The Conversation

Inequality is higher in some states like New York and Louisiana because of corporate welfare

Written by Joshua Jansa, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University

New York's offer of incentives to Amazon to open a headquarters in the state faced significant opposition.AP Photo/Karen Matthews

Income inequality made big headlines recently, after the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is at its highest level in at least half a century.

Less reported...

How do we know when a species at risk has recovered? It's not just a matter of numbers

Written by H. Resit Akcakaya, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

Bison in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, N.D.Jay Gannett, CC BY-SA

Around the world, animals and plants are disappearing at alarming rates. In May 2019, a major U.N. report warned that around one million species were at risk of extinction – more than at any other time in human history.

Conservation scientists like me focus on predicting...

Mormons in Mexico: A brief history of polygamy, cartel violence and faith

Written by Rebecca Janzen, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

Bullet-riddled vehicles that members of the LeBaron family were traveling in sit parked on a dirt road near Bavispe, at the Sonora-Chihuahua border, Mexico, Nov 6, 2019.AP Photo/Christian Chavez

Nine members of a prominent Mormon family in northern Mexico, all women and children, were gunned down on Nov. 4 in territory whose control is disputed by...

Revenge porn is sexual violence, not millennial negligence

Written by Kristen Zaleski, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi poses with Rep. Katie Hill and her husband, Kenny Heslep, in January 2019.AP Photo/Cliff Owen

U.S. Representative Katie Hill was the latest victim of a form of sexual abuse that’s become increasingly common: revenge porn.

Intimate photos of her were leaked to the media and published, without her consent, for the...

Peace advocates have long been found among veterans who fought in America's wars

Written by Michael Messner, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Veterans for Peace gather for a Veterans Day ceremony at the Minnesota State Capitol mall, Nov. 11, 2014, in St. Paul. AP/Jim Mone

If President Donald Trump had gotten his way, the nation would have celebrated the centennial of the World War I armistice last year on Nov. 11 with a massive military parade in Washington, D.C.

But that didn’t...

Making life-or-death decisions is very hard – here's how we've taught people to do it better

Written by Laurence Alison, Director of the Centre for Critical and Major Incident Psychology, University of Liverpool

When faced with a wildfire, responders must act quickly and decisively to save lives.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

When faced with a rapidly advancing fire threatening a community, it can be hard to know how best to save lives.

Is a rapid evacuation better, or is it safer for residents to stay where they are? The whole situation can change in an...

Plague was around for millennia before epidemics took hold – and the way people lived might be what protected them

Written by Sonja Eliason, MPhil Candidate in Bioscience Enterprise, University of Cambridge

What happened to make plague able to cause devastating epidemics?Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com

One of civilization’s most prolific killers shadowed humans for thousands of years without their knowledge.

The bacteria Yersinia pestis, which causes the plague, is thought to be responsible for up to 200 million deaths across human history...

Why there is no Kurdish nation

Written by John Broich, Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Flag of Kurdistan on military uniform.Bumble Dee/Shutterstock.com

Since U.S. troops left their region, roughly 180,000 Kurds of northeastern Syria have been displaced, and over 200 have been killed.

Those Kurds, soldiers who’d battled the Islamic State and families, had hoped to secure a future Kurdistan state in areas now targeted by Turkish...

Anti-Semitism in the US today is a variation on an old theme

Written by Pamela S. Nadell, Professor and Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's & Gender History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program, American University

Despite courting the Jewish vote, President Trump has used anti-Semitic rhetoric.AP/John Locher

Senators Jacky Rosen and James Lankford, who describe themselves as “a practicing Jewish Democrat from Nevada and a devoted Christian Republican from Oklahoma,” are spearheading a new effort to fight an old problem: anti-Semitism in America.

Th...

Evangelicals in Brazil see abuse of God's earth as a sin – but will they fight to save the Amazon?

Written by Amy Erica Smith, Associate Professor of Political Science as well as Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Professor, Iowa State University

Trees that survived a forest fire stand amid smoldering smoke in the Vila Nova Samuel region of Brazil, Aug. 25, 2019. AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

When the Brazilian city of São Paulo abruptly went dark at midday on Aug. 19, there was talk of the Apocalypse – not all of it in jest.

In fact, meteorologists explained, unusual wind patterns had...