradition as well. In 2023, Paul Winter combed through the archives and selected his favorite moments from forty years of Winter Solstice celebrations.
Monday, December 22
11 a.m. - Marketplace: Feeding the Family
Amy Scott hosts a “Marketplace” station special about the business and economics of food this holiday season.
7 p.m. - All Songs Considered Holiday Extravaganza
This year Robin Hilton and Stephen Thomson head back to the snowy cabin in the woods where the annual "All
Songs Considered" get-togethers began many years ago. Join us as we attempt to throw another party for the ages, with one simple, fate-tempting question:
What could possibly go wrong?
Credit: NPR The California Newsroom
Tuesday, December 23
11 a.m. - Selected Shorts: What You Wish For
Host Meg Wolitzer presents three Christmas stories in different moods—satirical, fantastical, and nostalgic: “A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner),” by James Thurber, performed by James Naughton; “O’Brien’s First Christmas,” by Jeanette Winterson, performed by Jayne Atkinson; and “One Christmas,” by Truman Capote, performed by John Shea.
7 p.m. - Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Club
Two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation, Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, get together to present a spine-tingling encore concert from that includes a mix of the best spirituals and carols from the last several years. It is a joyous celebration of the schools ’tradition of singing excellence. Korva Coleman hosts.
Wednesday, December 24
11 a.m. - Jonathan Winters’ A
Christmas Carol (repeat)
6 p.m. - Watching For A Star: A Polish Christmas Eve
Father Czeslaw Krysa, Rector of the St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church and Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, author of the book Polish Customs, Traditions & Folklore, tell us about the music, events and celebrations in the Polish Community that surround the holiday season with a special emphasis on the most important of all Polish family traditions, Wigilia (Christmas Eve).
Thursday, December 25
11 a.m. - Tinsel Tales 4
This program features 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
7 p.m. - A Special Thistle & Shamrock Christmas
Join Fiona Ritchie for a winter walk along the banks of the River Tay in Scotland, accompanied by music from the Celtic Christmas repertoire.
Friday, December 26
11 a.m. - All Songs Considered Holiday Extravanganza (repeat)
7 p.m. - Festivo Alt.Latino with Gaby Moreno & Friends
Her voice dripping with Southern R&B grit, Moreno and her band never lose sight of the emotion in the holiday classics they perform at KUT in Austin, Texas.
Saturday, December 27
4 p.m. - An Afro Blue Christmas
This special holiday concert features Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue with special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut.
6 p.m. - Tinsel Tales 4 (repeat)
Sunday, December 28
6 p.m. - A Rochester Festival of Lessons and Carols 2025
The one-hour program consists of the traditional readings by Third Church clergy and congregants, Christmas anthems by Boris Ord, C V Stanford, Sir John Rutter and Morten Lauridsen sung by the Chancel Choir and Third Church Choristers, and several traditional carols.
Credit: WXXI
January
Thursday, January 1
11 a.m. - New Years’ Day Live from Vienna 2026
The Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with its annual concert from Vienna's Musikverein conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with performances by the Vienna State Ballet and location segments hosted by Hugh Bonneville.
Friday, January 2
11 a.m. - Toast of the Nation
Hosted by Christian McBride, Toast of the Nation presents festive jazz you can party to and help ring in the new year.