The Conversation

Why people feel guilty about using effort-saving products when taking care of loved ones

Written by Ximena Garcia-Rada, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M University

Does effort equal love?Cavan Images/Getty Images

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

The big idea

People who care for friends, children or other loved ones may avoid products and services that make caregiving easier – such as ready-made meals – because they believe that doing so undermines their ability to...

Presidents declare more disasters during reelection years – and the decisions come faster

Written by John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Heavy rains struck Middle Tennessee, causing flash floods that killed people and swept away homes and vehicles.AP Photo/John Amis

When torrential rains tore apart Middle Tennessee, Tropical Storm Fred hit the Gulf Coast and Henri hit the northeastern U.S. all in one week of August 2021, the scope of the deaths, injuries and damage quickly...

I studied people who think leisure is a waste of time – here's what I found

Written by Selin Malkoc, Associate Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State University

Some cultures champion rest more than others.Bettmann via Getty Images

When I first took my now-husband to Turkey, I tried to prepare myself for anything that could go wrong – delayed flights, language difficulties, digestion issues.

But I wasn’t ready when, as we walked into a beautiful beach club on the Aegean coast, he grumbled,...

How Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts infused one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands with a little jazz

Written by Victor Coelho, Professor of Music, Boston University

Charlie Watts – a humble drummer behind a humble kit.Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer.

Part of the Rolling Stones setup from 1963...

COVID-19 has spurred investments in air filtration for K-12 schools – but these technologies aren't an instant fix

Written by Mark Thomas Hernandez, S. J. Archuleta Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Low-cost air-ventilation systems have been installed in many classrooms across the U.S. to help reduce COVID-19 transmission.Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased attention to indoor air quality and the effect that ventilation has on reducing disease transmission in indoor spaces. A recent...

ANZUS at 70: Together for decades, US, Australia, New Zealand now face different challenges from China

Written by Patricia A. O'Brien, Visiting Fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University

The U.S., Australia and New Zealand have been friends, partners and allies for decades.New York National Guard via Flickr

Seventy years after the U.S., Australia and New Zealand signed a treaty committing them to defend one another and work together to ensure a peaceful Pacific, the alliance has assumed new and crucial relevance as all three...

Safety net policies are helping reduce the number of Americans below the poverty line – but that's not the whole story

Written by Elena Delavega, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Memphis

Food insecurity appears to have grown in 2020 despite the decline in poverty.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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The share of Americans living in poverty shrank to an estimated 9.2% in 2020, according to the Urban Institute, a think tank that closely tracks this rate with a widely used model. There were 29.3 million Americans living below the...

Students from struggling economic backgrounds sent home with food for the weekend have improved test scores, study finds

Written by Michael Kurtz, Associate Professor of Economics, Lycoming College

In the United States, at least 6 million children live in a household where at least one person is food insecure. Anna-Rose Gassot/AFP via Getty Images

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

The big idea

When food banks work with schools to send children home with a backpack full of food over the weekend, they do better...

Black parents say their children are being suspended for petty reasons that force them to take off from work and sometimes lose their jobs

Written by Charles Bell, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University

Black parents are having to call off work to deal with their children's minor infractions at school.Cavan Images

When “Mike,” the father of a ninth grade student, got a call from his daughter’s school, the first thing he asked was: “How important is this?”

“They said, ‘Well, it’s...

Corporate directors don't see stopping wayward CEOs as their job – contrary to popular belief

Written by Steven Boivie, Professor of Management, Texas A&M University

The realities of a boardroom are different than what many people assume. xu wu/Moment via Getty Images

In December 2001, Enron Corp. collapsed into bankruptcy – at the time the biggest U.S. publicly traded company to ever do so – following years of fraudulent accounting. Two decades later, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes faces criminal...