Midnight Special

In 1953, the late Mike Nichols, (then a WFMT announcer who went on to become one of the most respected stage and film directors), developed The Midnight Special as a showcase for recorded folk music.  Over the years, The Midnight Special has evolved into an eclectic mixture of song and story that attracts not only a loyal following, but also new, younger listeners with each broadcast.  They hear an incredibly diverse selection of artists, from the traditional to the contemporary:  Pete Seeger and The Weavers, Joan Baez, Dom Flemons, Tom Paxton, Ani DiFranco, Beausoleil, Guy Davis, Anais Mitchell, and Rhiannon Giddens, to name a few, along with comedy from the likes of Jim Gaffigan, Aparna Nancherla, Zarna Garg, and Mitchell & Webb. Material comes from an unrivaled library of over 13,000 CDs, 5,000 LPs and 55 years of live concert and studio recordings that began with Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy in a concert that became a Folkways album.

The Midnight Special’s host Marilyn Rea Beyer came aboard in September 2020. A seasoned broadcaster, educator, writer, poet and storyteller, Marilyn was on-air midday host and music director for Boston’s WUMB from 1995-2015. She has also taught speech communication and writing for the media, among her many pursuits. “I have loved The Midnight Special since my teens,” she says, and relishes “the active listener engagement, the quirks and surprises, and the pursuit of fresh material that has made the show a radio legend.”