Saturdays at 9:00 pm
Unique weekly series featuring songs, silliness, and show tunes
Original and offbeat, this three-hour Saturday night romp presents fresh new singer-songwriters alongside well-known artists who have played at Chicago area clubs, concert venues, festivals, and on the comedy scene. Inclusive, high-energy, and always entertaining, The Midnight Special offers listeners a lively potpourri of folk songs, ballads and blues, showtunes, spoken word, and hilarious novelty routines. Escape into the stories, experience the emotions, and let loose with a good guffaw whenever you tune in. Get onboard here, on wfmt.com, or use the WFMT app. The Midnight Special first aired in 1953 with Mike Nichols as host. View The Midnight Special archived playlists.
You might also be interested in WFMT's weekly series Folkstage featuring a one-hour folk concert.
The Midnight Special is available for free streaming in two different ways – live during the broadcast and on demand via the rights-compliant 5-hour, non-interactive player below within two weeks of the broadcast.
Beat the Heat!
Have you heard about the heat? The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts an unusually hot July this year, and we feel it! Despite the summer swelter, we’ve got some cool tunes on tap.
July Celebrations
This date presents a confluence of historic events and celebrations including Steve Goodman’s birthday, Bob Dylan plugging in at Newport, and the famous photo of a face on Mars snapped by NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft.
Folk Gets Sirius!
Songs about The Dog Days of August and mythical and earthly creatures. And happy 95th birthday to Ramblin’ Jack Elliot.
