Picture it. The family is around for Sunday dinner. Everyone's having a jolly time swapping stories and laughing over old memories. Everyone settles down to a nice post-food cup of tea, sighing with satiated content. Then. 

‘So, what do you make of all this climate change malarky? Load of rubbish, if you ask me.’

The atmosphere shrivels up and dies faster than the call made to cancel the boat when there's a stiff breeze. The relaxed vibe you were just basking in has been replaced by a sudden chill accompanied by a tension so awkward you could cut it with a 2p coin.  

Many of us have been there. Family get-togethers torn apart by differing points of view on things: abortion, Trump, Mrs Brown's Boys, cancel culture, and, of course, the big one, climate change. 

We live in a sensitive time. One where the internet has made sharing your opinion with the world more accessible than ever. But instead of bringing people together, it's led to tribal mindsets pushing people further apart. Online battle fields ensue where keyboard warriors tear each other to shreds trying in vain to convince you that their point of view is the only right one and anyone who thinks differently is a big, fat, stupid idiot who deserves to die so their stupidness doesn't rub off on other not-stupid people. The irony of social media is in the name. Never before have we been more divided into our own camps, incapable of having civil conversations online or in-person with people who have a different point of view to us. 

One camp says ‘woke culture’ has gone too far, when a lot of the time what this camp's residents are experiencing are the consequences of their freedom of speech interacting with someone else's freedom of speech, something they're not used to hearing after generations of moving through life unchallenged by other voices. In the other camp, cancel culture actively looks for ways to destroy or shame people for their opinions, be them from today or years ago, in which people in history are judged by and held to today's standards. Accountability is important, but by shaming people rather than educating them you're unlikely to change their point of view. Instead, what often ends up happening is that people get defensive, which pushes them deeper into their prejudices. 

So, coming up this month are a few articles that can hopefully help you navigate tough conversations in a way that doesn't ruin your relationship with the person you're disagreeing with. In this case, we’ll be focussing on talking about climate change (apologies in advance, I can't offer the same guidance over Mrs Brown's Boys. That's a deal breaker. You big, stupid, idiot).