The Conversation

As more Americans go ‘no contact’ with their parents, they live out a dilemma at the heart of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’

Written by Jeanette Tran, Associate Professor of English, Drake University

Losing a connection to your family, intentionally or not, is tragic.catscandotcom/E+ via Getty Images

Is blood thicker than water? Should family always come first?

These clichés about the importance of family abound, despite the recognition that familial relations are oftentimes hard, if not downright dysfunctional.

But over the past few...

How pollsters have adapted to changing technology and voters who don’t answer the phone

Written by Spencer Kimball, Associate Professor of Communications, Director of Emerson College Polling, Emerson College

Pollsters have developed a range of methods for selecting who is asked to answer poll questions.Guido Mieth/Moment via Getty Images

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, news reports and social media feeds are increasingly filled with data from public opinion polls. How do pollsters know which candidate is ahead in what swing state or with...

Florida and North Carolina are making it easier for people to vote after the hurricanes – but some risks remain

Written by Michael T. Morley, Assistant Professor of Law, Florida State University

People walk into an early voting site in Hendersonville, N.C., on Oct. 17, 2024.Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

Polls opened in North Carolina on Oct. 17, 2024, as about 14,000 people in Asheville and surrounding areas remain without power in their homes following Hurricane Helene. In Florida, which started early voting in some counties on Oct....

Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes

Written by Farah Nibbs, Assistant Professor of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Hillside streets can quickly become muddy rivers during hurricane rains in the islands.Estailove St-Val/AFP via Getty Images

Long before colonialism brought slavery to the Caribbean, the native islanders saw hurricanes and storms as part of the normal cycle of life.

The Taino of the Greater Antilles and the Kalinago, or Caribs, of the Lesser...

Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease − in part because doctors don’t take major sex and gender differences into account

Written by Amy Huebschmann, Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Rates of heart disease and cardiac events in women are often underestimated.eternalcreative/iStock via Getty Images

A simple difference in the genetic code – two X chromosomes versus one X chromosome and one Y chromosome – can lead to major differences in heart disease. It turns out that these genetic differences influence more than...

Victorian ghost photographs amused viewers with spooky thrills

Written by Andrea Kaston Tange, Professor of English, Macalester College

'The Haunted Lane,' a stereoscope card from L.M. Melander & Bro., 1875. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

October has long been associated with ghosts – from ancient Celtic festivals to ward off restless spirits after harvest time to the modern standby of using an old sheet to make a last-minute Halloween costume. In...

Civilian support for military coups isn’t a bug – it’s a feature

Written by Salah Ben Hammou, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rice University

Members of the Malian junta wave as civilians gather to celebrate the overthrow of the president on Aug. 21, 2020. AP Photo/File

In September 2024, authorities in Benin detained the country’s former sports minister and a prominent businessman for allegedly plotting a coup against the West African nation’s president, Patrice Talon. Had a...

On Ukraine, candidate Trump touts his role as dealmaker while Harris sticks with unwavering support

Written by Lena Surzhko Harned, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State

Continued support from the White House for Ukraine could hinge on the presidential election.AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The U.S. presidential election isn’t drawing eyes only at home – Moscow and Kyiv are watching closely, too.

Regardless of who wins in November, there will be significant implications for Ukraine as it continues to...

Don’t panic reading ‘electoral process porn’: There are plenty of safeguards to make sure voters’ wishes are respected

Written by Justin Levitt, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles

Electoral process porn can make people think their vote will be stolen, so what's the point of voting?Illustration: wildpixel/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

You’ve probably seen them: alarming columns or stories with alarming headlines about how somebody is going to exploit an obscure provision in election law to undo the 2024 presidential...

Nebraska Democrats hope Omaha will be a ‘blue dot’ on the state’s red electoral map − and their lawn sign is a vibe

Written by Christina Elizabeth Dando, Professor of Geography, University of Nebraska Omaha

White signs emblazoned with a big blue dot are going up in yards across Omaha, Nebraska, in an unusual political statement of support for Democratic candidates.

Nebraska splits its electoral votes, giving Omaha’s congressional district a single electoral vote out of the state’s total of five. If enough of Omaha’s metropolitan...