The Conversation

Talking turkey! How the Thanksgiving bird got its name (and then lent it to film flops)

Written by Jack Lynch, Professor of English, Rutgers University - Newark

Not everyone is a fan of Turkey Day.E4C via Getty Images

“Meleagris Gallopavo Day” is a bit of a mouthful. Which may be why this Thanksgiving, most people will opt for the less ornithologically precise “Turkey Day.”

And just as turkey is a versatile meat – think of those leftover options! – so too is the word...

The first Thanksgiving is a key chapter in America's origin story – but what happened in Virginia four months later mattered much more

Written by Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

In the 19th century, there was a campaign to link the Thanksgiving holiday to the Pilgrims.Bettman/Getty Images

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in New England. Remembered and retold as an allegory for perseverance and cooperation, the story of that first Thanksgiving has become an important part of how Americans...

Why are barns painted red?

Written by Thomas Durant Visser, Professor of Historic Preservation, University of Vermont

A dairy barn in Waitsfield, Vermont, built circa 1890.Thomas Visser, 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.

Why are barns painted red? – Elijah B., age 13, Waverly, Tennessee

There are three reasons we see so many red...

Rittenhouse verdict flies in the face of legal standards for self-defense

Written by Ronald Sullivan, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges.Sean Krajacic - Pool/Getty Images

In a two-week trial that reignited debate over self-defense laws across the nation, a Wisconsin jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse for shooting three people, two fatally, during a racial justice protest in Kenosha.

The Wisconsin jury believed Rittenhouse’s...

Jerome Powell keeps his job at the Fed, where he'll be responsible for preventing inflation from spiraling out of control – without tanking the economy

Written by Veronika Dolar, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Old Westbury

Biden reappointed Jerome Powell, seated at left, to head the Fed. Some progressives wanted him replaced with Lael Brainard, seated right. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The person who helms the Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful figures in the world. Their job is also one of the most impactful on the lives of ordinary Americans, not to...

Meet the person responsible for keeping inflation from spiraling out of control – without tanking the economy

Written by Veronika Dolar, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Old Westbury

Jerome Powell, seated at left, is the current Fed chair, but some progressives want him replaced with Lael Brainard, right. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The person who helms the Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful figures in the world. Their job is also one of the most impactful on the lives of ordinary Americans, not to mention others...

Could oral antiviral pills be a game-changer for COVID-19? An infectious disease physician explains why these options are badly needed

Written by Patrick Jackson, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Virginia

If authorized, molnupiravir could be a key oral treatment to help keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital. Plyushkin/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Nearly two years into the pandemic, it has become starkly clear that we need better treatments for COVID-19 for people in the earlier stages of disease.

Two new antiviral drugs could soon be the first...

4 reasons why museums aren't cashing in on NFTs yet

Written by Brian Mittendorf, Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State University

A woman looks at a non-fungible token digital art display in New York City in September 2021.Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

The eye-popping sale price of US$69 million on March 11, 2021, for a non-fungible token created by the digital artist Beeple sent shock waves through the art world. More multimillion-dollar sales of these digital assets...

Cuba's post-revolution architecture offers a blueprint for how to build more with less

Written by M. Wesam Al Asali, Global Fung Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University

Builders construct experimental vaults of brick and cement blocks in Santiago de Cuba in December 1960.Centro de Documentación, Empresa RESTAURA, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana, CC BY-ND

Around the world, there’s a conjoined crisis of climate change and housing shortages – two topics at the top of the list of...

Tick management programs could help stop Lyme disease, but US funding is inadequate

Written by Isobel Ronai, Postdoctoral Researcher, Columbia University

Ticks cause many human diseases, including Lyme disease.fhm via Getty Images

Justin Bieber, Shania Twain, Amy Schumer, Avril Lavigne, Ben Stiller and Kelly Osbourne are just six of the millions of people who report that they have suffered from Lyme disease, an illness that costs the U.S. more than $3 billion annually.

Approximately a half-million...