The Conversation

A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics

Written by Arash Javanbakht, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

Many Americans are choosing not to engage with politics, instead sticking their heads in the sand to protect their mental health. iStock/Getty Images Plus

“I am definitely not following the news anymore,” one patient told me when I asked about her political news consumption in the weeks before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

This...

How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?

Written by Richard White, Professor of American History, Stanford University

Luigi Mangione has been arrested and charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

I’m a Gilded Age historian who has drawn parallels between our current moment and the late 19th century, two periods known for staggering economic inequality and sweeping technological change.

But much of the coverage of t...

The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future

Written by Whitney Martinko, Associate Professor of History, Villanova University

After Macy’s announced in November 2023 its plans to close approximately 150 locations across the United States, some Philadelphians fretted – not so much about the fate of the Center City department store, but about a local treasure housed inside.

What would happen to the 120-year-old Wanamaker organ and annual Christmas light show?

As...

What are pharmacy benefit managers? A health economist explains how lack of competition drives up drug prices for everyone

Written by James B. Rebitzer, Wexler Professor of Management, Economics and Public Policy, Boston University

PBMs control which drugs insurers cover, for how much and for whom.cagkansayin/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Wegovy and Ozempic are weight loss drugs that promise to transform the treatment of obesity, heart disease and other chronic conditions that afflict millions of Americans. But while everyone agrees these drugs have the potential to transform...

How a small Brazilian town became an unlikely battleground over Confederate memory

Written by Jordan Brasher, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography, Macalester College

A Confederate Festival attendee visits the American cemetery in Santa Barbara d'Oeste, Brazil, on April 24, 2016. Mario Tama/Getty Images

There were no antebellum hoop skirts at the site of Brazil’s annual “Festa Confederada,” or Confederate Festival, in 2024. Flag poles that once flew the Brazilian flag alongside the red, white...

The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system

Written by Nicole Hassoun, Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University, State University of New York

A nurse peers through a small window in a COVID-19 unit of Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Dec. 21, 2020. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has set off soul-searching among many Americans. Part of that reflection is about the public reaction to Thompson’s death and the sympathy the suspect...

How to avoid the latest generation of scams this holiday season

Written by Shaila Rana, Professor of Information Technology, Purdue University

Imagine this: Two days before your family holiday party, you get a text about an online order you placed a week ago, saying the package is at your door. It comes with a photo – of someone else’s door. When you click the attached link, it takes you to the online store, where you enter your username and password. Somehow that...

Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm this iconic species, depending on how it’s carried out

Written by William E. Snyder, Professor of Entomology, University of Georgia

Monarch caterpillars and a mature butterfly.NCTC Creative Imagery/USFWS/Flickr

Monarch butterflies are among the most beloved insects in North America. They are brightly colored and unique, both as caterpillars and later as mature insects. Monarchs are found in every U.S. state except Alaska, so nearly everyone has seen a monarch flutter by on a...

Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season

Written by Julia Felton, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Michigan State University

Expectations of perfection on special occasions can add to the normal stress of parenting. skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

Holidays are often depicted as picture-perfect moments: families blissfully united around a table filled with seasonal food favorites against an immaculate backdrop. For many parents, attempting to meet such unrealistic...

For enslaved people, the holiday season was a time for revelry – and a brief window to fight back

Written by Ana Lucia Araujo, Professor of History, Howard University

Adolphe Duperly's painting depicting the destruction of the Roehampton Estate in Jamaica during the Baptist War in January 1832.Wikimedia Commons

During the era of slavery in the Americas, enslaved men, women and children also enjoyed the holidays. Slave owners usually gave them bigger portions of food, gifted them alcohol and provided extra days...