Got questions on how to make your gravy or cranberry sauce? Need some stories of reflection and gratitude? Blue Ridge Public Radio is pleased to offer our schedule of 2020 Thanksgiving holiday music and talk programs, including some seasonal favorites like Giving Thanks and Turkey Confidential and some new specials, like Top of Mind’s celebration of Indigenous history and traditions and NPR’s examination of food insecurity. Listen on-air, stream online or on BPR’s free mobile app.
Thanksgiving, Thursday November 26, 2020
Giving Thanks - BPR Classic
10:00 AM-Noon
Giving Thanks offers a contemporary celebration of gratitude, with classical music and stories of Thanksgiving. This year we celebrate Thanksgiving alongside the 250 year anniversary of Beethoven's birth. A Fall inspired selection of works, like the Pastoral Symphony, provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving.
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas helps commemorate the life of Beethoven and the spirt of Thanksgiving. American poets Rita Dove and Ted Kooser help usher in the Giving Thanks by reading a selection of poems that help celebrate the season. Whether you are early in the kitchen, on the road to a family gathering, or relaxing after the feast, Giving Thanks provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words.
Turkey Confidential – BPR Classic and BPR News
Noon-2:00 PM
Thanksgiving is full of high expectations, a huge menu and a house full of guests – which can make for a stressful day or two in the kitchen. That’s why holiday cooks, hosts and eaters tune into The Splendid Table’s “Turkey Confidential” on Thanksgiving morning. 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.
Top of Mind: Native Land Acknowledgement, Sioux Chef, Indigenous Thanksgiving – BPR Classic and BPR News
2:00-3:00 PM (Repeats Friday on BPR News 8:00PM-9:00 PM)
In this special Thanksgiving episode, an exploration of the indigenous history of the land we live on, an interview with Lakota Sioux Chef Sean Sherman author of the James Beard Award-winning cookbook, “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen,” and a conversation with Bruce Forbes, Retired Chair of the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at Morningside College, about the myth of the first Thanksgiving. The show closes with three perspectives on gratitude and the best ways to practice it.
Every Good Thing – BPR Classic
7:00 PM-8:00 PM
On Thanksgiving, host Andrea Blain and classical music fans from all around the country take some time to give thanks and celebrate one of life's most meaningful gifts: music. It's "Every Good Thing" — an hour of stories and music to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Friday November 27, 2020
NPR Special Food Insecurity – BPR News
9:00 AM-10:00 AM (Repeats Saturday November 28, 3:00 PM-4:00 PM)
NPR's Michel Martin hosts an hour exploring the extent of food insecurity in the United States and how the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Through interviews and reported pieces, Martin breaks down the scale of hunger in the U.S., the systems currently in place to help people get access to food, the personal toll of being food insecure, and the role that schools play in distributing food to people in need. The show features reporting from Harvest Public Media and NPR reporters and tells the stories of those who experience food insecurity on a daily basis.
