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If Santa Claus is the good cop of Christmas, then Krampus is the bad one: a creature from European folklore who scares children into behaving themselves, complete with goat horns and gnashing teeth.

Supporters of the displays say the Bible is on their side, but critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery.

Broadcast: Dec. 14, 2025 at 7 p.m. (*updated) on KPBS Radio (1st day of Hanukkah). A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.

A San Diego writer hunts ghosts in Presidio Park, gets her palm read at psychic shops and drives out to the cults that dot San Diego County. This Halloween episode examines why the supernatural still grips so many of us, and what our hunger for "presence" reveals about faith, meaning and the search for truth.

NoiseCat is the son of an Indigenous Canadian father and white mother. After a cultural genocide, he says, living your life becomes an existential question. His new memoir is We Survived the Night.

This weekend in the arts in San Diego: Digitally inspired art in Escondido, exploring "joy futurism," festive ska, a San Diego Scrooge, boat parades, Hanukkah and more.

Tuesday, April 14 7:30 p.m. The Diderot String Quartet will make their Athenaeum debut with a journey to 18th century Vienna, featuring masterpieces by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. One of the premiere ensembles performing on gut strings and historical instruments, this dynamic group (Adriane Post, violin; Johanna Novom, violin; Kyle Miller, viola; Paul Dwyer, cello) breathes new life into old works. Program: Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) - Quartet No. 27 in D Major, op.20, no. 4 (1772) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) - Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421 (1783) Intermission Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) - Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, op. 18, no. 6 (1800) The Diderot String Quartet—named after the 18th century French philosopher, and Boccherini enthusiast, Denis Diderot—brings a fresh approach to works of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Wall St Journal called a performance “emotional, riveting, and ultimately cathartic.” The quartet came together in 2012, after having first met at Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School. The four musicians share a background in historical performance and a passion for the string quartet genre; they found the thrill of exploring the quartet repertoire on period instruments to be irresistible. Recent and upcoming engagements for the Diderot String Quartet include Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music (NE), Chamber Music Corvallis (Oregon), Pegasus Early Music / NYS Baroque, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Friends of Chamber Music Vancouver and Early Music Vancouver, Early Music Society of the Islands (Victoria, British Columbia), Belvedere Series (Virginia), Helicon Foundation (New York City), Music in the Somerset Hills (Bernardsville, New Jersey), Rockefeller University’s Tri-Institutional (Tri-I) Noon Recital Series (NYC), Carmel Bach Festival (California), Electric Earth Concerts (Peterborough, New Hampshire), and The Crypt Sessions and Music Before 1800 in New York City. The quartet has also been featured in performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Morgan Library in New York. Diderot String Quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at Washington National Cathedral for five seasons and served as guest faculty for Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. The quartet commissioned and premiered Small Infinities, a new work for gut strings from composer Lembit Beecher, and collaborates frequently with internationally acclaimed artists, including Jesse Blumberg, Dashon Burton, David Breitman, Avi Stein, and Harry Bicket. Diderot has a forthcoming album of string quartets by Haydn (op. 20, nos. 2 and 4). This concert is generously sponsored by Sally and Einar Gall. All concerts are preceded by a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. and are followed by a reception with the artists in the Sharon & Joel Labovitz Entry Hall. Athenaeum Music & Arts Library on Facebook / Instagram

Two Major League Baseball pitchers have been indicted on charges they took bribes to give bettors advance notice of the types of pitches they'd throw and intentionally tossed balls instead of strikes.

Dozens of leaders in medicine, criminal justice and more issued an urgent call for collective action to tackle the gun violence crisis in the U.S.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WLRN listener Christopher Hoffman, of Wellington, Florida, along with Weekend Edition Puzzle Master Will Shortz.