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The Conversation

How being 'tough on crime' became a political liability

  • Written by Jody D. Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law, University of Southern California
Kamala Harris' campaign fizzled as her past as a prosecutor haunted her candidacy.AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Kamala Harris recently dropped out of the presidential race after months of attacks from the left for her “tough-on-crime” record as San Francisco’s district attorney and as California’s attorney general.

A few years ago, the...

Read more: How being 'tough on crime' became a political liability

Impeachment overkill, the USMCA's impact on jobs and the power of imagery: 3 quotes from the Democratic debate, explained

  • Written by Aradhna Krishna, Dwight F Benton Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan
Seven democratic candidates convened in Los Angeles for a debate.AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Editor’s note: The seven Democrats who qualified for the final Democratic presidential debate of 2019 sparred over the economy, trade, social justice and many other issues – including “wine caves.” We asked three scholars to watch the...

Read more: Impeachment overkill, the USMCA's impact on jobs and the power of imagery: 3 quotes from the...

Finding opportunity in crisis: 3 essential reads about environmental solutions

  • Written by Jennifer Weeks, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation
Big challenges call for big responses.Brian S./Shutterstock.com

From climate change to omnipresent plastic waste, 2019 delivered a lot of discouraging environmental news. Several special reports this year from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change documented how global warming is altering the planet’s lands, forests, oceans and frozen...

Read more: Finding opportunity in crisis: 3 essential reads about environmental solutions

We asked kids to send us their burning questions – here are 5 of our favorites from 2019

  • Written by Maggie Villiger, Senior Science + Technology Editor
But why? But why?Odua Images/Shutterstock.com

Out of the mouths of babes… comes a never-ending stream of questions.

So this year, The Conversation US jumped on a great idea dreamed up by our colleagues in Australia and launched a series of articles meant to answer questions kids ask, but that everyone probably wonders about. The...

Read more: We asked kids to send us their burning questions – here are 5 of our favorites from 2019

Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year's and other holidays?

  • Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer, Questrom School of Business, Boston University
Holiday birthdays are lonely. Bryan Keogh/The Conversation via Shutterstock.com

Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on those days is a birthday.

That’s because Dec. 25 is the least popular day in the U.S., Aus...

Read more: Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year's and other holidays?

Battle at the border: 5 essential reads on asylum, citizenship and the right to live in the US

  • Written by Aviva Rutkin, Data Editor
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checks migrants' documents.AP Photo/Fernando Llano

Editor’s note: As we come to the end of the year, Conversation editors take a look back at the stories that – for them – exemplified 2019.

Who gets to live in the United States?

It’s a contentious question, particularly as the Trump...

Read more: Battle at the border: 5 essential reads on asylum, citizenship and the right to live in the US

Don't let your vote get stolen – 5 essential reads about disinformation in 2020

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US
Who's manipulating what you know before you vote?AntonSokolov/Shutterstock.com

As the 2020 election season heats up, there will be a massive number of people competing for your vote. Only some of them will be legitimate candidates.

The vast majority will be information warriors, people who seek to confuse you about what is truth and what is fiction...

Read more: Don't let your vote get stolen – 5 essential reads about disinformation in 2020

Religious minorities around the world face an uncertain future: 5 essential reads

  • Written by Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor
Relatives light candles for victims who died during a bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on April 22, 2019. AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

Around the world, religious minorities are facing violence because of their beliefs.

Noting that attacks on places of worship had increased, this year the United Nations declared Aug. 22 as...

Read more: Religious minorities around the world face an uncertain future: 5 essential reads

Where does beach sand come from?

  • Written by David R. Montgomery, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
This started as a mountain range.Bas Meelker/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.

Where does beach sand come from? – Sly M., age 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts

There’s more to beach sand than meets the...

Read more: Where does beach sand come from?

Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message

  • Written by Nicole Maurantonio, Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Communication Studies and American Studies, University of Richmond
Decorated with ornaments purchased, created and inherited for years, even generations, Christmas trees are a reflection of a family's history and tastes.John Morgan/flickr, CC BY-SA

As Christmas approaches, many families undertake a familiar ritual: an annual sojourn to the attic, basement or closet to pull out a box of treasured ornaments bought,...

Read more: Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message

More Articles ...

  1. Why bad customer service won't improve anytime soon
  2. How old would you want to be in heaven?
  3. Giving pregnant women antibiotics could harm the lungs of preemies, according to study in mice
  4. Should you avoid meat for good health? How to slice off the facts from the fiction
  5. Nonprofits that empower leaders of color are more apt to do something about racial inequality
  6. A real-life deluminator for spotting exoplanets by reflected starlight
  7. The holidays remind us that grief cannot be wished away
  8. Democratic presidential hopefuls are promising to ramp up funding for public schools
  9. 5 ways chess can make you a better law student and lawyer
  10. Here's how you can be nudged to eat healthier, recycle and make better decisions every day
  11. How St. Francis created the Nativity scene, with a miraculous event in 1223
  12. Alcoholic? Me? How to tell if your holiday drinking is becoming a problem
  13. Can Congress hold Trump accountable? 4 essential reads on a historic power struggle
  14. The Madrid climate conference's real failure was not getting a broad deal on global carbon markets
  15. How Crisco toppled lard – and made Americans believers in industrial food
  16. Tracking your heart rate? 5 questions answered about what that number really means
  17. 150 cooks, servers and dishwashers almost shut down a Democratic debate, showing unions' growing clout in the party
  18. Think presidential debates are dull? Thank 1950s TV game shows
  19. Parents of medically fragile children and their kids could use help, understanding year-round
  20. 7 reasons to learn a foreign language
  21. 7 science-based strategies to boost your willpower and succeed with your New Year’s resolutions
  22. My team uses crossbows and drones to collect bacteria from whales – and the results are teaching us how to keep whales healthy
  23. Feeling sick is an emotion meant to help you get better faster
  24. When a chief justice reminded senators in an impeachment trial that they were not jurors
  25. The science of gift wrapping explains why sloppy is better
  26. Planetary confusion -- why astronomers keep changing what it means to be a planet
  27. How can we make sure that algorithms are fair?
  28. 3 lessons for today's teachers and students from coach Vince Lombardi
  29. 6 charts that illustrate the surprising financial strength of American houses of worship
  30. Catholic activism, not repentance for sexual abuse, is what forces clergy to resign
  31. Evangelical gangs in Rio de Janeiro wage 'holy war' on Afro-Brazilian faiths
  32. Transgender homeless Americans find few protections in the law
  33. Why Congress would keep working during a government shutdown
  34. US-China trade deal: 3 fundamental issues remain unresolved
  35. In impeachment spotlight, dueling views of professionalism appear
  36. Impeachment is better than exile
  37. Kids aren't getting enough exercise, even in sporty Seattle
  38. Memo from a historian: White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history
  39. When Trump calls someone a dog, he's tapping into ugly history
  40. Margaret Morse Nice thought like a song sparrow and changed how scientists understand animal behavior
  41. Butterfly lovers become citizen scientists by logging sightings on eButterfly
  42. Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?
  43. Asking people with memory loss about past holidays can help them recall happy times
  44. As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse
  45. The Earth needs multiple methods for removing CO2 from the air to avert worst of climate change
  46. 'Organic' label doesn't guarantee that holiday ham was a happy pig
  47. The dangers of depicting Greta Thunberg as a prophet
  48. Why are whales big, but not bigger?
  49. How old should kids be to get phones?
  50. ‘Richard Jewell’ is only the latest film to depict a female journalist trading sex for scoops