The Conversation

How corporate takeovers are fundamentally changing podcasting

Written by John Sullivan, Professor of Media and Communication, Muhlenberg College

One of the recent shifts in podcasting has been the introduction of paywalls and exclusive content.Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

At first glance, it may seem as though Big Tech can’t figure out how to make money off its foray into podcasting.

In early May 2022, Meta announced that it was abruptly ending Facebook’s podcast integration less a...

Online data could be used against people seeking abortions if Roe v. Wade falls

Written by Nora McDonald, Assistant Professor of Information Technology, University of Cincinnati

Apps for tracking reproductive health are convenient, but the data they collect could be used against you.Tarik Kizilkaya/iStock via Getty Images

When the draft of a Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press, many of us who have been studying privacy for vulnerable individuals came to a troubling realization:...

Could people breathe the air on Mars?

Written by Phylindia Gant, Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, University of Florida

An artist's concept of an astronaut walking on Mars. But what would happen if the astronaut weren't wearing a space helmet?cokada/E+ via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Could people breathe on Mars? – Jack...

Russia's reported abduction of Ukrainian children echoes other genocidal policies, including US history of kidnapping Native American children

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

Ione Quigley of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe during a ceremony in Carlisle, Pa., on July 14, 2021, marking the return to tribal lands in South Dakota of disinterred remains of nine Native American children who died more than a century ago while attending a government-run school in Pennsylvania. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Allegations have emerged recently that...

Abortion: the story of suffering and death behind Ireland's ban and subsequent legalization

Written by Gretchen E. Ely, Professor of Social Work and Ph.D. Program Director, University of Tennessee

The death of Savita Halappanavar in an Irish hospital in 2012 after she was denied an abortion during a miscarriage caused outrage across Ireland.AP Photo/Shawn Pogatchnik

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the U.S., the nation may find itself on a path similar to that trod by the Irish...

The fight against school segregation began in South Carolina, long before it ended with Brown v. Board

Written by Roy Jones, Professor of Leadership, Counselor Education, Human and Organizational Development; Executive director, Call Me MISTER, Clemson University

Millicent Brown, left, was one of the first two Black students to integrate a South Carolina public school, in September 1963.AP Photo

When it comes to the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that outlawed school segregation, the focus is often on Topeka, Kansas, the home of the Brown family and the school board...

Some chocolate has a dark side to it – child labor

Written by Robert C Ulin, Professor of Anthropology, Rochester Institute of Technology

Most of us love chocolates, but child labor has been found involved in some of the production.Jupiterimages/ The Image Bank via Getty Images

Chocolate makes for a perfect gift, a comforting snack and even a health food, thanks to its plentiful antioxidants. Rumor has it that it might even work as an aphrodisiac. It is no surprise, then, that the...

More mass shootings are happening at grocery stores – 13% of shooters are motivated by racial hatred, criminologists find

Written by Jillian Peterson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Hamline University

Racial hatred is a factor in 13% of mass shootings at grocery stores.John Normile/Getty Images

An apparently racially motivated attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, resulted in 10 deaths on May 14, 2022, with the teenage suspect allegedly targeting Black shoppers in a prominently African American neighborhood.

Mass public shootings in which...

Enforcing unprecedented subpoenas for GOP lawmakers turns on complex legal precedent going back centuries

Written by Jennifer Selin, Co-director, Washington Office, Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, Wayne State University

Will House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attempt to defy subpoena?Drew Angerer/Getty Images

An attempt to force five Republican lawmakers into providing information to the House panel probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is unlikely to end with the subpoenas issued May 12, 2022.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the four other Republican...

A shrinking fraction of the world's major crops goes to feed the hungry, with more used for nonfood purposes

Written by Deepak Ray, Senior Scientist, University of Minnesota

Harvesting soybeans in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Brazil exports soybeans and uses them domestically to make animal feed and biodiesel.Paulo Fridman/Corbis via Getty Images

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Rising competition for many of the world’s important crops is sending increasing amounts toward uses other than directly feeding people. These competing uses include...