Weekly Program Highlights
Friday 1/2
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hidden Brain… This week on Hidden Brain, kick off a series designed to help you understand the mental obstacles that can keep you from charting a new path. We talk with a psychologist who studies how our minds get trapped in negative thought spirals and how we can begin to break free.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, hear Dwayne Johnson talk about his newest film, The Smashing Machine, and a discussion about his and his family’s history as wrestlers.
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Who Wrote This? In 1914 several composers and publishers gathered to address a big problem: how to protect their work. Before then, when a composer wrote a song, anyone who wanted to steal it and change the name could do so. ASCAP changed that. Over the years, it became very powerful. So much so, it became complacent and tripped up. Hear music and a few stories from that time.
Saturday 1/3
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, it’s a new year and while Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis sweep up the remaining confetti, relax with some moments from 2025. They’ll revisit their time with Pedro Pascal, Heather Gay, and Chris Perfetti.
11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… This week on Radiolab, how can any of us know when to stop fighting death and when to start making peace with it? Hear two stories of people coming to terms, sometimes painfully and sometimes playfully, with Death.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
American Routes… For New Year's, celebrate the diversity built into our country by digging into the musical traditions that inform our democracy at its best. American Routes talks with Mr. Sipp, a hip blues and gospel man from McComb, Mississippi, and Sheryl Cormier, the octogenarian Cajun accordion queen from Grand Coteau, Louisiana. Plus music from Bo Diddley, Big Maybelle, Bob Dylan, La Santa Cecilia, and Santana.
Sunday 1/4
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Reveal… This week on Reveal, A fatal cat disease was finally cured, but the treatment wasn’t legally available. So a group of cat lovers created an international black market.
11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, The tiny thing that unravels your world.
NOON – 3:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… This week, Sunday Baroque is welcoming 2026 with some of the greatest hits of the baroque era. Ease into the new year with beloved favorites including Antonio Vivaldi’s bold and cheerful Double Trumpet Concerto and a sparkling recorder suite by Georg Philipp Telemann.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Code Switch & Life Kit… This week on Code Switch, a show about moral panics in the USA. Then on Life Kit, a show about setting goals for the new year.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on Moth Radio Hour, the trials and tribulations of growing up. Jealousy, loss, secrets, and finding one's place in the world.
Monday 1/5
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Climate One… This week on Climate One, Those standing up to climate and environmental injustice face challenges they weren’t seeing a year ago. But Gloria Walton, head of The Solutions Project, sees a bigger picture. Her organization has channeled tens of millions of philanthropic dollars to grassroots efforts that build community resilience. Black Girl Environmentalist Founder Wawa Gatheru is helping more Black girls, women, and gender-expansive people enter and lead in the climate space. She says the climate fight has shifted from education to action, with over 70% of Americans now understanding that climate change is real. So what should this 'action phase' look like?
2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Splendid Table… This week on The Splendid Table, the show talks to the people behind some of our favorite cookbooks of the past. Our guests include Cynthia Shanmugalingam author of Rambutan, Recipes from Sri Lanka, Pascal Baudar author of Wildcrafted Vinegars, Ben Mervis author of The British Cookbook and Chris Scott, author of Homage, Recipes + Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen.
Tuesday 1/6
1:00 – 2:00 PM
TED Radio Hour… This week on Ted Radio Hour, hear from speakers with ideas about how to navigate uncertainty in your life and in the world around you. Host Manoush Zomorodi talks with a medical clown about bringing play and delight to uncertain situations. Then, a writer shares what we can learn from the Icelandic word for intuition. Finally, a behavioral psychologist makes the case for hopeful skepticism instead of cynicism.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Reluctant Therapist…
Wednesday 1/7
1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, artist, playwright, performer and activist Eve Ensler, now known as V chose to face her own relationship with her abusive late father. She did it by writing a book, The Apology and asking herself questions about the nature of love. In writing it, she tried to imagine being her father. Who was he? What allowed him to do such terrible harm? Could she free herself from this prison of the past? Could she free both of them?
1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine…
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Freakonomics Radio… This week on Freakonomics Radio, behavioral scientists have been exploring whether a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. In this update of a 2021 episode, the show surveys evidence from the London Underground, Major League Baseball, and New Year’s resolutions to look at accidental fresh starts, forced fresh starts, fresh starts that backfire, and the ones that succeed.
6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… This week on KCBX in Concert, host Lisa Nauful traces a musical arc from the chill of winter to the hushed radiance of Nordic light. Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons shivers in Joshua Bell’s hands, followed by Satie’s gorgeous Gymnopédie No. 1. Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and the Minuetto from Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds bring warmth and humanity, after which Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 suspends time on a single, unforgettable vocal line. The evening culminates in Sibelius’ Second Symphony, luminous and resolute, a perfect finale for a quiet January evening.
Thursday 1/8
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Central Coast Voices…
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Latino USA… This week on Latino USA, one in four women in the U.S. has a family member in prison—and those carrying the resulting financial and emotional burden are disproportionately women of color. Mary Estrada is one of them. She’s been taking care of her husband, Robert, for 40 years, as he’s been in and out of prison throughout his adult life. Most Sundays, Mary wakes up at 3 a.m. and drives 135 miles each way from Pomona, California, to San Diego to meet her husband. Accompany Mary on one of her visits, and learn about the true costs of supporting a loved one in prison.
Friday 1/9
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday…
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie…