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Civil servants brace for a second Trump presidency

  • Written by Jaime L Kucinskas, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College
imageGovernment workers worry they may not know where the perils lie as they do their jobs.z_wei/iStock / Getty Images Plus

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, some people who work for the federal government are concerned.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly promised to dismantle the...

Read more: Civil servants brace for a second Trump presidency

How Trump could try to stay in power after his second term ends

  • Written by Philip Klinkner, James S. Sherman Professor of Government, Hamilton College
imageDonald Trump portrays himself as uniquely strong and powerful.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Think Donald Trump can’t be president after his second term is up in January 2029? Think again.

When President-elect Donald Trump met with congressional Republicans shortly after his November 2024 election victory, he floated the idea of another term:...

Read more: How Trump could try to stay in power after his second term ends

The US ambassador to the UN is tasked with doing a careful dance between Washington and the world

  • Written by Abiodun Williams, Professor of International Politics, Tufts University
imageA view of the United Nations headquarters building in New York in July 2024. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, is set to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 16, 2025, as part of her confirmation process to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Internationa...

Read more: The US ambassador to the UN is tasked with doing a careful dance between Washington and the world

Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity

  • Written by Tom Kemeny, Associate Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
imageNew data highlights an increasing wealth divide across the United States.pick-uppath/Getty Images

One need only glance at headlines about Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other super-wealthy individuals to understand that wealth in America is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Inequality is sharply on the rise.

Until now, however, little...

Read more: Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity

Joe Biden leaves a complicated legacy on the federal courts

  • Written by Paul M. Collins Jr., Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
imageClarence Thomas shakes hands with Joe Biden, then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, before Thomas' Sept. 10, 1991, confirmation hearing to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court.Arnie Sachs/CNP/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s farewell to elected office on Jan. 20, 2025, presents an opportunity to reflect on the legacy he...

Read more: Joe Biden leaves a complicated legacy on the federal courts

How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes today

  • Written by Justin Angle, Professor of Marketing, University of Montana
imageThe Palisades Fire spreads near homes amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 7, 2025.Mario Tama/Getty Images

The fires burning in the Los Angeles area are a powerful example of why humans have learned to fear wildfire. Fires can level entire neighborhoods in an instant. They can destroy communities, torch pristine forests and choke even faraway cities wi...

Read more: How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes...

Bird flu flares up again in Michigan poultry – an infectious disease expert explains the risk to humans, chickens, cows and other animals

  • Written by Kimberly Dodd, Dean of College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University
imageThe H5N1 virus has been found in poultry and cattle farms across southwest and central Michigan. Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images

After a relatively quiet fall, there’s been another spike in cases of bird flu in Michigan.

When state officials announced on Dec. 16, 2024, that bird flu had been found in another poultry facility in Ottawa...

Read more: Bird flu flares up again in Michigan poultry – an infectious disease expert explains the risk to...

Community savings groups in Uganda are good stewards of local people’s money – and of outsiders’ funds too, research shows

  • Written by Danice Brown Guzmán, Associate Director of Evidence and Learning, Pulte Institute for Global Development, University of Notre Dame
imageIn remote areas of Uganda, getting to a bank can be difficult if not impossible.Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images

Imagine being unable to borrow money for basic needs or emergencies because the bank is too far away or demands collateral or identification that you can’t provide. For millions of rural people living in poverty around the world, this is...

Read more: Community savings groups in Uganda are good stewards of local people’s money – and of outsiders’...

This course examines Israeli school division to better understand education policy – and society – in the US

  • Written by Ayala Hendin, Postdoctoral fellow in Israel studies, Washington University in St. Louis
imageTeachers Alia Hussein, left, and Efrat Toval give a lesson on identity, in Hebrew and Arabic, to third grade students in the Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem. Craig Stennett/Getty Images

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Education in a divided...

Read more: This course examines Israeli school division to better understand education policy – and society –...

The Gilded Age novel that helps explain our fascination with Luigi Mangione

  • Written by Max Chapnick, Research Fellow, Boston University
imageThe mystery of human choices, even when circumstances are known, occupied writers like Henry James.Gene J. Puskar/Getty Images

A good-looking young man with a mysterious past carries a loaded gun, ready to kill, on the streets of the world’s financial capital.

This scene not only describes Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of United...

Read more: The Gilded Age novel that helps explain our fascination with Luigi Mangione

More Articles ...

  1. Bezos’ Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Glenn rocket to orbit − a feat 15 years in the making
  2. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy provides in-house science advice for the president
  3. Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal: Why now and what next?
  4. Biden’s move to remove Cuba from terror list continues ‘yo-yo’ policy likely to be reversed by Trump
  5. LA fires: Harm from long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is poorly understood − and it’s a growing risk
  6. LA fires: Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing health risk, and not well understood
  7. Universities are mapping where local news outlets are still thriving − and where gaps persist
  8. A national, nonpartisan study of the Los Angeles fires could improve planning for future disasters
  9. Meta shift from fact-checking to crowdsourcing spotlights competing approaches in fight against misinformation and hate speech
  10. Joe Biden’s record on science and tech: Investments and regulation for vaccines, broadband, microchips and AI
  11. Insurance for natural disasters is failing homeowners − I don’t have the answers, but I do know the right questions to ask
  12. Kamala Harris memes questioning her cultural background highlight Americans’ contradictions with race
  13. In eyeing Greenland, Trump is echoing long-held American designs on the Arctic expanse
  14. Catholic cardinals play a key role in secular politics as well as the Catholic Church–and the importance of Pope Francis’ choice to head the church in DC
  15. Spending, regulations and DOGE: Office of Management and Budget director plays vital role helping government get stuff done
  16. This class uses museums to show law students the high art of curating ideas
  17. My beautiful ‘practicing’ Christians: As churchgoers’ numbers shrink, their social views grow more similar
  18. Rents rise faster after disasters, but a federal program can help restrain excesses
  19. How the CIA director helps the US navigate a world of spies, threats and geopolitical turbulence
  20. Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians
  21. We study aging family business incumbents who refuse to let go − here’s why the 2024 race felt familiar
  22. 4 reasons why the US might want to buy Greenland – if it were for sale, which it isn’t
  23. What’s an H-1B visa? A brief history of the controversial program for skilled foreign workers
  24. Job of homeland security secretary is to adapt almost continuously to pressures from the department, the public and the world at large
  25. The power of friendship: How a letter helped create an American bestseller about antisemitism
  26. Vaccine hesitancy among pet owners is growing – a public health expert explains why that matters
  27. A brief history of presidential inaugural speeches, from George Washington to today
  28. Larry Krasner, Kensington, the scrapped Sixers arena − and other key concerns that will shape Philly politics in 2025
  29. Lightning strikes make collecting a parasitic fungus prized in traditional Chinese medicine a deadly pursuit
  30. LA fires: Why fast wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  31. LA fires: Why fast-moving wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  32. US secretary of state has an expansive job that could make or break peace deals and key foreign alliances
  33. When presidents would send handwritten lists of their nominees to the Senate, things were a lot different
  34. Firefighting planes are dumping ocean water on the Los Angeles fires − why using saltwater is typically a last resort
  35. Mass deportations don’t keep out ‘bad genes’ − they use scientific racism to justify biased immigration policies
  36. From Myanmar to Gaza, Ukraine to Sudan – 2024 was another grim year, according to our mass atrocity index
  37. One way Trump could help revive rural America’s economies
  38. Is capitalism falling out of favor? We analyzed 400,000 news stories to find out
  39. Trump’s canal canard obscures a truth: Panama just wants to run its shipping passage without interference from China or the US
  40. What the dead, the uncanny and the monstrous tell us about human nature
  41. Why does a rocket have to go 25,000 mph to escape Earth?
  42. From watts to warheads: Secretary of energy oversees big science research and the US nuclear arsenal
  43. Secretary of defense must perform a ‘delicate dance’ between the president, Congress and the public
  44. Wildfires can contaminate drinking water systems with harmful chemicals − here’s what Los Angeles needs to know
  45. Philly sports fans consider themselves ‘gritty’ − but it’s merely a myth used to fuel their passion
  46. An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras
  47. How the EPA administrator protects public health, air, water and the environment
  48. With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research
  49. Even 1 drink a day elevates your cancer risk – an expert on how alcohol affects the body breaks down a new government report
  50. Funding public schools based on enrollment in the previous year may help keep their budgets more stable, research shows