The Conversation

Extreme heat waves broiling the planet in 2024 aren’t normal: How climate change is heating up weather around the world

Written by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell

Visitors walk past a sign reading 'Stop: Extreme Heat Danger' in Death Valley National Park during a heat wave on July 7, 2024. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

Less than a month into summer 2024, the vast majority of the U.S. population has already experienced an extreme heat wave. Millions of people were under heat warnings across the western...

Extreme heat waves broiling the US in 2024 aren’t normal: How climate change is heating up weather around the world

Written by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell

Visitors walk past a sign reading 'Stop: Extreme Heat Danger' in Death Valley National Park during a heat wave on July 7, 2024. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

Less than a month into summer 2024, the vast majority of the U.S. population has already experienced an extreme heat wave. Millions of people were under heat warnings across the western...

4 things to watch for as NATO leaders meet in US capital for high-stakes summit

Written by Garret Martin, Senior Professorial Lecturer, Co-Director Transatlantic Policy Center, American University School of International Service

Two military personnel walk by NATO banners before a wreath-laying ceremony at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024.Virginia Mayo/AP Photo

When Washington, D.C., last hosted a NATO summit in 1999, the alliance was celebrating a milestone. It was also facing a war in Europe and welcoming new members to the alliance.

So there will be a...

Oklahoma’s superintendent orders public schools to teach the Bible – relying on controversial views about religious freedom

Written by Mark Satta, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wayne State University

Instruction about the Bible can be legal – the question is how it's done, and what the intent is.Pascal Deloche/Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In the days since Oklahoma’s state superintendent, Ryan Walters, ordered school districts to teach the Bible, he’s been defending his mandate.

For example, he claimed in an...

One memorable speech can turn around a faltering campaign − how Nixon did it with his ‘Checkers’ talk

Written by W. Joseph Campbell, Professor Emeritus of Communication, American University School of Communication

Richard Nixon poses with his family and their dog, Checkers, in Washington, D.C., in September 1952. Bettmann/Contributor

Twenty years before Watergate, then-Sen. Richard Nixon’s national political ambitions were in peril. He was accused of dipping into a private, $18,000 slush fund to cover expenses, and doubts about the propriety of his...

Navigating mental health treatment options can be overwhelming – a clinical psychologist explains why it’s worth the effort

Written by Bryan Cochran, Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training, University of Montana

Many Americans are not getting the mental health care they need.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

The percentage of Americans seeking mental health treatment nearly doubled between 2004 and 2022, with almost a quarter of the population reporting that they saw a mental health care professional in 2022.

This surge in help-seeking has many potential...

Nevada is a battleground state – and may be a bellwether of more extreme partisanship

Written by Thom Reilly, Professor & Co-Director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University

In Nevada, voters can cast a ballot for 'None of These Candidates' in statewide election races.AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

Over the course of Nevada history, no one party has dominated the state’s politics, and its electorate has remained surprisingly balanced in its political leanings. Since becoming a state in 1864, Nevada has had equal...

2024 is not 1968 − and the Democratic convention in Chicago will play out very differently than in the days of Walter Cronkite

Written by Heather Hendershot, Cardiss Collins Professor of Communication Studies and Journalism, Northwestern University

A sign welcomes delegates to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, with helmeted police officers standing by. Bettmann/Getty Images

The presidential nominating conventions every four years are political events, but they are also media events. Since the advent of television, Democratic and Republican national convention organizers have sought...

Wildfire smoke linked to thousands of premature deaths every year in California alone

Written by Rachel Connolly, Research Project Director, University of California, Los Angeles

Wildfire smoke is hard to avoid in California, even in urban neighborhoods.Paul Harris/Getty Images

When wildfires rage, the immediate threat is obvious – but smoke from the fires actually kills far more people than the flames.

As fires become more frequent, that smoke is leading to a public health crisis.

In a new study published in the...

Why the Olympic Games are a ‘civil religious’ ceremony with a global congregation

Written by Terry Shoemaker, Associate Teaching Professor in Religious Studies, Arizona State University

The U.S. gymnastics team selected for the 2024 Paris Olympics celebrates in Minneapolis. AP Photo/Abbie Parr

Fans are getting ready to watch top athletes from around the globe compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, which start in Paris on July 26. Accompanying the athletic events will be a display of patriotic symbols such as flags and team uniforms...