The Conversation

Where George Washington would disagree with Pete Hegseth about fitness for command and what makes a warrior

Written by Maurizio Valsania, Professor of American History, Università di Torino

On Dec. 4, 1783, after six years fighting against the British as head of the Continental Army, George Washington said farewell to his officers and returned to civilian life.Engraving by T. Phillibrown from a painting by Alonzo Chappell

As he paced across a stage at a military base in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete...

Breastfeeding is ideal for child and parent health but challenging for most families – a pediatrician explains how to find support

Written by Ann Kellams, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Virginia

Many new parents start out breastfeeding but switch to formula within a few days.JGI/Jamie Grill via Tetra Images

As a pediatrician, I thought my medical background and pediatric training meant I would be well prepared to breastfeed my newborn. I knew all about the research on how an infant’s diet can affect both their short- and long-term...

Meet Irene Curie, the Nobel-winning atomic physicist who changed the course of modern cancer treatment

Written by Artemis Spyrou, Professor of Nuclear Physics, Michigan State University

Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie shared the Nobel Prize in 1935. Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images

The adage goes “like mother like daughter,” and in the case of Irene Joliot-Curie, truer words were never spoken. She was the daughter of two Nobel Prize laureates, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, and was herself awarded the Nobel Prize...

How VR and AI could help the next generation grow kinder and more connected

Written by Ekaterina Muravevskaia, Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing, Indiana University

Technology can be isolating, but it can also help kids learn emotional connection.Dusan Stankovic/E+ via Getty Images

Empathy is not just a “nice-to-have” soft skill – it is a foundation of how children and adults regulate emotions, build friendships and learn from one another.

Between the ages of 6 and 9, children begin shifting...

Venezuela and US edge toward war footing − but domestic concerns, international risks may hold Washington back

Written by Robert Muggah, Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow na Bosch Academy e Co-fundador, Instituto Igarapé

U.S. Marines park a Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter aircraft at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico on Sept 13, 2025.Kendall Torres Cortés/picture alliance via Getty Images

For many in Venezuela, the question is no longer whether tensions with Washington will reach a boiling point – they already have. Rather, the big unknown now...

Trump scraps the nation’s most comprehensive food insecurity report − making it harder to know how many Americans struggle to get enough food

Written by Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Nearly 1 in 7 Americans had trouble consistently getting enough to eat in 2023.Patrick Strattner/fStop via Getty Images

The Trump administration announced on Sept. 20, 2025, that it plans to stop releasing food insecurity data. The federal government has tracked and analyzed this data for the past three decades, but it plans to stop after...

Why Major League Baseball keeps coming back to Japan

Written by Jared Bahir Browsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

When Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the field at the Tokyo Dome in March 2025, he wasn’t just playing a game – he was carrying forward more than 100 years of baseball ties between the U.S. and Japan.

That history was front and center when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs opened their 2025 regular season facing off in the Tokyo...

Why a quick compromise to the first government shutdown in nearly 7 years seems unlikely

Written by Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

The Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2025.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Congress failed to meet an Oct. 1 deadline to adopt a spending measure and keep the federal government open, resulting in the first government shutdown in nearly seven years. With both Democrats and Republicans seemingly prepared for a long fight, Alfonso...

Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human

Written by Mireya Mayor, Director of Exploration and Science Communication, Florida International University

Jane Goodall appears on stage at 92NY in New York on Oct. 1, 2023.Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.

Goodall&...

Many book bans could be judging titles mainly by their covers

Written by Alex Wermer-Colan, Academic and Research Director, Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio, Temple University Libraries, Temple University

A display at the Hoboken Public Library in Hoboken, N.J., features books that have been targeted or banned in other states.Ana Fernandez/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past decade, a growing movement to restrict access to books in public schools and libraries has spread across the country. Every year, there are hundreds of attempts to challenge or...