The Conversation

Biden taps the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – What is it? Where did it come from? And does the US still need it?

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the largest in the world. AP Photo/U.S. Department of Energy

President Joe Biden ordered a release of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Nov. 23, 2021, as a part of a coordinated effort with five other countries to tamp down rising fuel prices. The U.S. plans to tap 50 million barrels of crude oil in...

The thousands of vulnerable people harmed by Facebook and Instagram are lost in Meta's 'average user' data

Written by Joseph Bak-Coleman, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for an Informed Public, University of Washington

Mark Zuckerberg's company says the kids are all right, but the data it presents is only about how the average social media user is doing.AP Photo/Eric Risberg

Fall 2021 has been filled with a steady stream of media coverage arguing that Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram social media platforms pose a threat to users’ mental health a...

The NRA could be winning its long game even as it appears to be in dire straits

Written by Robert Spitzer, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the Political Science Department, State University of New York College at Cortland

The National Rifle Association may soon get a major legal victory.scottlitt/iStock via Getty Images Plus

No observer of contemporary gun politics could fail to notice a jarring disconnect between the two very different trajectories of the gun rights movement today.

On the one hand, more states are allowing Americans to carry weapons in public...

What the Peng Shuai saga tells us about Beijing's grip on power and desire to crush a #MeToo moment

Written by Yan Bennett, Assistant Director for the Paul and Marcia Wythes Center on Contemporary China, Princeton University

Forced into the darkness?Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s apparent disappearance may have ended with a smattering of public events, which were carefully curated by state-run media and circulated in online clips. But many questions remain about the three weeks in which she was missing, and concerns linger over her...

'Let's Go Brandon' and the linguistic jiujitsu of American politics

Written by Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis

A 'Let's Go Brandon' flag waves near the U.S. Capitol ahead of a House vote on the infrastructure bill.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

During an interview with NASCAR driver Brandon Brown on Oct. 2, 2021, NBC sportscaster Kelli Stavast made a curious observation. She reported that Talladega Superspeedway spectators were chanting...

Stereotypes about girls dissuade many from careers in computer science

Written by Allison Master, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Houston

Only about 1 in 5 computer scientists are women. Rachel Murray/Getty Images for MGA Entertainment

Stereotypes about what boys and girls supposedly like aren’t hard to find.

Toy advertisements send signals that science and electronic toys are intended for boys rather than girls. Computer scientists and engineers on television shows and movies ar...

Grocery workers suffer the mental health effects of customer hostility and lack of safety in their workplace

Written by Brian Mayer, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona

Many grocery store workers have experienced high rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic.Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

With the holiday season here, consumers are understandably desperate for a “normal” holiday season. For many, that includes big family dinners and Black Friday shopping sprees.

Reta...

Prayer apps are flooding the market, but how well do they work?

Written by Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Prayer apps can help guide spiritual practices and encourage people to set goals and stay on track.MangoStar_Studio/iStock via Getty Images

Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app that claims over a million downloads, has raised over US$52 million in investments.

Prayer apps are not new. Silicon Valley startups popularized mindfulness and...

Spotty data and media bias delay justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people

Written by Wendelin Hume, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of North Dakota

Native Americans are more than twice as likely to be victims of violent crime than the U.S. population as a whole.Michael Siluk/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

No one knows just how many Indigenous girls or women go missing each year.

There are estimates. In 2019, 8,162 Indigenous youth and 2,285 Indigenous adults were reported missing to...

The lessons 'Moby-Dick' has for a warming world of rising waters

Written by Aaron Sachs, Professor of History and American Studies, Cornell University

'Moby-Dick' inspired the Warner Brothers film starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab – and perhaps can inspire readers today amid the climate crisis. Fox Photos/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

As an environmental historian and scholar of the 19th century, I spend a lot of time thinking about how the past can help us confront our current crises...