The Conversation

America’s postwar fling with romance comics

Written by Michael C. Weisenburg, Reference & Instruction Librarian at Irvin Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, University of South Carolina

With over 100 issues, 'Young Love' was one of the longest running romance comics series. Gary Lee Watson Comic Book Collection, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina Libraries, Author provided

Last year, comic book enthusiast Gary Watson donated his massive personal collection to the Irvin Department...

Minority patients benefit from having minority doctors, but that's a hard match to make

Written by Ryan Huerto, Family Medicine Physician, Health Services Researcher, Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan

Minority patients often have better rapport with a same-race or same-ethnicity doctor. Getty Images / ER Productions Limited

In today’s America, minority patients still have markedly worse health outcomes than white patients. The differences are greatest for black Americans: Compared to white patients, they are two to three times as likely...

Restoring the reputations of charities after scandals

Written by Nives Dolsak, Stan and Alta Barer Professor in Sustainability Sciences, Director, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington

Allegations of sexual abuse can taint an aid group's image.Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images

Like companies, schools and other institutions, nonprofits care deeply about their reputations. Good reputations can help them attract volunteers, funding and staff. Because the opposite is also true, revelations about bad or even illegal actions can have...

Transgender Americans are more likely to be unemployed and poor

Written by Christopher Carpenter, E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics and Director of the Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab, Vanderbilt University

Aimee Stephens worked for a Detroit funeral home for six years before telling her employer she wanted to be issued a female uniform. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

The United States Supreme Court will issue a ruling this year in a landmark case that will determine whether transgender people – individuals whose sex assigned at birth does not...

How to convince your loved ones to get the flu shot this year

Written by Helen Colby, Assistant Professor of Marketing, IUPUI

Studies show that people are more likely to get the flu shot if they have a plan.xtock/Shutterstock.com

The best way to protect against the flu is the flu vaccine. But even so, about 60% of Americans will skip getting a flu shot this year.

This can be especially frustrating when it is a friend or loved one who is putting themselves and those around...

How did I get my own unique set of fingerprints?

Written by Sarah Leupen, Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Even identical twins have different fingerprints.El Greco/Shutterstock.com

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

How do we get the fingerprints we have? – Oscar V., age 8, Somerville, Massachusetts

Fingerprints are those...

The power of a song in a strange land

Written by Donna M. Cox, Professor of Music, University of Dayton

A studio group portrait of the Fisk University Jubilee singers.James Wallace Black/American Missionary Association

From the moment of capture, through the treacherous middle passage, after the final sale and throughout life in North America, the experience of enslaved Africans who first arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, some 400 years ago, was...

On the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a look back at what was lost

Written by Rob Ruck, Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh

Josh Gibson slides into home during the 1944 Negro Leagues All-Star Game.Bettmann/Getty Images

During the half century that baseball was divided by a color line, black America created a sporting world of its own.

Black teams played on city sandlots and country fields, with the best barnstorming their way across the country and throughout the...

Galentine's Day has become a thing – why hasn't Malentine's Day?

Written by Deana Rohlinger, Professor of Sociology, Florida State University

Men seem more hesitant about both making friends and celebrating their friendships.miniwide/Shutterstock.com

On Feb. 13, women will celebrate Galentine’s Day, a holiday trumpeting the joys of female friendships.

The holiday can trace its origins to a 2010 episode of “Parks and Rec,” in which the main character, Leslie Knope,...

The secondhand smoke you're breathing may have come from another state

Written by Sebastian Eastham, Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Secondhand smoke may come from many miles away.David Tadevosian/Shutterstock.com

Scientists estimate that each year in the U.S., outdoor air pollution shortens the lives of about 100,000 people by one to two decades.

As it turns out, much of this pollution originates not in a person’s own neighborhood, but up to hundreds or even thousands of...