How to Approach Even the Hardest Family Discussions

""Talking about politics at our family gatherings can be like smoking a cigarette at a gas station-there's a good chance it will make the whole place explode," the journalist Elizabeth Harris wrote last year. So she tried to approach these conversations like a reporter: "I wasn't looking to have a back-and-forth; I was looking for information. I wanted to know what they thought and why.""

""Politics isn't the only topic that can feel impossible to discuss. Families struggle to talk about their history, about what they need from one another, about the things they regret or haven't forgiven one another for. The holidays can sometimes feel like the powder keg Harris described, where everyone is trying to avoid saying the wrong thing. But maybe there's another way. Today's newsletter explores how to approach even the hardest family conversations.""

Family gatherings often become volatile when politics arises, likened to smoking a cigarette at a gas station with risk of explosion. A reporter-like approach—asking questions to gather information rather than arguing—can reveal what relatives think and why. Families also avoid difficult topics such as shared history, personal needs, regrets, and forgiveness, risking loss of family knowledge. Holidays can magnify tensions, but intentional curiosity may open pathways. Shared households develop unique vocabularies called familects that reflect collective experience. Reader submissions of awe-inspiring images, like a retirement view, continue to be featured for delight and curiosity.

Read at The Atlantic