Podcast Summary: Decisions, Decisions – Ep. 39 | “Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie, $5 Indians and Football”

Hosts: Mandii B and (Producers) Jason Rodriguez & Aaron A. King Howard
Podcast: Decisions, Decisions (The Black Effect & iHeartPodcasts)
Date: November 25, 2025
Episode Theme: A comedic, unfiltered exploration of Thanksgiving’s history, traditions, and taboos with deep dives into food, family, football, and the holiday's problematic past.

Episode Overview

This special Thanksgiving episode fuses humor, history, and honesty as Mandii B and her co-hosts break down the realities of Thanksgiving—from its murky historical origins to family dynamics and the cultural rituals (and myths) that shape the holiday in America. Expect candid conversations about problematic history, culinary confessions, family drama, the economics of Black Friday, and the all-consuming presence of football.

Key Discussion Points

1. Thanksgiving’s Real History & Cultural Myths

Main topics:

• Hosts dress in costumes poking fun at school-taught Thanksgiving myths.
• Skepticism over what’s still taught in schools about Pilgrims and Native Americans.
• Discussion around the sanitized, friendly narrative versus the true history involving colonization and Native displacement.

Notable Moments:

• [06:48] Mandii B: “I did not want to make this any sort of humiliation ritual. That’s not even my kink... The idea of what this holiday is, or at least what they teach us in schools. Right, right.”
• [08:12] Mandii B: “...They made it seem like we saw these really kind, well-dressed, dark-skinned people with feathers and was like, yo, y’all hungry? ...And then next thing you know, gentrification.”

Insight: The hosts emphasize how popular culture—cartoons like ‘Mouse on the Mayflower’ or ‘Charlie Brown’—has perpetuated a fantasy version of Thanksgiving that whitewashes its violent, colonial roots ([22:39]).

• $5 Indians Explained
  • [09:35] Aaron A. King Howard introduces the concept: “Maybe the disease wasn’t just, you know, viral diseases. Maybe it was also paperwork. Maybe it was also reclassification...the so-called $5 Indians.”
  • [09:47] Jason Rodriguez and Aaron explain how white settlers paid to fraudulently claim Native status to access land rights ([09:45–12:12]).
    • Quote: “So some white individuals bribed government officials for as little as $5 to facilitate fraudulent enrollment.” – Jason Rodriguez [10:25].

Historical Reflection:

• Capitalism and marketing have fundamentally shaped what Thanksgiving means now: “This is really one of those where it’s like, hey, we gotta get these people spend their hard-earned dollars.” – Mandii B [13:22].

2. Food Fights, Family, and Boundaries

Key Cooking Confessions:

• Mandii B is the collard greens queen, adapting recipes for pork and non-pork eaters ([14:46]).
• The convenience of “glory greens” bagged collards as “cheat code.”
• Shoutouts to family members and traditions around kitchen “labor”—especially mothers and grandmothers doing days of prep ([16:08]).
• “Greens is my thing that I cook every year. I can cook. For those of y’all who might… I throw down.” – Mandii B [14:52].

Food & Culture notes:

• Corn pudding, “elote,” and the Native cultivation of corn (debated/mocked among hosts) ([16:05]–[17:45]).
• The cultural blend and adaptation—how foods shift and what becomes “soul food” or “American tradition.”

Family & Gratitude:

• Family surprises, DNA revelations, and navigating multi-cultural backgrounds ([32:50]–[36:29]).
• “So my mama finally found out...her daddy was not her daddy...She was so distraught that there was no lineage…she said, bitch, I’m real white and mostly German, actually.” – Mandii B [34:02].
• The realities of Friendsgiving for those far from family or with chosen families ([76:53]–[78:29]).

3. Football, Black Friday, and Capitalism

Football & Thanksgiving:

• Origins: Detroit Lions created Thanksgiving games as a marketing gimmick in 1934; Cowboys copied years later, locking both teams into the tradition ([41:47]–[42:40]).
• “It was just some, like, marketing shit…then Cowboys copied because they saw it was doing well.” – Jason Rodriguez [42:04].

Debate: Who is ‘America’s Team’ now?

• Move from the Cowboys to potentially the Kansas City Chiefs, reflecting shifting representation in the league ([43:05]–[43:38]).

Black Friday—Origin Stories & Critiques:

• Initial naming by Philly police (referring to chaos/traffic, potentially racist undertones) vs. retail mythology about “getting into the black” ([45:54]–[46:54]).
• “Retailers tried to call it Big Friday...But Philly police—they called it Black Friday...It feels like that’s just a cover up for racism.” – Jason Rodriguez [46:08].
• Evolving culture from frenzied lines to online “Cyber Monday” ([47:08]).
• “Hey, it's not fully organized, but online, they've been trying to boycott Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, from now to the end of the year.” – Mandii B [48:50].

Economic Reflection:

• Commentary on recession denial, job reports, and the government’s manipulation of economic data ([49:24]–[50:14]).

4. Food Hot Takes: Bests, Worsts & Food Fights

Most Controversial Thanksgiving Foods:

• Worst:

  • Stuffing: “It’s like 12th on the list of shit on the table, mashed up.” – Jason Rodriguez [51:43].
  • Casserole: "Once you say cream of mushroom, throw it away." – Aaron A. King Howard [53:33].

• Sweet Potato Pie vs. Pumpkin Pie:

  • “...That shit and sweet potato pie is the same motherfucker.” – Mandii B [54:49].
  • “Same mom, different dad.” – Jason Rodriguez [54:16].

• Alternate Choices:

  • “Unless you make oxtail. I love oxtail, but that's…” – Mandii B [78:29].

Food Fun Facts:

• Eggs are “period eggs”—an educational, slightly offbeat fact from Mandii B ([57:03]).
• “We are eating period eggs. It's just...they're ovulation eggs that weren't fertilized because they wasn't fucking.” – Mandii B [57:34].

5. Celebrity Cloning, Technology, and the Future

• Tom Brady clones his dog; Paris Hilton and Barbra Streisand have done the same ([64:32]–[70:07]).
• Debate on ethics, technology, and the nature of loss.
• “If they make it affordable...I absolutely would not be surprised if this becomes a more widely done thing...” – Mandii B [70:07].

6. Am I Ignorant? Segment

Hosts tackle hot (occasionally ignorant) opinions about Thanksgiving.

• Noted that Thanksgiving is not about material gifts, but about time with family and community ([74:00]–[77:10]).
• Quote: “Spending time with people because life be lifein actually becomes a greater gift for most people.” – Mandii B [75:24].

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “They gentrified the fuck out of the land. And somehow they brought all their little diseases because we know white people don’t wash their legs.” – Mandii B [08:12]
• “So some white individuals bribed government officials for as little as $5 to facilitate fraudulent enrollment.” – Jason Rodriguez [10:25]
• “This is really one of those where it’s like, hey, we gotta get these people spend their hard-earned dollars.” – Mandii B [13:22]
• “[Thanksgiving is] just eating a turkey. You don’t get a present or anything. Humans just have a selfish nature. So when faced with a holiday for thankfulness, we often overlook it.” – Jason Rodriguez [74:00]
• “...The gratitude in that comes from maybe someone whose love language isn’t gift giving or receiving.” – Mandii B [75:31]

Outstanding Moments

• Humor: The costume humiliation ritual and ongoing jokes about ignorance, blended with sharp wit.
• Personal Stories: DNA revelations in Mandii’s family ([33:06]), and Aaron’s first Thanksgiving without his mother: “This is going to be the first holiday in my lifetime in my existence that I won’t have my mom...when it’s all said and done, that’s all you got.” – Aaron A. King Howard [80:13].
• Cultural Critique: Deconstruction of capitalist invention behind holidays (Thanksgiving, Black Friday, etc.).
• Realness: Conversations about food insecurity, economic struggles, and the importance of chosen family.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:58 – Ads, show intro (skip)
• 04:05 – Opening: Thanksgiving myths and costumes
• 09:45–12:12 – “$5 Indians” immigrant reclassification & land access
• 13:21–16:55 – Capitalism, food traditions, grocery shortages
• 22:29–24:39 – Thanksgiving stories in media: Cartoons, pop culture
• 41:36–43:56 – Football traditions: Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys history
• 45:44–47:48 – Black Friday name and its true origins
• 50:30–54:53 – Food arguments: Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato vs. pumpkin pie
• 64:32–70:33 – Celebrity dog cloning and tech ethics
• 74:00–78:29 – “Am I Ignorant?”: Unpopular opinions about Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, leftovers
• 80:13–81:43 – Reflections on family, first holidays after loss
• 82:46–83:59 – Final gratitude, wrap-up

Tone

Bold, comedic, active. The hosts are irreverent but insightful, breaking taboos with laughter and vulnerability while challenging listeners to rethink what they know about Thanksgiving, family, and cultural tradition—all in the spirit of “selective ignorance.”

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to look past the sanitized story of Thanksgiving—and laugh about the messy, delicious, occasionally absurd, and very real complexity beneath America’s most iconic holiday. Expect hot takes, fierce family stories, pop culture riffs, and plenty of turkey-roasting (metaphorically and literally).

Recommended If You Want:

• To laugh a lot, question everything, and unlearn the "official" history of Thanksgiving.
• Relatable stories about cooking, family, and negotiating multiple cultural identities.
• Permission to eat (and laugh about) the same food for days—and question why turkey even made the cut.