The Conversation

R. Kelly was aided by a network of complicity – common in workplace abuse – that enabled crimes to go on for decades

Written by Peggy Cunningham, Professor of Business, Dalhousie University

A lengthy spell in prison awaits the convicted sexual predator.Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images via AFP

R&B singer R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking charges on Sept 27, 2021, having been exposed as the ringleader of a decades-long scheme to recruit girls, boys and women to have sex with.

During the six-week long trial,...

Trillions in infrastructure spending could mean hundreds of billions in fraud

Written by Jetson Leder-Luis, Assistant Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge was part of Boston's Big Dig, which was infamous for its cost overruns.AP Photo/Steven Senne

The U.S. government may be on the verge of spending as much as US$4.5 trillion in what could be one of the biggest investments in infrastructure and the social safety net in decades.

The House plans to vote on a $1...

Social media gives support to LGBTQ youth when in-person communities are lacking

Written by Linda Charmaraman, Director of Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab, Wellesley College

Social media can provide ways for LGBTQ youth to learn more about, and stay connected to, their identities.miakievy/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Teens today have grown up on the internet, and social media has served as a space where LGBTQ youth in particular can develop their identities.

Scholarship about the online experiences of LGBTQ...

Could Apple's child safety feature backfire? New research shows warnings can increase risky sharing

Written by Bennett Bertenthal, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University

Warning labels seem like a good way to keep kids from sharing risky photos, but research data suggests otherwise.Clover No.7 Photography/Moment via Getty Images

Apple’s plan to roll out tools to limit the spread of child sexual abuse material has drawn praise from some privacy and security experts as well as by child protection advocacy...

Looking for transformative travel? Keep these six stages in mind

Written by Jaco J. Hamman, Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt University

Indonesia has reopened tourism after intensified vaccination campaigns have helped control the spread of COVID-19.Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

After a cooped-up year, Americans are hungry to travel. Passport offices are overwhelmed with applications. In July, airlines scheduled and operated the highest number of flights since the...

'The Activist' reality TV show sparked furor, but treating causes as commodities with help from celebrities happens all the time

Written by Alexandra Budabin, Senior Researcher of Human Rights, University of Dayton

Usher, shown speaking in 2019 at an event hosted by the nonprofit he started, and two other celebrities shot five episodes of the canceled series.Paras Griffin/Getty Images

CBS quickly backpedaled after an announcement about “The Activist,” a new reality TV series it planned to broadcast, drew widespread backlash.

The show was going to...

Can healthy people who eat right and exercise skip the COVID-19 vaccine? A research scientist and fitness enthusiast explains why the answer is no

Written by Richard Bloomer, Dean of the College of Health Sciences, University of Memphis

Several thousand protestors opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine march through the streets of midtown Manhattan in New York on Sept. 18, 2021. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis News via Getty Images

I’m a fitness enthusiast. I also adhere to a nutrient-dense, “clean” eating program, which means I minimize my sugar intake and eat a lot of...

How better funding can increase the number and diversity of doctoral students

Written by Shaun M. Dougherty, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Education, Vanderbilt University

Financial concerns are a big barrier for students wishing to apply to graduate school. SilviaJansen/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

When a doctoral program in education introduced a comprehensive funding package that covered tuition, it led to an increase in the number of...

More guns, pandemic stress and a police legitimacy crisis created perfect conditions for homicide spike in 2020

Written by Justin Nix, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha

What role did the pandemic play in the hike in murders in 2020?Mark Makela/Getty Images

Homicides in the U.S. spiked by almost 30% in 2020.

That was the main takeaway from figures released on Sept. 27, 2021, by the FBI that showed almost uniform increases across America in the murder rate.

The fact that big cities, small cities, suburbs and rural...

How Sen. Joe Manchin's support for natural gas could derail Biden's US climate plan

Written by Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from the coal state of West Virginia, is in a powerful position for directing the nation's climate future.Samuel Corum/Getty Images

President Joe Biden has a goal for all U.S. electricity to come from zero-carbon sources by 2035. To get there, he’s counting on Congress to approve an ambitious package of incentives...