The Conversation

Want a satisfying relationship? Don't present yourself as a sex object

Written by Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., Chair and Professor of Psychology, Monmouth University

Is objectification bad – if you welcome sexualized attention?Lionsgate AMC

When Joan Holloway – the bombshell office worker on the show “Mad Men” – enters a room, she knows she looks good and is going to turn heads. Every morning, Joan meticulously does her makeup and hair and puts on a skintight dress. The men in her...

How bills to replace Obamacare would especially harm women

Written by Simon Haeder, Assistant Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

A woman speaks up at a town hall gathering with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) in March 2017.Mark Crammer/AP

As members of Congress are heading back to their districts over Fourth of July break, the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), America’s health care system and millions of Americans continues to hang in the balance.

While...

Why market competition has not brought down health care costs

Written by Gerald Friedman, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Decreased regulation has failed to reduce the growing administrative burden of health care. Valeri Potapova/Shutterstock.com

It is easier than ever to buy stuff. You can purchase almost anything on Amazon with a click, and it is only slightly harder to find a place to stay in a foreign city on Airbnb.

So why can’t we pay for health care the...

Putin's flacks: Russia's stealth public relations war

Written by Sue Curry Jansen, ‌‌‌Professor of Media and Communication, Muhlenberg College

Is public relations simply a more insidious form of fake news?Nick Lehr/The Conversation via www.shutterstock.com

The Russian attempt to influence the 2016 American presidential election, using what intelligence agencies call “active measures,” has dominated U.S. headlines.

There is, however, a second front in Russia’s effort to...

America's dangerous love for pyrotechnics: 4 facts about fireworks

Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Economist and Research Scientist, The Ohio State University

In the eyes of many Americans, the Fourth of July is a day for parades, barbecue and, of course, fireworks.

The tradition got its start at the beginning of our nation’s history after the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia to write and sign the Declaration of Independence. A day after the Continental Congress adopted the declaration on...

Take that chocolate milk survey with a grain of salt

Written by Lauren Griffin, Director of External Research for frank, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida

And don't expect chocolate ice cream, either.Barney Moss, CC BY

It’s been all over the news lately: a survey by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy suggests that 7 percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

The takeaway of much of this reporting is that Americans are science illiterate as well as uninformed about...

New data set explores 90 years of natural disasters in the US

Written by Leah Platt Boustan, Professor of Economics, Princeton University

The sun rises behind the remains of a New Jersey roller coaster destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. AP Photo/Mel Evans

Every year, major earthquakes, floods and hurricanes occur. These natural disasters disrupt daily life and, in the worst cases, cause devastation. Events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy killed thousands of people and generated...

Republican health care bills defy the party's own ideology

Written by Christy Ford Chapin, Visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and Assistant Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who announced June 27 that a vote on the Senate health care bill has been delayed until after the July 4 recess.Carolyn Kaster/AP

The Senate’s health care proposal made it clear that Republicans, despite their rhetoric, are not interested in market-based reform. Instead, they prefer pro-business,...

Macron and Trudeau shouldn't be so proud of appointing women to their Cabinets

Written by Malliga Och, Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Languages, Idaho State University

Appointing a gender-parity Cabinet seems to be the thing to do if you are a rising, progressive and male political star.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did it in 2015. French President Emmanuel Macron followed this May.

The internet loves it. Trudeau has been the darling of feminists everywhere, and Macron clearly wants to follow in his...

The Venezuelan government's newest opponent is a state-funded orchestra

Written by Yana Genchova Stainova, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth Society of Fellows, Dartmouth College

Musicians protesting against government while holding instruments in Caracas, Venezuela.AP/ Fernando Llano

On May 4, an 18-year-old violist named Armando Cañizales marched against the government in Venezuela.

A video shows him walking slowly, arms outstretched. Minutes later, he was shot dead. Despite a lack of evidence to determine who shot...