Thanksgiving Best Of: Revolution; Indigenous History; Military Clothing; 100 Years of Thanksgiving Celebrations; Family Words

On this Thanksgiving, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations:

• Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, and co-director Sarah Botstein talk about their new, 12-part docuseries on PBS called "The American Revolution," which is being released just ahead of next year's 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
• Julian Brave NoiseCat, writer, filmmaker and student of Salish art and history and the author of We Survived the Night (Knopf, 2025), talks about his new book, the story of North American indigenous people through his reporting and his own story, all in the style of a traditional "coyote story."
• Avery Trufelman, host of the podcast "Articles of Interest," talks about the new season of her podcast, where she explores the link between the U.S. military and the clothes we all wear, like t-shirts, hoodies and other exercise gear.
• As part of our WNYC centennial series, Kenneth C. Davis, author of the "Don't Know Much About History" series and most recently, The World in Books: 52 Works of Great Short Nonfiction (Scribner, 2024), reviews the history of the American Thanksgiving holiday and how it has changed over the past 100 years.
• A Washington Post article explained how most families have a secret language that only they understand, or a "familect" as some lingusts call it. Listeners share the words in their family that only they use, which are often conjured in the minds of small children and then used for years down the road.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

Ken Burns on The American Revolution (Oct 31, 2025)

Indigenous Peoples' Story (Oct 13, 2025)

The Military's Influence on What We Wear (Oct 21, 2025)

100 Years of 100 Things: How We Think About Thanksgiving (Nov 27, 2024)

Your Family's 'Secret Language' (Sep 15, 2025 and Oct 6, 2025)