How to set the table for civil conversation this holiday season

For many, the holidays are all about gratitude, reflection, and family – but they can also be a major source for tension. If you’re among the 60 percent of Coloradans traveling for the holidays, you’re likely navigating congested roads or chaotic airports. If you’re hosting dinner, you’ve got a whole other set of concerns, like catering to an array of dietary needs, and getting a hundred different dishes to come out of the oven at the same time.But, here we are – you made it to your family's gathering, the wine is flowing like water and it’s time to relax. But not so fast… Even in the kindest of families, dinner table discussions sometimes turn into heated debate. And we’ve all got plenty of opinions, whether it’s on the war in the Middle East, reproductive rights, or this week's Colorado Supreme Court decision that former president Donald Trump cannot appear on our state's primary ballot. . We're talking about a lot of potential flashpoints… but there is a ray of light here. With some thought and intention, your holiday conversations can be peaceful — and maybe even bring people closer together...“Sometimes when you have a pretty good conversation with someone, the main thing you realize is, wait, we don't disagree nearly as much,” says Martín Carcasson, a communications professor at Colorado State University and director of CSU's Center for Public Deliberation. “There's still going to be disagreement. I'm not saying we're all going to agree … but normally the disagreement is much more manageable than we think it is when we have a good conversation. Then, Carcasson says, the goal becomes easier: “to develop a little more understanding about each other.”Ahead of the holiday season, Carcasson gave us some guidance on how to have healthier conversations at the dinner table. And for more tips on how to navigate the holiday dinner conversation, Carcasson recommends this Monica Guzman TED talk, or the discussion guides at Living Room Conversations.NOTE: This is an encore of our podcast from , Nov. 21, 2023.