Gabe Bullard

We know you're restless this week, dreaming of all the owl-themed gifts that are sure to fill your stocking. So here's a little something from us at WFPL. It's our holiday schedule. Think of it as an early holiday present.

Saturday, 12/22 12 p.m. | Tinsel Tales II

You may have heard Third District Congressman John Yarmuth on WFPL Monday discussing gun control in the wake of the Newtown shooting. He'll be discussing the issue again on public radio Tuesday with an appearance on the nationally-syndicated Diane Rehm Show.

Yarmuth's office says he'll likely be on for about ten minutes around 10:15 am. 

As the Ohio River Bridges Project moves slowly forward, and as the opposition shows no signs of weakening, WFPL takes a look back at the first time highways were built in Louisville.

In this oral history, our experts recount a story of urban destruction, power plays, citizen activism and the pursuit of progress. The guests are:

No facilities are expected to close now that Kentucky youth services agencies Bellewood and Brooklawn have merged, but some staff members may lose jobs.

The new entity, called Uspiritus, will provide  foster care, counseling and psychiatric treatment. The agencies are also partnered with Jefferson County Public Schools and offer alternative education programs.

Since last fall, actor Alec Baldwin has been producing an interview podcast for WNYC in New York called Here's the Thing.

It's great. And if you haven't been listening to it, here's your chance. WFPL is airing five radio specials of Here's the Thing all next week at 7 p.m. (relax, Q fans, Jian will be back the following week). 

Guests for the week include:

In a message posted online Monday afternoon, the Improv Comedy Club in Fourth Street Live downtown announced its permanent closure.

The club has been in the venue for about three years. Baltimore-based Cordish operates Fourth Street Live and owns the lease on the space. Online, the Improv gives no reason for the closure.

"They didn't say and we didn't ask," says Mayor's spokesman Chris Poynter. "Cordish called us last week to let us know [the closure] was coming down the pike."

It's the most unsettling sentence in print this week, on the front page of Sunday's New York Times. "The meat of American racehorses may be too toxic to eat safely because the horses have been injected repeatedly with drugs."

Calling it "the gift that keeps on giving," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has given his wife Alexandra Gerassimides a new municipal wheeled recycling bin for Christmas.

In a video released by the Mayor's office, Fischer presents the gift to his wife an unorthodox three weeks before the Christmas holiday. The video shows the gift was a surprise, though Fischer dropped hints in the hours leading up to the gift's presentation.

Dr. Eben Alexander says there is a heaven. Dr. Eben Alexander says he's been there. Dr. Eben Alexander says he has scientific proof of both of those things. And Dr. Eben Alexander says he is that proof.

Alexander, his epiphany and his crusade aren't as well known as his original thesis, which was proclaimed on the cover of Newsweek in October. 

Looking for the latest edition of ESPN Magazine, Esquire or Elle? How about Knit Magazine or Bloomberg Business Week? Well, if you're a Louisville Free Public Library member, look no further.