The Conversation

Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats

Written by Nick Buttrick, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Many gun owners cite protection as a reason to carry a firearm. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Tim Walz and JD Vance all have something in common. All four of them, along with an estimated 42% of American adults, have lived in a home with at least one gun.

Gun ownership in the United States...

Fear, hope and the economy: what is motivating Americans as they decide who to vote for – podcast

Written by Gemma Ware, Head of Audio, The Conversation UK

Amid deep political polarization and extreme campaign rhetoric, the U.S. presidential election on November 5 is likely to be decided by a small number of voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. But why is it so close?

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Naomi Schalit, senior politics editor at the The Conversation...

Slow vote-counting, flip-flopping leads, careful certification and the weirdness of the Electoral College – people who research elections look at what to expect on election night

Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

What should you make of the flood of information about the election?Dilok Klaisataporn/iStock / Getty Images Plus

As Election Day arrives, people’s feelings of eagerness and anxiety can intensify. It’s normal to want to know the results, but it’s also important to make sure that when the results are announced, they’re...

‘Each bears his own ghosts’: How the classics speak to these days of fear, anger and presidential candidates stalking the land

Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University - Newark

“Fear stalks the land, including the Upper West Side,” I wrote to a friend the other day. A week before the election, everyone seems to be afraid.

Not that we’re afraid of the same things. Newspaper owners and corporate leaders fear Donald Trump’s retribution if they endorse Kamala Harris. Election workers fear the mob....

A new president will be elected − but it may take some time to determine who wins

Written by John M. Murphy, Professor of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

For more than 100 years, media of many kinds tried to be the first to report presidential election results. Although that urge still exists, pundits and analysts are now more concerned with accuracy than speed.

That’s because of the 2020 election. A raging pandemic, a divided country, a close race, polling failures, false presidential claims...

The ‘Courage Tour’ is attempting to get Christians to vote for Trump − and focused on defeating ‘demons’

Written by Michael E. Heyes, Associate Professor and Chair of Religion, Lycoming College

Evangelist Lance Wallnau addresses people at the 'Courage Tour' rally. Michael E. Heyes, CC BY

As a scholar of religion, I attended the “Courage Tour,” a series of religious-political rallies, when it made a stop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, from Sept. 27-28, 2024.

From what I observed, the various speakers on the tour used...

Religion in the workplace is tricky – but employers and employees both lose when it becomes a total taboo

Written by Christopher P. Scheitle, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University

Many offices make a point to celebrate diversity, but what does that look like when it comes to faith?FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Since we spend so much of our lives at our jobs, it’s only natural that conversations with colleagues go beyond the work in front of us. People share interests and hobbies, family struggles, health concerns, and...

Simple science summaries written by AI help people understand research and trust scientists

Written by David Markowitz, Associate Professor of Communication, Michigan State University

Smoothing out the complexity can help with comprehension.kislev/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Artificial intelligence-generated summaries of scientific papers make complex information more understandable for the public compared with human-written summaries, according to my recent paper published in PNAS Nexus. AI-generated summaries not only...

Fighting antibiotic resistance at the source – using machine learning to identify bacterial resistance genes and the drugs to block them

Written by Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Mississippi State University

Current methods of identifying resistance mutations in microbes can miss other ways resistance can develop.koto_feja/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem around the world. When bacteria like E. coli no longer respond to antibiotics, infections become harder to treat.

To develop new antibiotics,...

Scholar’s new rap album seeks to turn the tables on the ‘masters’ from the Old South

Written by A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia

Could the path to the Ph.D. run through the recording studio?Ratchapon Supprasert via iStock / Getty Images Plus

Usually when a rap artist comes out with a new album, it’s released by a record label as part of their career as an entertainer. For Dr. A.D. Carson, a professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia, his latest album –...