The Conversation

What makes Christmas movies so popular

Written by S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Cinema and Media Studies, by special appointment, Hamilton College

A still from the 1946 classic 'It's A Wonderful Life.'National Telefilm Associates

If you are one of those people who will settle in this evening with a hot cup of apple cider to watch a holiday movie, you are not alone. Holiday movies have become firmly embedded in Americans’ winter celebrations.

The New York Times reports a massive increase...

Why the US military usually punishes misconduct but police often close ranks

Written by Dwight Stirling, Lecturer in Law, University of Southern California

NYPD officers turning their backs on New York mayor Bill de Blasio after he remarked on police violence, Jan. 4, 2015.AP Photo/John Minchillo,

Many U.S. military members publicly disavowed President Trump’s decision to pardon Edward Gallagher, the former SEAL commando convicted of killing a teenage detainee in Iraq in 2017.

Gallagher’s...

American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Donbass

Written by Erik C. Nisbet, Associate Professor of Communication, Political Science and Environmental Policy and Co-Director of the Eurasian Security and Governance Program, The Ohio State University

Zelenskiy is facing a tough meeting with Russia's Putin on Dec. 9. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are set to meet Dec. 9 as part of efforts to end conflict in the separatist-controlled territories of Donbass.

Zelenskiy’s electoral victory in April...

Large-scale education tests often come with side effects

Written by Yurou Wang, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Alabama

Big education tests come with serious side effects, research shows.YanLev/Shutterstock.com

When results come out for big education tests like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which primarily measures 15-year-old students’ knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science, the focus is often on which countries...

American influence could take the hit as Putin, Zelenskiy try to make peace in Ukraine

Written by Erik C. Nisbet, Associate Professor of Communication, Political Science and Environmental Policy and Co-Director of the Eurasian Security and Governance Program, The Ohio State University

Zelenskiy is facing a tough meeting with Russia's Putin on Dec. 9. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are set to meet Dec. 9 as part of efforts to end conflict in the separatist-controlled territories of Donbass.

Zelenskiy’s electoral victory in April...

From their balloons, the first aeronauts transformed our view of the world

Written by Jennifer Tucker, Associate Professor of History and Science in Society, Wesleyan University

A lithograph from Gaston Tissandier's balloon travels depicts falling stars.Archive.org

Near the beginning of the new film “The Aeronauts,” a giant gas-filled balloon called the “Mammoth” departs from London’s Vauxhall Gardens and ascends into the clouds, revealing a bird’s eye view of London.

To some moviegoers,...

NPR is still expanding the range of what authority sounds like after 50 years

Written by Jason Loviglio, Chair and Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Susan Stamberg interviewed President Jimmy Carter during a National Public Radio call-in program in 1979.AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi

From its start half a century ago, National Public Radio heralded a new approach to the sound of radio in the United States.

NPR “would speak with many voices and many dialects,” according to “Purposes,&...

Limited eating times could be a new way to fight obesity and diabetes

Written by Satchin Panda, Professor of Regulatory Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Adjunct Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at UCSD, University of California San Diego

Time limits on eating may help to keep diabetics' blood glucose in check. ratmaner/Shutterstock.com

People with obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure or high cholesterol are often advised to eat less and move more, but our new research suggests there is now another simple tool to fight off these diseases: restricting your eating time to a...

Turning gray and into the red: The true cost of growing old in America

Written by Jan Mutchler, Professor, Department of Gerontology, McCormack Graduate School Director, Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston

Are you economically ready for old age?Shutterstock

The U.S. population is aging at such a rate that within a few years, older Americans will outnumber the country’s children for the first time, according to census projections. But rising rents, health care and other living costs mean that for many entering their retirement years, balancing...

5 ways to check a college's financial health

Written by Leo M. Lambert, President Emeritus and Professor of Education, Elon University

Signs that a college may be about to close may not always be apparent.Konstantin L/Shutterstock.com

The financial health of colleges and universities is much in the news these days. An enrollment cliff – a drop-off in traditionally aged college students – will hit in the next decade and may threaten more small, regional and marginally...