The Conversation

Nuclear threats are increasing – here's how the US should prepare for a nuclear event

Written by Cham Dallas, University Professor Department of Health Policy & Management, University of Georgia

A visitor to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum views a photo of the aftermath of the 1945 bombing. Carl Court/Getty Images

On the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some may like to think the threat from nuclear weapons has receded. But there are clear signs of a growing nuclear arms race and that the U.S. is not very...

How the sound of religion has changed in the pandemic

Written by Amy Derogatis, Professor of Religion and American Culture, Michigan State University

The Rev. Philip Dinwiddie sings to a pre-recording of mass at St. James Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile, Michigan.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Things sound different in a lockdown. The silence of usually bustling streets, the two-tone whirr of ambulance sirens and the sudden awareness of birdsong, all formed an aural backdrop to the coronavirus...

As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling

Written by Austin Sarat, Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty and Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

A 1970 image of prisoners in cell blocks at Rikers Island Prison.Bettmann / Contributor/Bettmann via Getty Images

Across the United States, prisons and jails have become hot spots for COVID-19. Governments at the state and federal level are being pressed to release inmates before the end of their sentence in order to minimize the spread of the...

Twitter posts show that people are profoundly sad – and are visiting parks to cheer up

Written by Joe Roman, Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont

Central Park, New York City, on Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 2020. Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is the deepest and longest period of malaise in a dozen years. Our colleagues at the University of Vermont have concluded this by analyzing posts on Twitter. The Vermont Complex Systems Center studies...

Jim Thompson is the perfect novelist for our crazed times

Written by Susanna Lee, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Georgetown University

Crime fiction often thrives in periods of social and political tension, when readers long for both justice and stability. So it’s no wonder that as the pandemic took root, crime fiction sales rose.

As I explain in my new book, “Detectives in the Shadows,” many of the protagonists of hard-boiled crime fiction, from Philip Marlowe to...

In Confederate statue debates, common values can bring meaningful resolution

Written by Michael Zirulnik, Instructional Professional of Communication, Arizona State University; Research Instructor of Bioethics and Medical Humanism, University of Arizona

Workers remove the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Richmond, Virginia on July 8, 2020.AP Photo/Steve Helber

The U.S. is engaged in a national debate about how to deal with monuments to Confederate leaders, enslavers and other historical figures with complex, and often racist, histories.

As a scholar and practitioner of organizational...

Will the GOP let Congress send money to states and cities reeling from the pandemic? 4 essential reads on the economic crisis

Written by Naomi Schalit, Senior Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation US

The pandemic has caused an economic emergency in states and cities. Viaframe/Getty

As Congress wrangles over a new coronavirus relief bill, it’s not only unemployed Americans who are facing financial disaster in the absence of new federal aid.

States and cities are, too.

Since early April, The Conversation has featured a series of stories on...

Young Black Americans not sold on Biden, the Democrats or voting

Written by David C. Barker, Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University School of Public Affairs

Will young, Black Americans turn out to vote in November?Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images

Most political analysts define “swing voters” as those who swing their support from one party to the other between election cycles – determining winners and losers in the process.

According to this conventional wisdom, the...

Buddhist monks have reversed roles in Thailand – now they are the ones donating goods to others

Written by Brooke Schedneck, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College

Buddhist monks pass packs of water after their devotees donated water to a temple in Bangkok.AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

The offering of food and material goods to monks is an essential part of the daily practice of Buddhism in Thailand. The belief is that through the act of giving, lay Buddhists – followers of the faith who have not been...

Don't want federal agents in your city or town? Then protect federal property

Written by Frank V. Zerunyan, Professor of the Practice of Governance, University of Southern California

During a protest, federal police officials stand inside a fence at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, July 25, 2020. (Photo by Ankur Dholakia / AFP via Getty Images

I recently visited Portland, Oregon, and saw the destruction around the federal courthouse there – walls defaced with graffiti, fences vandalized, and the remains of...