I’m a cognitive psychologist who studies language comprehension. If I see an ad for a vacation rental that says “Your going to Hollywood!” it really bugs me. But my collaborator, Robin Queen, a sociolinguist, who studies how language use varies across social groups,...

The Conversation’s collaboration with Point Taken continues this week with an in-depth look at the Syrian refugee crisis. Point Taken is an exciting new program from WGBH TV that features debate on a topic that Americans care about –- without the shouting.

Up for discussion on Tuesday, April 19 at 11 Eastern/10 Central on PBS and at...

The April 19 primary in New York looks like it will play a familiar role in this latest Clinton presidential campaign.

Bernie Sanders is hoping his Brooklyn roots and left-wing stands will propel him to victory there, finally altering the dynamic of the race in his favor.

More likely, however, is that the New York primary will do for Hillary Clinton...

The so-called Panama Papers span thousands of pages, revealing that many of the world’s elite have been hiding their money in offshore accounts in an attempt to shield their income from taxes.

Their release – the biggest data leak in history &nda...

Brazil’s economy is teetering on the edge of collapse. The country’s political regime has been rocked by recent corruption scandals, and impeachment proceedings are encircling the nation’s leaders. And yet things couldn’t be much better for...

Editor’s note: This article is part of our collaboration with Point Taken, a new program from WGBH that will next air on Tuesday, April 19 on PBS and online at pbs.org. The show features fact-based debate on major issues of the day, without the shouting.

The Syrian civil war has entered its fifth year with few signs of ending.

The fighting has...

Tax Day is finally here. If you’re getting a refund, lucky you. But if you owe the government money, you may be worried that you have to pay the amount due by the filing deadline of April 18 – even if you asked for an extension.

Owing the IRS – especially when...

In the hours since I first sat down to write this piece, my laptop tells me the National Basketball Association has had to deny that it threatened to cancel its 2017 All-Star Game over a new anti-LGBT law in North Carolina – a story repeated by many news...

Any adult who has attempted to learn a foreign language can attest to how difficult and confusing it can be. So when a three-year-old growing up in a bilingual household inserts Spanish words into his English sentences, conventional wisdom assumes that he is confusing the two languages.

Research...

The author F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that the “rich are different than you and me.”

Fitzgerald’s observation rings especially true today. The growing divide between the wealthy and everyone else is one of the preeminent issues of the 2016 presidential election. A tidal wave of public anger over income inequality and the...