The U.S. coal industry is in rapid decline, a shift marked not only by the bankruptcy of many mine operators in coal-rich Appalachia but also by a legacy of potential environmental and social disasters.

As mines close, states, the federal government and taxpayers are...

What does it mean to be a good loser in politics?

In 2015, I taught a seminar called, simply, Political Losers. In the course, we read about political loss in labor strikes, in social movement campaigns, in elections and in war.

In all of these cases, the students and I asked: How do losers fight to win again? How do losers position themselves, in...

It was raining on May 12, the last time I was in Rio. The cidade maravilhosa – the “Marvelous City” – was cold and dark, the furthest thing from the vibrant, jovial landscapes you’ll see on a Google image search.

The rain didn’t deter thousands of workers pulling 12-hour shifts to finish construction for the 2016...

When longtime former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed suit July 6 for sexual harassment against the network’s former boss, Roger Ailes, the public response was less than kind. There were expressed disbelief and rebuttals that she was fabricating her story in retaliation for being fired.

Many asked: If it was so bad, why didn’t she...

Would you want to alter your future children’s genes to make them smarter, stronger or better-looking? As the state of the science brings prospects like these closer to reality, an international debate has been raging over the ethics of enhancing human capacities with biotechnologies such as so-called smart pills, brain implants and gene...

Few people would doubt that sex is ubiquitous in media – whether movies, television, music or books – and that teens today have unprecedented access to all of it. It’s often taken for granted that this easy access to “sexy media” has an influence on teenage...

On the eve of the Rio Olympic Games, host Brazil is struggling through one of the deepest crises in its history.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

In 2009, when the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was on a roll. President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva proclaimed:

“Now we are going to show the world we can be...

As a professor of classical studies, I’ve noticed some remarkable differences and similarities between the modern and ancient Olympic Games.

The medals, the torch relay and events for females didn’t exist in...

In her speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton talked about free college and student debt relief.

Convention speeches are not normally known for providing details of policy proposals, and keeping with tradition, Clinton offered few details of her own. Now that we are past the conventions and into the campaign,...

Just over 50 years ago, a highly contagious but seemingly harmless virus swept through the United States, infecting as many as 12.5 million people. In both adults...