Post-Thanksgiving Livestream Tonight
Larissa Phillips and I will talk about families and politics at 8pm ET
In the weeks since the election, I’ve noticed a strange dichotomy in the emotional temperature. On the one hand, things seem a lot calmer than in 2016. Even the most committed Trump-haters appear more resigned than hysterical. Contrary to what many assumed, there has been no rioting on the streets, no pussy hat flash mobs (that I’ve noticed), no signs of a mass exodus out of the U.S. to less fascist pastures like Portugal or Canada. (Maybe because the real estate isn’t exactly cheap there.)
On the other hand, I’ve caught whiffs of subtler and arguably more insidious forms of antipathy. Over the last few days, several people have told me that part of the reason there were no blowups at their Thanksgiving tables was that many family members simply refused to come. The mere hunch that a friend or relative may have cast an unseemly vote was enough to keep people away, often in service of that increasingly elastic concept known as “self-care.”
While this may have circumvented full-scale blowups, it also cast a shadow of sadness over the holiday, leaving many wondering if certain friends and loved ones were avoiding them or if they were just paranoid. (The likely truth: just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not taking a break from you.)
Larissa Phillips, who I’ve hosted on The Unspeakable, wrote eloquently in The Free Press last month about the importance of forging connections and finding common ground with neighbors who may hold radically different (or, in many cases, not all that fundamentally different but nonetheless discomfiting) political beliefs. Readers responded with overwhelming praise and Bill Maher even mentioned the article on Real Time last week. But as Larissa relayed in a Substack note earlier this morning, some family members who were excited about the shoutout nonetheless refused to watch the clip because of Maher’s supposed “history of trans hate.”
“WTF is happening to the left?” she asked.
Larissa and I will discuss that question and more (for instance that old saw “WTF has happened to the right?”) this evening at 8pm ET on a Substack live stream. If you tune in, we’ll be able to take your questions and address some of your comments. The live stream will be available to all subscribers and I’ll post a recording tomorrow for paying subscribers.
How to join? Stay near your phone and you’ll get a notification as soon as we’re live. Hope to see you there!
Larissa’s Substack.
Larissa’s August 2024 interview on The Unspeakable.
 | A guest post by
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Thank you for posting this, I enjoyed the conversation and I'm glad you had lots of participation. I've so enjoyed Larissa's posts on her Substack and on TheFP since discovering her right here earlier this year.
Most years I am invited to a family Thanksgiving by a long-time friend, 20+ folks covering 4 generations, aged very young to 80+, and this year was no different. In particular, everybody showed up as usual. Good food and conversations, board games, lots of love. And I know there are plenty of political differences. I would like to think this is the norm and where it's not, will hope for the best.