Segment from American as Pumpkin Pie

No, Thanks

The Thanksgiving meal we consider to be traditional — turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie — would have likely disgusted the Pilgrims. Peter, Ed and Brian talk to historian James McWilliams about what early Americans would have eaten on holidays.

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Touchdown, Thanksgiving!

Watching football is as much a part of an American Thanksgiving as stuffing and cranberry sauce. Brian talks to Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys QB Roger Staubach about what is was like to take the field on this holiday.

00:05:47

Let’s Have A Parade

The hosts talk about how Thanksgiving day parades entertained the women and children while the men enjoyed games.

00:02:47

Pardon Me

The hosts talk to a caller from Sweden about the strange American tradition of pardoning a turkey.

00:04:10

The Tradition Is In The Repetition

The hosts take another listener call about the very first Thanksgiving. Turns out it was in St. Augustine, Florida in September 1565.

00:03:57

All Hale Thanksgiving

In the 1820s, Sarah Hale, a New England widow and the editor of Gody’s Ladies Book made it her mission to get Thanksgiving recognized as a national holiday. Ed talks to Anne Blue Wills, a religion scholar at Davidson College, about how Hale’s 30 year campaign eventually paid off in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War.

00:14:42

“A Stranger In My Homeland”

Rose, a Native American woman, talks to the hosts about what Thanksgiving means to Indigenous Peoples.

00:04:16

No, Thanks

The Thanksgiving meal we consider to be traditional — turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie — would have likely disgusted the Pilgrims. Peter, Ed and Brian talk to historian James McWilliams about what early Americans would have eaten on holidays.

00:07:28

Butterball University

This time, the hosts take a call from a listener who works at the Butterball Turkey company hotline, about the kinds of questions they get from customers on Thanksgiving day.

00:05:38