STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: Today is our first Thanksgiving without Susan Stamberg, the longtime host of NPR's All Things Considered. She died in October after more than half a century on the air, known as the first woman to host a national news program and also known as the annual presenter on the air of a cranberry relish that people loved or hated and talked about for decades. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
SUSAN STAMBERG: Are you familiar with this recipe?
MADHUR JAFFREY: I am not, but I know it from having you tell me about it.
VIVIAN STAMBERG: I'm kind of scared to taste it.
S STAMBERG: OK. Pepto-Bismol...
Pepto-Bismol...
...Pink.
...Pink.
COOLIO: The color is a little weird.
TANYA BLUE, BYLINE: That's tasty.
S STAMBERG: You like it?
BLUE: I do like it.
COOLIO: I'm Coolio with the flow. The Ghetto Gourmet.
S STAMBERG: My first rapper.
COOLIO: And I got a fetish for that cranberry relish.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: It's delicious.
INSKEEP: OK. The relish is still with us, and so are Susan's granddaughters - Vivian and Lena Stamberg, aged 12 and 17. And you're in the studios. Welcome, guys.
VIVIAN AND LENA STAMBERG: Thank you.
INSKEEP: I saw you sharing looks as we listened to your grandma. What was going through your mind?
LENA STAMBERG: Just, like, a lot of memories, I think, and a lot of happy times. I feel like the cranberry relish is just, like, a tradition that is just so fun.
V STAMBERG: Yeah. I love hearing how, like, everybody gets to kind of partake in our tradition. It's really beautiful.
INSKEEP: And it was literally part of your family Thanksgiving.
V STAMBERG: Yes.
INSKEEP: Not just a thing on the radio.
V STAMBERG: No.
L STAMBERG: No.
V AND L STAMBERG: Every year.
INSKEEP: Well, I would like you to know that at the NPR cafe here in our headquarters, they made cranberry relish this week.
V STAMBERG: Oh. Where is it?
INSKEEP: And I have here some cranberry relish on pretzel rolls. Can I share it with you?
V STAMBERG: Yes...
L STAMBERG: Yes.
V STAMBERG: ...Please.
INSKEEP: They wrapped them up nicely. Here's one for you.
L STAMBERG: Thank you.
V STAMBERG: Oh, my gosh.
INSKEEP: Here's one for you.
L STAMBERG: Oh, my gosh.
V STAMBERG: Thank you.
INSKEEP: And one for me. And...
V STAMBERG: Is this our recipe, or is this just the...
INSKEEP: Oh, this? No, this is Susan Stamberg's...
V STAMBERG: Oh, amazing.
INSKEEP: ...Cranberry relish.
L STAMBERG: OK.
INSKEEP: Oh, man. Wow. This...
V STAMBERG: I think the pretzel and the sausage make it taste better than it usually tastes. But...
INSKEEP: I was thinking exactly the same...
V STAMBERG: Right?
INSKEEP: ...Thing. Go on.
V STAMBERG: Yeah. I wasn't the biggest fan of the cranberry relish growing up. I mean, it would always kind of be, like, something that my grandma and my dad ate 'cause my dad was brainwashed.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
V STAMBERG: Yeah. And so...
INSKEEP: Excuse me. Choked on some relish...
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: ...There. Go on.
V STAMBERG: It was like, they would eat it. And then Lena and I would kind of look at each other and, like, just leave it on our plates.
INSKEEP: Do you remember when you became conscious that some large slice of America was aware of this thing that you did?
L STAMBERG: Definitely. I feel like when I found out and when I saw an article about it first, it was definitely a surprise 'cause I definitely didn't like it as much when I was younger. So I thought, like, why are these people eating this?
V STAMBERG: Yeah.
L STAMBERG: Like, I have to. 'Cause I didn't really know that my grandmother was, like, known on NPR. I was very excited, and I was very confused.
INSKEEP: Tell me what you generally do for Thanksgiving. What is the family Thanksgiving like for you guys?
L STAMBERG: OK.
V STAMBERG: My, like, memory of Thanksgiving is always in D.C. And there would always be - between Thanksgiving dinner and dessert, there'd be a walk. And we'd walk all around the neighborhood, and there'd be this family who would always be doing a scavenger hunt. And one of the things that they had to find was Susan Stamberg because she'd always take this walk...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
L STAMBERG: Yeah.
V STAMBERG: ...On...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
V STAMBERG: Yeah.
INSKEEP: That's so great.
V STAMBERG: I know. It was amazing.
INSKEEP: One more question. And this may be difficult to think about, but this is the first Thanksgiving without your grandma. What are your plans?
V STAMBERG: I'm really happy to be in D.C. I feel like...
L STAMBERG: Yeah.
V STAMBERG: We were deciding if we should come back this year, and I think it's good that we decided to come. Just kind of, like, wrap it all up.
L STAMBERG: It wouldn't be Thanksgiving if it wasn't here. I feel like it would...
V STAMBERG: Yeah.
L STAMBERG: ...Feel totally different. And...
V STAMBERG: We will be making cranberry relish.
L STAMBERG: Yes.
V STAMBERG: For sure.
INSKEEP: I was wondering, but OK.
V STAMBERG: Yep.
INSKEEP: Great.
V STAMBERG: Got to keep the tradition alive.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
INSKEEP: Vivian and Lena Stamberg on this Thanksgiving.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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