The Conversation

Are you seeing news reports of voting problems? 4 essential reads on election disinformation

Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

A voter emerges from a voting booth in New Hampshire in January 2024.AP Photo/David Goldman

In certain circles, the 2020 presidential election isn’t over – and that seems to be at least a little bit true. In recent weeks, official reviews of election records and processes from the 2020 presidential election have reported findings that...

Pakistan’s post-election crisis – how anti-army vote may deliver an unstable government that falls into the military’s hands

Written by Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts University

Like at this pro-PTI protest, the smoke has yet to clear following Pakistan's election.M Asim Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan’s heavily anticipated general election took place on Feb. 8, 2024, with citizens of the South Asian country hoping that it might prove a step toward ending the nation’s political uncertainty.

But several days...

Atlantic Ocean is headed for a tipping point − once melting glaciers shut down the Gulf Stream, we would see extreme climate change within decades, study shows

Written by René van Westen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Climate Physics, Utrecht University

Too much fresh water from Greenland's ice sheet can slow the Atlantic Ocean's circulation.Paul Souders/Stone via Getty Images

Superstorms, abrupt climate shifts and New York City frozen in ice. That’s how the blockbuster Hollywood movie “The Day After Tomorrow” depicted an abrupt shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation...

Love songs in Hindu devotion – the Tamil poets who took on the female voice to express their intense longing for the divine

Written by Archana Venkatesan, Professor of Religious Studies and Comparative Literature, University of California, Davis

An image of a reclining Lord Vishnu with the alvar poets arrayed below him. The Nadar Press Ltd., Sivakasi, ca. 1920s. From the personal print collection of Archana Venkatesan and Layne Little

Valentine’s Day often revives attention on romantic themes in literature. Stories are cited in media with the aim of helping people navigate the...

Love may be timeless, but the way we talk about it isn’t − the ancient Greeks’ ideas about desire challenge modern-day readers, lovers and even philosophers

Written by David Albertson, Associate Professor of Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The love story of Psyche and Eros − also known as Cupid − has survived since the days of Rome and Greece.Bettman via Getty Images

Every year as Valentine’s Day approaches, people remind themselves that not all expressions of love fit the stereotypes of modern romance. V-Day cynics might plan a “Galentines” night for...

Lack of access to health care is partly to blame for skyrocketing HIV rates among gay Black men

Written by Deion Scott Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Argumentation & Advocacy, Emerson College

A man takes a free HIV test during the Harlem Pride parade in New York City.Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

Over the past 20 years, people living with HIV in the United States have seen a drastic improvement in their overall quality of life. But the medical achievements that have made those lives better and created longer life expectancies have...

Ads, food and gambling galore − 5 essential reads for the Super Bowl

Written by Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor

Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers will try to stop the Kansas City Chiefs from winning their third Super Bowl in five years.Michael Zagaris/Getty Images

On Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Lombardi Trophy, while a San Francisco 49ers victory would give the team its first Super...

Some of the Renaissance’s most romantic love poems weren’t for lovers

Written by Shannon McHugh, Associate Professor of French and Italian, UMass Boston

Sonnets still have a reputation for being about the unrequited love of a man for a woman.AndreasPraefcke/Wikimedia Commons

As poets have demonstrated for centuries, a sonnet for your beloved never goes out of style. The gift of verse may carry extra cachet this Valentine’s Day, on the heels of Taylor Swift’s announcement that her next...

From church to the mosque, faith and friends help Iowa’s African immigrants and refugees build a sense of home

Written by Osamamen Oba Eduviere, Ph.D. Candidate in Religious Studies, University of Iowa

Snow covers the replica of the Statue of Liberty outside the Decatur County Courthouse in Leon, Iowa.Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Think of Iowa, our home. Many people picture cornfields: the Great Plains of the American heartland.

One thing many outsiders may not know about this agrarian, predominantly white state where we teach...

Israel is a Jewish nation, but its population is far from a monolith

Written by Jessica Trisko Darden, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University

Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of Staff Sgt. Emanuel Feleke, an Ethiopian Israeli who was killed in Gaza in December 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg

As the toll of the Israel-Hamas war continues to mount, Israeli military casualties are shedding new light on a topic that rarely gets international media attention – Israel’s ethnic diversity.

I...