The Conversation

When restaurants close, Americans lose much more than a meal

Written by Rebecca L. Spang, Professor of History and Director, Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP), Indiana University

The Big Texan restaurant, Amarillo, Texas.Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress

Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted a video of himself on March 15 saying: “No more restaurants.” Seated in his palatial kitchen with two miniature horses, Whiskey and Lulu, beside him, the former California governor pronounced: “We don’t go out, we...

Workers left out of government and business response to the coronavirus

Written by Thomas Kochan, Professor of Management, Co-Director of the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research, MIT Sloan School of Management

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon at a White House press conference joining government and corporate officials – but no representatives of workers.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

As the coronavirus crisis unfolds, workers and families around the country are finding out how weak the U.S. social safety net is.

Nearly three...

We are entering a recession – but what did we learn from the last one?

Written by Ken-Hou Lin, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

Families recovered from the Great Depression much more quickly than the Great Recession.Bettmann/Getty Images

As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, it is abundantly clear that the global economy is entering a recession – the first we’ve seen since 2008.

Some officials have compared the last period of economic decline...

3 ways the coronavirus pandemic is changing who we are

Written by Arie Kruglanski, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland

The pandemic has made us into breaking news junkies.Getty/Olivier Douliery / AFP

For most Americans, the coronavirus pandemic represents a completely unprecedented circumstance, as novel as it is life-changing. No event in recent history has affected us as profoundly and pervasively.

Not only does it remind us of our physical fragility, it...

COVID-19 treatment might already exist in old drugs – we're using pieces of the coronavirus itself to find them

Written by Nevan Krogan, Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco

There are 20,000 FDA approved drugs. One of them might fight COVID-19, if we can find it. Peter Dazeley/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Why don’t we have drugs to treat COVID-19 and how long will it take to develop them?

SARS-CoV-2 – the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19 – is completely new and attacks cells in a novel...

The battle against disinformation is global

Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University

On the internet, anyone can express their views, like they can in Speakers' Corner in London – it's up to the audience to guard against disinformation.J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Disinformation-spewing online bots and trolls from halfway around the world are continuing to shape local and national debates by spreading lies...

Should I exercise during the coronavirus pandemic? Experts explain the just right exercise curve

Written by Tamara Hew-Butler, Associate Professor of Exercise and Sports Science, Wayne State University

Signs cover the control panel of exercise machines in a Denver YMCA, March 15, 2020. AP Photo/David Zalubowski

So here we are, perfecting our social distancing skills while schools, sports and other forms of social engagement are on indefinite hold, by a dangerous virus named after a (regal) crown. The coronavirus is named because the center...

Coronavirus spotlights the link between clean water and health

Written by David Feldman, Professor Urban Planning & Public Policy and Political Science, Director of Water UCI, University of California, Irvine

Collecting water from a street pump in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 13, 2020.angladeshi people collecting drinking water from a water pump inside a streeMehedi Hasan/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As the world confronts the coronavirus pandemic, experts say that a key way to minimize the odds of getting sick is by washing your hands thoroughly and frequently....

Advanced degrees bring higher starting salaries – but also higher debt

Written by Jaymes Pyne, Quantitative Research Associate, Stanford University

Advanced degrees pay off in the job market.Ariel Skelly/Getty Images

People with a master’s degree or doctorate can bank on a much higher starting salary than those with the same major but only a bachelor’s degree. That’s according to a recent survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

We reached the...

The cervix is sensitive, and surgeons need to acknowledge the part it plays in some women's pleasure

Written by Barry Komisaruk, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

Women and their doctors need to communicate about potential sexual side effects from procedures that involve the cervix. RacheeLynn/Shutterstock.com

“Sexual Response in the Human Female,” popularly known as the “Kinsey Report,” generated an international sensation in 1953, revolutionizing the way society thinks of sex.

One...