The Conversation

Trump’s firing of Fed governor threatens central bank independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation)

Written by Ana Carolina Garriga, Professor. Department of Government, University of Essex

The fate of Lisa Cook, who is fighting attempts by President Donald Trump to remove her from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, has huge implications for a keystone of good economic policy: central bank independence.

At the heart of her firing attempt – and other moves to undermine the Fed by the Trump administration – is a...

The US really is unlike other rich countries when it comes to job insecurity – and AI could make it even more ‘exceptional’

Written by Jeffrey C. Dixon, Professor of Sociology, College of the Holy Cross

How will AI affect American workers? There are two major narratives floating around. The “techno-optimist” view is that AI will free humans from boring tasks and create new jobs, while the “techno-pessimist” view is that AI will lead to widespread unemployment.

As a sociologist who studies job insecurity, I’m among the...

Active Clubs are white supremacy’s new, dangerous frontier

Written by Art Jipson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Dayton

What looks like a fitness group could actually be a white supremacist training cell.starush/iStock via Getty Images

Small local organizations called Active Clubs have spread widely across the U.S. and internationally, using fitness as a cover for a much more alarming mission. These groups are a new and harder-to-detect form of white supremacist...

Squash has been played in Philly for 125 years − a sports psychologist explains why it’s one of the city’s best-kept secrets

Written by Eric Zillmer, Professor of Neuropsychology, Drexel University

Olivia Weaver, in foreground, is an American professional squash player from Philadelphia who is ranked No. 4 in the world.Courtesy US Squash

What sport combines the intensity of a high-wire circus act with the strategic thinking of a grand master chess match?

I’d say the sport of squash, for the first time an Olympic sport at the 2028 Los...

College students are bombarded by misinformation, so this professor taught them fact-checking 101 − here’s what happened

Written by Sam Wineburg, Emeritus Professor of Education, Stanford University

Smartphones are a window into a world of misinformation.Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images

Mike Evans knew something had to change.

As the lead instructor for American Government 1101 at Georgia State University in 2021, Evans had watched his students over the years show up with fewer facts and more conspiracy theories. Gone were the days...

Like Reagan, Trump is slashing US environment regulations, but his strategy may have a far deeper impact

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

When the Trump administration announced it was moving to eliminate dozens of U.S. climate policies, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said he was sending “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

That drive – to both repeal environmental regulations and cast doubt on science –...

Israel’s killing of journalists follows a pattern of silencing Palestinian media that stretches back to 1967

Written by Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona

A funeral ceremony takes place in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in Gaza following the deaths of five journalists on Aug. 25, 2025.Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images

Five journalists were among the 22 people killed on Aug. 25, 2025, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Following global condemnation, the office of...

Hurricane Katrina: 3 painful lessons for emergency management are increasingly important 20 years later

Written by Eric Kevin Stern, Professor of Political Science, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, University at Albany, State University of New York

National Guard trucks carry rescued residents through floodwaters to the Superdome on Aug. 30, 2005, a day after Hurricane Katrina hit in New Orleans.AP Photo/Eric Gay

Hurricane Katrina looms large in the history of American emergency management, both for what went wrong as the disaster unfolded and for the policy changes it triggered.

As the nation...

Orwell’s opposition to totalitarianism was rooted in his support for freeing workers from poverty and exploitation

Written by Mark Satta, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law, Wayne State University

In writing he did before his most famous novels, Orwell focused primarily on other themes including work, poverty, anti-imperialism and democratic socialism.zoom-zoom, iStock/Getty Images Plus

George Orwell’s dystopian novels “Animal Farm” and “1984” have remained popular in the U.S. ever since their initial...

Why is the object of golf to play as little golf as possible?

Written by Patrick Tutka, Clinical Associate Professor of Health and Kinesiology, Purdue University

Brooke M. Henderson hits a bunker shot during a tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich., on June 12, 2025.Michael Miller/ISI Photos via Getty Images

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 is the object of golf to play the least amount...