The Conversation

A peek into the lives of Puerto Rican Muslims and what Ramadan means post Hurricane Maria

Written by Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of Florida

Muslims praying in Puerto Rico.AP Photo/Tomas van Houtryve

For Juan, Ramadan is a balancing act. On the one hand is his religious faith and practice. On the other is his land, his culture, his home: Puerto Rico.

Although he weaves these two elements of his identity together in many ways, during Ramadan, the borderline between them becomes palpable....

Donald Glover and the state of 'black genius'

Written by Phillip L. Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Quinnipiac University

Donald Glover, under his hip-hop pseudonym Childish Gambino, recently released a provocative music video for his single, “This Is America.”

The video, with its violent imagery and references to blackface minstrels, came as a surprise for Childish Gambino fans previously accustomed to his witty, sardonic style. As a result, it has been...

The Iran nuclear deal could still be saved, experts say

Written by Jaganath Sankaran, Assistant Research Professor, University of Maryland

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, welcomes his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, ahead of their meeting in Moscow on May 14, 2018. AP/Maxim Shemetov

“America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail,” President Donald Trump declared in his speech, justifying the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran...

In the US, fairy-tale royal weddings clash with reality

Written by Laurie Essig, Director and Professor of Gender, Sexuality, & Feminist Studies, Middlebury College

A tour guide holds up a flag with the faces of Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee, Meghan Markle.AP Photo/Alastair Grant

Unless you’ve been living in outer space, you probably know that on May 19, Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle. Many Americans will be setting their alarms to wake up early to watch the wedding, and some are even flyi...

Yanny or Laurel? It's your brain not your ears that decides

Written by Jennell Vick, Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences, Case Western Reserve University

You heard it say what?Roman Stetsyk/Shutterstock.com

As a speech scientist, I never thought I’d see so much excitement on social media about one tiny little word.

The clip, which went viral after being posted on Reddit, is polarizing listeners who hear a computer voice say either “Laurel” or “Yanny.” @AlexWelke tweeted,...

Tom Wolfe elevated journalism into enduring literature

Written by William McKeen, Professor and Chair, Department of Journalism, Boston University

Tom Wolfe, in 2010, fired up and holding forth.AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

In 20th-century popular culture, journalists were portrayed as needy hacks desperate to write the Great American Novel. Journalism was the means to an end that few achieved.

But Tom Wolfe, who died May 14 at age 88, helped change that in the 1960s. He was one of the New...

Brazilian candidate still crushing his rivals from jail

Written by João Feres Júnior, Professor of political science, Rio de Janeiro State University

With over a dozen candidates and an incarcerated front-runner, Brazil's 2018 presidential election has political analysts shrugging their shoulders.AP Photo/Leo Correa

It would be hard to overstate the prominence of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil. The founder of the left-wing Workers’ Party, this former union...

The orgasm gap: Picking up where the sexual revolution left off

Written by Laurie Mintz, Professor of Psychology, University of Florida

Women's sexual pleasure has not been stressed as much as men's.Lucky Business/Shutterstock.com

At the core of the 1960s sexual revolution was “female sexual empowerment.” It fell short of this goal. Specifically, while the revolution made women having intercourse before marriage acceptable, it didn’t lead women to have equally...

Supreme Court delivers a home run for sports bettors – and now states need to scramble

Written by Jennifer Roberts, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

People line up to place bets in the sports book at the South Point hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nev.AP Photo/John Locher

On May 14, the United States Supreme Court invalidated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a federal law that prohibited states, aside from a few exemptions like Nevada, from allowing sports betting operations.

In a...

Should I kill spiders in my home? An entomologist explains why not to

Written by Matt Bertone, Extension Associate in Entomology, North Carolina State University

He comes in peace.Matt Bertone, CC BY-ND

I know it may be hard to convince you, but let me try: Don’t kill the next spider you see in your home.

Why? Because spiders are an important part of nature and our indoor ecosystem – as well as being fellow organisms in their own right.

People like to think of their dwellings as safely insulated...