The Conversation

National security advisers manage decision-making as advocates or honest brokers

Written by Gregory F. Treverton, Professor of Practice in International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Mike Waltz speaks with reporters in the press room at the White House on Feb. 20, 2025.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The removal of Mike Waltz as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser – formally the assistant to the president for national security affairs – raises the question of just what that position entails and also what...

A pope of the Americas: What Francis meant to 2 continents

Written by Neomi De Anda, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

A portrait of Pope Francis is projected onto a water fountain in Lima, Peru, on April 21, 2025.AP Photo/Martin Mejia

Most stories about Pope Francis mention that he made history as the first pontiff from Latin America. In fact, Francis was the first pope in centuries to be born outside Europe. But what impact did that actually have on the Catholic...

In Yemen, Trump risks falling into an ‘airpower trap’ that has drawn past US presidents into costly wars

Written by Charles Walldorf, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest University

A Yemeni soldier inspects the damage reportedly caused by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 27, 2025.AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman

In the first 100 days of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to lean on airpower when his administration decides that military force is necessary abroad.

So far, the second Trump...

Teachers and librarians are among those least likely to die by suicide − public health researchers offer insights on what this means for other professions

Written by Jordan Batchelor, Research Analyst at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety, Arizona State University

One reason teachers have a low suicide rate may be that they find meaning in their jobs.Digital Vision/Getty Images

Where you work affects your risk of dying by suicide. For example, loggers, musicians and workers in the oil and gas industries have much higher rates of suicide than the rest of the population.

But on the flip side, some professions...

Hurricane forecasts are more accurate than ever – NOAA funding cuts could change that, with a busy storm season coming

Written by Chris Vagasky, Meteorologist and Research Program Manager, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Radar shows a NOAA Hurricane Hunter flying through Tropical Storm Idalia during a mission in 2023.Nick Underwood/NOAA

The National Hurricane Center’s forecasts in 2024 were its most accurate on record, from its one-day forecasts, as tropical cyclones neared the coast, to its forecasts five days into the future, when storms were only beginning...

How was the Earth built?

Written by Alexander E. Gates, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, Rutgers University - Newark

The Earth formed in a ring of debris around the Sun, like the one around Vega, a bright star, in this artist's conception.NASA/JPL-Caltech

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.

How was the Earth built? – Noah, age 5, Florida

It...

Philly’s forgotten history as a hub of anarchism with a thriving radical Yiddish press

Written by Geoffrey Baym, Professor of Media Studies and Production, Temple University

The first edition of Bread and Freedom came out on Nov. 11, 1906.From the collection of the National Library of Israel, courtesy of Broyt un Frayheyt (Bread and Freedom)

On a late summer day in 1906, a small group of newly arrived Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia took a streetcar across town to Fairmount Park. Several miles from the cramped row...

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation case is more about individual rights than the Trump administration’s foreign policy

Written by Chimene Keitner, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law, University of California, Davis

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in San Salvador, El Salvador, on April 17, 2025. Photo by Sen. Van Hollen's office via Getty Images

Trump administration officials have repeatedly claimed that judges who order the administration to take action to bring deported Venezuelans back from the El Salvador prison where...

What is the biggest gaffe, blooper or blunder that a recent president has made? It may depend on what your definition of ‘is’ is

Written by Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana University

Lots of presidents have said things they regret. Or most of them have.Carol Yepes/Getty Images

President Donald Trump was asked during a press conference on April 30, 2025, about the possible impact of his tariff policies and trade war with China.

Trump answered that American children should prepare to make sacrifices at Christmas.

“Maybe the...

The Women’s Health Initiative has shaped women’s health for over 30 years, but its future is uncertain

Written by Jean Wactawski-Wende, Professor of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo

Women make up more than 50% of the population, yet before the 1990s they were largely excluded from health and medical research studies.

To try to help correct this imbalance, in 1991 the National Institutes of Health launched a massive, long-term study called the Women’s Health Initiative, which is still running today. It is the largest,...