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How bachata rose from Dominican Republic’s brothels and shantytowns to become a global sensation

  • Written by Wilfredo José Burgos Matos, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, Lehman College, CUNY
imageOnce viewed by elites with disdain, bachata has become popular worldwide.Erika Santelices/AFP via Getty Images

What began as songs about heartbreak in the brothels and barrios of the Dominican Republic in the 1960s has become a worldwide sensation.

Even the Bee Gees have gotten a bachata spin. Prince Royce’s bilingual take on the 1977 hit...

Read more: How bachata rose from Dominican Republic’s brothels and shantytowns to become a global sensation

Columbia’s $200M deal with Trump administration sets a precedent for other universities to bend to the government’s will

  • Written by Brendan Cantwell, Associate Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State University
imageStudents at Columbia University in New York City on April 14, 2025. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

Columbia University agreed on July 23, 2025, to pay a US$200 million fine to the federal government and to settle allegations that it did not create a safe environment for Jewish students during Palestinian rights protests in 2024.

The deal...

Read more: Columbia’s $200M deal with Trump administration sets a precedent for other universities to bend to...

We tracked illegal fishing in marine protected areas – satellites and AI show most bans are respected, and could help enforce future ones

  • Written by Jennifer Raynor, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageA school of bigeye trevally swims near Bikar Atoll.Enric Sala/National Geographic Pristine Seas

Marine protected areas cover more than 8% of the world’s oceans today, but they can get a bad rap as being protected on paper only.

While the name invokes safe havens for fish, whales and other sea life, these areas can be hard to monitor....

Read more: We tracked illegal fishing in marine protected areas – satellites and AI show most bans are...

Why 2025 became the summer of flash flooding in America

  • Written by Jeffrey Basara, Professor of Meteorology, UMass Lowell
imageRescuers searched for survivors after a flash flood in Texas Hill Country on July 4, 2025, that killed more than 130 people. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

The National Weather Service has already issued more than 3,600 flash flood warnings across the United States in 2025, and that number is increasing as torrential downpours continue in late July....

Read more: Why 2025 became the summer of flash flooding in America

Is ChatGPT making us stupid?

  • Written by Aaron French, Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Kennesaw State University

Back in 2008, The Atlantic sparked controversy with a provocative cover story: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In that 4,000-word essay, later expanded into a book, author Nicholas Carr suggested the answer was yes, arguing that technology such as search engines were worsening Americans’ ability to think deeply and retain knowledge.

At the core...

Read more: Is ChatGPT making us stupid?

As Mexico’s LGBTQ+ community battles for inclusion, two drag performers have become internet stars – with more than 2 million TikTok followers

  • Written by Francisco Tijerina, PhD Candidate in Hispanic Studies, Washington University in St. Louis
imageTurbulence Queen, left, and Burrita Burrona perform at the Mexico City Pride Parade in June 2024.Jaime Nogales/Medios y Media via Getty Images News

In January 2022, Erick Martínez, also known as Turbulence Queen, introduced a guest on his YouTube channel: Ivan “Momo” Guzmán, with the stage name Burrita Burrona, a drag...

Read more: As Mexico’s LGBTQ+ community battles for inclusion, two drag performers have become internet stars...

Why do MAGA faithful support Trump if his ‘big beautiful bill’ will likely hurt many of them?

  • Written by Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University - Newark
imageSupporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate near his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 17, 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed the wide-ranging One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025. It focuses on cutting taxes, mainly for households that earn US$217,000 or more each year, as well as increasing...

Read more: Why do MAGA faithful support Trump if his ‘big beautiful bill’ will likely hurt many of them?

Yellowstone has been a ‘sacred wonderland’ of spiritual power and religious activity for centuries – and for different faith groups

  • Written by Thomas S. Bremer, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Rhodes College
imageBeehive Geyser, in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.Thomas S. Bremer

Nearly 5 million travelers come to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone National Park each year, most in the summer months. They come for the geysers, wildlife, scenery and recreational activities such as hiking, fishing and photography.

However, few realize that...

Read more: Yellowstone has been a ‘sacred wonderland’ of spiritual power and religious activity for centuries...

Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent and legal ethics requiring transparency in courts

  • Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University
imageSome immigration courts have allowed ICE attorneys to conceal their names during proceedings.Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images

Something unusual is happening in U.S. immigration courts. Government lawyers are refusing to give their names during public hearings.

In June 2025, Immigration Judge ShaSha Xu in New York City reportedly told lawye...

Read more: Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent and legal...

Caution in the C-suite: How business leaders are navigating Trump 2.0

  • Written by Erran Carmel, Professor of Business, American University Kogod School of Business

In the first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president, his policies – from sweeping tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement to attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion – have thrown U.S. businesses into turmoil, leading to a 26-point decline in CEO confidence.

Yet despite this volatility, many American...

Read more: Caution in the C-suite: How business leaders are navigating Trump 2.0

More Articles ...

  1. How germy is the public pool? An infectious disease expert weighs in on poop, pee and perspiration – and the deceptive smell of chlorine
  2. 2 ways cities can beat the heat: Which is best, urban trees or cool roofs?
  3. Urban trees vs. cool roofs: What’s the best way for cities to beat the heat?
  4. Understanding the violence against Alawites and Druze in Syria after Assad
  5. Binary star systems are complex astronomical objects − a new AI approach could pin down their properties quickly
  6. I teach college and report on Colorado media — there should be more professors doing the same in other states
  7. Trump has fired the head of the Library of Congress, but the 225-year-old institution remains a ‘library for all’ – so far
  8. How the nature of environmental law is changing in defense of the planet and the climate
  9. Beijing’s ‘plausible deniability’ on arms supply is quickly becoming implausible – and could soon extend to Iran
  10. Imaginary athletes: Creating make-believe teammates, competitors and coaches during play
  11. Bangladesh sees small glimmers of economic hope a year after longtime autocrat ousted in people’s revolt
  12. One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires
  13. What the world can learn from Uruguay as the global housing crisis deepens
  14. Generative AI is coming to the workplace, so I designed a business technology class with AI baked in
  15. Methane leaks from gas pipelines are a hidden source of widespread air pollution
  16. Emil Bove’s appeals court nomination echoes earlier controversies, but with a key difference
  17. PBS and NPR are generally unbiased, independent of government propaganda and provide key benefits to US democracy
  18. Dogs are helping people regulate stress even more than expected, research shows
  19. Amid fragile ceasefire, violence in southern Syria brings Druze communities’ complex cross-border ties to the fore
  20. How mothers supporting mothers can help fill the health care worker shortage gap and other barriers to care
  21. Microbes in deep-sea volcanoes can help scientists learn about early life on Earth, or even life beyond our planet
  22. Comparing ICE to the Gestapo reveals people’s fears for the US – a Holocaust scholar explains why Nazi analogies remain common, yet risky
  23. ‘Democratizing space’ is more than just adding new players – it comes with questions around sustainability and sovereignty
  24. Filipino sailors dock in Mexico … and help invent tequila?
  25. Why is heart cancer so rare? A biologist explains
  26. How the world’s nuclear watchdog monitors facilities around the world – and what it means that Iran kicked it out
  27. How the QAnon movement entered mainstream politics – and why the silence on Epstein files matters
  28. How the ‘big, beautiful bill’ will deepen the racial wealth gap – a law scholar explains how it reduces poor families’ ability to afford food and health care
  29. ‘I just couldn’t stop crying’: How prison affects Black men’s mental health long after they’ve been released
  30. Leaders in India, Hungary and the US are using appeals to nostalgia and nationalism to attack higher education
  31. Florida plan to deputize National Guard officers as immigration judges at Alligator Alcatraz would likely violate constitutional rights
  32. About a third of pregnant women in the US lack sufficient vitamin D to support healthy pregnancies − new research
  33. Can AI think – and should it? What it means to think, from Plato to ChatGPT
  34. Idi Amin made himself out to be the ‘liberator’ of an oppressed majority – a demagogic trick that endures today
  35. Clawback of $1.1B for PBS and NPR puts rural stations at risk – and threatens a vital source of journalism
  36. Why male corporate leaders and billionaires may need financial therapy more than anyone
  37. Poll finds bipartisan agreement on a key issue: Regulating AI
  38. When grief involves trauma − a social worker explains how to support survivors of the recent floods and other devastating losses
  39. Supreme Court news coverage has talked a lot more about politics ever since the 2016 death of Scalia and GOP blocking of Obama’s proposed nominee
  40. Children living near oil and gas wells face higher risk of rare leukemia, studies show
  41. Research replication can determine how well science is working – but how do scientists replicate studies?
  42. Philly’s City Council turned down a new rental inspection program − studies show that might harm tenants’ health
  43. Data can show if government programs work or not, but the Trump administration is suppressing the necessary information
  44. College ‘general education’ requirements help prepare students for citizenship − but critics say it’s learning time taken away from useful studies
  45. Catholic clergy are speaking out on immigration − more than any other political issue except abortion
  46. Why drones and AI can’t quickly find missing flood victims, yet
  47. The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows it’s harming native fungi
  48. What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets published
  49. University students feel ‘anxious, confused and distrustful’ about AI in the classroom and among their peers
  50. Examining mushrooms under microscopes can help engineers design stronger materials