The Conversation

EPA’s new auto emissions standard will speed the transition to cleaner cars, while also addressing consumer and industry concerns

Written by Alan Jenn, Associate Professional Researcher in Transportation, University of California, Davis

Charging bays at the Electrify America indoor electric vehicle charging station in San Francisco.AP Photo/Eric Risberg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released strict new emissions limits on March 20, 2024, for cars built from 2027 through 2032. The final rule for Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards caps a process that started almost a...

Generative AI could leave users holding the bag for copyright violations

Written by Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

How can users of AI tools like OpenAI's Sora video generator be sure they aren't producing copyright-violating content?Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

Generative artificial intelligence has been hailed for its potential to transform creativity, and especially by lowering the barriers to content creation. While the creative potential of generative...

TikTok’s duet, green screen and stitch turn political point-scoring into an art form

Written by Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of Alabama

TikTok's features for combining users' videos lend themselves to political disputes.Quick et al, CC BY-NC-SA

Since its astronomical rise in popularity during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, TikTok has played an increasing role in all aspects of American life, including politics, from the White House briefing key TikTok creators on the war in Ukraine...

Breakaway parties threaten to disrupt South Korea’s two-party system – can they also end parliamentary gridlock?

Written by Jong Eun Lee, Assistant Professor, North Greenville University

Is South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waving goodbye to his popularity?Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Contemporary South Korean politics has traditionally been dominated by just two main parties – in common with many other countries with strong presidential systems. But that could soon change.

Recent voter discontent is creating...

Even presidents need a touch of madness − in March

Written by Daniel Palazzolo, Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Then-Vice President Joe Biden at the NCAA men's Final Four semifinal between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Syracuse Orange on April 2, 2016, in Houston. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Why would a president faced with lingering inflation at home and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, among other problems, take time out to participate in the ann...

Purim’s original queen: How studying the Book of Esther as fan fiction can teach us about the roots of an unruly Jewish festival

Written by Esther Brownsmith, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

Esther denouncing Haman, who, according to the Purim story, attempted to have all Jews within the Persian Empire massacred. Hutchinson's History of the Nations/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Once upon a time, in the ancient Near East, there was a beautiful queen.

Scribes wrote of her lovely form, her regal majesty...

For centuries, owls were considered to bring bad luck in many cultures as well as in the US, but the outpouring of grief in New York over Flaco shows how times have changed

Written by Arjun Guneratne, Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College

Tributes left at a memorial for Flaco the owl in Central Park in New York.AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

There has been an outpouring of grief in New York City ever since the beloved Eurasian eagle-owl Flaco died on Feb. 23, 2024, after striking a building. In 2023, after escaping from Central Park Zoo, Flaco survived for over a year on his own,...

Why are Americans fighting over no-fault divorce? Maybe they can’t agree what marriage is for

Written by Marcia Zug, Professor of Family Law, University of South Carolina

“First comes love, then comes marriage” – so goes the classic children’s rhyme. But not everyone agrees. Increasingly, the idea that love is the most important reason to marry – or at least to stay married – is under attack. Republican pundits and lawmakers have been pushing back on the availability of no-fault...

James Clavell’s ‘Shōgun’ is reimagined for a new generation of TV viewers

Written by Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Actress Anna Sawai, who plays Mariko in FX's 'Shōgun,' attends the Los Angeles premiere of the series on Feb. 13, 2024.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

In 1980, when James Clavell’s blockbuster historical novel “Shōgun” was turned into a TV miniseries, some 33% of American households with a television tuned in. It quickly...

Legislative inaction and dissatisfaction with one-party control lead to more issues going directly to voters in ballot initiatives, with 60% of them in six states

Written by Thom Reilly, Professor & Co-Director, Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University

A home in rural Bingham, Maine, displays signs protesting a Quebec-to-New England hydropower corridor that voters rejected in a referendum vote. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Recent polls show Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with their system of representative democracy, in which they choose candidates to represent their interests once in...