Good morning. Seventy-seven years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a Labor Day radio address. “In times of national emergency,” he told the nation, “one fact is brought home to us, clearly and decisively — the fact that all of our rights are interdependent.”
It was three months before the United States entered the Second World War. “The right of freedom of worship would mean nothing without freedom of speech,” Roosevelt continued. “And the rights of free labor as we know them today could not survive without the rights of free enterprise.
“That is the indestructible bond that is between us — between all of us Americans: interdependence of interests, privileges, opportunities, responsibilities — interdependence of rights.
“That is what unites us — men and women of all sections, of all races, of all faiths, of all occupations, of all political beliefs. That is why we have been able to defy and frustrate the enemies who believed that they could divide us and conquer us from within.”
That is worth thinking about today, even if the holiday is generally about High Lifes and barbecue: what binds us together. As Sammy Cahn wrote for Sinatra after the war ended, albeit on a different subject, “You can’t have one without the other.”
But perhaps you came here for food? Maybe you need some last-minute ideas for a Labor Day meal. Or for something to take to a picnic or potluck. Or for some appetizers to stave off hunger while the pork butt (above) continues to cook and cook in its smoky warm bath.
We are present for you. You might want to make some Key lime pie bars with a vanilla wafer crust today. Or some raspberry nutter-butter bars. I like this sheet-pan tarragon chicken recipe, for those not grilling out. Salmon with salsa fresca would be aces today. So would, for some, a vegan Thai curry. For others, herby pork larb.
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Now, although it’s about as far as you can get from barberries and spiral-sliced ham, have you run into this crime writer Garry Disher? (Flag Day observers will have, no doubt. Disher’s Australian.) His Wyatt novels, about a professional thief of that name, are very strong. Summer may be ending. But beach reads on the commute help make it last.
Of course you should read Ian Parker’s profile of Glenn Greenwald, in The New Yorker.
See what you make of these reusable silicone storage bags they’re selling over on Food52.
And finally, yes, you should spend time with Holland Cotter’s visual explanation in The Times of why exactly he loves this beautiful metal sculpture of a standing Buddha at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It’s excellent. Happy Labor Day. I’ll be back on Wednesday.
