The Thanksgiving story most of us hear is about friendship and unity. And that's what Sarah Josepha Hale had on her mind when she sat down to write a letter to President Lincoln in 1863, deep into the Civil War. Hale had already spent years campaigning for a national day of thanksgiving, using her platform as editor of one the country's most widely-read magazines and writing elected officials to argue that Americans urgently needed a national story. But she'd gotten nowhere – until now.

Five days after reading her letter, Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. At the time, no one was talking about Pilgrims and Native Americans. But that too would change.

Today on the show: a Thanksgiving story you may not have heard, how it happened, and what it leaves out.

What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process, the origins and evolution of the Electoral College might surprise you and make you think differently about not only this upcoming presidential election, but our democracy as a whole.

Monopoly has been one of the best-selling board games in the United States for nearly a century now. And sure, maybe it's just a board game. But author Mary Pilon says Monopoly is much more than that.

After two years of isolation and uncertainty, many American teens are struggling with mental health problems. But they're also discovering themselves — and their own resilience.

When Aria Young moved to the U.S., she adopted an Americanized name. Now, she's wondering how to hold on to the version of herself she left in China.

Enrollment in two-year colleges has dropped nationwide by about 750,000 students. But degree programs in construction trades are booming.

As we dive into entries for the NPR College Podcast Challenge, here's a few that we've been hitting replay on!

In the past year, more than 35 states have introduced over 150 bills limiting what schools can teach about race. For many educators in those states, it's made teaching Black History Month fraught.

Despite the omicron surge, college students are starting the spring semester on campus – and administrators are bracing for the worst.