The Conversation

Passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed may soon get better treatment in the US -- where airlines have long set their own rules

Written by Janet Bednarek, Professor of History, University of Dayton

In Europe, customers are entitled to cash compensation for flight delays and cancellations.Murat Deniz/E+ Collection/Getty Images

U.S. airline passengers in early 2023 faced the highest rate of flight delays since 2014. That heightened level of delays came shortly after December 2022, when Southwest Airlines experienced an epic meltdown, canceling 7...

US national parks are crowded – and so are many national forests, wildlife refuges, battlefields and seashores

Written by Emily Wakild, Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Professor for the Environment and Public Lands, Boise State University

Visitors at Sliding Rock, a popular cascade in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. Cecilio Ricardo, USFS/Flickr

Outdoor recreation is on track for another record-setting year. In 2022, U.S. national parks logged more than 300 million visits – and that means a lot more people on roads and trails.

While research shows that spending time...

As Ukraine takes the fight to Russians, signs of unease in Moscow over war's progress

Written by Peter Rutland, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University

Facing harder questions at home.Contributor/Getty Images

Whether or not the Ukraine counteroffensive that began in early June 2023 succeeds in dislodging Russian troops from occupied territory, there are growing signs that the push has prompted anxiety back in Moscow.

Such unease was, I believe, detectable in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s...

AI could shore up democracy – here's one way

Written by Bruce Schneier, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

AI could help elected representatives raise up constituent voices.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

It’s become fashionable to think of artificial intelligence as an inherently dehumanizing technology, a ruthless force of automation that has unleashed legions of virtual skilled laborers in faceless form. But what if AI turns out to be the one tool...

Graffiti has undergone a massive shift in a few quick decades as street art gains social acceptance

Written by Stefano Bloch, Associate Professor of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona

Tagging, once considered vandalism, has gained cachet and economic value in the art world. Ashim D’Silva for Unsplash.com, CC BY-SA

Graffiti has become so mainstream in recent years that auction houses, museums and entire art shows cater to street art connoisseurs and collectors around the world. Images in the news of young vandals...

On International Yoga Day, lessons from the first American yogi – Henry David Thoreau

Written by Jeremy David Engels, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State

Celebrating International Yoga Day on the beach in Miami Beach, Fla., in 2022.Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

International Yoga Day, dedicated to celebrating yoga as part of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” has proved controversial since its inception in 2015.

To celebrate the day on June 21, yoga gatherings are held...

The tree of life has been a powerful image in Jewish tradition for thousands of years – signifying much more than immortality

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Tree of life imagery appears in several sections of the Bible.Catherine MacBride/Moment via Getty Images

After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16, 2023, for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 – the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next phase of the trial...

Mr. Modi comes to Washington – The Indian prime minister's visit could strengthen ties with the US, but also raises some delicate issues

Written by Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University

President Joe Biden meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021 at the Oval Office. Sarahbeth Maney-Pool/Getty Images

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to attend his first state visit at the White House on June 22, 2023, marking a historic moment that could potentially influence relations between India and the United States for...

Fascism lurks behind the dangerous conflation of the terms 'partisan' and 'political'

Written by Lawrence Torcello, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology

Supporters, including one wearing a t-shirt bearing former President Donald Trump's photo that says "Political prisoner," watch as Trump departs the federal courthouse after arraignment, June 13, 2023, in Miami. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

“The personal is political!” is a well-known rallying cry, originally used by left-leaning...

Southern Baptists expel churches with women pastors – but the debate’s not just about gender

Written by Andrew Gardner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Baylor University, Baylor University

Attendees, or 'messengers,' hold up their ballots during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in 2022.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the United States, overwhelmingly voted to expel two congregations with women pastors on June 14, 2023, during their annual convention.

SBC messengers,...