The Conversation

RFK Jr. said many autistic people will never write a poem − even though there’s a rich history of neurodivergent poets and writers

Written by Bradley J. Irish, Associate Professor of English, Arizona State University

Scholars today believe Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw was probably on the autism spectrum.Bettmann/Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently declared autism a national “epidemic,” calling it a “preventable disease” that is growing at an “alarming rate.”

He went...

Whooping cough is making a comeback, but the vaccine provides powerful protection

Written by Annette Regan, Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles

Infants can get vaccinated against whooping cough starting at 6 weeks of age.Hill Street Studios/Corbis via Getty Images

Whooping cough, a bacterial infection that can be especially dangerous for babies and young children, is on the rise. Already in 2025 the U.S. has recorded 8,485 cases. That’s compared with 4,266 cases during the same...

No whistleblower is an island – why networks of allies are key to exposing corruption

Written by Kate Kenny, Professor of Business and Society, University of Galway

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen speaks at a conference in 2022. Kimberly White/Getty Images for SumOfUs

Whistleblowers – people who expose wrongdoing within their organizations – play a crucial role in holding governments and corporations accountable. But speaking up can come at a cost. People who report misconduct often face...

From cats and dogs to penguins and llamas, treating animals with acupuncture has become mainstream in veterinary medicine

Written by Joe Smith, Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee

Kevin, a King Charles spaniel, receives acupuncture treatment at a Washington, D.C. animal hospital.Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images

A perentie lizard in Dallas, an African penguin in Boston and an Oberhasli goat in Chicago are just a few recent examples of animals at zoos and aquariums benefiting recently from acupuncture therapy. As acupuncture...

The ‘sacramental shame’ many LGBTQ+ conservative Christians wrestle with – and how they find healing

Written by Dawne Moon, Professor of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University

Not all LGBTQ+ Christians belong to congregations that support that aspect of their identity.D-Keine/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Kai found Jesus as a teenager. A person of white and Hawaiian descent, Kai now goes by gender-neutral pronouns and identifies as “māhū,” the traditional Hawaiian term for someone in-between...

Almost Zion: Remembering a short-lived Jewish state in New York

Written by Adam L. Rovner, Director of the Center for Judaic Studies, University of Denver

Twin bridges spanning the Niagara River lead from Tonawanda to Grand Island, New York -- the proposed site of 'Ararat.' Kevin Menschel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

At dawn on Sept. 15, 1825, a burst of cannon fire shook the ramshackle buildings of Buffalo, New York. Families raced down the main street to witness a grand ceremony, following a parade...

Spider-Man’s lessons for us all on the responsibility to use our power, great or small, to do good

Written by George Tsakiridis, Senior Lecturer of Philosophy and Religion, South Dakota State University

A large statue of Spider-Man at a mall in Dubai.Giuseppe Cacace AFP via Getty Images

As a child, I watched reruns of the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon on television. I was drawn to the action and colors and, of course, the catchy tune. This was my early introduction to Spider-Man, as it was for many children who grew up in the 1960s-’80s.

Spidey, as...

Disinformation and other forms of ‘sharp power’ now sit alongside the ‘hard power’ of tanks and ‘soft power’ of ideas in policy handbook

Written by Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College

The right to arm bears? Mixing the soft and the hard.Getty Images Plus

“The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must.”

So wrote Thucydides in the “History of the Peloponnesian War,” and the Greek historian’s cold-eyed observation still holds.

But in today’s world, strength doesn’t always...

Florida panthers and black bears need a literal path for survival – here’s how the Florida Wildlife Corridor provides it in one of the fastest-growing US states

Written by Thomas Hoctor, Research Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida

Florida panthers are a federally endangered species. Carlton Ward Jr./Wildpath

Imagine a Florida panther slinking its way 400 miles (645 kilometers) from the Big Cypress Swamp, in the southwest part of the state, to Okefenokee Swamp, on Florida’s northern border with Georgia, without ever being spotted by a human.

No one has yet documented a...

How Trump promotes a radical, unscientific theory about sex and gender in the name of opposing ‘gender ideology extremism’

Written by Ina Seethaler, Associate Professor and Director of Women's and Gender Studies, Coastal Carolina University

Sexual diversity has been documented in every species in the animal kingdom, including among humans. smartboy10/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The Trump administration claims to be rooting out “gender ideology extremism” and “restoring biological truth” in the United States.

In a January 2025 executive order,...