The Conversation

I'm a First Amendment scholar – and I think Big Tech should be left alone

Written by Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University

Twitter's ban of Trump has concerned free speech advocates across the political spectrum.Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Twitter’s banning of Trump – an action also taken by other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat – has opened a fierce debate about freedom of expression and who, if...

Biden is inheriting a wrecked economy, but Democrats have a record of avoiding recession and reducing unemployment

Written by William Chittenden, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Presidential Fellow, Texas State University

Democrats control both the White House and Congress for the first time in 10 years.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

On day one, President Joe Biden will have to manage a devastated economy – much as he and former President Barack Obama did 12 years ago.

What can the country expect?

Forecasting how the economy will perform under a new president is...

They don't come as pills, but try these 6 underprescribed lifestyle medicines for a better, longer life

Written by Yoram Vodovotz, Professor of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh

Families can prioritize learning more healthy ways to eat.Joe Raedle/ Getty Images News

The majority of Americans are stressed, sleep-deprived and overweight and suffer from largely preventable lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Being overweight or obese contributes to the 50% of adults who suffer high blood...

How law enforcement is using technology to track down people who attacked the US Capitol building

Written by Don Hummer, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Penn State

Many of the people who broke into the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 carried cellphones, which can be tracked, and posted photos of their activities on social media.Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

After rioters flooded the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, there was an immediate call for those who overran officers on the scene and swarmed...

Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry insects

Written by Eric LoPresti, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Oklahoma State University

A coat of sand makes an effective armor.Eric LoPresti, CC BY-SA

Imagine the texture of a plant. Many may come to mind – the smooth rubberiness of many tropical houseplants, the impossibly soft lamb’s ear, the sharp spines of cacti, or the roughness of tree bark. But stickiness, in the flypaper-stick-to-your-fingers sense, probably...

Police, soldiers bring lethal skill to militia campaigns against US government

Written by Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Militia members associated with the Three Percenters movement conducting a military drill in Flovilla, Ga., in 2016, days after Trump's election. After his 2020 defeat, Three Percenters were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image

Thousands of police and soldiers – people...

Armed groups from Capitol riot pose longer-term threat to Biden presidency

Written by Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt University

Rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, but that may not be their last violent move.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Details continue to emerge about the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion. Exactly what happened – including the degree of planning involved and rioters’ possible connections with Capitol police or even members of Congress – m...

Janet Yellen confirmed as first female US Treasury secretary – here’s what she can do about climate change

Written by Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University

The Senate voted 84-15 to confirm former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as the next U.S. Treasury secretary.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The Senate voted 84-15 to confirm economist Janet Yellen as U.S. Treasury secretary on Jan. 25, and her in tray will require every ounce of her vast experience to pilot the economy through a daunting confluence...

What Janet Yellen can do about climate change as US Treasury secretary

Written by Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's confirmation hearing for U.S. Treasury secretary was held Jan. 19.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Janet Yellen is poised to be the next U.S. Treasury secretary, and her inbox will require every ounce of her vast experience to pilot the economy through a daunting confluence of challenges. How the U.S. manages...

Big Tech's swift reaction to Capitol rioters reveals new face of corporate political power – and a threat to American democracy

Written by Jerry Davis, Professor of Management and Sociology, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Big Tech reacted to the Capitol riot by shutting down one of Trump's supporters' favorite social media apps.AP Photo/John Minchillo

Big Business and Big Tech both reacted swiftly to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, punishing and condemning those they deemed responsible for the riot or for creating the conditions that led to it.

But there was a...