The Conversation

Turn shopping stress into purposeful gift giving by cultivating ‘consumer wisdom’ during the holidays

Written by Michael Luchs, JS Mack Professor of Business, William & Mary

The most meaningful gifts reflect the recipient’s values and identity – and the giver’s, too.Halfpoint images/Moment via Getty Images

Every fall I anticipate the winter holidays with almost childlike joy. I look forward to familiar traditions with friends and family, eggnog in my coffee, and the sense that everyone is feeling a...

Community health centers provide care for 1 in 10 Americans, but funding cuts threaten their survival

Written by Jennifer Spinghart, Clinical Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina

Community health clinics provide primary care to 1 in 10 people in the U.S., but they often operate on razor-thin margins.Ariel Skelley/Photodisc via Getty Images

Affordable health care was the primary point of contention in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which hit 43 days on Nov. 12, 2025.

This fight highlights a persistent...

Bad Bunny is the latest product of political rage — how pop culture became the front line of American politics

Written by Adam G. Klein, Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Pace University

Bad Bunny performs in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

When the NFL in September 2025 announced that Bad Bunny would headline the next Super Bowl halftime show, it took only hours for the political outrage machine to roar to life.

The Puerto Rican performer, known for mixing pop stardom with outspoken politics, was...

Sulfur-based batteries could offer electric vehicles a greener, longer-range option

Written by Golareh Jalilvand, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina

Sulfur is abundant and inexpensive, making it an attractive ingredient for making batteries.Alanna Dumonceaux/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Picture an electric car that could go 600, 700 or even 1,000 miles on a single charge. That’s much farther than the longest-range electric vehicles on the U.S. market,...

Want to make America healthy again? Stop fueling climate change

Written by Jonathan Levy, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University

Extreme heat can threaten human health, but it's only one way climate change puts lives at risk.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

If you’ve been following recent debates about health, you’ve been hearing a lot about vaccines, diet, measles, Medicaid cuts and health insurance costs – but much less about one of the greatest threats to...

Colorado’s rural schools serve more than 130,000 students, and their superintendents want more pay for their teachers

Written by Robert Mitchell, Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Leaders of Colorado’s rural schools are more likely to encourage a total stranger to go into teaching than a member of their own family, according to a Colorado-based survey published in October 2025.

The results come at a time when nearly every state in the United States faces critical teacher shortages.

We collected data in the fall of 2023...

Students of color are at greater risk for reading difficulties – even in kindergarten

Written by Paul L. Morgan, Director, Institute for Social and Health Equity, University at Albany, State University of New York

The achievement gap for young readers is stark, even in kindergarten.andresr/E+ via Getty Images

Black, Hispanic and Native American students are more likely than white or Asian students to struggle with reading – and that gap emerges early, according to our new research. During kindergarten, they are more likely to score in the lowest 10% on...

Under Ron DeSantis’ leadership, Florida leads the nation in executions in 2025

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

Florida has executed 15 prisoners in 2025 so far, with two more executions scheduled for November.MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

After years of steady decline in the number of people executed in the United States, there has been a sharp reversal in 2025.

So far this year, 41 people have been killed in 11 states, with five more...

The UN is reinventing peacekeeping – Haiti is the testing ground

Written by Bulbul Ahmed, PhD Candidate, University of Iowa; Bangladesh University of Professionals

A Kenyan police officer, part of a U.N.-backed multinational force, patrols a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in December 2024.AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph

For decades, the United Nations has intervened in Haiti in a bid to address persistent political, economic and security crises. To date, all attempts have failed.

Now, the international body is trying...

Star-shaped cells make a molecule that can ‘rewire’ the brains of mice with Down syndrome – understanding how could lead to new treatments

Written by Ashley Brandebura, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, University of Virginia

Astrocytes (red) are vital to forming neural connections.Jeffrey C. Smith Lab, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH

Delivering a connection-building protein to star-shaped cells in the brain could reverse changes to neural circuits seen in Down syndrome, according to new research my colleagues and I published in the journal...