Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and coach and I created this podcast for English students who want to get better in their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast. 

Today, we’re diving into Thanksgiving—what it is, why Americans celebrate it, and the surprising chaos that follows the very next day: Black Friday.

So, what is Thanksgiving? It’s celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year in the United States. This year it will be on the 28th of November. Families and friends gather to feast on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie. The idea is to give thanks for the good things in life. Sounds great, right?

But the origins? A little more complicated.

Thanksgiving goes back to 1621, when the Pilgrims—early settlers who had arrived in America on the Mayflower—celebrated their first successful harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Harvest is the period of the year when farmers pick and collect crops. And guess who helped them survive that first difficult winter and also with the first successful harvest? Native Americans. They taught the settlers how to grow crops, hunt, and fish.

In the beginning, the settlers were very happy and grateful. But in the long run, it didn’t go well for the Native Americans. As the years went by, settlers slowly took their land, spread diseases, and eventually pushed them onto reservations. If Thanksgiving is about gratitude, it’s worth remembering that the Native Americans probably didn’t get much of it.

Today, some Native Americans observe Thanksgiving as a National Day of Mourning (mourning is a behavior in which you show sadness about a person’s death or something extremely sad). It’s a bittersweet reminder that the holiday isn’t all about turkey and pumpkin pie.

Okay, back to the present day. For most Americans, Thanksgiving is all about food, family, and football.

Here’s how it usually goes:

1. The Parade: Many people start the day by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s a huge spectacle with balloons, marching bands, and floats.
2. The Feast: The turkey is the star of the show. Interesting fact: Around 46 million turkeys are eaten every Thanksgiving in the U.S. Poor birds, I feel quite sorry for them. And also one fun fact: One turkey gets a pardon from the president and it is not eaten that year. That one bird is very lucky. Those other 46 million birds… not that much.
3. Thankfulness: Families often go around the table and share what they’re thankful for. It’s a sweet moment, though it might be a little awkward if you’re not feeling particularly grateful that day.
4. Football: After eating way too much, people collapse on the couch to watch NFL games. It’s almost as much a part of the tradition as the food itself. I don’t know that much about American football but my friend Audrey, whom I am visiting for Christmas this year in Seattle, bought us tickets for an NFL game. I am super excited to watch it live!

Now, let’s talk about what happens the very next day—Black Friday.

If Thanksgiving is about gratitude, Black Friday is about the complete opposite. It’s the biggest shopping day of the year, when people line up at stores, sometimes for hours, to get the best deals on TVs, clothes, and gadgets.

Let’s look at some wild Black Friday stats:

• In 2022, Americans spent over $9 billion online on Black Friday alone.
• Over 100 million people physically went to stores. Some even camped out overnight. Which means that they built tents in front of the store so that they are the first people in the store. Can you imagine? Having Thanksgiving dinner and then packing your tent and going camping in front of the local Tesco? And then fight with other people over things on discount? Sounds lovely!

And it’s not just the chaos—it’s the irony. After a day supposedly dedicated to gratitude and togetherness, Black Friday is just the peak day of consumerism. It’s like saying, “I’m so thankful for what I have…but I need a 75% discount on that new TV! And look, a new blender!”

Here’s the thing: Thanksgiving and Black Friday perfectly capture two sides of American culture. On one hand, there’s this beautiful idea of coming together to appreciate what we have. On the other, there’s the never-ending journey to have more, more, more—often at someone else’s expense.

The idea of the holiday is very nice but I feel like it is getting lost. I hope we can focus a little more on gratitude and a little less on getting that discounted flat-screen TV. 

Okay no, gather around! Everyone, say what you are grateful for. I will start. I am really grateful for the fact that this is a podcast and not a video because I couldn’t sleep tonight for some unknown reason and only managed to get two hours of sleep… and I look like a death. The only color in my face today is the color of the circles under my eyes, I love it. 

And what are you grateful for? 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget that you can find the transcription and vocabulary list in the notes. Please give it a five-star rating if you liked it and I will see you next time, bye-bye.