Operation Homecoming

Legacy Player:

KCRW presents writings by US troops and their families, who recorded their reflections on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for "Operation Homecoming," a National Endowment for the Arts project. (Pre-empts Which Way, LA?)

Charlton Heston Reads from 'Herzog'

The late Charlton Heston appeared as Moses in The Ten Commandments, but he also read a chapter from Saul Bellow's Herzog, About Moses Herzog, as part of KCRW's Jewish Stories series. We reprise this performance in tribute to him and in honor of Passover. (Airs 2:25-3pm and pre-empts Politics of Culture.)

Passover: A Time to Cross Over

In honor of Passover, which occurs this year from April 19-26, we present an exploration of Passover celebrations in different cultures. Best selling author Geraldine Brooks recounts the dramatic story of the 600-year-old Sarajevo Haggadah; Jeremy Piven (Entourage) describes the holiday with his family of Chicago theater directors; Jewish Gospel singer Joshua Nelson talks about growing up in one of Brooklyn's African-American synagogues; and best selling author Gina Nahai (Caspian Rain) describes the Muslim influence on Iranian celebrations. Produced by Johanna Cooper. (Airs 7-8pm and pre-empts Which Way, LA? and Says You.)

Under Milk Wood

A KCRW holiday tradition; Sir Richard Burton leads Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' "Play for Voices," recorded by the BBC.

Selected Shorts: Food Fictions

Host Isaiah ShefferI reads "Country Cooking from Central France: Roast Boned Rolled Stuffed Shoulder of Lamb (Farce Double)," Harry Mathews' apocryphal tale of a French recipe that goes on forever. Also, "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant" by Laurie Colwin, read by actress Kelli O'Hara; a story about eating solo that captures the singularity of the experience as an exquisite indulgence. Plus, a conversation with legendary culinary writer, Ruth Reichl.  Symphony Space/PRI

Tinsel Tales

A new radio tradition -- stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk and more tell stories of the season. Lynn Neary hosts. (3-4pm)

A Christmas Memory; Mr. Pickwick's Christmas

A Christmas Memory: Truman Capote's poignant holiday tale of love, friendship and an ageless innocence shared by a young boy and his elderly cousin.

Mr. Pickwick's Christmas: Excerpts from Dickens' other classic, The Pickwick Papers.

(2-3pm)

A Christmas Carol

Featuring the great American actor, John Barrymore as Scrooge. (1-2pm)

A Christmas Carol

Selected excerpts from Charles Dickens' classic tale, produced by George Wells, and featuring Ronald Colman as Scrooge. (7-7:30pm)

Only in America: Over the Rainbow

Tin Pan Alley & Hollywood, Part 2: Louis B. Mayer, Adolph Zukor, Samuel Goldwyn and other immigrant Jews created Hollywood----from nothing. They spoke little or no English when they arrived, yet these Jewish "moguls" distilled small town Protestant culture, like Dorothy's Kansas, and fed it back to Protestant America, creating an American mythology in the process. In the late 40's and 50's the blacklist, with its anti-Semitic overtones, descended upon Hollywood, setting friend against friend.

Part 5 of 5, the series runs December 3-7 from 2-3pm.

Only in America: White Christmas

Tin Pan Alley & Hollywood, Part 1: Irving Berlin (Israel Baline), the son of a cantor, arrived in New York speaking only Yiddish. After learning his trade as a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley, he eventually created the standards of un-American popular music including Easter Parade, White Christmas and God Bless America.

Part 4 of 5, the series runs December 3-7 from 2-3pm.

Only in America: Becoming Americans

The Lower East Side, Part 2: In the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire (we hear eyewitness accounts), immigrants who worked in the sweatshops of the "needle trade" formed labor unions to improve working conditions and pay. Their stories are told through a montage of oral history clips and interviews, enriched with music of the period.

Part 3 of 5, the series runs December 3-7 from 2-3pm.

Only in America: The Streets Were Paved with Gold

The Lower East Side, Part 1: Immigrant Jews who arrived in the Lower East Side of New York from Eastern Europe found harsh living conditions in crowded tenements. And no gold. Life on the Lower East Side transformed the new immigrants. "Greenhorn" Jews adopted the language and culture of their new country as fast as they could.

Part 2 of 5, the series runs December 3-7 from 2-3pm.

Only in America: The First Jews

America provided refuge from ancient European prejudice and persecution. The First Jews tells the little-known early history of Jews in Colonial America, from New Amsterdam to Charleston, South Carolina. Thus began a 350-year struggle for survival and acceptance. The story concludes with the American Revolution, the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and their crucial role in the success in the new country for American Jews and all who followed.

Part 1 of 5, the series runs December 3-7 from 2-3pm.

Operation Homecoming

KCRW presents writings by US troops and their families, who recorded their reflections on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for Operation Homecoming, a National Endowment for the Arts project. (Pre-empts Which Way, LA?)