Lifestyle Holidays & Occasions 10 Things to Talk About at Thanksgiving—Other Than Politics By Alexandra Whittaker Alexandra Whittaker Instagram Twitter Website Alexandra Whittaker is a news and pop culture editor based in New York City. She studied at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and at Marquette University, where she freelanced for USA Today, Women's Wear Daily, and ELLE. She currently leads both the news and entertainment teams at Cosmopolitan magazine and previously worked as the news editor of InStyle.com where she spearheaded awards coverage. She enjoys writing and editing news stories, interviewing celebrities, and covering the intricacies of the British royal family. InStyle's editorial guidelines Updated on November 7, 2017 @ 02:30PM Pin Share Tweet Email Photo: Getty It's almost the holiday season, which means many people will be spending more time with family. It's a great thing, really: Seeing your loved ones, eating amazing food (seriously this turkey recipe has us drooling), and spending time together are all things to look forward to. But family reunions also have a way of trudging up touchy conversations you've been avoiding since last winter. Don't get us wrong: We're all for healthy debate, and there are ways to confront difficult or divisive issues without merely changing the topic (let's be honest, sometimes you should tough it out and have those discussions). But some convos just don't pair well with marshmallow yams. If you know certain topics open up Pandora's box with your family (Politics! Bad family news! That boyfriend everyone hates!), you may want to prep in advance to skillfully dodge them and keep the holiday cheer alive. Allow us to recommend some other things you and your fam can chat about over pumpkin pie and wine. Shall we? 01 of 10 Taylor Swift's Return Courtesy She'll probably be on the radio for the next few months anyway, so getting grandma into Reputation might not be a bad call. 02 of 10 Puppies Hans Surfer/Getty Spend time asking the real questions. If your family were to get another dog, what breed would it be? Are your family members dog or cat people? Have they seen these pictures of hot Australian firefighters posing with puppies? Get on it. 03 of 10 Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez's Maybe Reunion Miguel Aguilar/PacificCoastNews The two have been hanging out a lot lately, and she and The Weeknd just broke up. Stay up to date on the latest Jelena news with our timeline and then you can update your loved ones accordingly (we know they're dying to hear it). 04 of 10 The Latest in Dinosaur news Getty A new study found that we sleep at night instead of during the day partially because dinosaurs went extinct. Who knew? Probably not your family. You should tell them. 05 of 10 Game of Thrones HBO The series has captivated our attention all year for a reason. It's going to be a while before Season 8, so recapping seems like a good idea. 06 of 10 Football Kevin C. Cox/Getty When in doubt, flip on a football game. Not your thing? Or is the conversation heading into the heated #TakeAKnee zone? Try talking about other sports. The 2018 Winter Olympics are only about 100 days away, so that should give you some material. 07 of 10 Kylie Jenner's Pregnancy Bob Levey/Getty The confirmation has shaken the entertainment world, so it's a prime opportunity to bring it to your dinner table. 08 of 10 The Lion King Live-Action Remake Disney If Beyoncé playing Nala doesn't kickstart some good conversation, we don't know what will. If The Lion King isn't really your thing, though, you could also bring up Snow White, Mulan, or Aladdin, all of which Disney is remaking. Thanks, Mickey! 09 of 10 Travel plans Weerasak Saeku/Getty Family dinner is the perfect place to get up to speed on who is going where and when. 10 of 10 JFK's Only Grandson Jack Schlossberg NBC/Getty He's smart, he's handsome, and he's related to JFK. That's all.