Chanukah a cappella, Utopia, and The Grateful Dead

Our upcoming special programs, starting on:

Wednesday, Dec 28

8 AM “Swimming Upstream” Dan Carr from Marin County Free Library will be “in the house.” Dave Brouillette, acting Superintendent for the Point Reyes National Seashore will be in with updates. Journalist Stuart Leavenworth visits before moving to Washington DC – he recently headed up the Beijing Office for McClatchy news services, and formerly worked on the Editorial Board for the Sacramento Bee. David Cook in at 9:30am for Fish Tales.

Thursday, Dec 29

10 AM SPECIAL A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella. Choral music set to Chanukah texts: familiar tunes include “I Have a Little Dreidel” (both in its original Yiddish form and in a neo-funk Hebrew/English setting), a swing version of “S’vivon” by Steve Barnett, and a lively setting of the traditional melody for “Al-Hanissim” (“For the Miracles”) by Elliot Levine.

11 AM “Let’s Talk” The New Year 2017! This week, the Let’s Talk call-in show would like to hear listeners’ memories and impressions of 2016 and their hopes, resolutions and predictions for 2017. What were important events for you in 2016? How will 2017 be different? What do you foresee for West Marin, the US and the world?

4 PM “Coastal Airwaves” with Vickisa and guest, Suzanna Millman, back from a book tour for Alive With the Dead –A Fly on the Wall with a Camera. She’s photographed the Grateful Dead as part of the band’s inner circle from the mid-1980s, will be joined by her husband, historian, and publicist for the Grateful Dead and more — Dennis McNally. He’s engrossed in curating a photo show for the California Historical Society that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.  

6:30 PM “Bakersfield & Beyond” Newspaper Editor and author of The Bakersfield Sound: How a Generation of Displaced Okies Revolutionized American Music, will join Amanda and Mike for the last Bakersfield and Beyond of 2016.

Friday, Dec 30

12 PM “Alternative Radio” Noam Chomsky delivers a lecture simply called, Utopia.

2 PM “Classical Friday” with Chris Salak. Popular Holiday music from Olden Times.

4 PM “The French Touch” Emmanuel brings us pop past and present from France, including nostalgia-laden songs by Nino Ferrer, Gerard Lenorman, Les Poppys and more.

Saturday, Dec 31

7 AM “Morning Glory” Anneke van der Veen says: what better way to celebrate KWMR than by hosting a program that warms my heart — Morning Glory!

11 AM “Off-Center Sports” This week Steve and Jaime inquire about a sport called Biathlon. If you are wondering what Biathlon is, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “a composite athletic contest consisting of cross-country skiing, and riffle sharpshooting” — pretty cool huh? With US Women’s Biathlon Team member Maddie Phanueff.

11:30 AM SPECIAL “The Lost Vault of Klezmer” A new CD anthology: Chekhov’s Band: Eastern European Klezmer 1908-1913 reveals what traditional Jewish Klezmer music sounded like before the Russian Revolution. Also: There was a time when opera was as beloved in American society as sitcoms and movies are today — but it all came crashing to a halt in 1873. Katherine Preston walks us through the forgotten history of the American people’s love affair with opera and how it turned into theater for the elite.

Sunday, Jan 1

4 PM “Midnight in Luxembourg” Celebrate the New Year with the 55th anniversary of British records released in January 1962; featuring chart hits by The Vipers, Karl Denver, Maureen Evans, Cliff Richard, Billy Fury and Lonnie Donegan. Also, a certain record popular in Hamburg gets its first UK release! Plus the best of pre-Beatles British skiffle, trad jazz, pop, rock and Jamaican blue beat!

8 PM “Rock of Ages” On a very special episode to kick off the new year, host Mark Nichol plays the most beautiful songs from his playlists over the last six months, since he began hosting the program. Next week, “Rock of Ages” returns to its regular format: an hour of deep tracks, rarities, and obscurities from the sixties and early seventies—the Golden Age of Rock and Roll—followed by conversations with and music by local musicians in the second hour.

10 PM “LA Theatre Works” One of the brightest lights of the Scientific Revolution wants the world to see itself anew. But even the courage of his convictions can’t save the great Galileo Galilei from the guardians of the status quo. Stacy Keach stars in Bertolt Brecht’s The Life of Galileo, in a new version by David Hare. Next time on L.A. Theatre Works.

Monday, Jan 2

1 PM “Ocean Currents” Rockfish Conservation Areas on the West Coast, with guest: Kelly Ames.

4 PM “Art of the Song” Featuring Lori Lieberman. A singer/songwriter who accompanies herself on guitar and piano, Lori first came to public attention in the early 1970s with a series of albums on Capitol Records, one of which featured the first recording of “Killing Me Softly With His Song”.

5 PM “Epicenter” Amanda Eichstaedt in conversation with, first, Dan Eilerman from the Marin County Administrator’s office about the future at the county with the changing administration. Second, with Doug Pittman about emergency information, immigration issues and the issue of people living in their cars.

Tuesday, Jan 3

10 AM SPECIAL “Turning Pages” Heroes of Medieval Literature. A lively introduction to the great heroes of Medieval literature. Kat Tracey of Longwood University re-acquaints us with the popular characters—like Gawain, Robin Hood, and Richard the Lionheart—and the lesser-known heroes, like Hengist and Horsa and Havelok the Dane! Also featured: Dan Brown’s use of Dante; Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray; Cold War era blacklists of screenwriters, playwrights, and actors who criticized American foreign policy.

Wednesday, Jan 4

10 AM “Cuerpo Corazon Communidad” Dicusses Important Intentions for 2017. Listen to Doctora Marisol and our guests to inspire and fuel your own commitments and intentions.

4 PM SPECIAL “Youth DJ Project” Tomales High teacher Ellen Webster and retired teacher/audio man Jeff Deitchman present more recordings of Tomales High students reading their own works. Memories of colorful vacations; a move and a new school; shooting a first buck; losing a relative, realizing a relative is an alcoholic. . . .  from funny to the opposite of funny.