The Conversation

Happiness swings votes – and America’s current mood could scramble expectations of young and old voters

Written by Carol Bishop Mills, Co-Director, Political Communication and Public Opinion Lab, Florida Atlantic University

Happiness is more than a mood – it may factor into how we vote.Adrienne Bresnahan/Getty Images

Happiness may be reshaping America’s political landscape.

Since the 1960s and the election of President John F. Kennedy, younger voters have supported Democratic candidates, while older voters leaned Republican. But that dynamic has been...

Why holding kids back fails − and what to do about it

Written by Laura Link, Associate Professor of Teaching and Leadership, University of North Dakota

Children struggle with shame and alienation when they are forced to repeat a grade in school.Maskot via Getty Images

For decades, schools have allowed children to advance to the next grade even when they’re not reading at grade level. But more and more states are adopting policies to hold students back if they fail standardized tests in...

Denver’s experiment in providing a soft landing for newly arrived migrants and asylum-seekers isn’t cheap – but doing nothing might cost more

Written by Anita Alves Pena, Professor of Economics, Colorado State University

The burden of supporting asylum-seekers with food and housing often falls to cities, creating severe budget crunches. But Denver is piloting a new approach designed to integrate immigrants into the workforce faster.

The Denver Asylum Seekers Program offers six months of rent-free housing along with legal assistance, food aid and workforce training....

Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein’s theory of time have to do with misunderstandings about climate change

Written by Miki Mori, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Université de Mayotte

Fishermen on Mayotte, where the local Maore language has no words to easily translate 'climate change.' Mwanasimba via Wikimedia, CC BY

As a child growing up in the early 1990s, I remember learning in school about the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat near the Earth’s surface, like the glass of a...

Health care under Harris versus Trump: A public health historian sizes up their records

Written by Zachary W. Schulz, Lecturer of History, Auburn University

The presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024, did not add much context to what the two candidates would do on health care beyond their own records.Visual China Group/Getty Images

Health care is a defining issue in the 2024 election – Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump have starkly different...

‘They’re eating pets’ – another example of US politicians smearing Haiti and Haitian immigrants

Written by Nathan H. Dize, Assistant Professor of French, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance continues to defend the false claim that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been abducting and eating area cats and dogs.

That outlandish idea has been thoroughly debunked since former President Donald Trump repeatedly raised it as an anti-immigrant talking point in the Sept. 12, 2024, presidential...

Tiny robots and AI algorithms could help to craft material solutions for cleaner environments

Written by Mahshid Ahmadi, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee

Air pollution is a global problem, but scientists are investigating new materials that could help clean it up. AP Photo/Sergei Grits

Many human activities release pollutants into the air, water and soil. These harmful chemicals threaten the health of both people and the ecosystem. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes an...

TikTok ban goes to the court: 5 essential reads on the case and its consequences

Written by Matt Williams, Senior International Editor

TikTok takes on the U.S. government.Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

TikTok headed to court on Sept. 16, 2024, in a bid to overturn a law that would force the video app to divorce from its China-based parent company or be banned in the U.S.

During the appearance before a panel of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...

America’s dairy farms are disappearing, down 95% since the 1970s − milk price rules are one reason why

Written by Elizabeth Eckelkamp, Associate Professor of Animal Science and Dairy Extension Specialist, University of Tennessee

Running a dairy farm isn't easy, especially when the costs of production rise faster than income.AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Milton Orr looked across the rolling hills in northeast Tennessee. “I remember when we had over 1,000 dairy farms in this county. Now we have less than 40,” Orr, an agriculture adviser for Greene County,...

Class and race can create divides between donors and a cause they support − putting stress on those nonprofits

Written by Abbie Cohen, PhD Candidate in Education, University of California, Los Angeles

It's hard to call mentoring by volunteers a "business model."RichLegg/E+ via Getty Images

Relying on wealthy, largely white donors for funding can lead nonprofits that run after-school programs for low-income children of color to feel pressured to skew their priorities. In part because of class and racial differences, these nonprofits can have...