The Conversation

Doctors need to talk through treatment options better for black men with prostate cancer

Written by Rajesh Balkrishnan, Professor, Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia

Providing tools to help African-American men with prostate cancer make decisions about care can make a big difference. michaeljung/Shutterstock.com

African-American men have the highest risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer as well as dying from it compared to any other ethnic group in the U.S. This trend has remained unchanged for over four...

Plastic bag bans can backfire if consumers just use other plastics instead

Written by Rebecca Taylor, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney

One use and done? Not always.Peteruetz/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

Governments are increasingly banning the use of plastic products, such as carryout bags, straws, utensils and microbeads. The goal is to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfills and waterways. And the logic is that banning something should make it less abundant.

However, this logic...

Who are the private contractors fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? An inside look at this invisible military force

Written by Ori Swed, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University

The debate on privatizing the war in Afghanistan is heating up yet again, with Democratic lawmakers pledging to end so-called “forever wars.” The public is slowly recognizing the war’s hidden costs and global scale.

In 2016, 1 in 4 U.S. armed personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan was a private contractor. This means that the war is...

Facebook's 'pivot' is less about privacy and more about profits

Written by Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is trying to bolster his embattled company.AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s latest promise is that his social media conglomerate will become a “privacy-focused” one. By turns lauded and lambasted, this move does not quite address users’ primary problems...

How the Syrian uprising began and why it matters

Written by Wendy Pearlman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University

Syrian anti-government protesters march as part of an uprising against the country's authoritarian regime, in Banias, Syria, April 17, 2011. The Arabic banner at center reads: 'All of us would die for our country.'AP/Anonymous

Amid headlines about the Islamic State group and photographs of rubble, it can be easy to forget that the Syrian war began...

College cheating scandal shows why elite colleges should use a lottery to admit students

Written by Natasha Warikoo, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard University

U.S. Attorney for District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling announces indictments in a sweeping college admissions bribery scandal March 12.Steven Senne/AP

Many Americans are outraged by the college admission scandal revealed by the FBI on March 12. The scandal involves celebrities and wealthy investors who allegedly bought their children’s...

When does a winter storm become a bomb cyclone?

Written by Russ Schumacher, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science and Colorado State Climatologist, Colorado State University

Frozen fountain in New York City during a bomb cyclone event, Jan. 4, 2018.RW/MediaPunch/IPX

Blizzards in March, when our thoughts start turning to spring, are never good news. But warnings of “bomb cyclones” take the intensity to a new level. What does this ominous term, and related jargon like “bombogenesis,” tell us about...

Why North Korean prosperity would be the ruin of Kim Jong Un

Written by Thomas Adam, Professor of Transnational History, University of Texas Arlington

An employee watches a bank of TV's broadcasting a news report on a Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2019.Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

Vietnam seemed like the perfect place for Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to meet in late February for their latest summit...

Purdue Pharma: Bankruptcy filing would make lawsuits slower and costlier for plaintiff cities and states

Written by Nicolas Paul Terry, Professor of Law, Indiana University

Purdue faces about 2,000 lawsuits related to the opioid crisis.AP Photo/Toby Talbot

A report that Purdue Pharma may file for bankruptcy has many wondering how bankruptcy would affect the ongoing opioid litigation.

Nationwide the OxyContin maker as well as other drug manufacturers and distributors face about 2,000 lawsuits related to allegations that...

Trump's executive order on drone strikes sends civilian casualty data back into the shadows

Written by Daniel R. Brunstetter, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine

An unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over southern Afghanistan.AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

When it comes to drones and warfare, the U.S. seems to have forgotten some valuable historical lessons.

On March 6, President Trump signed an executive order that revoked the requirement, formulated under the Obama administration, that U.S. intelligence...