The Conversation

10 parenting strategies to reduce your kids' pandemic stress

Written by Amanda Sheffield Morris, Professor of Human Development and Family Science, Oklahoma State University

Making time to connect one on one is crucial.S&B Vonlanthen/Unsplash, CC BY

Parents are dealing with huge demands on their time and energy. Children may not be attending school or involved in regular activities. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on families, routines have collapsed, patience is wearing thin and self-care is a distant...

Teaching about pandemics and inequality while living through those realities

Written by Jodi Benenson, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, University of Nebraska Omaha

Racial justice demonstrations became much more frequent in 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.Tim Evans/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jodi Benenson and Tara Kolar Bryan are professors in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha. In the fall of 2020 they coordinated a team-taught graduate-level course called...

Don't blame Fox News for the attack on the Capitol

Written by Ashique KhudaBukhsh, Project Scientist at the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Fox was just as likely to use the phrase 'president-elect' as MSNBC and CNN. Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In the days following the attack on the Capitol, The New York Times, in its print edition, ran an op-ed titled “Yes, You Should Blame Fox For Whipping Up Radicals.” The Washington Post ran an article with...

Anosmia, the loss of smell caused by COVID-19, doesn't always go away quickly – but smell training may help

Written by Julie Walsh-Messinger, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Dayton

The loss of the ability to smell is known as anosmia and can result in a loss of appetite.ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images

Editor’s note: Julie Walsh-Messinger is a clinical psychologist who studies the effects of long-term smell loss. Her research has focused on smell loss in people with serious and persistent mental illnesses, but since the...

Why GameStop shares stopped trading: 5 questions answered

Written by Jena Martin, Professor of Law, West Virginia University

GameStop shares soared after some retail investors teamed up to jack up the price.AP Photo/John Minchillo

Editor’s note: GameStop stock resumed its dramatic ascent after a popular no-fee online broker said it would lift restrictions on trading its shares. In recent days, frenzied activity in the video game retailer’s stock led the New...

Weed withdrawal: More than half of people using medical cannabis for pain experience withdrawal symptoms

Written by Lara Coughlin, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan

The use of cannabis, though safer than many other drugs, is not entirely without risk. AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file

CC BY-ND

In stark contrast to the overblown fears portrayed during decades past, these days, most people think cannabis is relatively harmless. While weed is indeed less dangerous than some other drugs, it is not without risks.

In a...

Trump wasn't the first president to try to politicize the civil service – which remains at risk of returning to Jackson's 'spoils system'

Written by Barry M. Mitnick, Professor of Business Administration and of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Trump put a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office when he was president. Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images

The federal government’s core civilian workforce has long been known for its professionalism. About 2.1 million nonpartisan career officials provide essential public services in such diverse areas as agriculture, national parks,...

COVID-19 misinformation on Chinese social media – lessons for countering conspiracy theories

Written by Kaiping Chen, Assistant Professor of Science Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Influencers and women without huge numbers of followers are more effective than others at debunking conspiracy theories on Chinese social media.AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic from the beginning. Crucial to managing the pandemic is mitigating the effects of misinformation, which the World Health...

Why using fear to promote COVID-19 vaccination and mask wearing could backfire

Written by Amy Lauren Fairchild, Dean and Professor, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University

Images of death have been used as a scare tactic in public health campaigns for years.Buda Mendes/Getty Images

You probably still remember public service ads that scared you: The cigarette smoker with throat cancer. The victims of a drunk driver. The guy who neglected his cholesterol lying in a morgue with a toe tag.

With new, highly transmissible...

To make the US auto fleet greener, increasing fuel efficiency matters more than selling electric vehicles

Written by John DeCicco, Research Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan

A used car superstore in Colma, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

President Biden has proposed ambitious goals for curbing climate change and investing in a cleaner U.S. economy. One critical sector is transportation, which generates 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – more than either electric power production or industry.

Shifting...