The Conversation

Stimulus package will remain half-baked unless local governments get more of the dough

Written by Stephanie Leiser, Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Michigan

People still need baked goods even during a lockdown.Frederic Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers are pinning their hopes on a US$2 trillion package to prop up the U.S. economy and provide relief to individuals and business ravaged by the coronavirus.

The stimulus is expected to pump $150 billion in aid to state and local governments. But with...

We are all humanitarian negotiators now: 3 steps for planning your ‘please take social distancing seriously’ conversation

Written by Rob Grace, Graduate Research Fellow, Harvard Program on Negotiation; USIP-Minerva Peace Scholar, U.S. Institute of Peace; PhD candidate in political science, Brown University

You need to plan for that serious conversation.Getty/ Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

See if this sounds familiar. You have an older relative whom you believe to be at a serious health risk if they catch the coronavirus. You call, try to persuade them to take social distancing seriously.

But your arguments fail to resonate. You both get angry and hang up,...

Society's dependence on the internet: 5 cyber issues the coronavirus lays bare

Written by Laura DeNardis, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication

The pandemic is increasing society's reliance on digital connections.MR.Cole_Photographer/Moment via Getty Images

As more and more U.S. schools and businesses shutter their doors, the rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic is helping to expose society’s dependence – good and bad – on the digital world.

Entire swaths of society,...

Auschwitz: Women used different survival and sabotage strategies than men at Nazi death camp

Written by Judy Baumel-Schwartz, Director, the Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research, Bar-Ilan University

Women prisoners at the Auschwitz train station around 1944. ullstein bild via Getty Images

Nearly all the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in occupied Poland, were murdered – either sent to the gas chambers or worked to death. Life expectancy in many of these camps was between six weeks and three months.

Over a million...

10 ways to spot online misinformation

Written by H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Mississippi State University

When you share information online, do it responsibly.Sitthiphong/Getty Images

Propagandists are already working to sow disinformation and social discord in the run-up to the November elections.

Many of their efforts have focused on social media, where people’s limited attention spans push them to share items before even reading them –...

Screen time that supports new parents and young kids can enhance family health

Written by Dorian Traube, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California

Babies don't come with instruction manuals... mobile health apps can help new parents.Tetra Images via Getty Images

Screen time for little kids takes a lot of heat under normal conditions. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ official recommendations urge families to be thoughtful and judicious about screen time for youngsters from birth to...

Your brain evolved to hoard supplies and shame others for doing the same

Written by Stephanie Preston, Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan

In scary and uncertain times, having a stockpile can feel soothing.AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

The media is replete with COVID-19 stories about people clearing supermarket shelves – and the backlash against them. Have people gone mad? How can one individual be overfilling his own cart, while shaming others who are doing the same?

As a behavioral...

6 things you can do to cope with boredom at a time of social distancing

Written by Erin C. Westgate, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Florida

Being at home at a time of social distancing can set in a feeling of boredom.PeopleImages E+ via Getty Images

More and more of us are staying home in an attempt to slow down the spreading coronavirus. But being stuck at home can lead to boredom.

Boredom is a signal that we’re not meaningfully engaged with the world. It tells us to stop what...

Perfection comes at a price in latest adaptation of Austen's 'Emma'

Written by Inger S. B. Brodey, Associate Professor, English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Emma up front and center in new adaptation of classic novel.Focus Features

The latest film adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic “Emma” is a visual feast of color, pattern and texture.

It’s also a bit too perfect.

The colors are too vibrant, the skin too clear, the homes too opulent, the landscapes too gorgeous, the fabrics...

Coronavirus: a new type of vaccine using RNA could help defeat COVID-19

Written by Sanjay Mishra, Postdoctoral Scholar of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. NIAID-RML

A century ago, on July 26, 1916, a viral disease swept through New York. Within 24 hours, new cases of polio increased by more than 68%. The outbreak killed more than 2,000 people in New York City alone....