The Conversation

So you want to be an autocrat? Here's the 10-point checklist

Written by Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton

Two autocrats: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, left, and Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, right, in Budapest, Hungary, Nov. 7, 2019. AP/Presidential Press Service

Democracy is in trouble, despite popular uprisings and dynamic social movements in Lebanon, Hong Kong and across Europe and Latin America.

Scholars say countries across the...

Is there hope for a Hong Kong revolution?

Written by Paul Monod, Professor of History, Middlebury

Hong Kong protesters shelter behind a thin barrier – and umbrellas – as police fire tear gas and encircle a group of demonstrators.AP Photo/Vincent Yu

Hong Kong may seem like an unlikely place for a revolution. In this relatively affluent and privileged city, young people might be expected to be more concerned with making money than...

Long wait times in ERs drive up costs, signal health care distress

Written by Lindsey Woodworth, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina

Wait times in emergency rooms are not only frustrating but also costly.Johnson Photography LLC

Wait times in emergency rooms are so out of control that researchers recently tested whether aromatherapy would make waiting in the ER more tolerable.

It didn’t.

Over a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine offered an ominous warning:...

Local news outlets can fill the media trust gap – but the public needs to pony up

Written by Damian Radcliffe, Caroline S. Chambers Professor in Journalism, University of Oregon

The appetite for smart local news is there. The challenge is figuring out how to make it profitable.Sharaf Maksumov/Shutterstock.com

With the polarization of America’s media and politics reaching a fever pitch, many news consumers – “worn out by a fog of political news,” as a recent New York Times feature put it – are...

Relax, Devin Nunes – theater is essential to politics

Written by Harvey Young, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Boston University

The stage is set and the cast members are in their places for impeachment hearings.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

“A televised theatrical performance staged by the Democrats.” With these words, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes expressed his discontent with the beginning of presidential impeachment hearings. He indirectly invited listeners...

Why Hindu nationalists are cheering moves to build a temple, challenging a secular tradition

Written by Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University

A Hindu woman prays to the bricks that are expected to be used in constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, following a verdict from the Indian Supreme Court.AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

A five-judge panel of the Indian Supreme Court has delivered its much-awaited verdict on the destruction of the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the town of...

How gene-edited white blood cells are helping fight cancer

Written by Piyush K. Jain, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF Health Cancer Center, University of Florida

Scientists are using gene editing to make better cancer treatments.Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

For the first time in the United States, a gene editing tool has been used to treat advanced cancer in three patients and showed promising early results in a pilot phase 1 clinical trial. So far the treatment appears safe, and more results are expected...

Why the nation should screen all students for trauma like California does

Written by Sunny Shin, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University

The effects of childhood trauma can be long-lasting.shutterstock.com/lightspring

As the first person to hold the new role of Surgeon General of California, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is pushing an unprecedented plan to implement universal screenings for childhood trauma within the state’s schools.

Childhood trauma is defined by the National...

Did bees live in the time of dinosaurs?

Written by Fred Dyer, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University

A fossilized bee in amber.Fossilmuseum.net, CC BY-NC

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.

Did bees and dinosaurs live at the same time? – Gabriel H., 7, Providence, Rhode Island

Yes, and in fact they shared the planet for...

Why do teachers make us read old stories?

Written by Elisabeth Gruner, Associate Professor of English, University of Richmond

Teachers often assign older books.vovidzha/Shutterstock.com

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 do teachers make us read old stories? Nathan, 12, Chicago, Illinois

There are probably as many reasons to read old stories as...