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A national, nonpartisan study of the Los Angeles fires could improve planning for future disasters

  • Written by Najmedin Meshkati, Professor of Engineering and International Relations, University of Southern California
imageAn aerial view shows homes destroyed by wildfire in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Jan. 13, 2025. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Los Angeles fires are a national disaster of epic proportions. City officials, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump have traded accusations about what caused this crisis. But as an engineering professor...

Read more: A national, nonpartisan study of the Los Angeles fires could improve planning for future disasters

Meta shift from fact-checking to crowdsourcing spotlights competing approaches in fight against misinformation and hate speech

  • Written by Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University
imageMeta stirred up controversy when it ditched fact-checking.Chesnot/Getty Images

Meta’s decision to change its content moderation policies by replacing centralized fact-checking teams with user-generated community labeling has stirred up a storm of reactions. But taken at face value, the changes raise the question of the effectiveness of...

Read more: Meta shift from fact-checking to crowdsourcing spotlights competing approaches in fight against...

Joe Biden’s record on science and tech: Investments and regulation for vaccines, broadband, microchips and AI

  • Written by Mark Zachary Taylor, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
imageMassive support for U.S. computer chip manufacturing will be part of Joe Biden's tech legacy.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

In evaluating the outgoing Biden administration, much news has focused on inflation, immigration or Hunter’s laptop. But as an expert on national competitiveness in science and technology, I have a somewhat different...

Read more: Joe Biden’s record on science and tech: Investments and regulation for vaccines, broadband,...

Insurance for natural disasters is failing homeowners − I don’t have the answers, but I do know the right questions to ask

  • Written by Jay Feinman, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, Rutgers University

The wildfires that have devastated large parts of Los Angeles County have drawn fresh attention to the struggles many Americans face insuring their homes.

Since 2022, seven of the 12 largest insurance companies have stopped issuing new policies to homeowners in California, citing increased risks due to climate change. California isn’t alone:...

Read more: Insurance for natural disasters is failing homeowners − I don’t have the answers, but I do know...

Kamala Harris memes questioning her cultural background highlight Americans’ contradictions with race

  • Written by Raven Maragh-Lloyd, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and Film and Media Studies, Washington University in St. Louis
imageDonald Trump and Kamala Harris debate on Sept. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas.AP Photo/John Locher

Even after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election, Americans continue to argue about her race.

During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump accused Harris, who is biracial, of toggling between being Indian and being Black. Once,...

Read more: Kamala Harris memes questioning her cultural background highlight Americans’ contradictions with...

In eyeing Greenland, Trump is echoing long-held American designs on the Arctic expanse

  • Written by Colin Gordon, Professor of History, University of Iowa
imageDonald Trump Jr. visited Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 7, 2025, after his father spoke in favor of U.S. control of the Danish territory.Emil Stach / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP/ Getty Images

At a news conference in early January 2025, President-elect Donald Trump rambled through a grab bag of grievances and proposals, including his disdain for wind power and...

Read more: In eyeing Greenland, Trump is echoing long-held American designs on the Arctic expanse

Catholic cardinals play a key role in secular politics as well as the Catholic Church–and the importance of Pope Francis’ choice to head the church in DC

  • Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
imageCardinal Robert McElroy, who will head the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File

Pope Francis recently appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a harsh critic of President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policy, to head the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

The move has led to concerns among some Catholics...

Read more: Catholic cardinals play a key role in secular politics as well as the Catholic Church–and the...

Spending, regulations and DOGE: Office of Management and Budget director plays vital role helping government get stuff done

  • Written by Martha Coven, Visiting Lecturer in Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
imageOne of the Office of Management and Budget's biggest roles is writing an administration's federal budget – but that's far from its only job. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

The Office of Management and Budget sounds obscure, yet the agency plays a crucial role throughout the federal government. Presidents rely on the office to turn their ideas and...

Read more: Spending, regulations and DOGE: Office of Management and Budget director plays vital role helping...

This class uses museums to show law students the high art of curating ideas

  • Written by Patrick Barry, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Digital Academic Initiatives, University of Michigan
imageLouis Maurice Boutet de Monvel's 'The Trial of Joan of Arc,' circa 1910.Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Art and Advocacy

What prompted the idea for the course?

I like taking lawyers and law students to...

Read more: This class uses museums to show law students the high art of curating ideas

My beautiful ‘practicing’ Christians: As churchgoers’ numbers shrink, their social views grow more similar

  • Written by Michael Emerson, Fellow in Religion and Public Policy, Rice University

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump spoke at a gathering of conservative Protestants, imploring them to vote for him “just this time.”

In “four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” he said.

As a scholar of religion and public...

Read more: My beautiful ‘practicing’ Christians: As churchgoers’ numbers shrink, their social views grow more...

More Articles ...

  1. Rents rise faster after disasters, but a federal program can help restrain excesses
  2. How the CIA director helps the US navigate a world of spies, threats and geopolitical turbulence
  3. Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians
  4. We study aging family business incumbents who refuse to let go − here’s why the 2024 race felt familiar
  5. 4 reasons why the US might want to buy Greenland – if it were for sale, which it isn’t
  6. What’s an H-1B visa? A brief history of the controversial program for skilled foreign workers
  7. Job of homeland security secretary is to adapt almost continuously to pressures from the department, the public and the world at large
  8. The power of friendship: How a letter helped create an American bestseller about antisemitism
  9. Vaccine hesitancy among pet owners is growing – a public health expert explains why that matters
  10. A brief history of presidential inaugural speeches, from George Washington to today
  11. Larry Krasner, Kensington, the scrapped Sixers arena − and other key concerns that will shape Philly politics in 2025
  12. Lightning strikes make collecting a parasitic fungus prized in traditional Chinese medicine a deadly pursuit
  13. LA fires: Why fast wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  14. LA fires: Why fast-moving wildfires and those started by human activities are more destructive and harder to contain
  15. US secretary of state has an expansive job that could make or break peace deals and key foreign alliances
  16. When presidents would send handwritten lists of their nominees to the Senate, things were a lot different
  17. Firefighting planes are dumping ocean water on the Los Angeles fires − why using saltwater is typically a last resort
  18. Mass deportations don’t keep out ‘bad genes’ − they use scientific racism to justify biased immigration policies
  19. From Myanmar to Gaza, Ukraine to Sudan – 2024 was another grim year, according to our mass atrocity index
  20. One way Trump could help revive rural America’s economies
  21. Is capitalism falling out of favor? We analyzed 400,000 news stories to find out
  22. Trump’s canal canard obscures a truth: Panama just wants to run its shipping passage without interference from China or the US
  23. What the dead, the uncanny and the monstrous tell us about human nature
  24. Why does a rocket have to go 25,000 mph to escape Earth?
  25. From watts to warheads: Secretary of energy oversees big science research and the US nuclear arsenal
  26. Secretary of defense must perform a ‘delicate dance’ between the president, Congress and the public
  27. Wildfires can contaminate drinking water systems with harmful chemicals − here’s what Los Angeles needs to know
  28. Philly sports fans consider themselves ‘gritty’ − but it’s merely a myth used to fuel their passion
  29. An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras
  30. How the EPA administrator protects public health, air, water and the environment
  31. With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research
  32. Even 1 drink a day elevates your cancer risk – an expert on how alcohol affects the body breaks down a new government report
  33. Funding public schools based on enrollment in the previous year may help keep their budgets more stable, research shows
  34. Many ‘impact investors’ aren’t fully tracking whether their investments are good for society or the environment − new research
  35. From anecdotes to AI tools, how doctors make medical decisions is evolving with technology
  36. Southern California is extremely dry, and that’s fueling fires − maps show just how dry
  37. Trump gets an ‘unconditional discharge’ in hush money conviction − a constitutional law expert explains what that means
  38. Wildfire smoke inside homes can create health risks that linger for months − tips for cleaning and staying safe
  39. How the U.S. could in fact make Canada an American territory
  40. 2024’s extreme ocean heat leaves 2 mysteries to solve
  41. 2024’s extreme ocean heat breaks records again, leaving 2 mysteries to solve
  42. Trump’s Greenland bid is really about control of the Arctic and the coming battle with China
  43. Germany and US have long been allies - that could change with Trump
  44. Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare
  45. How midlife became a crisis
  46. Trees ‘remember’ wetter times − never having known abundant rain could buffer today’s young forests against climate change
  47. I study modern-day slavery − and here’s what I’ve learned about how enslavers try to justify their actions
  48. 3 myths about rural education that are holding students back
  49. How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences – podcast
  50. How Santa Ana winds fueled the deadly fires in Southern California