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The chattering classes got the 'Hillbilly Elegy' book wrong – and they're getting the movie wrong, too

  • Written by Lisa R. Pruitt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Law, University of California, Davis

Film critics have had nary a good word to say about Netflix’s new movie “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Reviewers varyingly called it “Oscar-Season B.S.,” “woefully misguided,” “Yokel Hokum,” “laughably bad” and simply “awful.”

I admit to delight when I read professional critics...

Read more: The chattering classes got the 'Hillbilly Elegy' book wrong – and they're getting the movie wrong,...

Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 will have side effects – that's a good thing

  • Written by Matthew Woodruff, Instructor, Lowance Center for Human Immunology, Emory University
imageA little bit of post-injection soreness is completely normal.Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Takeaways

  • Temporary side effects from vaccines are a normal sign of a developing immune response.

  • Vaccines work by training your immune system to recognize and remember a pathogen in a safe way.

  • Expected side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine...

Read more: Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 will have side effects – that's a good thing

How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into the Taliban's arms

  • Written by Brian Glyn Williams, Professor of Islamic History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
imageAfghan security forces gather near the site of an attack in Jalalabad in August 2020.AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

President Donald Trump’s recent call to withdraw just over half of the 4,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan has been condemned as an act that “would hurt our allies and delight, delight, the people who wish us harm” by members of...

Read more: How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into...

A better way for billionaires who want to make massive donations to benefit society

  • Written by Andrew J. Hoffman, Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Holcim (US), Inc. Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of
imageJeff Bezos is pouring $10 billion into the fight against climate change.Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, announced on Instagram in November 2020 that he was giving 16 organizations a total of about US$800 million for a wide array of climate-protecting work.

This money will help pay to restore and...

Read more: A better way for billionaires who want to make massive donations to benefit society

Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today's pandemic

  • Written by Nicole S Maskiell, Assistant Professor of History Peter and Bonnie McCausland Fellow of History, University of South Carolina
imageOver 1.4 million people have died from COVID-19 so far this year. How history memorializes them will reflect those we most value.Author provided, CC BY-ND

What I believe to be the oldest surviving gravestone for a Black person in the Americas memorializes an enslaved teenager named Cicely.

Cicely’s body is interred across from Harvard’s...

Read more: Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that...

Tribes mount organized responses to COVID-19, in contrast to state and federal governments

  • Written by Lisa Hardy, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Social Science Community Engagement Lab, Northern Arizona University
imageThe Native nations have fought hard to keep the pandemic out of their communities. grand river via Getty Images

As the months roll by, the pandemic continues to hit Indigenous nations hard. But this phenomenon is not new. Epidemics have been part of colonialism since settlers arrived. Health inequities tell us that illnesses have different outcomes...

Read more: Tribes mount organized responses to COVID-19, in contrast to state and federal governments

AI makes huge progress predicting how proteins fold – one of biology's greatest challenges – promising rapid drug development

  • Written by Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College
imageA simple chain of amino acids folds into a complex three-dimensional structure.

Takeaways

  • A “deep learning” software program from Google-owned lab DeepMind showed great progress in solving one of biology’s greatest challenges – understanding protein folding.

  • Protein folding is the process by which a protein takes its shape...

Read more: AI makes huge progress predicting how proteins fold – one of biology's greatest challenges –...

The morality of canceling student debt

  • Written by Kate Padgett Walsh, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Iowa State University
imageStudents pulling a heavy ball representing the total outstanding student debt in the U.S. at over $1.5 trillion.PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden promised to forgive at least some student debt during his campaign, and he now supports immediately canceling US$10,000 per borrower as part of COVID-19 relief measures.

Such...

Read more: The morality of canceling student debt

Global disabilities map visualizes the strength and power of millions of athletes around the world

  • Written by Sarah Hillyer, Director, Center for Sport, Peace, & Society, University of Tennessee
imageQaphela Dlamini, educator, wheelchair basketball player and disability rights advocate from South Africa.globalsportsmentingprogram/flickr, CC BY-ND

When the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, it became illegal to restrict access – to employment, education or federally funded institutions – based on disability....

Read more: Global disabilities map visualizes the strength and power of millions of athletes around the world

Socialism is a trigger word on social media – but real discussion is going on amid the screaming

  • Written by Robert Kozinets, Jayne and Hans Hufschmid Chair in Strategic Public Relations and Business Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
image'Tug-of-words' posts debating the merits of socialism versus capitalism are all over social media platforms.pxfuel

The word “socialism” has become a trigger word in U.S. politics, with both positive and negative perceptions of it split along party lines.

But what does socialism actually mean to Americans? Although surveys can ask...

Read more: Socialism is a trigger word on social media – but real discussion is going on amid the screaming

More Articles ...

  1. Your brain's built-in biases insulate your beliefs from contradictory facts
  2. Peru's democracy faces greatest trial since Fujimori dictatorship after two presidents are ousted in one week
  3. Rapid COVID-19 tests can be useful – but there are far too few to put a dent in the pandemic
  4. Reckoning with slavery: What a revolt's archives tell us about who owns the past
  5. James Baker's masterful legal strategies won George W. Bush a contested election – unlike Rudy Giuliani's string of losses
  6. NCAA amateurism appears immune to COVID-19 – despite tide in public support for paying athletes having turned
  7. Fences have big effects on land and wildlife around the world that are rarely measured
  8. Nonprofits are struggling to do more with less money, but donors and volunteers can help: 5 questions answered
  9. Why waiters give Black customers poor service
  10. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaker, and it's raising more concerns about climate change
  11. How Taiwan uses Buddhist literature for environmental education
  12. Parler is bringing together mainstream conservatives, anti-Semites and white supremacists as the social media platform attracts millions of Trump supporters
  13. 57 años después del asesinato de Kennedy, las pistas en México se agotan
  14. 'Constructive arguing' can help keep the peace at your Thanksgiving table
  15. This type of sexual harassment on campus often goes overlooked
  16. Homeless patients with COVID-19 often go back to life on the streets after hospital care, but there's a better way
  17. Will there be a monument to the COVID-19 pandemic?
  18. Janet Yellen and Kamala Harris keep shattering glass ceilings – but global elite boys club remains
  19. Poland's anti-abortion push highlights pandemic risks to democracy
  20. California vetoed ethnic studies requirements for public high school students, but the movement grows
  21. It's not just ABCs – preschool parents worry their kids are missing out on critical social skills during the pandemic
  22. Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than Pfizer's and Moderna's and doesn't require supercold temperature
  23. Testing sewage can give school districts, campuses and businesses a heads-up on the spread of COVID-19
  24. How Biden and Kerry could rebuild America's global climate leadership
  25. 'My vote will be Black' – A wave of Afro-Brazilian women ran for office in 2020 but found glass ceiling hard to break
  26. School suspensions don't just unfairly penalize Black students – they lead to lower grades and 'Black flight'
  27. Republicans didn't lose big in 2020 – they held onto statehouses and the power to influence future elections
  28. These at-home exercises can help older people boost their immune system and overall health in the age of COVID-19
  29. Coronavirus vaccines: health experts identify ways to build public trust
  30. Why do older people heal more slowly?
  31. A century ago, James Weldon Johnson became the first Black person to head the NAACP
  32. Kids as young as 3 years old think YouTube is better for learning than other types of video
  33. Muslim schools are allies in France's fight against radicalization – not the cause
  34. Muslims have visualized Prophet Muhammad in words and calligraphic art for centuries
  35. How George Washington used his first Thanksgiving as president to unite a new country
  36. In the 1620s, Plymouth Plantation had its own #MeToo moment
  37. Ocho meses de confinamiento por COVID-19 y contando: ¿Qué podemos hacer cuando estamos aburridos?
  38. Why nursing home aides exposed to COVID-19 aren’t taking sick leave
  39. China beat the coronavirus with science and strong public health measures, not just with authoritarianism
  40. A brief history of Georgia's runoff voting – and its racist roots
  41. Why do tigers have stripes?
  42. Laughing is good for your mind and your body – here's what the research shows
  43. The rise and fall of Tab – after surviving the sweetener scares, the iconic diet soda gets canned
  44. Opportunities to practice real-life philanthropy bring academic benefits
  45. Biden's ambitious energy plan faces headwinds, but can move the US forward
  46. How Joe Biden did so well in Georgia
  47. How Biden might stimulate the sputtering US economy: 4 questions answered
  48. Why Trump's election fraud claims aren't showing up in his lawsuits challenging the results
  49. Rural hospitals are under siege from COVID-19 – here's what doctors are facing, in their own words
  50. Keeping indoor air clean can reduce the chance of spreading coronavirus