Helen and I tackle financial literacy for kids and the origin of piggy banks. We then explain why indie rock band They Might Be Giants is becoming the Schoolhouse Rock for a new generation—and why the band has a special connection to LGBT families. On a somber note, we mourn the death of Brendan Burke, the gay son of Brian Burke, general manager of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Brian Burke had several months ago spoken out strongly in support of his son and against homophobia in sports.
(If the embedded video above doesn’t work for you, try it at Dailymotion.)
An older gentleman (in his 70′s back in 1980) years ago told me a story about the piggy bank thing was a more than a little anti-Semitic. Apparently some people believed that a Jew wouldn’t touch a pig, not even a ceramic one, and this was a way to keep them from stealing the Christian’s money. He had lived through Auschwitz so I could see why he might perceive the world hates Jews. The clay sounds like a much more likely story.
Oh, interesting. I hadn’t heard that one before, but it makes a certain sad sense.