Tips on how to talk politics at your family dinner

Philippa Hughes
Art Is Fear
Published in
2 min readNov 25, 2020

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Are you dreading the possibility of a blowup at Thanksgiving dinner? I was on the the Kojo Nnamdi Show sharing tips on how to have nonviolent conversations when you gather with your family tomorrow. I was a little off my game, though, which I will blame on having been sick with Covid back in March. Ever since I learned that the effects can linger for months after you recover, I blame Covid brain fog for all incidents of excessive stammering and an inability to complete thoughts. Now that I’ve gotten all my pre-excuses out of the way, I will now share the episode with you. At least there were two very articulate people on the show who you will enjoy listening to, including my friend Calvin who does a far better job of describing my work than I do.

Sometimes I sound more intelligent when someone else writes my thoughts for me. Like a woman I met in Pennsylvania while we were standing outside an elementary school being poll observers on election day. Turns out she works at the Freedom Forum and we talked about how great it was that we got to celebrate and practice our First Amendment rights on Thanksgiving. Although I am not so sure my mother has heard about the First Amendment. Which is *not* why I decided to stay home for Thanksgiving.

I’ll be glad to spend a quiet day with Franklin, curled up with a book and a pint of Brambleberry Crisp ice cream. And I’ll take a walk in the woods. That’s my best piece of advice for having a peaceful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Creating space for conversations to transform society. Exploring what it means to be American. Recovering lawyer, public speaker, art fanatic philippahughes.com