[Editor's Note: This post was originally published in Fall of 2016.]
As some of you may have noticed, it's been a rough couple weeks. It's difficult to even tiptoe onto the internet without becoming entrenched in headlines about the KKK; friends with whom you normally assume your politics align are finding new ways to horrify you every day on Facebook. So hey: Raise your hand if you're looking forward to spending an extended period of time with your family this Thanksgiving weekend!
While it's true that civil debate between people who disagree is arguably a necessary tool in combating ignorance, xenophobia, and fear, it's also true that some of us have relatives with whom respectful discussion about politics is about as likely as Donald Trump forging a friendship with Kendrick Lamar.
With that in mind, we here at KQED Pop thought it might be nice to provide readers with a cheat sheet of alternative discussion topics, should you want to continue a great American tradition of avoidance and denial. Please feel free to print this out and bring it along to your own family dinner — or hell, make copies and tuck one beside each attendee’s napkin. You might just become the most popular dinner guest of all time.
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- Stranger Things
- Gilmore Girls
- Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party
- Space turkey
- People you know who are getting married
- People you know who are getting divorced
- Why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are getting divorced
- Poldark
- Bob Ross
- Bob Costas
- Simone Biles
- David Bowie
- Prince
- Sharon Jones
- This video of Prince playing with Sharon Jones
- Whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich
- How to prepare Thanksgiving leftovers
- The weather (no references to global warming!)
- The Cubs winning the World Series
- Vin Scully
- How to fix the Giants' bullpen problems
- Our robot overlords and how soon they'll overtake us
- Old-timey celebrity feuds
- Not-old-timey celebrity Instagram accounts
- Pecan vs. pumpkin pie
- Ellen
- Whether you should adopt a dog or a cat from the SPCA
- How much is a reasonable amount of money for a keychain
- Why we don't have an international UFO committee already
- Riley Curry -- a.k.a. the gift that keeps on giving. Note that this list will always include Riley Curry. At least until she gets old enough to talk politics.
Not enough topics? Try out some from 2015: