KLCC's 2025 Holiday Program Guide
Saturday, December 13
3:00PM - The ‘All Songs Considered’ Holiday Extravaganza
NPR Music's Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson set off on another adventure in their annual attempt to throw a holiday party for the ages. This year, we’ve got a very tolerable mix of songs for the season and, as always, some very special guests.
4:00PM - The Big Tiny Desk 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's Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.
Sunday, December 14
8:00pm - Hanukkah Lights
On the first night of Hanukkah this NPR favorite returns with new stories plus gems from the archive. Hosted by Murray Horwitz with a special tribute to our beloved Susan Stamberg, who we lost on October 16.
Friday, December 19
7:00pm - Joy To The World: A Holiday in Pink
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.
8:00 - The Retro Cocktail Hour
We're putting up lights and tinsel in the underground eggnog bunker for a far-out holiday celebration like no other!
Saturday, December 20
3:00 - Eye 5 Holiday Special
Tune in for all the holiday music they simply won't play in shopping malls.
6:00pm - The ‘All Songs Considered’ Holiday Extravaganza
NPR Music's Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson set off on another adventure in their annual attempt to throw a holiday party for the ages. This year, we’ve got a very tolerable mix of songs for the season and, as always, some very special guests.
7:00pm - Dead Air
Dead Air brings joyous music to celebrate the Solstice, and warm tunes for an early Christmas party. Keep the yule log burning bright, and Join Downtown Deb for holiday music with the Grateful Dead and their friends.
Sunday, December 21
3:00pm - Front Porch
Dan Plaster is celebrating the Winter Solstice with a focus on the secular. We'll have music for the season, touching upon the various holidays we celebrate.
6:00pm - Jazz Sunday
Swing the holidays with Jeffrey Ogburn and a show that features music from Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and more!
8:00pm - A Paul Winter Solstice
This year, "Solstice Live!" warms up the longest night of the year with a taste of the tropics. This special brings a starry array of Brazilian guests, including Ivan Lins, Renato Braz, and Luciana Souza, with the Paul Winter Consort at the annual solstice concerts in New York’s Cathedral of St John the Divine. John Schaefer hosts.
9:00pm - Ahora Sí!
Tune in for music honoring Christmas and other December celebrations from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other countries from Latin America.
Tuesday, December 23
3:00pm - This American Life Presents: Santaland Diaries
This legendary episode features stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, originally broadcast in 1996 when This American Life was only a year old. Including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries," which first aired on NPR's Morning Edition and quickly became one of its most popular segments ever.
7:00pm - A World Cafe Holiday
Celebrate with special holiday performances from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, The Bird and The Bee, Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and more. Hosted by Raina Douris, this musical gift will provide a full hour of hip holiday cheer.
Wednesday, December 24 Christmas Eve
9:00am - Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
Featuring 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.
3:00pm - Tinsel Tales: Even More NPR Christmas Favorites
Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh, Nina Totenberg and other voices from NPR's past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising.
7:00pm - Jonathan Winters’ A Christmas Carol
Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations.
8:00pm - A Jazz Piano Christmas
Tune in for a program featuring some of our favorite jazz-infused piano renditions of the season’s most-loved music. Veteran host and jazz critic Felix Contreras will hand pick his favorite performances from the rich catalog of cherished Jazz Piano Christmas concerts.
9:00pm - An Afro Blue Christmas
Join us for a very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. Hear the a-cappella group perform 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.
10:00pm - An Echoes Night Before Christmas
Get the sugar plums dancing with these enchanting sounds of the season. It’s a time when life seems suspended between the Christmas build-up and the explosion of Christmas morning. We’ll hear music from the Ornamental and Dark Noel albums, Jeff Johnson’s Winterfold and Smoke Fairies’ Wild Winter, and David Arkenstone's Winterlude.
Thursday, December 25 Christmas Day
9:00am - Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories Told Through Song
NPR revisits interviews from over the years with musicians about their Christmas albums. You'll hear from Sting, Amy Grant, Jon Batiste and more!
3:00pm - Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
Let us fill your radio with with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.
7:00pm - 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. The location inspires seasonal tales, joyful songs, and tunes of rare beauty, with guitarist Tim Edey, singer Emily Smith, and more.
8:00pm - Thursday eKLeCtiC
Our winter tradition, "Merry Beatles. A Cool Yule With The Fab Four," Beatles covers by the musicians who love their music. It is a solstice celebration embracing all the world's holidays associated with the shortest day of the year and the return of the sun.
10:00pm - An Echoes Seasonal Soundscape
Wind down with music inspired by the season in all its quiet majesty and interior warmth. Original songs mix with carols from artists like David Arkenstone, George Winston, Ólafur Arnalds, Erik Wøllo and many more.
Saturday, December 27
7:00pm - Dead Air
Bring in the New Year (early) with Downtown Deb and Dead Air. The Grateful Dead played many New Year's shows over the years, (as did Jerry Garcia Band) and we'll do the countdown on Saturday night with music.
New Year's Eve 🥳
8:00pm - Toast of the Nation
It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long (and we mean it, we're taking it all the way to 4:00am January 1)! Hosted by NPR Music's Christian McBride.
Monday, December 29
7:00pm - NPR Special: Cineplexity - Smart Conversations About Movies
NPR film lovers take movies seriously, exploring themes like how to get time travel right in movies, what draws so many men to Nora Ephron films and why we all seem to love movies about the movies. In this one hour special, NPR host Scott Detrow shares the best movie conversations the team at All Things Considered and NPR’s Culture Desk had over the past year.
Monday, January 5
7:00pm - NPR Special: Beyond the Headlines - NPR Correspondents on the Craft of Reporting
Host Scott Detrow talks with NPR Correspondents, going "beyond the headlines" to explore the craft of reporting stories. Reporters open their notebooks and share the ways they find stories and bring them to the audience. Topics include riding a migrant train across Mexico in the dead of night, how to get Elon Musk’s attention and what it was like to cover the Sean Combs trial.