Christmas programs on the radio in the 1940's ranged from variety shows, to dramas, to comedies... all of them, containing a generous portion of music, from swing to, sentimental, to religious. The decade of the 40's represents three distinct periods... continued recovery from the depression, America's entry into World War Two, and the beginning of the cold war. This was the last decade before the advent of television, and many radio performers of the 40's became household names to early television viewers. Produced by Wes Sims, "A 40's Radio Christmas" is the 2008 Gold Award winner for Best Radio Program, from the Utah Broadcasters Association.

A program of Christmas music as played in the jazz tradition by your favorite jazz artists (Dexter Gordon, Roy Hargrove, Oscar Peterson, Bobby Watson etc.) with Christmas quips and quotes in between. Hosted by Billy Foster and Renee Miles-Foster for the Billy Foster Jazz Zone.

The current wave of hipsters have probably been around since the late 90s.  They lead a fairly harmless existance, darlings of coffee shops, independent record stores, and nearly new vintage clothing stores.  Want an opinion?  Look no further than your favorite hipster.  And, it's only natural that this cooler-than-thou mindset would echo the mantra big time when it comes to the most colorful, most commercial, most dominating force of the winter holidays.  A VERY HIPSTER CHRISTMAS is one sick hour of the post shoegaze modern holiday genre tunes, guaranteed to brighten your season and put you a few 180 gram vinyl tracks ahead of the rest.  Many of the bands you haven't heard of, of course!  I mean, that's the point isn't it?  Turn you on to something new so you can turn somebody else on, like your favorite snowman sounds on Facebook before he melts into something that is so three months ago.

Christmas in New Orleans is special; people flock to the city for the beauty, the history, the food and the music. You don’t have to come here to experience the music; we have brought it to you. This one hour program features wonderful New Orleans Christmas classics from Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Harry Connick, Jr., Bradford Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, Kermit Ruffins, Fats Domino and others.

So you don't have to be riding in a New Orleans Street car, or walking down Bourbon Street, You don’t have to come to the French Quarter or Jackson Square at all. Just relax where you are and
enjoy A New Orleans Christmas!

Host: Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices

Holiday cheer and holiday weird, a mix of lotsa holiday stories, found-sound, and sprinkling of sampled songs:

A home-recording of a "Christmas Gathering 1947" (4:08 excerpt), on an unlabeled 7" Wilcox Gay Recordio Disc, was found by Bob Purse. The complete recording is posted at the 365 Days Project, "Christmas Gathering 1947" (6:32 mp3): [audio:http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/12/365-Days-Project-12-25-christmas-gathering-1947.mp3]

John Beltran remixes Bing Crosby "The First Noel" (5:02), on the compilation Holiday Chill - The Christmas Remixes.

"Dad and Sam" (4:43) is Jay Allison's story of father and brotherhood, from his series Life Stories.

Simon & Garfunkel mixed "Silent Night/7 0'Clock News" (2:05) back in 1996, on their album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme.

Every year at the Mall of America, you can hear "Arthur Jackson: Singing Salvation Army Bellringer" (4:54), a reformed drug addict now serving the Lord. The piece was produced by Todd Melby (KFAI Listening Lounge | Twin Cities Daily Planet | 2 below zero).

"Carrie Conley" (2:06) talks about raising six children as a single mom, and rounding up Christmas dinner and presents for everyone. Her son, Jerry Johnson, interviewed her for the StoryCorps project.

Every year, from 1963-1969, the Beatles sent their Fan Club members a Christmas message on flexi-disk record. The "Beatles Fan Club Christmas" (excerpts 6:41) messages were collected on The Beatles Christmas Album. Several sites have them posted online; there's hi-fi (320kbps) mp3s at TheBeatleSource) and The Internet Beatles Album.

"Christmas Kids" (4:25) tell the stories, myths and rumours of the Holidays, from a 2nd-graders POV: Mrs. Beasley's class at Emerson School in Bozeman, Montana, recorded in 1986.

At an orphanage in South Africa, some "Zulu Kids" (2:14) belted out a few songs for producer Jake Warga.

The late, great sound-recordist, Tony Schwartz, takes us on an audio tour of "Christmas in New York" (6:04) in the late 1950s. For more TonyS: Library of Congress | WNYC | WFMU | TonySchwartz.org | HV from NPR | Amazon.

HV's Barrett Golding tours his hometown of Bozeman looking for "The T in Xmas" (2:55): A toy-shop owner displays her wares, a Jewish man recounts the story of Hannukah, a Salvation Army captain tells the history of bell-ringing, and the Sweet Adelaides choir offer a-capella carols.

Seattle's Captain Smartypants and the Seattle Men's Chorus yodel and line-dance their country-style Brokeback Dreidel, aka, "Kislev Cowboys" (excerpt 2:06) by Eric Lane Barnes. Recorded live by Tom Speer of the Seattle Channel, the video is posted onYouTube.

George W. Bush speeches are captured and placed in the extraordinary rendition program of mashup artisan Rx, who wishes you a "Happy RXmas & Whole Lotta Love" (Bush vs. Led Zep- excerpt 2:31). And we end with a Mahalia Jackson "Silent Night" (excerpt 2:41), remixed by King Kooba (bassist Charlie Tate and producer Matt Harris, aka DJ Shuff). The song is floating around the net free.

Celebrate local and seasonal eating with A Very Earth Eats Christmas. "The tradition of using the seasonal ingredients is what brings these things out during the holidays," says Chef Daniel Orr, the mastermind behind our holiday feast today.

During this hour-long program, we prepare roast duck, parsnip soup, a goat cheese cheese ball and foraged mushrooms. He'll have some help preparing the food from three old friends. We'll share stories, have some laughs and taste a lot of food.

The day wouldn't be complete without some holiday music by southern Indiana-based singer-songwriter Krista Detor. So, pour yourself some eggnog, cozy up with a warm sweater and join us as we celebrate A Very Earth Eats Christmas. Annie Corrigan is your host.