The Conversation

1918 flu pandemic upended long-standing social inequalities – at least for a time, new study finds

Written by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota

In this November 1918 photo, a nurse tends to a patient in the influenza ward of the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Md. AP Photo/Harris & Ewing via Library of Congress

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Racial disparities in influenza deaths shrunk by 74% in U.S. cities during the 1918 flu pandemic...

Why Istanbul's mayor was sentenced to jail – and what it means for Turkey's 2023 presidential race

Written by Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University

Ekrem Imamoglu -- heading to jail or the presidency. Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A Turkish court’s decision on Dec. 14, 2022, to jail Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu for two years and seven months for insulting public officials hung on comments he made three years ago. But its impact will be felt on an event taking...

Anti-cancer CAR-T therapy reengineers T cells to kill tumors – and researchers are expanding the limited types of cancer it can target

Written by Gregory Allen, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Killer T cells (green and red), or cytotoxic T cells, surround a cancer cell (blue, center).NICHD/J. Lippincott-Schwartz, CC BY-NC-ND

Teaching the body’s immune cells to recognize and fight cancer is one of the holy grails in medicine. Over the past two decades, researchers have developed new immunotherapy drugs that stimulate a...

A Trump-era law used to restrict immigration is nearing its end despite GOP warnings of a looming crisis at the Southern border

Written by Ernesto Castañeda, Associate Professor of Sociology, American University

Hundreds of asylum-seekers gather on the banks of the Rio Grande to enter the U.S. on Dec. 12, 2022.Jose Zamora/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A key component of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies is currently set to expire on Dec. 21, 2022.

Officially called Title 42 of the U.S. Code, the little-known law was established...

How the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a surprisingly bright, complex and element-filled early universe – Podcast

Written by Daniel Merino, Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

The James Webb Space Telescope is providing astronomers with images and data that reveal secrets from the earliest era of the universe.NASA/STScI

If you want to know what happened in the earliest years of the universe, you are going to need a very big, very specialized telescope. Much to the joy of astronomers and space fans everywhere, the world...

Why early Christians wouldn't have found the Christmas story's virgin birth so surprising

Written by Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Assistant Professor of the New Testament, Vanguard University

'The Nativity,' circa 1406-10, by Lorenzo MonacoHeritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Every year on Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of their religion’s founder, Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Part of this celebration includes the claim that Jesus was born from a virgin mother named Mary, which is fundamental to the...

The Christmas tree is a tradition older than Christmas

Written by Troy Bickham, Professor of History, Texas A&M University

Public Christmas trees, like Rockefeller Center's famous tree, didn't start appearing in the U.S. until the 20th century. Nicholas Hunt/WireImage via Getty Images

Why, every Christmas, do so many people endure the mess of dried pine needles, the risk of a fire hazard and impossibly tangled strings of lights?

Strapping a fir tree to the hood of my...

What social media regulation could look like: Think of pipelines, not utilities

Written by Theodore J. Kury, Director of Energy Studies, University of Florida

Is the law coming for Twitter, Meta and other social media outlets?new look casting/iStock via Getty Images

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and his controversial statements and decisions as its owner, have fueled a new wave of calls for regulating social media companies. Elected officials and policy scholars have argued for years that...

Record low water levels on the Mississippi River in 2022 show how climate change is altering large rivers

Written by Ray Lombardi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis

A barge maneuvers its way down the drought-narrowed Mississippi River at Tiptonville, Tenn., Oct. 20, 2022.AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems alike. When drought develops, water levels fall, making river navigation harder and more expensive.

In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s...

Special counsels, like the one leading the Department of Justice's investigation of Trump, are intended to be independent – but they aren't entirely

Written by Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College

Merrick Garland, center, announcing on Nov. 18, 2022, that he will appoint a special counsel for the Department of Justice investigation into former President Donald Trump. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

When Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee two criminal investigations into former...