In preparation of cooking their own turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, Alec and Nick make a broad comparison of the venerable bird to the production of music albums and the heights and depths of American culture. Topics include tensions around suspicion and comfort, the trauma of American capitalist and familial ritual, obsessive indexing and preparation tactics, gratitude as radical subjectivity, and the carnal reveries of desiring-production. Referencing everything Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom" to Fernando Zalamea's "American—An Integral Weave: Transversality, Borders, and Abysses in 19th & 20th Century American Culture," the discussion ends up staging a culinary conversation that hybridizes wet and dry brine turkey cooking methods.

Opening mix: "The Splendid Table Theme Song" performed by Rachel Solomon (Piano), Chris Autry (Bass) & Brett Byars (Drums).

Opening theme music: Xander Seren

Closing music: "The Splendid Table Theme Song" performed by Rachel Solomon (Piano), Chris Autry (Bass) & Brett Byars (Drums).