The Conversation

Reaction to bronze sculpture of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston hasn't been good – and that's not bad for art that shatters conventions

Written by Kristin Ann Hass, Professor of American Culture, University of Michigan

The Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. memorial sculpture at Boston Common is called 'The Embrace.' Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

As an acclaimed photographer and conceptual artist, Hank Willis Thomas has grown accustomed to criticisms of his unconventional art and concepts of identity.

But even Thomas had never experienced anything...

40 years ago 'A Nation at Risk' warned of a 'rising tide of mediocrity' in US schools – has anything changed?

Written by Morgan Polikoff, Associate Professor of Education, University of Southern California

Academic gains made over the past four decades have begun to erode.Troy Aossey/The Image Bank via Getty Images

The National Commission on Excellence in Education’s release of a report titled “A Nation at Risk” in 1983 was a pivotal point in the history of American education. The report used dire language, lamenting that “the...

How do superconductors work? A physicist explains what it means to have resistance-free electricity

Written by Mishkat Bhattacharya, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology

Magnetic levitation is just one of the interesting attributes that make superconductors so interesting.Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library vie Getty Images

The modern world runs on electricity, and wires are what carry that electricity to every light, television, heating system, cellphone and computer on the planet. Unfortunately, on average, about 5...

Public radio can help solve the local news crisis -- but that would require expanding staff and coverage

Written by Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Harvard Kennedy School

Can public radio fill the hole left by the decline of local news outlets?Talaj/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Since 2005, more than 2,500 local newspapers, most of them weeklies, have closed, with more closures on the way.

Responses to the decline have ranged from luring billionaires to buy local dailies to encouraging digital startups. But the number...

Federal Reserve’s ‘soft landing’ goal has become bumpier with rate hike plan hit by bank turbulence

Written by Ryan Herzog, Associate Professor of Economics, Gonzaga University

A recession-free landing for the Fed may be harder now.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Federal Reserve policymakers have targeted a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy since beginning their effort a year ago to tame runaway inflation by hiking interest rates. That is, they believed they could do so without sending the U.S. into recession.

But the...

Back to the Moon: A space lawyer and planetary scientist on what it will take to share the benefits of new lunar exploration – podcast

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

Within the next year or two, people will set foot on the surface of the Moon for the first time in 50 years.NASA

NASA is planning to put U.S. astronauts back on the surface of the Moon by the end of 2024. This mission is just the beginning of what is shaping up to be a historic few decades in space exploration, as both the U.S. and China have plans...

Infant formula shortages forced some parents to feed their babies in less healthy ways

Written by Jessica A. Marino, Doctoral Student in Health Psychology, University of California, Merced

Babies still need to eat even when formula is hard to come by.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

One third of families who relied on formula to feed their babies during the COVID-19 pandemic were forced by severe infant formula shortages to resort to suboptimal feeding...