Hi, it's John here, Happy Thanksgiving Weekend. We thought we'd interrupt our normal service

this week to replay one of our favourite episodes of Checks and Balance. It's our Thanksgiving

special from last year when John Fasman, Jarl Howe and I discussed American's love of

meat and whether they might eat a bit less of it. Listen out for John preparing Thanksgiving

Turkey with his sons. This year, he smoked to Turkey and, being Fasman, has made his own

cucumber kimchi. We've got lots planned for Checks and Balance for the rest of the year.

It's going to be a busy time. There's the Georgia runoff election. The Supreme Court is

hearing arguments in a really important case that could transform the way America runs

elections. And there's lots on congresses to do list in the lame duck session. Plus, we're

going to have a couple of special episodes over Christmas where Charlotte will be reporting

from Alaska, camping in the wilderness, and talking about a state that's a big oil producer

and is also on the frontier of climate change. We'll all be back next week, but for now,

enjoy the episode.

Mary's Lamb is a poem that tells the story of a little girl who brought her pet to school

because everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. The verse from 1830 is better

known as the basis for the nursery rhyme Mary had a little lamb. As beloved as it is, it's

not the greatest contribution to American culture made by the writer Sarah Giuseppe Hale.

That was making Thanksgiving a national holiday. Already celebrated in parts of New England,

including Hale's native New Hampshire, she thought that spreading it across America

would be a welcome unifier at a time of growing tensions between North and South. By 1854,

more than 30 states and territories officially marched the day, but it wasn't until nearly

a decade later that Hale achieved her goal. Writing to President Lincoln in September 1863,

...