Looking for audio programs for Christmas entertainment.

December 21, 2022 7:16 AM

Since it's just my wife and I this year for Christmas, we wanted to try and make it a bit more unique of a day. We are going to be mostly unplugged from TV/movies/social media but we have decided what is 'allowed' is music and "radio shows" (aka podcasts or the like) and are looking for suggestions. We already have a copy of Neil Gaiman reading "A Christmas Carrol" so would love more stuff along those lines....good podcast episodes with Christmas short stories or radio plays that we can stream. What are some of your favorites?
posted by Captain_Science to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

My Ask from yesterday might be a place to start. I suspect streaming commercial free streaming radio stations will have some Christmas focused programming on the 25th.
posted by COD at 7:28 AM on December 21, 2022

Best answer: There is a This American Life in which Truman Capote reads a Christmas story and sounds eerily like David Sedaris. It is touching.
posted by grinagog at 7:39 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: WAMU’s The Big Broadcast looks to be planning a bunch of old Christmas radio content on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (runs 7-11pm ET). Easy to stream from the web or basically any connected device.
posted by General Malaise at 7:51 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Oh, and they have a bunch of Christmas stuff in recent episodes as well, which are still available to listen to now.
posted by General Malaise at 7:52 AM on December 21, 2022

It is not set at Christmastime but it feels like Christmas to me - my favorite favorite radio play is Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood." Here it is on Spotify read by Richard Burton and here is Dylan Thomas reading it himself. No doubt many other wonderful versions exist.
posted by nkknkk at 8:24 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Every year I listen to a Canadian classic: Stuart MacLean's "Dave Cooks the Turkey". Here it is on Spotify.
posted by hepta at 8:34 AM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

Jon Solomon at WPRB in Princeton does yearly 25-hour Holiday Radio Show starting Christmas Eve at 5:00 pm ET. You can make requests and send submissions for broadcast. It's fun to hear Jon's struggle to stay conscious and he plays some unusually epic songs that we look forward to each year.
posted by lolibrarian at 9:07 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Cinnamon Bear is a radio serial from the 30s that still airs every year in Portland, with basically one 15-minute episode a day from Thanksgiving to Christmas. In it, 2 kids adventure through a Candyland-esque fantasy land to recover their missing Christmas tree star, guided by the toy Cinnamon Bear. The Wikipedia article mentions that Audible released a remake as a serial podcast last year, with Alan Cummings as the Cinnamon Bear, but I haven't heard that one.
posted by bassooner at 9:17 AM on December 21, 2022

Another Dylan Thomas recommendation, recording of him reading A Child's Christmas in Wales was a staple in my house growing up.
posted by okonomichiyaki at 9:23 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: "Fireside Al" Maitland reads Frederick Forsyth's "The Shepherd" (about 32 minutes). Should be listened to annually on Christmas Eve.
posted by heatherlogan at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

These might be a bit creepier than what you are after but there are many adaptations of M.R James' ghost stories for Christmas via youtube/BBC/other online sources depending on where you are located.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 10:54 AM on December 21, 2022

My husband and I listen to this story by John Henry Faulk every year on Christmas morning.
It's only 10 minutes long but very affecting.
posted by FormerMermaid at 11:03 AM on December 21, 2022

Season 9 of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme has some Christmas elements. It's 3 hours long and absolutely outstanding as a humorous, moving audio comedy-drama.
posted by brainwane at 11:57 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

The BBC's Christmas special this year is an audioplay presentation of The Dark Is Rising. They are releasing a chapter a day and I've loved it so far. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvp7
posted by foxtongue at 3:53 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

i am so delighted i get to recommend david sedaris’ holidays on ice audiobook. this is a holiday tradition for me— though ymmv depending on your affection for dry and dark humour. if you can’t wrangle the audiobook (maybe it’s already been borrowed on your local library’s e-audiobook app?), you can find some of the stories on yt: 6 to 8 black men, and santaland diaries.
posted by tamarack at 10:37 PM on December 21, 2022

Also Al Maitland: The Gift of the Magi.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:46 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

Loreena McKinnett's newest Christmas album Under a Winter's Moon is a mix of music and spoken word, including an Ojibwe creation story and Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales. It's really quite lovely.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:34 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

John Peel's old Christmas shows are a favourite of mine. Lots of good music (much of it live), plenty of Christmas songs included, and a lovely cosy festive atmosphere. Each show was first broadcast live from Peel's family home, with his wife, children and house guests present, which adds greatly to their warmth. Download them here:
2000
2001
2002
posted by Paul Slade at 12:10 PM on December 22, 2022