The Conversation

New anti-transgender laws will hurt Indigenous peoples’ rights and religious expression

Written by Rosalyn R. LaPier, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Travis Goldtooth, a member of the Navajo Nation, was the reigning Miss Montana Two-Spirit in 2019.Katherine Davis-Young for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Montana’s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte became the latest to sign several new anti-transgender laws, including one that will prevent gender-affirming medical care for minors.

One...

Governments and environmental groups are turning to international courts to address the impacts of climate change — podcast

Written by Daniel Merino, Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

Can international courts help address the costs and causes of climate change?(Shutterstock), Author provided

This year, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the world’s highest court — is hearing its first argument about climate commitments.

In an effort to make sure countries and corporations follow existing...

I study migrants traveling through Mexico to the US, and saw how they follow news of dangers – but are not deterred

Written by Angel Alfonso Escamilla García, Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University

Haitian migrants wait in a line to receive food in Coahuila state, Mexico, in 2021. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

The world awoke one morning in late March 2023 to the news that at least 38 Central and South American migrants had died in a fire in a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

A widely circulated video from the...

Getting Social Security on a more stable path is hard but essential – 2 experts suggest a way forward

Written by Andrew Rettenmaier, Executive Associate Director of the Private Enterprise Research Center, Texas A&M University

No big Social Security reforms have taken effect since the Reagan administration.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

Social Security is in trouble.

The retirement and disability program has been running a cash-flow deficit since 2010. Its trust fund, which holds US$2.7 trillion, is rapidly diminishing. Social Security’s trustees, a group that...

Invasive lionfish have spread south from the Caribbean to Brazil, threatening ecosystems and livelihoods

Written by Osmar J. Luiz, Senior Research Fellow in Aquatic Ecology, Charles Darwin University

An invasive lionfish at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico.G. P. Schmahl/NOAA, CC BY

Brazil’s coastal waters teem with a rich array of species that paint a living tapestry beneath the waves. This underwater world is particularly special because many of its species are endemic – they are found nowhere...

War in Ukraine might give the Chinese yuan the boost it needs to become a major global currency -- and be a serious contender against the US dollar

Written by Tuugi Chuluun, Associate Professor of Finance, Loyola University Maryland

China and the U.S. compete to be the world's largest economy, but the dollar dominates the yuan as a currency.peng song/Moment Collection/Getty Images

The Chinese economy’s sheer size and rapid growth are impressive.

China maintained one of the highest economic growth rates in the world for more than a quarter of a century, helping lift over...

Reparations over formerly enslaved people has a long history: 4 essential reads on why the idea remains unresolved

Written by Howard Manly, Race + Equity Editor, The Conversation US

A Black man holds up a sign during a Reparations Task Force meeting in Los Angeles, California on Sept. 22, 2022. Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The debate about reparations to descendants of enslaved people rages on.

In California, the state’s reparations task force has estimated that the descendants of former enslaved...

'Across the Spider-Verse' and the Latino legacy of Spider-Man

Written by Regina Marie Mills, Assistant Professor of Latinx and U.S. Multi-Ethnic Literature, Texas A&M University

Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara, who first appeared in the 1992 comic series 'Spider-Man 2099,' was the first Latino superhero to assume a starring role.Marvel Database

As a Latino literature and media scholar, a lifelong gamer and a Guatemalan-American girl whose dad read her comics every night, I quickly became a fan and then scholar of Miles...

Israeli protesters fear for the future of their country's precarious LGBTQ rights revolution

Written by Orit Avishai, Professor of Sociology, Fordham University

Demonstrators lift Israeli flags and LGBTQ pride flags during a protest against the proposed judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv in May 2023. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Demonstrations against the Israeli government’s efforts to radically overhaul the country’s judicial system have become a weekly occurrence. Often rainbow pride...

Drugs that melt away pounds still present more questions than answers, but Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro could be key tools in reducing the obesity epidemic

Written by Wesley Dudgeon, Professor of Exercise Science and Interim Dean of the School of Health Sciences, College of Charleston

Despite the promise of drugs that can help people shed pounds, healthy lifestyle choices are still key to overall health.Zing Images / DigitalVision via Getty Images

In the past five years, several new drugs have been brought to market that could lead to a profound, if not revolutionary, change in how health care providers – and the public...