The Conversation

The 27 Club isn’t true, but it is real − a sociologist explains why myths endure and how they shape reality

Written by Zackary Okun Dunivin, Postdoctoral Fellow in Communication, University of California, Davis

Many members of the 27 Club are outsize in their cultural influence.Psychology Forever/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

There’s a certain allure to the notion that some of the world’s brightest stars burn out at the age of 27. The so-called 27 Club has captivated the public imagination for half a century. Its members include legendary...

What poll watchers can − and can’t − do on Election Day

Written by Mollie J. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Purdue University

Poll watchers keep an eye on voting in Georgia in November 2022.AP Photo/Ben Gray

When most people think of their experience of voting in person, they may remember other voters at the polls, or the hardworking election officials checking people in and helping people submit their ballots. But in many elections, a third group is often present: poll...

Political bickering and policy uncertainty take a toll on business investment, research shows

Written by Charles Sims, Professor of Economics, University of Tennessee

Factionalism isn't great for the bottom line. Sefa Ozel/E+ via Getty Images

Partisan squabbling isn’t just annoying – it’s also bad for business.

That’s what my colleagues and I found in a recent study on how uncertainty in environmental policy affects business investment.

First, we analyzed more than 300 million newspaper...

I’m a Muslim immigrant and a psychiatrist living in Michigan – I haven’t decided how to vote yet

Written by Farha Abassi, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Michigan State University

My three daughters and I arrived in Michigan from Pakistan in 2000.

Moving here was my choice, and I followed the legal process. Before the move, I had often been to the United States. I was familiar with the culture and spoke fluent English, so I thought I was prepared.

Resuming my career as a physician in the U.S. was arduous, but I finally...

How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths

Written by Benjamin Roulston, Assistant Professor of Physics, Clarkson University

A photo of Jupiter taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft in September 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, image processing by Tanya Oleksuik

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.

Why does Jupiter look like it has a surface – even...

As the stars of hip-hop’s golden age approach their golden years, some confront questions about whether old blood can make new music

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

52-year-old rapper Common performs on Sept. 11, 2024, in Atlanta.Paras Griffin/Getty Images

It’s always awkward telling people what I do for a living. I’m a rapper. I also work as a professor of hip-hop.

I work at the intersection of artmaking and academic research. I write music as part of a greater effort to challenge antiquated ideas...

Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds

Written by Adriana Craciun, Professor of English and Emma MacLachlan Metcalf Chair of Humanities, Boston University

The entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.Martin Zwick/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Two-thirds of the world’s food comes today from just nine plants: sugar cane, maize (corn), rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava. In the past, farmers grew tens of thousands of crop varieties...

Osteoporosis, the silent disease, can shorten your life − here’s how to prevent fractures and keep bones healthy

Written by Ting Zhang, Research Scholar of Orthopedics, University of Pittsburgh

With some simple lifestyle changes, you can lower your risk of osteoporosis.MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Because there are typically no symptoms until the first fracture occurs, osteoporosis is considered a silent disease. Some call it a silent killer.

Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by decreased bone density and...

The racist ‘one-drop rule’ lives on in how Trump talks about Black politicians and whiteness in America

Written by Marya T. Mtshali, Lecturer in Studies in Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University

Donald Trump watches a video of Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2024.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Americans who heard former President Donald Trump claim that Vice President Kamala Harris previously identified as “not Black” in a July 2024 interview may wonder why he continuously emphasized...

Undoing the ‘deep state’ means Trump would undo over a century of progress in building a federal government for the people and not just for rich white men

Written by Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of Charleston

If elected, Donald Trump has vowed to demolish what he calls the “deep state” – a conspiratorial term for the American federal bureaucracy. A second Trump administration, running mate JD Vance has said, should fire thousands of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists.

Trump has said he would tap the billionare Elon Musk...