The Conversation

Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy

Written by Konstantin Zhukov, Assistant Professor of Economics, Indiana University; Institute for Humane Studies

Neither of these men -- US President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- likes being held accountable by the press.Contributor/Getty Images

The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14, 2026, was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing criticism and dissent.

In its story...

Climate engineering would alter the oceans, reshaping marine life – our new study examines each method’s risks

Written by Kelsey Roberts, Post-Doctoral Scholar in Marine Ecology, Cornell University; UMass Dartmouth

Phytoplankton blooms, seen by satellite in the Baltic Sea, pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.European Space Agency via Flickr, CC BY-SA

Climate change is already fueling dangerous heat waves, raising sea levels and transforming the oceans. Even if countries meet their pledges to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate...

Reddit and TikTok - with the help of AI - are reshaping how researchers understand substance use

Written by Layla Bouzoubaa, Doctoral Student in Information Science, Drexel University

Only a small percentage of people with substance use disorder seek treatment, but millions of people discuss their experiences with drugs in online communities. vladans/iStock via Getty Images

When you think of tools for studying substance use and addiction, a social media site like Reddit, TikTok or YouTube probably isn’t the first thing...

Broncos say their new stadium will be ‘privately financed,’ but ‘private’ often still means hundreds of millions in public resources

Written by Geoffrey Propheter, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver

In September 2025, the Denver Broncos announced their plan to build a new, privately financed stadium.Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The Denver Broncos announced in early September 2025 their plan to build a privately financed football stadium. The proposal received a lot of attention and praise.

Across the five major sports leagues in the U.S....

For some Jewish women, ‘passing’ as Christian during the Holocaust could mean survival – but left scars all the same

Written by Hana Green, Postdoctoral Fellow in Holocaust Studies, Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies, College of Charleston

A 1943 post office identification card for Annelies Herz, a German Jewish woman who managed to survive by posing as a Christian woman with the last name 'Stein.'From the Collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Gift of Annelies and Helmut Herz, 393.89.

Travel case in hand, dressed in fashionable...

There’s an intensifying kind of threat to academic freedom – watchful students serving as informants

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

Approximately 58% of faculty interviewed in a national survey in 2024 reported self-censoring. PM Images/iStock/Getty Images

Texas A&M University told philosophy professor Martin Peterson in early January 2026 that he could not teach some of Greek philosopher Plato’s writings that touch on “race and gender ideology.”

The...

Building ‘beloved community’: Remembering the friendship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh

Written by Jeremy David Engels, Liberal Arts Endowed Professor of Communication, Penn State

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., left, appears at a Chicago news conference with Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh on May 31, 1966.AP Photo/Edward Kitch, File

Before Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, he asked several of his friends to continue his life’s work building what he called “beloved community.” One of the people he invited...

US military has a long history in Greenland, from mining during WWII to a nuclear-powered Army base built into the ice

Written by Paul Bierman, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont

Rusting fuel drums and vehicles remain at an abandoned U.S. World War II base in Greenland. Posnov/Moment via Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s insistence that the U.S. will acquire Greenland “whether they like it or not” is just the latest chapter in a co-dependent and often complicated relationship between America and the...

Could ChatGPT convince you to buy something? Threat of manipulation looms as AI companies gear up to sell ads

Written by Bruce Schneier, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

AI advertising could be hard to resist – or even recognize.showcake/iStock via Getty Images

Eighteen months ago, it was plausible that artificial intelligence might take a different path than social media. Back then, AI’s development hadn’t consolidated under a small number of big tech firms. Nor had it capitalized on consumer...

From a new flagship space telescope to lunar exploration, global cooperation – and competition – will make 2026 an exciting year for space

Written by Grant Tremblay, Federal Astrophysicist and External Relations Lead at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Smithsonian Institution

The U.S. is planning a crewed flight around the Moon in 2026. AP Photo

In 2026, astronauts will travel around the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era, powerful new space telescopes will prepare to survey billions of galaxies, and multiple nations will launch missions aimed at finding habitable worlds, water on the Moon and clues to how our...