The Conversation

I study local government and Hurricane Helene forced me from my home − here’s how rural towns and counties in North Carolina and beyond cooperate to rebuild

Written by Jay Rickabaugh, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, North Carolina State University

Last year was a record year for disasters in the United States. A new report from the British charity International Institute for Environment and Development finds that 90 disasters were declared nationwide in 2024, from wildfires in California to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

The average number of annual disasters in the U.S. is about 55.

Th...

A warning for Democrats from the Gilded Age and the 1896 election

Written by Adam M. Silver, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emmanuel College

Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller administers the oath of office to William McKinley during his presidential inauguration in 1897, as outgoing President Grover Cleveland looks on.AP Photo/Library of Congress

More than five months after President Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris, Democrats are still trying to understand why they lost the...

Habeas corpus: A thousand-year-old legal principle for defending rights that’s getting a workout under the Trump administration

Written by Andrea Seielstad, Professor of Law, University of Dayton

Two Latin words – 'habeas corpus' – protect any person, whether citizen or not, from being illegally confined.deepblue4you, iStock / Getty Images Plus

In some parts of the world, a person may be secreted away or imprisoned by the government without any advanced notification of wrongdoing or chance to make a defense. This has not been...

Reducing diversity, equity and inclusion to a catchphrase undermines its true purpose

Written by Detris Honora Adelabu, Clinical Professor of Applied Human Development, Boston University

More than 440 anti-DEI bills have been introduced in 42 states since the 2023 Supreme Court decision that ended race-conscious college admissions.J Studios/Getty Images

Diversity, equity and inclusion, which has become the catchphrase DEI, represents a commitment to fairness and to tackling racism and exclusionary policies that limit access to...

Perfect brownies baked at high altitude are possible thanks to Colorado’s home economics pioneer Inga Allison

Written by Tobi Jacobi, Professor of English, Colorado State University

Students work in the high-altitude baking laboratory.Archives and Special Collections, Colorado State University

Many bakers working at high altitudes have carefully followed a standard recipe only to reach into the oven to find a sunken cake, flat cookies or dry muffins.

Experienced mountain bakers know they need a few tricks to achieve the same...

Some politicians who share harmful information are rewarded with more clicks, study finds

Written by Yu-Ru Lin, Associate Professor of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh

The likes pour in for some politicians who post misinformation.J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images

What happens when politicians post false or toxic messages online? My team and I found evidence that suggests U.S. state legislators can increase or decrease their public visibility by sharing unverified claims or using uncivil language during...

Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible

Written by Dina Khapaeva, Professor of Cultural Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology

Russian President Vladimir Putin has draped himself in old-fashioned, medieval conceptions of Russian history to add symbolic weight to his authoritarian government.AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Beginning in September 2025, Russian middle and high school students will be handed a new textbook titled “My Family.”

Published in March...

Francis, a pope of many firsts: 5 essential reads

Written by Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor

A mourner holds a portrait of Pope Francis at the Basílica de San José de Flores in Buenos Aires, a church where the pope worshipped in his youth.AP Photo/Gustavo Garello

Pope Francis, whose papacy blended tradition with pushes for inclusion and reform, died on April, 21, 2025 – Easter Monday – at the age of 88.

Here we...

Lawful permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil have a right to freedom of speech – but does that protect them from deportation?

Written by Erin Corcoran, Professor of immigration, refguee and asylum law, University of Notre Dame

The detention of noncitizen university students after their Palestinian rights activism raises questions about the limits of free speech. Rob Dobi/Moment/Getty Images

The Trump administration has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 foreign university students since January 2025. Many of the individual cases that have made headlines center on...

Federal laws don’t ban rollbacks of environmental protection, but they don’t make it easy

Written by Stan Meiburg, Executive Director, Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability, Wake Forest University

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced plans to review or reverse dozens of environmental protection regulations.Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin have announced their intent to reconsider dozens of current regulations in an effort to loosen standards originally...