The Conversation

People of color are as interested in buying electric cars as white consumers – the biggest obstacle is access to charging

Written by Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Adjunct Lecturer in Urban Studies, The New School

More EV charging hookups in public locations like garages and parking lots would prompt more drivers of color to buy EVs.Extreme Media via Getty Images

A nationally representative survey of 8,027 Americans shows that across all racial demographics, overall interest in purchasing electric vehicles is high. Among those surveyed, 33% of white...

Kanye may not like books, but hip-hop fosters a love of literature

Written by A.D. Carson, Assistant Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia

Kanye West provoked criticism recently when he compared reading to eating Brussels sprouts.Gotham via Getty Images

When Ye – the artist formerly known as Kanye West – stated during a recent podcast that he doesn’t read books, some people questioned whether he was sending the wrong message to children.

Those questions took on more...

How to get away with torture, insurrection, you name it: The techniques of denial and distraction that politicians use to manage scandal

Written by Jared Del Rosso, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Denver

An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown during a House committee hearing. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection intends to hold another public hearing, likely the last before it releases its official report. The hearing had been scheduled...

Brazil's election goes beyond a battle between left and right – democracy is also on the ballot

Written by Jeffrey W. Rubin, Associate Professor of History, Boston University

Winds of change in Brazil, or an ill breeze?Gustavo Minas/Getty Images

Two very different Brazils could emerge after voters go the polls to elect a president on Oct. 2, 2022.

In one scenario, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s current president, will manage to stay in power – by either winning the vote or illegally ignoring it – and continue...

Unrest across Iran continues under state's extreme gender apartheid

Written by Haidar Khezri, Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida

In this Sept. 21, 2022, photo, Iranian demonstrators gather along a street in Tehran. AFP via Getty Images

Unrest continues to erupt across Iran following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, who died after being arrested and reportedly beaten by Iran’s morality police.

The Iranian force took Mahsa (Zhina) Amini into detention...

3 reasons Hurricane Ian poses a major flooding hazard for Florida – a meteorologist explains

Written by Athena Masson, Adjunct professor, Flagler College

Hurricane Ian gained strength as it headed over warm waters off Cuba on Sept. 26, 2022.NOAA

Hurricane Ian strengthened into a major hurricane on Tuesday as it headed for Florida and was on track to bring dangerous storm surge to the coast and flooding rainfall to large parts of the state. Several areas were under evacuation orders.

After a slow start...

A seismic change has taken place at the Supreme Court – but it's not clear if the shift is about principle or party

Written by Morgan Marietta, Professor of Political Science, UMass Lowell

The U.S. Supreme Court Building is shown in September 2022.Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images

In the summer of 2022, the U.S. witnessed a dramatic change in how the majority of Supreme Court justices understand the Constitution.

At the end of a single term, the court rejected the long-standing constitutional right to abortion,...

Transgender men and nonbinary people are asked to stop testosterone therapy during pregnancy – but the evidence for this guidance is still murky

Written by Carla A. Pfeffer, Associate Professor of Social Work, Affiliate Faculty in Sociology and the Center for Gender in Global Context, and Director of the Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health, Michigan State University

Diane Rodríguez and her husband, Zack Elias, are a trans couple in Ecuador.Chichicko/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

When I talk about our research team’s work on pregnancy in transgender people, people often recall Thomas Beatie, a pregnant man who appeared on “Oprah” and in People magazine in 2008. The media focus on Beatie...

'There's only so far I can take them' – why teachers give up on struggling students who don't do their homework

Written by Jessica Calarco, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

Failure to complete homework leaves students in the lurch.MoMorad via Getty Images

Whenever “Gina,” a fifth grader at a suburban public school on the East Coast, did her math homework, she never had to worry about whether she could get help from her mom.

“I help her a lot with homework,” Gina’s mother, a married,...

Children's eyewitness testimony can be as accurate as adults' or more so – if interviewers follow these guidelines

Written by Ben Cotterill, Lecturer in Psychology, Clemson University

Researchers know better ways to get accurate information from child witnesses.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Eyewitness memory has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years, as organizations such as the Innocence Project suggest it was a key piece of information in as many as 75% of wrongful convictions in the United States. Unfortunately, human...