Kym Parry
/
freeimages.com
First hour: Special broadcast — "Selected Shorts: Unwrapping the Holidays"
Second hour: Special broadcast — "Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites"
We have special broadcasts for you on this Christmas Day.
In the first hour, host Meg Wolitzer presents three unexpected stories that let us see the holidays’ associations—family, friends, food, gifts, and goodwill—in different ways:
- Amy Krouse Rosenthal presents a playful encounter with the Almighty in “Interview with God,” performed by Jayne Atkinson and James Naughton.
- In Sherrie Flick’s “Heidi is Dead,” read by Adina Verson, a second wife tries to tune in with her in-laws; and
- John Cheever’s “Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor” is a richly comic and warmhearted look at giving and receiving. Teagle F. Bougere reads.
Then in our second hour, "Tinsel Tales" is back. 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:
- "Dad 'n' Sam" by Jay Allison
- "Homeless Christmas" by Lee Stringer
- "Christmas Morning, 1949" by Sylvia Seymour/Paul Auster
- "Low-Glamour Christmas Party" by Bailey White
- "Doing it in the Closet" by John McIlwraith
- "Christopher" by Jay O'Callahan
- "Ode to Christmas" by Chuck Kramer
- "Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris
- "Modern Day Joseph and Mary" by Scott Simon
- "Christmas Story" by John Henry Faulk
