The Conversation

Men are carrying the brunt of the ‘loneliness epidemic’ amid potent societal pressures

Written by Alvin Thomas, Associate Professor, Phyllis Northway Faculty Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Singer Justin Bieber is seen on May 16, 2024, in Los Angeles.BG046/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

A few weeks before Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, announced in May 2024 that they were expecting, the pop icon posted a selfie where he appears tearful and distraught.

While media attention quickly pivoted to the pregnancy, there was little attention paid...

Wind phones help the bereaved deal with death, loss and grief − a clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone

Written by Taryn Lindhorst, Professor of Social Work, University of Washington

The first wind phone was built in 2010 in Otsuchi, Japan.Matthew Komatsu/Wikimedia Commons

My mother died in my home in hospice in 2020, on the day my state of Washington went into COVID-19 lockdown. Her body was taken away, but none of the usual touchstones for grief were available to our family. There was no funeral or supportive gathering, no...

Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments − why?

Written by Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Iowa

Stigma and prejudice make it difficult for Black gay men to access PrEP.Willie B. Thomas/DigitalVision via Getty Images

At a pharmacy in Iowa, a 42-year-old Black gay man couldn’t find a medication he needed. The pharmacist, a white woman, told him they didn’t stock that medication. But while he waited to pay for his other purchases, he...

College can be confusing for first-generation students – but it doesn’t have to be

Written by Blake R. Silver, Associate Professor of Sociology, George Mason University

Many college students are reluctant to ask for help even when they know they need it.Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images

In his new book, “Degrees of Risk: Navigating Insecurity and Inequality in Public Higher Education,” sociology professor Blake R. Silver examines some of many ways that college students can slip through the...

Self-forgiveness is more than self-comfort − a philosopher explains

Written by Mordechai Gordon, Professor of Education, Quinnipiac University

Forgiving yourself can be a sign of moral growth − but only if you put in the work.Stephanie Verhart/E+ via Getty Images

As the Jewish High Holidays approach, which begin with Rosh Hashanah and continue with Yom Kippur, the theme of forgiveness keeps coming to my mind.

The 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are referred to in the Jewish...

Nepal’s revamped truth commissions will need to go beyond ‘ritualism’ to deliver justice to civil war victims

Written by Tracy Fehr, Sociology PhD Candidate, University of Colorado Boulder

Nepal’s attempt to deliver justice and accountability following the country’s decade-long civil war froze more than two years ago with little progress – but a recent development has raised hopes that it could soon be revived and revamped.

In August 2024, the country’s parliament passed a long-awaited bill that sets the stage...

Rare Florida fossil finally ends debate about how porcupine jaws and tails evolved

Written by Natasha S. Vitek, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

A porcupine fossil recovered in Florida was the key clue in solving a paleontological mystery.Jeff Gage/Florida Museum, CC BY-ND

A rare, nearly complete fossil of an extinct North American porcupine helped me and my colleagues solve a decades-long debate about how the modern North American porcupine evolved from its ancestors.

Published in Current...

Pager attack on Hezbollah was a sophisticated ‘booby-trap’ operation − it was also illegal

Written by Mary Ellen O'Connell, Professor of Law and International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Medics collect blood in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024.AFP via Getty Images

The operation that used pagers and walkie-talkies to kill members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ingenious – but was it legal?

Certainly, there are those who will argue that it was. That thinking goes like this: Hezbollah has been attacking Israel with rockets,...

Immigrants are unsung heroes of global trade and value creation

Written by Bedassa Tadesse, Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth

In nearly every country that hosts foreign-born citizens, immigration emerges as a lightning rod for controversy. The economic realities of immigration, however, are far more complex than the negative sound bites suggest.

Far from being a burden, as critics claim, immigrants play pivotal roles in driving innovation, enhancing productivity and...

How Israel’s Netanyahu survives in his job

Written by Shai P. Ginsburg, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University

Demonstrators at an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages on Sept. 12, 2024, in Tel Aviv. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

After several tumultuous weeks in Israel, mass demonstrations increasingly depict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as directly responsible for the fate of the hostages still held...