The Conversation

Special counsels, like the one leading the Justice Department's investigation of Hunter Biden, are intended to be independent − but they aren't entirely

Written by Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College

Attorney General Merrick Garland announces on Aug. 11, 2023, that he has appointed a special counsel to handle the investigations into Hunter Biden.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

On June 20, 2023, Hunter Biden, the second son of President Joe Biden, entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors related to tax-related charges and...

RICO is often used to target the mob and cartels − but Trump and his associates aren't the first outside those worlds to face charges

Written by Gabriel J. Chin, Professor of Criminal Law, Immigration, and Race and Law, University of California, Davis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference after former President Donald Trump's Aug. 15 indictment. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

It might seem odd to some that former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants, many of whom are lawyers and served as senior government officials, were charged with racketeering regarding...

50 years after the Bunker Hill mine fire caused one of the largest lead-poisoning cases in US history, Idaho's Silver Valley is still at risk

Written by Martin Schiavenato, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Gonzaga University

Waterways and communities for miles around Idaho's Bunker Hill mine were contaminated with lead after the 1973 fire.gjohnstonphoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus

On Sept. 3, 1973, a fire swept through the baghouse of the Bunker Hill mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley. The building was designed to filter pollutants produced by smelting, the melting of...

Workers like it when their employers talk about diversity and inclusion

Written by Rita Men, Professor of Public Relations and Director of Internal Communication Research, University of Florida

Many companies have made commitments toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in recent years, particularly since the murder of George Floyd sparked weeks of racial justice riots in 2020.

But some of those efforts, such as hiring diversity leaders and creating policies to address racial inequality, have stalled or reversed at the same...

Iran's street art shows defiance, resistance and resilience

Written by Pouya Afshar, Associate Professor of Art & Design, UMass Lowell

'While the teachers are detained, the classrooms will be closed,' reads one artist's painting on a wall.Khiaban Tribune via Instagram

A recent rise in activism in Iran has added a new chapter to the country’s long-standing history of murals and other public art. But as the sentiments being expressed in those works have changed, the...

Giraffes range across diverse African habitats − we’re using GPS, satellites and statistics to track and protect them

Written by Michael Brown, Conservation Science Fellow, Smithsonian Institution

An average giraffe has a home range almost as large as Philadelphia.Michael Brown, CC BY-NC

Nearly 6,000 years ago, our ancestors climbed arid rocky outcrops in what is now the Nigerian Sahara and carved spectacularly intricate, larger-than-life renditions of giraffes into the exposed sandstone. The remarkably detailed Dabous giraffe rock art...

With 'Goodbye Mary,' Molly Tuttle extends country music's lineage of reproductive rights songs to the post-Roe era

Written by William Nash, Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures, Middlebury

Molly Tuttle is a rising star in American roots music.Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Jason Aldean’s song “Try That In A Small Town” extols small towns as bastions of conservative values standing up against a litany of violent big-city bogeymen. The song, and the backlash against it, threatens to strengthen popular conceptions about the...

What can cities do to correct racism and help all communities live longer? It starts with city planning

Written by Catherine Brinkley, Associate Professor of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis

The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 76.1 years. But this range varies widely – a child raised in wealthy San Mateo County, California, can expect to live nearly 85 years. A child raised in Fort Worth, Texas, could expect to live about 66.7 years.

Race, poverty, as well as related issues like the ability to find nearby grocery stores an...

How individual, ordinary Jews fought Nazi persecution − a new view of history

Written by Wolf Gruner, Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and Professor of History; Founding Director, USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Lizi Rosenfeld, a Jewish woman, sits on a park bench bearing a sign that reads, 'Only for Aryans,' in August 1938 in Vienna.United States Holocaust Memorial Museum /Provenance: Leo Spitzer, CC BY-SA

In Nazi Germany, Hertha Reis, a 36-year-old Jewish woman, performed forced labor for a private company in Berlin during World War II. In 1941, she was...

Quran burning in Sweden prompts debate on the fine line between freedom of expression and incitement of hatred

Written by Armin Langer, Assistant Professor of European Studies, University of Florida

Iraqis raise copies of the Quran during a protest in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 22, 2023, following reports of the burning of the holy book in Copenhagen.AP Photo/Hadi Mizban

The Swedish government is concerned about national security following several incidents involving the burning of the Quran that have provoked demonstrations and outrage from...