History Professor Ranks Top 5 Holidays • Top 5 Beatdown
[Music] hi i'm ryan i'm shane and welcome to top five beat down a show where we compare top fives for topics that seem completely asinine yet somehow garner strong opinions and to add some credibility to the mix we compare our top fives to that of an expert in the field today's topic is us holidays today's expert is host of origin of everything on pbs and currently a professor at northwestern university please welcome to the void danielle beanbridge thank you for coming on danielle i'm really happy to be here thanks for having me what do you teach at northwestern so i teach classes in the department of theater african american studies and performance studies so that basically means i teach history and theater and performance how will that history aid you today in your listing well i'm hoping that it gives people the impression that i have a lot of authority about what i'm speaking about even though this is mostly emotion driven and irrational but mostly i'm speaking from the heart today that's fair not the head but the heart we all know what our relation to the holidays is they're fun we like them let's talk about them let's go quickly around the table though to talk about if there's anything you want to warn the audience about i think my caveat would be that there are some hybrid holidays that i've included on my list so things that are kind of like a holiday slash something more going to leave it at that keep it mysterious so that people come back wanting more the opposite and not wanting any more let's go to shane i'll say my list is really based primarily on celebration and the memories that i have and less so on importance you know i thought about putting teacher's day on this list okay now he's sucking up that's good well no no i was like come on man he's giving you the metaphorical apple there okay i can show you my notes same right i resent this you are gonna actually list a holiday right you're not gonna say something like uh a day when people are happy because this list is coming to you from the guy who ranked his top dog you know those dogs you see every now and then on a train no no no no i said like the sort of dog you'd see jumping off a train yeah like a like a hobo dog that jumps trains yes exactly right you know i'm pretty proud of this list i i have no reservations about any of my options and i feel like they're all frankly fire picks it's big talk uh with that being said let's listen list my number five is thanksgiving and it's not just because right now it's a week out from thanksgiving but it's also because i just love the foods the foods of thanksgiving are superior to other holidays it's carb heavy it's cheese heavy it's gravy heavy i think that there's nothing wrong with thanks i mean except for the genocide part of it obviously that's very wrong about thanksgiving it's probably it's probably worth noting at the top here i think it's very important to note several u.s holidays are associated with things that are uh reprehensible or deeply rooted and problematic you all know this the history of america was written in blood and we all know that's exactly it's a commonly known fact so i mean for our audience you know spoiler alert if you've ever watched my channel it's like uh someone commented the other day where it's like i'm ready to feel sad but educated i was like okay if i could bring that into the world so thanksgiving is sad in some ways but i just i love the thanksgiving foods so it reigns supreme for that reason five is a little low for thanksgiving interesting i don't know i mean there were some better holidays that kind of scrapped up higher up shane you got anything to say about this one are you gonna reserve judgment here i you know i struggled with thanksgiving as i often do people really love it i do love the food it didn't make my list whoa it didn't make my list and i'm as shocked as you guys are you're gonna have to defend that why why do you hate thanksgiving i will defend it because really the food for me is all it's got going for it other than seeing your family right i guess you hate family time yeah i guess you hate your family shane could you say to the camera really quickly hi my name is shane moday and i hate my family i'm not gonna say that ryan hi i'm shane midday and i hate my family unbelievable i would love a super cut of that just on repeat i'm really struggling with this don't hurt yourself you know what my number five is thanksgiving wait what the what uh i'm calling it an audible here okay we him into putting it on his lips you know there's been there's been two wolves in my mind lately my thanksgivings have been really fun because we've been going to connecticut and that's it's beautiful actually jersey for thanksgiving jersey huh yeah you basically just said connecticut and new jersey are the same we go to connecticut we drive to new jersey from there oh that's unusual i thought you would fly to new jersey and go to what am i saying i don't know where your family lives i shouldn't be contributing to this conversation i mean the leftover star i mean the leftovers the leftovers alone really merited a place on the list it's great the day of it's perfect the day afterwards when you're like a little hungover it's early and you're like what do i want for breakfast stuffing why not stuffing my potential number five was new year's eve which is a just a garbage holiday that i really enjoy i get tired i get tired i don't know maybe that makes me an old man danielle's just saying yeah thinking maybe it's on her list i'm not revealing anything i'm playing the poker face sorry my my number five was not very eventful and i changed it at the last second well i gotta say shane i disagree even though you did take new year's off there were fireworks at your number five ryan i really love that comment i'm going to start it out early here and give you a chef's kiss oh wow thank you i appreciate that to you and a little sweet one did you notice how sweet that was just sort of i didn't notice how sweet it was yeah it's a sweet one to close out the season i'm gonna move to my number five here and it's a bit of a wild card oh boy cinco de mayo oh another controversial choice go for it that is true it is it is controversial now a lot of people think this is a holiday to celebrate mexican independence day it's not it's it's actually for a little known battle called the battle of puebla it was basically a battle where the the french tried to uh strong-arm mexico and take them over it looked bad going in like the odds were stacked against mexico and being the feisty little country that we are we just fought back has it become very much americanized to the sense that there's no real significance to why it started in the first place absolutely and now in the us it's basically a day where being half mexican mexican culture centers a lot around drinking i don't know what to tell you it's we enjoy our drink we enjoy tequila we enjoy cerveza this is the day when you could really go all out and just be like well it's for it's for my culture hey man i respect it you know what i i will respect it for my college memories or lack thereof i guess is really because i don't have a lot of clear memories i'm sick but a mile from college cinco de mayo cinco's in the name it's my number five oh that's fun see that deserves wow we're getting them out early oh yeah there it is yeah that was that was well planned i like a little coordination so this is one of the hybrid ones so halloween is my number four but the historic version of that that i was like i really wish we still celebrated this hospital day was baccanellia oh yeah which was basically the celebration of the god bacchus or dionysus and it's like a day of revelry and celebration and he's the god of excess and drunkenness when i think about that holiday i was like it'd be fun if we still had that but i feel like halloween kind of takes that place in my adult life so i'm willing to let them share the number four spot yeah halloween sort of has a similar spirit to it in terms of like the devilry of the holidays also i like the costume aspect there's not a lot of opportunities for you to get dressed in costumes anymore the older you get and that's the thing about being a kid that was the best part is like getting to dress up as whatever you wanted every year i mean i have more to say about halloween but not right not right at this moment let's just move to your number four then shane mine number four yes that's right are you sure i'm pretty sure my number four is valentine's day valentine's day what the didn't make my list either no not even close i'm sorry well look i just think it's a very very sweet holiday i know there's a lot of people out there like it's only for people who are in love and i'll tell you i spent many many many valentine's days doing nothing at all wandering through this world uh a lonely cretan so i have every reason to despise this holiday yeah but uh now i love it because i have someone in my life who i love you know i think it just kicks ass man that's that on that folks and look i get it some of you out there are like it stinks totally get it i get it i don't think it stinks i just feel like you know it's very commercial agreed although i will say one year uh being single i did order like a dinner for two from a restaurant i really liked and had it delivered and i got both entrepreneurs yeah it was like the best really fast day ever has been um i'd like to point out though it's it's as commercial as you choose it to make it um it doesn't have to be it really doesn't have to be yeah so for me i celebrate what i have every day so that's that's just i don't really need jesus i really need the valentine's day mute i mute you ryan's not a romantic guy i'm the most romantic guy it's okay i'm a hard-hearted person too you know i used to be that way then my heart grew three sizes oh good quote good quote just a big old softy i respect that i respect that you love valentine's day you love love that's not something to be sneered at even though i'm sneering like i said i get it ryan come back into the fold and we'll take it away with your number four is arbitrary number four i just think it's rich that you describe yourself as a softie i've never seen this one take it away shed a tear my number four is oh you know what i'm gonna call an audible here what it was gonna be something else and now i'm gonna change it my number four is new year's eve what is going on here dude it wasn't even on your list and now it jumps to number four yeah you know what ryan honestly i'm thankful you did this because it makes my last minute switch out seem less egregious no i just think i thought about it a little bit more and i realized like you know what i like that holiday better than that holiday and the holidays replacing by the way is thanksgiving sorry uh okay got the boot the reason why i switched this this episode's a it's a mess man you know what it's sloppy and that's how i like my holidays but you know that around the world people are doing the exact same thing you are at that moment they're counting down and you're doing it as a species it's cool i love that people lie to themselves on new year's eve and say that i'm going to have all these resolutions that i'm never gonna do for a week we all fool ourselves and say ah a new year knew me and i like that optimism and it's also equally funny when that optimism is dashed to be quite honest i love a good fireworks show yeah and there's pageantry to it you kind of dress up if you want to i like how sparkly it is people wear sparkly outfits yeah i do love wearing like lots of sequins new year's eve is the time for sequin dresses it's conducive to that and particularly this year i know i'll be very happy to ring in 2021 i think this is actually coming out when 2021 is already here so hopefully that statement did not age poorly i can't even fathom a worse year than 2020 but on the same note i don't want to say that and then jinx 2021 cause that's what people were saying in 2019 and then look at us now if i had a time machine i would go back to new year's eve 2019 and i would just walk into new year's eve parties and say stop celebrating you have no idea what's coming my number three is a holiday only for people involved in the education system but first day of summer vacation oh wait that is good i respect this you know what whoa oh yeah he hasn't used his my calendar because i'm a professor is still very much in the same school calendar that everyone else had to deal with when they were kids or in college or in high school or whatever i tell my students all the time being a student is so hard i have a lot of empathy for students but i didn't realize until i became a professor how much harder it is to be a teacher and having that responsibility it's it's really stressful so the first day of summer vacation a great time of year and it's also when i get some free time for myself because we don't get you know vacation days in the same way that other people get vacation days that makes sense to get the holidays along with the students so it still has that great nostalgia feeling of you know like schools out for the summer you're never flying higher as a child than the last day of school because essentially all of your classes that day are bogus remember the thrill of like packing up your desk oh my god oh yeah oh the desks that lift up on the top oh yeah yeah yeah okay my number three is the fourth of july oh okay i get behind it well wait before you go my number three is also the fourth of july okay now let's talk about this i want to say first and foremost none of this is about celebrating america um i am not out here with uh dressing up like uncle sam wearing stars and stripes whatever shane's saying that now but he wears pants all the time that are basically just cut out pieces of the flag and he does say regularly that he's a patriot 4th of july represented sort of the apex of summer you were out of school you're eating a bunch of delicious meats chips and dip that you know that fireworks smell that just sort of permeates the air it's all over the place it's so good probably horrible for the environment but that's probably really bad kids running around in the streets uh music playing everywhere i love it when holidays or really anything uh gets people out of their houses and there's a sense of community to it that that is i think unrivaled when it comes to holidays for me i agree with you there's never been an overwhelming sense of patriotism in my heart when i celebrate this holiday for me you might as well rename this holiday to national beach and barbecue day as a nation we go hey everyone let's soak in some rays let's go in our backyard you know what while we're at it and we're getting sloppy let's blow some up let's put some dogs on the grill and i love that something is going crazy in my head um because you keep saying dogs instead of hot dogs i keep imagining like actual dogs on a grill it's like really confusing that's pretty messed up okay so my number two is new year's eve slash new year's day i spend new year's eve always usually with my friends so it's the same things that you guys have mentioned liking about new year's that's communal that you have the sense of a new beginning you could lie to yourself a little which why the hell not but new year's day my family has a tradition that we get together for brunch and we play bingo with all the little tchotchke things that you get for christmas that you don't want we bring it to bingo and then we play a very fierce bingo game where everyone gets you know their gifts redistributed kudos to you and your family for being lucid on new year's day because for me i actually can't open my eyeballs until january 2nd just because the hangover is so insane to me new year's day is national hangover day yeah it's a slow day for me too especially because i mean i'm an adult but the older adults in my family the older generation they do all the cooking on new year's so i help out on thanksgiving and christmas but new year's i'm like this is not my bag i'm hungover i threw up twice you guys could take care of me just like you've been doing my whole life my number two is halloween nice you know we've talked about how nice some of you mentioned cinco de mayo being great because it just sort of hits out of nowhere you celebrate there's not a lot of strings attached to it my top two have a lot of strings attached halloween always arrived uh just a couple months into the school year and it was always just a welcome treat all of october and even if you're feeling a little fancy you can even start in september but it's a it's an excuse to watch movies which i don't need much anyway yeah yeah i mean halloween proper especially in 2020 the worst year ever um i didn't do uh and there's been a few years in the past like five years and i'm like ah it doesn't matter still still great there's still an air of spookiness all around it's wonderful i love it my number two is christmas true yeah i got a feeling we're gonna see we might see this appear on somebody else's list uh you know it's the big dog i get that yeah that's the heavyweight it it's the height of consumerism for sure but what what are you gonna do who doesn't like opening presents as a kid christmas day was like the best day on earth you walk down you open presents disney would always have some sort of like christmas special on in the morning also christmas to me always meant laker basketball but no christmas day to me is not as fun now as all the stuff that precedes it which is the month beforehand when you have the christmas spirit you have all the decorations and the lights it's just a very jolly time everyone seems nicer in a better mood also my parents and i uh go caroling on christmas and uh that we push around a little booze cart and we drink while we care home well that sounds great i think you're gonna say you gave the booze to the people whose houses you went to and i was like that would be a great surprise to me to open a door free singing free booze but maybe i shouldn't take alcohol from strangers i'm sure they could use the booze after they hear the singing that's it for me well ryan how about a little more fanfare we've reached the top of our lists oh wait a second yeah let's move on to the number ones of our top five holiday list but before we do that actually let's have a word from our sponsor thank you to our sponsor surf shark vpn most internet users aren't even aware of the amount of surveillance limitation and data mining done with their personal information on a daily basis surfsharkvpn can get rid of all these problems for you with an easy to use one for all solution surfshark turns you into an anonymous and hard to trace online user and makes the internet a safer and more enjoyable place for you use promo code watcher to get 83 off plus three extra months for free surfshark offers a 30 day money back guarantee so there's no risk the link is in the description and now back to top 5 beatdown and our number ones number one another hybrid so i'm bringing in the big dog which is christmas there it is the slash is boxing day that's big in canada right yeah canada and like former uh british colonies so my family is jamaican i'm 100 my heritage jamaican we celebrate sometimes hangover colonial holidays that were introduced by the british empire boxing day for me is like christmas without the pressure so you don't have to worry if anyone liked your gifts you don't have to worry about seeing that aunt that you don't want to see i'm not saying this about any aunt in particular if my aunts are watching please i love you all you know you don't have to worry about any family obligations it's just a day to be you know sitting around with your pants unbuttoned eating the leftovers from christmas and sometimes we go see a play oh a play yeah so we'll go see like a broadway show i grew up in the suburbs of new york so i see that was always our christmas tradition post christmas was to do something on boxing day that's delight i like boxing day like the jolliness of christmas minus the pressure of consumerism so boxing day and christmas that is number one but they have to come together as a pair they can't be separated my number one no surprise here is christmas look i mean what what else do we have to say here it's christmas it's great i go to chicago i love watching christmas movies christmas movies like ryan said it's really a lot of the stuff leading up to it i love the season you know people think la doesn't have seasons but la does like get sort of magical around christmas it's the only time of the year where it starts to get kind of chilly it's kind of weird to see like sunny skies and no snow and christmas lights everywhere but it's got its own vibe this is definitely the second best uh holiday party you could have christmas parties are fun and and all of the uh fixins that come with them you got your white elephant you got your secret santa i hate to be like hey you get it but you get it let's move to my number one here bring us home bragu this is not a surprise not a shock it's spooky time baby it's halloween i look when it comes to the combination of the lead up to the actual holiday halloween is unmatched in my opinion like shane says you could start as early as september and in fact it officially does in an official capacity i would argue i mean i would like to take issue with that and say that it is matched because i think the lead up to christmas is potentially more potent than the lead up to halloween disagree okay then we'll disagree there's something about wanting to get scared wanting to be in a spooky atmosphere that's inherently fun and i think it's because you have to suspend your disbelief you have to really fully commit into just enjoying an experience it makes you very present i love that holiday i love the halloween parties halloweekend is one of my favorite things get drunk with all your friends and everyone is for one weekend at least not too cool for school they could dress up and be silly i won't lie i think i was as excited to trick-or-treat as i was to receive presents on christmas what could i say i'm a horror dude i love the genre and i love being scared spooky time is the best and that's how i see it oh man i'm such a fraidy cat i love halloween but i don't love getting scared i like get scared in like a corn maze because i'm like will i ever get out of here yeah it feels like i'm in danger but i know i'm not in danger so it's okay that i'm putting myself in that so-called danger i don't feel that way about ghost hunting but look you know i saw it coming and i love halloween it's my number two for me it's halloween by a long shot but i also know i'm a weirdo does anybody have any last words here before we get out of here danielle thank you for joining us thank you so much for coming on you've been a delight yeah again thank you guys for having me it was fun before we get out of here too do you have anything you'd like to plug oh you guys should watch pbs self-evident it's a new series about what it means to be an american today and it's hosted by me and my friend ali matu who's a psychologist and you can find that on the pbs voices channel on youtube great we'll throw a link to that in the in the description so click on that check that out that's that if you enjoyed our list let us know in the comments let us know if we hit the mark or missed it by a long shot that does it for top five beatdown and as always oh boy it's going to be fun we never knew you
2021-03-08 14:14
