Public radio stations are marking the Thanksgiving holiday with special programming.

On classical WQED-FM (89.3), John Birge hosts "Giving Thanks," a special featuring music and stories, along with reflections on the meaning of Thanksgiving (Thursday at 6 p.m.); "A Simple Thanksgiving," with music to create a quiet after-dinner mood (Thursday at 8 p.m.); and "The Thanksgiving Visitor" -- Truman Capote reading his 1967 short story (Thursday at 11 p.m.).

WQED's Friday programming includes American choral classics in "Harvest Home: Thanksgiving with the Dale Warland Singers" (Friday at 6 p.m.). Stephen Baum hosts a "Holidays in Pittsburgh" edition of "Performance in Pittsburgh," with the Mendelssohn Choir, Heinz Chapel Choir, organist Richard Szeremany and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony (Friday at 7 p.m.).

Jazz/NPR WDUQ-FM (90.5) will air the "2008 National Heritage Concert," a two-hour special featuring performance highlights from the National Heritage Fellowship ceremony, in which the National Endowment for the Arts recognizes folk and traditional artists (Thursday at 1 p.m.).

The Thanksgiving lineup on adult alternative WYEP-FM (91.3) includes "Live & Direct from WYEP Studios" -- highlights of recorded WYEP studio sessions from 2008 (Thursday at 6 a.m.); "Live Thanksgiving Mix" with Joey Spehar (Thursday at 8 a.m.); "Thanksgiving Mix" with Rosemary Welsch, featuring songs of the season (Thursday at 11 a.m., repeats Thursday at 8 p.m.); "Third Coast Audio Festival," a two-hour broadcast of winning entries in the annual radio documentary competitions (Thursday at 1 p.m.); "Beatles 40th White Album Anniversary," a three-hour special hosted by Paul Ingles (Thursday at 3 p.m.).

-- Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette