The ancient world was full of medical and economic crises — it’s just our luck to be experiencing one ourselves in 2020.
In a holiday season that will feature smaller dinner tables and celebrating in different ways, it’s worth reflecting on how feasting habits have changed over the years and how the material abundance of a feast is a clue to its importance. Whether your ideal table features a turkey, a tureen or a loving heap of latkes, you’re sure to feel a little shortchanged this year when your holiday meal looks the same size as any other day.