Listen on 88.5 NEPM
The Splendid Table's Turkey Confidential
Thursday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.
Turkey Confidential is The Splendid Table’s annual Thanksgiving show. Francis Lam takes calls and comes to the rescue of Thanksgiving cooks, kitchen helpers, and dinner guests during the biggest cooking day of the year.
Hanukkah Lights 2025
Sunday, Dec. 14 at 6 p.m.
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.
A Jazz Piano Christmas
Friday, Dec. 19 at 11 p.m.
This year, a very special best-of 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.
NEPM’s A Very 413 Christmas Carol
Saturday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m.
Starring Elizabeth Perkins as Ebeneeza Scrooge, and featuring a cast of NEPM hosts, reporters, and special guests, A Very 413 Christmas Carol brings a western Mass. twist to Charles Dickens’ classical tale. This encore performance was commissioned by New England Public Media and recorded live at Tree House Brewing Company in South Deerfield on Dec. 4, 2024.
Festivo AltLatino with Gaby Moreno & Friends
Sunday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
NPR Music’s Alt.Latino presents an encore featuring songwriter/performer Gaby Moreno and her band performing tracks from her popular holiday album "Posada" recorded live at the KUT studios in Austin, Texas. She was joined by special guests Gina Chavez and Chicano Zen bandleader and record producer Michael Ramos. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
Thursday, Dec. 25 at 1 p.m.
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. Featured stories include:
- Dad 'n' Sam (Jay Allison)
- Homeless Christmas (Lee Stringer)
- Christmas Morning, 1949 (Sylvia Seymour/Paul Auster)
- Low-Glamour Christmas Party (Bailey White)
- Doing it in the Closet (John McIlwraith)
- Christopher (Jay O'Callahan)
- Ode to Christmas (Chuck Kramer)
- Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris)
- Modern Day Joseph and Mary (Scott Simon)
- John Henry Faulk's Christmas Story (John Henry Faulk)
Tinsel Tales 2: More NPR Christmas Favorites
Thursday, Dec. 25 at 2 p.m.
NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary. Featured stories include:
- Santa Claus, Private Eye (Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre of San Francisco)
- Pass The Fois Gras: Christmas Menu Hard To Digest (Firoozeh Dumas)
- A 'Silent Night' That Brought Healing (Steve Banko)
- The Christmas Club (Bill Harley)
- All I Wanted For Christmas (NPR staffers)
- Christmas Gift Records (The Ban-Smo Label)
- The Night Before Christmas, Latin Style (Read by NPR's Claudio Sanchez)
- The Designated Celebrator (Melinda Shoaf)
- Christmas Truce (Historian Douglas Brinkley)
- Wolf Christmas (Daniel Pinkwater)
Tinsel Tales 3: Even More NPR Christmas Favorites
Thursday, Dec. 25 at 3 p.m.
In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the third collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. 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. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary. Featured stories include:
- December's Soundtrack (Amy Dickinson)
- Christmas With UPS (Loree Gold)
- Merry Stressmas: It's That Time Of The Year (Kevin Kling)
- Appreciating The Ugliness Of The Christmas Tree (Ken Harbaugh)
- Stealing Hemlock (Bailey White)
- Christmas Lights Tour (Bill Harley)
- Christmas With The Totenbergs (Nina Totenberg)
- The Gift Of The Magi (O. Henry, read by NPR's Audie Cornish)
- Christmas For Cows (Baxter Black)
- Christmas Pudding (Marialisa Calta)
- Caroling In The Cold (Julie Zickefoose)
- Christmas Magic (Joseph C. Phillips)
- Grinch's True End (John Moe)
The Big Tiny Desk Holiday Special
Sunday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
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.
Toast of the Nation
Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 11 p.m.
Toast of the Nation is the perfect complement to your New Year’s Eve celebration, presenting festive jazz you can party to to ring in the new year. Hosted by Christian McBride.
Listen on Classical NEPM
Handel’s Messiah: New York Philharmonic
Saturday, Dec. 13 at 5 p.m.
Join us for a favorite holiday tradition! Handel’s setting of Biblical texts reaches operatic heights and is full of iconic melodies. A stellar cast of soloists and the chorus of Music of the Baroque are conducted by Jane Glover.
Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.
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 encore presentation 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. Korva Coleman hosts.
Candles Burning Brightly
Sunday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.
A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico
Saturday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m.
Celebrate Christmas with the sound of soaring voices. Stile Antico, the award-winning choir from London, pays a visit to St. Paul's Church on Harvard Square for a concert of radiant sacred music for the Christmas season by the most acclaimed composers of the Renaissance. Hear the group's luminous blend of voices sing the intricately woven music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH.
A Sunday Baroque Christmas
Sunday, Dec. 21 at 5 a.m.
This year’s Sunday Baroque Christmas program features a sparkling line-up of music for celebrating the season — beloved Christmas carols dating back to the Renaissance and Baroque eras, joyful Baroque Christmas concertos, and music that evokes the quiet beauty of the Winter Solstice.
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Wednesday, Dec. 24 at 10 a.m.
Since 1918, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has offered listeners an opportunity to share in a live, worldwide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of biblical readings, carols and related seasonal classical music. This special event is presented by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys, and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the college’s 500-year-old chapel.
New Year's Day From Vienna 2026
Thursday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m.
The ever popular annual New Year’s Day Concert will be performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguim in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. Hosted by WBUR's Lisa Mullins.