Join WRKF as we mark the Thanksgiving with these special programs highlighting food, eating, gathering, and reflection on the spirit of gratitude.
My Life as a Wild Turkey
Thursday, November 24 at 10am
Hear stories about turkeys, indigenous traditions of gratitude, and indigenous cuisine.
World-renowned naturalist Joe Hutto, subject of the Emmy winning BBC documentary "My Life As a Turkey", discusses how he became a wild turkey mother in the hammocks of Florida.
Fourth-generation pilot Eric Walden gives a play-by-play of the ninja-like moves of the wild turkey—mid-air.
The once-scorned bronze-feathered turkey is making a comeback, with the help of organic, free-range farmers like Paul Kelly.
Also, a look at the indigenous perspective of a Thanksgiving table. Anton Treuer, author of Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, shares how he and his family give thanks.
And Minnesota Chef Sean Sherman gives us a taste of pre-contact American Indian cuisine.
Turkey Confidential
Thursday, November 24 at 11am
In our annual Thanksgiving show, Francis Lam takes calls and comes to the rescue of Thanksgiving cooks, kitchen helpers, and inner guests during the biggest cooking day of the year.
Featured guests:
- Claire Saffitz, YouTube star and author of Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence: A Baking Book.
- Rick Martinez co-host of the Borderline Salty podcast and author of Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico.
- Jesse Sparks, host of The One Recipe and Senior Editor at Eater.
Giving Thanks
Thursday, November 24 at 1pm
Each year, Giving Thanks shares music and stories that reflect the meaning of gratitude on Thanksgiving.
Special guest Ada Limon is the new U.S. Poet Laureate. She joins our Thanksgiving table to read her poems and talk about how poetry amplifies gratitude. We’ll also revisit other U.S. Poets Laureate who have been guests on the program, including Billy Collins, Rita Dove, and Ted Kooser.
Gravy: Adaptation, Survival, Gratitude
A Lumbee Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 24 at 7pm
At this point, most of us know the Thanksgiving story about the Pilgrims and the Indians happily indulging in a joint feast is a vast oversimplification of what actually happened.
But how many of us still have an idea of Native people that’s stuck in the past? “People didn’t believe that I was Native because I was from North Carolina,” Lumbee Indian Malinda Maynor Lowery says. “The only thing they learned about Indians in school, maybe, was that we were removed from the Southeast.”
In this Thanksgiving special, meet a tribe of Indians who are very much still in the Southeast– and whose food reflects a distinct hybrid of Southern and Native history. The Lumbee’s story is one that spans centuries, and includes new windows into periods you may think you know– like the Jim Crow era.
