The Conversation

America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history

Written by Arlene Stein, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University

Fritz Kuhn, center, is congratulated by fellow officers of the German American Bund in New York on Sept. 3, 1938.AP Photo

Masked officers conduct immigration raids. National Guard troops patrol American cities, and protesters decry their presence as a “fascist takeover.” White supremacists openly proclaim racist and antisemitic views.

Is...

Supreme Court case about ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ highlights debate over truthful advertising standards

Written by Carly Thomsen, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing, Rice University

The latest Supreme Court case related to abortion is not technically about the legal right to have one. When the court heard oral arguments on Dec. 2, 2025, the word “abortion” came up only three times. The first instance was more than an hour into the 82-minute hearing.

Instead, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers Inc. v....

Rising electricity prices and an aging grid challenge the nation as data centers demand more power

Written by Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of Practice in Energy Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Energy prices are going up – still.zpagistock/Moment via Getty Images

Everyone – politicians and the public – is talking about energy costs. In particular, they’re talking about data centers that drive artificial intelligence systems and their increasing energy demand, electricity costs and strain on the nation’s alread...

Shaping the conversation means offering context to extreme ideas, not just a platform

Written by Graham Bodie, Professor of Media and Communication, University of Mississippi

Tucker Carlson triggered outrage in some quarters of the conservative movement by interviewing white supremacist Nick Fuentes.J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Oct. 27, 2025, interview between former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and political streamer Nick Fuentes created a rare public divide inside the MAGA movement.

Critics say Carlson gave Fuentes a...

The #iwasfifteen hashtag and ongoing Epstein coverage show how traffickers exploit the vulnerabilities of teens and tweens

Written by Anne P. DePrince, Professor of Psychology, University of Denver

Marina Lacerda was among the alleged victims of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein who spoke at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 3, 2025.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images News

The release of information about the powerful cadre of men associated with convicted sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein – known...

Hacked phones and Wi-Fi surveillance have replaced Cold War spies and radio waves in the delusions of people with schizophrenia

Written by Alaina Vandervoort Burns, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Everyday tech of modern life can take on sinister dimensions for people with thought disorders.Busà Photography/Moment via Getty Images

A young woman starts to become suspicious of her cellphone. She notices it listing Wi-Fi networks she does not recognize, and the photos on her contact cards seem to mysteriously change at random times. One...

Trump’s second term is reshaping US science with unprecedented cuts and destabilizing policy changes

Written by Kenneth M. Evans, Fellow in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

Before 2025, science policy rarely made headline news. Through decades of changing political winds, financial crises and global conflicts, funding for U.S. research and innovation has remained remarkably stable, reflecting the American public’s strong support for investing in basic science.

In his first year back in office, President Donald...

School shootings dropped in 2025 - but schools are still focusing too much on safety technology instead of prevention

Written by James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University

A person mourns at a makeshift memorial outside the Barus and Holley engineering building on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Dec. 14, 2025. Bing Guan/AFP via Getty Images

Active shootings represent a very small percentage of on-campus university violence.

But among those that do happen, there are patterns. And as law...

From record warming to rusting rivers, 2025 Arctic Report Card shows a region transforming faster than expected

Written by Matthew L. Druckenmiller, Senior Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder

As temperatures rise, the timing of the ice thaw changes.Vincent Denarie via Arctic Report Card

The Arctic is transforming faster and with more far-reaching consequences than scientists expected just 20 years ago, when the first Arctic Report Card assessed the state of Earth’s far northern environment.

The snow season is dramatically shorter...

The North Pole keeps moving – here’s how that affects Santa’s holiday travel and yours

Written by Scott Brame, Research Assistant Professor of Earth Science, Clemson University

Could this be the next Blitzen? Feeding a reindeer in Lapland, Finland, north of the Arctic Circle.Roberto Moiola/Sysaworld/Moment via Getty Images

When Santa is done delivering presents on Christmas Eve, he must get back home to the North Pole, even if it’s snowing so hard that the reindeer can’t see the way.

He could use a compass, but...