The Conversation

How Marine Le Pen managed to gain ground with youth voters – and why her success isn't being replicated by the US right

Written by Kimberly Tower, PhD Candidate in International Relations and Comparative Politics, American University School of International Service

Marine Le Pen going down well with her young supporters.Chesnot/Getty Images

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen may have missed out on the French presidency, falling 17 pecentage points short of incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a runoff held April 24, 2022. But to characterize her campaign as a total loss would be missing an essential point: with nearly...

A New Orleans community center rises from its ugly history as a segregated school

Written by Connie L. Schaffer, Associate Professor of Teacher Education, University of Nebraska Omaha

A U.S. Federal Marshal escorts Gail Etienne to her first day of school on Nov. 14, 1960. Underwood Archives/Getty Images

They were known as “the McDonogh Three,” and unlike many stories of the tumultuous civil rights era, this one has a hopeful ending.

On May 4, 2022, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost are scheduled to cut the...

Fertility treatment use is on the rise – new legislation could increase protections for donors and families in an industry shrouded in secrecy

Written by Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization can help expand families, but regulations aren't consistent across states. moodboard/Image Source via Getty Images

The fertility industry generates approximately US$8 billion in revenue annually and plays a role in the birth of tens of thousands of children each year. Regulations are...

Disruptive kindergartners are likely to be bullied later in elementary school

Written by Paul L. Morgan, Eberly Fellow, Professor of Education and Demography, and Director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research, Penn State

Misbehavior increases the risk of being bullied.Rubberball/Nicole Hill/Brand X Pictures via Getty Images

Kindergartners who act out, disrupt classrooms, get angry and argue with their teachers are especially likely to be bullied once they reach third, fourth and fifth grade, our research group has found.

We continue to investigate bullying in U.S....

The photographer who fought the Sicilian Mafia for five decades

Written by Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Professor of French, Italian and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Through her photographs and activism, Letizia Battaglia sought to wrest Palermo from the grip of the Mafia.Laura Lezza/Getty Images

When Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia passed away on April 13, 2022, the biggest shock among those of us who have written about her was that she didn’t die at the hands of the Mafia.

For nearly five decades...

Satellites over the Amazon capture the choking of the ‘house of God’ by the Belo Monte Dam – they can help find solutions, too

Written by Pritam Das, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Washington

NASA's Landsat satellites have been monitoring changes on Earth's landscape for 50 years.NASA illustration

The Xingu River is revered as the “house of God” by the Indigenous people living along its Volte Grande, or Big Bend, in the Brazilian Amazon. The river is essential to their culture and religion, and a crucial source of fish,...

What do tornadoes look like on the inside?

Written by Jana Houser, Associate Professor of Geography, Ohio University

A tornado in Turkey, Texas.Jana Houser, CC BY-ND

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

What do tornadoes look like on the inside? – Madison, age 7, Noblesville, Indiana

Scientists really don’t know the answer to this...

Fed hopes for ‘soft landing’ for the US economy, but history suggests it won’t be able to prevent a recession

Written by Alex Domash, Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

A soft landing may be out of the Fed’s reach.Oliver Furrer/Stone Getty Images

The Federal Reserve will likely soon learn what gymnasts already know: sticking a landing is hard.

With inflation surging to a new 40-year high and continuing to accelerate, the Fed is expected to lift interest rates by a half-percentage point at the end of its next...

American Muslim women are finding a unique religious space at a women-only mosque in Los Angeles

Written by Tazeen M. Ali, Assistant Professor of Religion and Politics, Washington University in St Louis

Congregants sit in a circle at the Women's Mosque of America.Women's Mosque of America

As Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims around the world prepare to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of a month of fasting from dusk till dawn and additional acts of worship. On Eid, as in Ramadan, community is an integral component of Islamic...

Students lead more public schools to close for Islamic holidays

Written by Amaarah DeCuir, Senior Professorial Lecturer in Education, American University

Several school districts across the country will close in observance of Eid, a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Some public school districts across the nation will be closed on Monday, May 2, 2022, or Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in observance of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr, a festive celebration marking the end of...