The Conversation

Purim spiels: Skits and satire have brought merriment to an ancient Jewish holiday in America

Written by Zev Eleff, President and Professor of American Jewish History, Gratz College

A theater performance during the Purim holiday in Warszawa, Poland.Photograph by Henryk Kotowski, CC BY

Purim, the springtime Jewish holiday packed with much merriment and humor, recalls the biblical story of Queen Esther.

In this tale, the queen stayed true to her Jewish roots and used her status to sway her husband, King Achashverosh, to defend...

Would Putin use nuclear weapons? An arms control expert explains what has and hasn't changed since the invasion of Ukraine

Written by Miles A. Pomper, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury

This intercontinental ballistic missile was launched as part of Russia's test of its strategic forces in 2020.Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

The prospect of a nuclear exchange between Russia and the United States seemed, until recently, to have ended with the Cold War. Threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use the weapons to...

A wave of grassroots humanitarianism is supporting millions of Ukrainian refugees

Written by Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, Professor of Geography; Director of the Center for Refugee Studies, Indiana University

Women offering Ukrainian refugees a place to stay in Berlin on Mar. 4, 2022. Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Along the Poland-Ukraine border, Polish volunteers have been driving Ukrainian refugees to local train stations, or directly to cities like Warsaw.

Other Poles are doing their volunteer work online or at train stations and...

China's balancing act on Russian invasion of Ukraine explained

Written by Joseph Torigian, Assistant Professor of International Service, American University

A friendship far from flagging?Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Russia has few friends in the international community following its invasion of Ukraine. But China, which shares a 2,672-mile (4,300-kilometer) border with Russia, is among the handful of nations that has refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s actions, while criticizing...

Why daylight saving time is unhealthy – a neurologist explains

Written by Beth Ann Malow, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University

Changing clocks twice a year may be more than just a biannual annoyance.Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty Images

As people in the U.S. prepare to turn their clocks ahead one hour in mid-March, I find myself bracing for the annual ritual of media stories about the disruptions to daily routines caused by switching from standard time to daylight saving...

Ukraine’s Twitter account is a national version of real-time trauma processing

Written by Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor and Co-Director, Office of Politics, Communication and Media, University of Alabama

A meme showing Adolf Hitler caressing Russian President Vladimir Putin's face, tweeted by the official Ukraine state account on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded.Official Ukraine Twitter account

TikToks of cats in cardboard tanks. Flirty comments on Instagram accounts dedicated to Vladmir Putin, begging him to stop Russia’s attacks on...

Russian church leader puts the blame of invasion on those who flout ‘God’s law,’ but taking biblical law out of its historical context doesn't work

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Patriarch of Russia Kirill and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (in background), at a monastery outside Moscow in 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, preached a sermon on March 6, 2022, in which he suggested the violation of “God&rs...

What's a natural burial? A Christian theologian explains

Written by Beth Hoeltke, Director of the Graduate School, Concordia Seminary

Some people are drawn to the idea of a natural burial to bring more of the dying ritual into their homes. LPETTET/E+ via Getty Images

Death is not a subject people typically have an easy time discussing. But for Christian scholar Beth Hoeltke, it’s one she’s devoted much time to, focusing particularly on the growing interest in natural...

Long COVID leaves newly disabled people facing old barriers – a sociologist explains

Written by Laura Mauldin, Associate Professor of Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies and Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Connecticut

Some COVID-19 patients experience months of debilitating symptoms.sharply_done/E+ via Getty Images

Up to one-third of COVID-19 survivors will acquire the condition known as long or long-haul COVID-19. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation estimates that long COVID will add as many as 22 million individuals to the U.S....

Why some women are traveling to South Korea to find boyfriends

Written by Min Joo Lee, Visiting Lecturer in Women's & Gender Studies, Wellesley College

Actor Seo Kang Joon poses with a fan at an autograph signing. Visual China Group/Getty Images

For my entire life I’ve obsessively watched South Korean television dramas, or K-dramas.

The term refers to the disparate genres of television dramas produced in South Korea, including mystery, crime and rom-com. Regardless of genre, most K-dramas...