Thanksgiving: A new look at old traditions

Hour 1
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which will bring many of us around a table with family over a big turkey dinner. It’s a holiday built around a founding myth, of the peaceful feast enjoyed by Native Americans and Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. Today on Radio Times, we’ll look at how modern Thanksgivings are represented on film and in popular culture, and what those portrayals tell us about the holiday and ourselves. Our guest LUANNE ROTH is a folklorist who teaches in the University of Missouri’s English Department and whose doctoral thesis focuses on the social, sexual, racial, and postcolonial politics of Thanksgiving. Then, we’ll shift gears to talk to Philadelphia anthropologist and author JANET THEOPHANO about how Italian-Americans have integrated the Thanksgiving meal into their celebration of this uniquely American holiday.
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[audio: 112509_100630.mp3]