For many families, arguing about politics is as much a Thanksgiving tradition as your Aunt Norma’s “special” green beans. Distant relatives who have been in their favorite echo chamber all year will almost certainly show up for dinner to make their opinions heard. But that doesn’t mean this year’s holiday meal has to degenerate into a shouting match.

Even in our Balkanized political culture, it’s usually possible to respectfully disagree. It’s not easy, but it is possible, according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, and Cox, a Republican, are the co-leads of Disagree Better, an initiative of the National Governors Association aimed at finding ways for Americans of differing political persuasions to work together. Their focus is primarily on public policy, but the pair also has practical advice for everyday people on how to share conflicting political views without anyone spilling cranberry sauce on the floor.

There's no reason your MAGA uncle and your woke cousin can't sit down together and have a conversation.

“There’s no reason why your MAGA uncle and your woke cousin can’t sit down together and have a conversation,” Polis said at a recent event at Colorado State University. “We have a holiday coming up, Thanksgiving, a national day of gratitude, and I think most extended family dinners have people of all political persuasions. It’s a good opportunity to be curious, to ask questions, to be civil. I think too often we treat politics as something that can’t be discussed without toxicity, but that’s kind of giving up on what it means to be [in a] republic.”