The Conversation

Family meals are good for the grown-ups, too, not just the kids

Written by Anne Fishel, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Harvard University

Moms and dads have better physical and mental health when they dine with their children – despite all the work of a family meal.Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images

For all the parents feeling exhausted by the cooking, cleaning and planning of a million meals during the pandemic, there’s some good news. Commensality, or the...

From tulips and scrips to bitcoin and meme stocks – how the act of speculating became a financial mania

Written by Gayle Rogers, Professor and chair of English, University of Pittsburgh

Financial bubbles are frequently depicted as manias. Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In the late 1990s, America experienced a dot-com mania. In the 2000s, the housing market went wild.

Today, there are manias in everything from bitcoin and nonfungible tokens to SPACs and meme stocks – obscure corners of the market that are...

How to tell if your college is trans-inclusive

Written by Abbie Goldberg, Professor of Psychology, Clark University

An affirming college environment can set trans youth on a path of personal, academic and professional success.Alessandra Tarantino/AP

High school can be especially challenging for the 2%-3% of U.S. teens who identify as transgender, or trans. They disproportionately experience harassment and victimization by their peers and rejection by family...

The 'bystander effect' is real -- but research shows that when more people witness violence, it's more likely someone will step up and intervene

Written by Wayne Eastman, Professor, Department of Supply Chain Management, Rutgers University

An image from a police body camera shows bystanders including Darnella Frazier, third from right, filming a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee on George Floyd's neck.Minneapolis Police Department via AP, File

The most powerful evidence for the prosecution at the trial of Derek Chauvin was a video showing the then-Minneapolis police...

82% of Americans want paid maternity leave – making it as popular as chocolate

Written by Chris Knoester, Associate Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University

Most U.S. parents who take time off work to tend to newborns currently use unpaid leave.Whitney Curti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

CC BY-SA

The United States is the only wealthy nation that doesn’t guarantee paid leave to mothers after they give birth or adopt a child. The vast majority of Americans would like to see that change.

Accord...

Watching a coral reef die as climate change devastates one of the most pristine tropical island areas on Earth

Written by Sam Purkis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Sciences, University of Miami

The Chagos Archipelago is one of the most remote, seemingly idyllic places on Earth. Coconut-covered sandy beaches with incredible bird life rim tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles from any continent. Just below the waves, coral reefs stretch for miles along an underwater mountain chain.

It’s a paradise. At least it was...

No, los efectos secundarios de las vacunas no son una señal de que tu sistema inmunitario te protegerá mejor

Written by Robert Finberg, Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School

No se puede medir la eficacia de la vacuna en el organismo basándose en lo que se puede detectar desde el exterior.Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Si a alguien le duele la cabeza o se siente indispuesto después de recibir la vacuna COVID-19, es habitual oírle decir algo como “Oh, esto significa que mi sistema...

State lawsuits over stimulus tax rule face uphill battle

Written by Jonathan Entin, Professor Emeritus of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an American Rescue Plan virtual briefing on March 11, 2021 in Washington, D.C.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

States were told by the federal government that they can’t use pandemic relief funds passed by Congress in March to lower taxes. In response, 16 states have filed lawsuits challenging the...

#MeToo on TikTok: Teens use viral trend to speak out about their sexual harassment experiences

Written by Christia Spears Brown, Professor of Psychology, University of Kentucky

Girls face lasting negative effects of sexual harassment.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

A recent TikTok video that has been liked by almost half a million people encourages girls to record themselves putting one finger down for every time they have been sent unsolicited dick pics, begged for nudes, catcalled, repeatedly asked out after already...

The Pilgrims' attack on a May Day celebration was a dress rehearsal for removing Native Americans

Written by Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The Puritans saw May Day celebrations as a test from God.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Ever since the ancient Romans decided to honor the agricultural goddess Flora with lewd spectacles in the Circus Maximus, the beginning of May has signaled the coming of spring, a time of revival after a long, dark winter.

In...