Invite science to the Thanksgiving table?

“You probably have a lot on your plate,” says the press release for author Rachel

Herz’s new book. “With a big family gettogether looming, and the pressure to entertain (or to be a model houseguest), ‘Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship With Food’ may be the perfect source for your Thursday dinner conversation.”

In our house we’ll probably be comparing and contrasting Roy Moore and Al

Franken. Usually, however, it’s a sure sign that the conversation has run out of steam when the conversation turns to (a) what you are eating, and (b) how cute the host/ hostess’ pets are.

I guess a little food science couldn’t hurt, but doesn’t that “why” imply motive? And if so, I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t include debate over whether marshmallows have any role in holiday cooking, and whether leftover crudites may be recycled into leftover stuffing.

So happy Thanksgiving and welcome to the start of the holiday season, to which — in support of ecumenicism and in defiance of the man in the White House — I’ll hope to refer without using the two-syllable C-word, the two-syllable K-word or the the three-syllable Ch-word (calling it an H-word is an insult to its traditional throat-clearing pronunciation).

And to launch this year’s annual festivities in this space, today is the first day of the Dire Warnings Gazette. Cardiologist William Frishman has only your best interests in mind (oh, and perhaps sales of his book, “Triumph Over Tragedy”) when he warns you that “the holidays are the deadliest time of year when it comes to heart conditions.” Not only are you clogging your arteries with eggnog and latkes, probably not at the same time, holiday “stress increases a person’s risk for heart disease and overall poor health.”

P.S. Teacher Jan Jones asked one of her fourth-grade students if he and his family were planning to go away for Thanksgiving. “Oh, no,” he said. “We never go anywhere. We just go to Whole Foods.”

P.P.S. And at the press briefing Monday, Nov. 20, when White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked reporters to preface their questions with statements on what they were thankful for, most reporters mentioned their families, faith, spouses, the military.

But ABC News senior White House correspondent Cecilia Vega — a former Chronicle reporter, you girl — said, “I’m thankful for the First Amendment.” Her fellow reporters said “ooh,” and Sanders replied, “I think we all are.” Then Vega asked a question about the White House and Roy Moore.

Bottoms up and bon appetit.

Cissie Swig hosted a dinner last week for legal scholar Sanford Levinson and writer Cynthia Levinson, to celebrate their new book “Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws That Affect Us Today.”

The premise of the book is that the almighty Constitution, a document forged by imperfect people and altered over the years by imperfect people, has flaws. And its imperfections — those that have allowed gerrymandering, for example, the filibuster and the Electoral College, and given the president so much veto power — have been responsible for deep problems in modern life.

The co-authors are in established fields: Cynthia Levinson writes nonfiction for young people (to whom this book is targeted); Sanford Levinson is a professor at the University of Texas. They’re not the sort of disrupters who hit the streets in Guy Fawkes masks. But disrupters they are, especially the constitutional scholar, who is firm in his conviction. “I want a new constitutional convention,” said Sanford Levinson.

With Black Friday approaching, a few notes to get your creative shopping juices flowing: Release of Louis C.K.’s movie, “I Love You, Daddy,” has been canceled, but a screener of the film was going for $340 on eBay last week. Furthermore, Harvey Weinstein’s in trouble, and maybe that’s the reason you, the consumer, get such a great deal: A full script for “Pulp Fiction,” signed by Weinstein and a producer, was $149.99, now $122.99.

In Berkeley on Sunday, Nov. 19, English singer-songwriter Sam Smith stopped at 1951 Coffee Co., which trains and employs refugees. (The Starbucks Foundation recently gave a $63,000 Opportunity for All grant to the company for its barista training program.) Smith had an espresso with almond milk and posed for pictures with staffers.

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING She: “I know there’s something between Wits & Wagers Management, and Anger but I can’t remember what it is.” He: “Could it be Timeout?” Conversation between clerks at Games of Berkeley, overheard by Janine Brown