The Conversation

Fast food is comforting, but in low-income areas it crowds out fresher options

Written by Catherine Keske, Associate Professor, Management of Complex Systems, University of California, Merced

Many Americans find comfort in familiar fast-food meals, but they undercut local food security.Getty Images

Many Americans take comfort in the routine of jumping into the car and grabbing a burger. They choose restaurants with familiar faces behind the counter. They even yearn for a favorite “greasy spoon” diner while having to cook for...

In this era of protest over racism, will colleges embrace Black student activists?

Written by Ted Thornhill, Associate Professor of Sociology, Florida Gulf Coast University

Will protests on campus look different after COVID-19?Al Seib/Getty Images

In 2018, sociologist Ted Thornhill found that Black students who profess an interest in fighting racism were less likely to get a response from college admission officers than other Black students when inquiring about whether they would be a good fit for a particular college....

Coronavirus and cancer hijack the same parts in human cells to spread – and our team identified existing cancer drugs that could fight COVID-19

Written by Nevan Krogan, Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute & Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco

SARS-CoV-2 turns on a cellular switch to build the tubes in this photo – called filopodia – that might help viral particles – the little spheres – spread more easily.Dr Elizabeth Fischer, NIAID NIH / Bouhaddou et al. © Elsevier 2020, CC BY-ND

Most antivirals in use today target parts of an invading virus itself....

The 'domestic terrorist' designation won't stop extremism

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

When blocking a highway, who is a domestic terrorist and who is a peaceful protester? And does it make a legal difference?David Ryder/Getty Images

As U.S. politics heat up in advance of the November election, it’s not surprising that extremist groups across the political spectrum are becoming more active and engaged in acts of political...

3 moral virtues necessary for an ethical pandemic response and reopening

Written by Mary Elizabeth Collins, Professor of Social Welfare Policy, Boston University

The coronavirus crisis isn't hitting all communities equally hard, calling for not just aid like this California food bank but also justice-oriented policies to redress harms. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are not equally felt. From the United States to Brazil and the United Kingdom, low-wage...

Northern Ireland's police transformation may hold lessons for the US

Written by Laura A. Weinstein, Adjunct Professor in the Department of History, Queens College, City University of New York

Officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland redirect traffic around an emergency scene.Peter Muhly/AFP via Getty Images

As citizens and officials across the U.S. consider whether and how to reform policing, they might look to Northern Ireland.

Over the past 20 years, a focused public and government effort has turned police from militarized...

Rethinking the K-pop industry's silence during the Black Lives Matter movement

Written by Hye Jin Lee, Clinical Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

K-pop band BTS and their company, Big Hit, have donated money to Black Lives Matter. Most bands and companies in the industry have not made any sort of statements.Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

As nationwide protests against police violence and racial inequality continue in the U.S., K-pop fans, famous for their social media savvy, are using their colle...

To achieve a new New Deal, Democrats must learn from the old one

Written by Edwin Amenta, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine

Franklin Roosevelt and other administration officials visit a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp during the New Deal.Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

As the United States reels from the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide anti-racism protests, pundits from both sides of the political aisle have speculated that a new New Deal is in the...

Authorities are yanking the legacy of slaveholder John C. Calhoun from public sphere, but his bigotry remains embedded in American society

Written by Christian K. Anderson, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina

Construction workers extracted a Calhoun statue in Charleston, South Carolina on June 24, 2020.Sean Rayford/Getty Images

When I toured the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion in 2019, I noticed the multi-volume papers of John C. Calhoun on display. It struck me as remarkable that Calhoun’s ideas would be featured so prominently given his...

Should the president pick the attorney general?

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

William Barr walks through Lafayette Park before demonstrators were cleared by federal police on June 1, 2020.Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Attorney General William Barr recently announced, late on a Friday, that Geoffrey Berman was “stepping down after two-and-a-half years of service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New...