The Conversation

Why building more homes won't solve the affordable housing problem for the millions of people who need it most

Written by Alex Schwartz, Professor of Urban Policy, The New School

The pandemic has made the affordable housing crisis a lot worse, in part by increasing the rate of evictions. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Even before 2020, the U.S. faced an acute housing affordability crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic made it a whole lot worse after millions of people who lost their jobs fell behind on rent. While eviction bans forestalled...

The Hatch Act, the law Trump deputies are said to have broken, requires government employees to work for the public interest, not partisan campaigns

Written by Matthew May, Senior Research Associate, Boise State University

At least 13 former Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner and Kayleigh McEnany, pictured here, violated the Hatch Act, according to a new federal investigation released Nov. 9, 2021.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Thirteen top officials of the Trump administration violated the federal law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits political...

¿Qué es el metaverso, futuro de la convivencia humana?

Written by Rabindra Ratan, Associate Professor of Media and Information, Michigan State University

¿Están estas personas interactuando en algún mundo virtual?Lucrezia Carnelos/Unsplash

El metaverso es una red de entornos virtuales siempre activos en los que muchas personas pueden interactuar entre sí y con objetos digitales mientras operan representaciones virtuales, o avatares, de sí mismos. Piense en una...

Why are prices so high? Blame the supply chain – and that's the reason inflation is here to stay

Written by Craig Austin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Florida International University

Shopping bags are getting heavier – on your wallet.AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Consumer prices soared in October 2021 and are now up 6.2% from a year earlier – higher than most economists’ estimates and the fastest increase in more than three decades. At this point, that may be no surprise to most Americans, who are seeing higher...

Genetic GPS system of animal development explains why limbs grow from torsos and not heads

Written by Ethan Bier, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California San Diego

New research in fruit flies elucidates how the genes that direct animal body shape work.Vaclav Hykes/EyeEm via Getty Images

Why do human look like humans, rather than like chimps? Although we share 99% of our DNA with chimps, our faces and bodies look quite different from each other.

While human body shape and appearance have clearly changed during...

Olympic Games are great for propagandists – how the lessons of Hitler's Olympics loom over Beijing 2022

Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine

Will anodyne reporting from the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics play into China's propaganda efforts? Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

On the morning of Aug. 14, 1936, two NBC employees met for breakfast at a café in Berlin. Max Jordan and Bill Slater were discussing the Olympic Games they were broadcasting back to the United States – and...

7 ways to get proactive about climate change instead of feeling helpless: Lessons from a leadership expert

Written by Thomas S. Bateman, Professor Emeritus of Organizational Behavior, University of Virginia

Actions today affect the world these young people will live in.Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

Humans do not capitalize nearly enough on our most significant evolutionary advantage: a unique ability to take forward-looking actions that influence the future for the better.

Exhibit A: Climate change is here, and things are changing quickly for...

Betty Crocker turns 100 – why generations of American women connected with a fictional character

Written by Elizabeth A. Blake, Assistant Professor of English, Clark University

Betty Crocker's first official portrait, on the left, from 1936. Her most recent portrait, from 1996, is on the right.BettyCrocker.com

Though she celebrates her 100th birthday this year, Betty Crocker was never born. Nor does she ever really age.

When her face did change over the past century, it was because it had been reinterpreted by artists and...

What the world can learn from the Buddhist concept loving-kindness

Written by Brooke Schedneck, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College

Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, holding a jewel between his folded hands.Debbie Hemenway/Moment via Getty images

As the world deals with the trauma caused by COVID-19, World Kindness Day, observed on Nov. 13 annually, is a good opportunity to reflect on the healing potential of both large and small acts of kindness. Indeed, it was...

On Twitter, fossil fuel companies' climate misinformation is subtle – here's what I'm seeing during COP26

Written by Jill Hopke, Associate professor, DePaul University

Young activists used 'blah, blah, blah' as their refrain for criticizing governments' and industries' slow actions on climate change.AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali

When oil and gas companies took to Twitter during the first half of the U.N.’s Glasgow climate conference, they often presented themselves as part of the solution to climate change and...