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Social media can support or undermine democracy – it comes down to how it’s designed

  • Written by Lisa Schirch, Professor of the Practice of Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
imageA protester calls out Facebook for facilitating the spread of disinformation. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Every design choice that social media platforms make nudges users toward certain actions, values and emotional states.

It is a design choice to offer a news feed that combines verified news sources with conspiracy blogs – interspersed with photos...

Read more: Social media can support or undermine democracy – it comes down to how it’s designed

Nations are increasingly ‘playing the field’ when it comes to US and China – a new book explains explains why ‘active nonalignment’ is on the march

  • Written by Jorge Heine, Outgoing Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University
imageBrazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, flanked by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaks at the summit of Group of 20 leading economies in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 19, 2024.Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images

In 2020, as Latin American countries were contending with the triple...

Read more: Nations are increasingly ‘playing the field’ when it comes to US and China – a new book explains...

Thailand’s judiciary is flexing its muscles, but away from PM’s plight, dozens of activists are at the mercy of capricious courts

  • Written by Tyrell Haberkorn, Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageThai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is swarmed by members of the media after a cabinet meeting at Government House on July 1, 2025.Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is currently feeling the sharp end of the country’s powerful judiciary.

On July 2, 2025, Thailand’s Constitutional...

Read more: Thailand’s judiciary is flexing its muscles, but away from PM’s plight, dozens of activists are at...

From Seattle to Atlanta, new social housing programs seek to make homes permanently affordable for a range of incomes

  • Written by Susanne Schindler, Research Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard Kennedy School
imageActivists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program.House Our Neighbors, CC BY-SA

Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a...

Read more: From Seattle to Atlanta, new social housing programs seek to make homes permanently affordable for...

Are people at the South Pole upside down?

  • Written by Abigail Bishop, Ph.D. Student in Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageAt the South Pole, which way is up?Abigail Bishop

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Are people on the South Pole walking upside down from the rest of the world? – Ralph P., U.S.

When I was standing at the South Pole, I...

Read more: Are people at the South Pole upside down?

Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package

  • Written by Lauren S. Hughes, State Policy Director, Farley Health Policy Center; Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
imageHealth policy experts predict that cuts to Medicaid will push more rural hospitals to close. sneakpeekpic via iStock / Getty Images Plus

The public health provisions in the massive spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will reduce Medicaid spending by more than US$1 trillion over a decade and result in an...

Read more: Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package

‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food

  • Written by Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond
imagePeople shop for food in Brooklyn in 2023 at a store that makes sure that its customers know it accepts SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps and EBT. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental...

Read more: ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but...

Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed more than 120 people, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding

  • Written by Hatim Sharif, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio
imageA Kerrville, Texas, resident watches the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025.Eric Vryn/Getty Images

Texas Hill Country is known for its landscapes, where shallow rivers wind among hills and through rugged valleys. That geography also makes it one of the deadliest places in the U.S. for flash flooding.

In the early hours of July 4, 2025, a flash...

Read more: Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed more than 120 people, is one of the...

Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed dozens, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding

  • Written by Hatim Sharif, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio
imageA Kerrville, Texas, resident watches the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025.Eric Vryn/Getty Images

Texas Hill Country is known for its landscapes, where shallow rivers wind among hills and through rugged valleys. That geography also makes it one of the deadliest places in the U.S. for flash flooding.

In the early hours of July 4, 2025, a flash...

Read more: Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed dozens, is one of the deadliest places in...

Conservatives notch 2 victories in their fight to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding through Medicaid

  • Written by Rachel Rebouché, Professor of Law, Temple University

Conservatives have won two important battles in their decades-long campaign against Planned Parenthood, a network of affiliated clinics that are the largest provider of reproductive health services in the U.S.

One of these victories was a U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down on June 26, 2025. The other is a provision in the multitrilion-dollar...

Read more: Conservatives notch 2 victories in their fight to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding through...

More Articles ...

  1. One ‘big, beautiful’ reason why Republicans in Congress just can’t quit Donald Trump
  2. Astronomers have discovered another puzzling interstellar object − this third one is big, bright and fast
  3. War, politics and religion shape wildlife evolution in cities
  4. Military force may have delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions – but history shows that diplomacy is the more effective nonproliferation strategy
  5. Capitalism and democracy are weakening – reviving the idea of ‘calling’ can help to repair them
  6. What MAGA means to Americans
  7. From glass and steel to rare earth metals, new materials have changed society throughout history
  8. Philadelphians with mental illness want to work, pray, date and socialize just like everyone else – here’s how creating more inclusive communities is good for public health
  9. Speedballing – the deadly mix of stimulants and opioids – requires a new approach to prevention and treatment
  10. Employers are failing to insure the working class – Medicaid cuts would leave them even more vulnerable
  11. Employers are failing to insure the working class – Medicaid cuts will leave them even more vulnerable
  12. Parents who oppose sex education in schools often don’t discuss it at home
  13. Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters
  14. The Supreme Court upholds free preventive care, but its future now rests in RFK Jr.’s hands
  15. What damage did the US do to Iran’s nuclear program? Why it’s so hard to know
  16. The rule of law is key to capitalism − eroding it is bad news for American business
  17. Legal wrangling over estate of Jimmy Buffett turns his widow’s huge inheritance into a cautionary tale
  18. AI is advancing even faster than sci-fi visionaries like Neal Stephenson imagined
  19. Despite claims they’d move overseas after the election, most Americans are staying put
  20. Philadelphia’s $2B affordable housing plan relies heavily on municipal bonds, which can come with hidden costs for taxpayers
  21. Humans and animals can both think logically − but testing what kind of logic they’re using is tricky
  22. Mexican flags flown during immigration protests bother white people a lot more than other Americans
  23. Keeping brain-dead pregnant women on life support raises ethical issues that go beyond abortion politics
  24. In LGBTQ+ storybook case, Supreme Court handed a win to parental rights, raising tough questions for educators
  25. Pop, soda or coke? The fizzy history behind America’s favorite linguistic debate
  26. The hidden cost of convenience: How your data pulls in hundreds of billions of dollars for app and social media companies
  27. Why the US bombed a bunch of metal tubes − a nuclear engineer explains the importance of centrifuges to Iranian efforts to build nuclear weapons
  28. Bill Moyers’ journalism strengthened democracy by connecting Americans to ideas and each other, in a long and extraordinary career
  29. Invasive carp threaten the Great Lakes − and reveal a surprising twist in national politics
  30. 1 in 4 Americans reject evolution, a century after the Scopes monkey trial spotlighted the clash between science and religion
  31. Who’s the most American? Psychological studies show that many people are biased and think it’s a white English speaker
  32. Here’s a way to save lives, curb traffic jams and make commutes faster and easier − ban left turns at intersections
  33. Why the traditional college major may be holding students back in a rapidly changing job market
  34. What’s at risk for Arctic wildlife if Trump expands oil drilling in the fragile National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
  35. 1 in 3 Florida third graders have untreated cavities – how parents can protect their children’s teeth
  36. How can the James Webb Space Telescope see so far?
  37. From the marriage contract to breaking the glass under the chuppah, many Jewish couples adapt their weddings to celebrate gender equality
  38. Universities in every state care for congressional papers that document US political history − federal cuts put their work at risk
  39. Iran emerged weakened and vulnerable after war with Israel − and that could mean trouble for country’s ethnic minorities
  40. Supreme Court upholds childproofing porn sites
  41. What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions
  42. Michelin Guide scrutiny could boost Philly tourism, but will it stifle chefs’ freedom to experiment and innovate?
  43. What Trump’s budget proposal says about his environmental values
  44. How Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral primary could ripple across the country
  45. Cyberattacks shake voters’ trust in elections, regardless of party
  46. Why energy markets fluctuate during an international crisis
  47. Scandinavia has its own dark history of assimilating Indigenous people, and churches played a role – but are apologizing
  48. Jews were barred from Spain’s New World colonies − but that didn’t stop Jewish and converso writers from describing the Americas
  49. Supreme Court rules that states may deny people covered by Medicaid the freedom to choose Planned Parenthood as their health care provider
  50. Toxic algae blooms are lasting longer than before in Lake Erie − why that’s a worry for people and pets