THOUSAND OAKS, CA - KCLU will broadcast several local and national holiday specials during the next few weeks.

“Hanukkah Lights” will air at 9 p.m. Dec. 8. National Public Radio’s Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz will read Hanukkah stories and memoirs written specifically for the show by acclaimed authors.

“Blues Shack All Holiday Special” will air from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16. It will feature rarely heard renditions of holiday favorites and some unique selections from the KCLU blues library.

“Tinsel Tales,” which will be broadcast from 7 to 9 p.m. Dec. 24 and 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 25, is a collection of the best and most-requested holiday stories. National Public Radio voices from the past and present will tell tales overflowing with joy, hope and childhood memories.

“‘A Christmas Carol’ with Jonathan Winters” will air at 9 p.m. Dec. 24. The master comedian presents a distinctive reading of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic.

At 10 p.m. Dec. 24, a recording of The High Street Broadcast’s presentation of “Thank Your Lucky Stars” will air. The send-up of the holidays will be staged Dec. 19 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.

“Jazz Piano Christmas” will be broadcast at 11 p.m. Dec. 24. This concert from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will feature National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Ellis Marsalis, Jason Moran, Geri Allen,Taylor Eigsti and other artists performing their favorite songs of the season.

“Christmas With Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs” will air at midnight Dec. 24. The choirs of two of the nation’s most prestigious historically black colleges will perform together.

KCLU will broadcast “Capitol Steps: Politics Takes a Holiday” at 9 p.m. Dec. 31. The performers will roast 2012 to a crisp with their annual year-in-review awards ceremony.

Programming is subject to change.

KCLU, a community service of California Lutheran University, is the NPR station serving Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Please can listen in Ventura County at 88.3 FM, in Santa Barbara County at 102.3 FM and 1340 AM, and online at kclu.org.