The Conversation

Nations are increasingly ‘playing the field’ when it comes to US and China – a new book explains explains why ‘active nonalignment’ is on the march

Written by Jorge Heine, Outgoing Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, flanked by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaks at the summit of Group of 20 leading economies in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 19, 2024.Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images

In 2020, as Latin American countries were contending with the triple...

Thailand’s judiciary is flexing its muscles, but away from PM’s plight, dozens of activists are at the mercy of capricious courts

Written by Tyrell Haberkorn, Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is swarmed by members of the media after a cabinet meeting at Government House on July 1, 2025.Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is currently feeling the sharp end of the country’s powerful judiciary.

On July 2, 2025, Thailand’s Constitutional...

From Seattle to Atlanta, new social housing programs seek to make homes permanently affordable for a range of incomes

Written by Susanne Schindler, Research Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard Kennedy School

Activists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program.House Our Neighbors, CC BY-SA

Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a...

Are people at the South Pole upside down?

Written by Abigail Bishop, Ph.D. Student in Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

At the South Pole, which way is up?Abigail Bishop

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.

Are people on the South Pole walking upside down from the rest of the world? – Ralph P., U.S.

When I was standing at the South Pole, I...

Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package

Written by Lauren S. Hughes, State Policy Director, Farley Health Policy Center; Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Health policy experts predict that cuts to Medicaid will push more rural hospitals to close. sneakpeekpic via iStock / Getty Images Plus

The public health provisions in the massive spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will reduce Medicaid spending by more than US$1 trillion over a decade and result in an...

‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food

Written by Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

People shop for food in Brooklyn in 2023 at a store that makes sure that its customers know it accepts SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps and EBT. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental...

Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed more than 120 people, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding

Written by Hatim Sharif, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio

A Kerrville, Texas, resident watches the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025.Eric Vryn/Getty Images

Texas Hill Country is known for its landscapes, where shallow rivers wind among hills and through rugged valleys. That geography also makes it one of the deadliest places in the U.S. for flash flooding.

In the early hours of July 4, 2025, a flash...

Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed dozens, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding

Written by Hatim Sharif, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio

A Kerrville, Texas, resident watches the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025.Eric Vryn/Getty Images

In the early hours of July 4, 2025, a flash...

Conservatives notch 2 victories in their fight to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding through Medicaid

Written by Rachel Rebouché, Professor of Law, Temple University

Conservatives have won two important battles in their decades-long campaign against Planned Parenthood, a network of affiliated clinics that are the largest provider of reproductive health services in the U.S.

One of these victories was a U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down on June 26, 2025. The other is a provision in the multitrilion-dollar...

One ‘big, beautiful’ reason why Republicans in Congress just can’t quit Donald Trump

Written by Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

The U.S. Capitol is seen shortly after the Senate passed its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 1, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic tax and spending package, many critics are wondering how the president retained the loyalty of...