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WeWork debacle exposes why investing in a charismatic founder can be dangerous

  • Written by Greg Putnam, Lecturer in Finance, University of North Carolina Wilmington
WeWork wanted to be a lot more than a shared workspace. rblfmr/Shutterstock.com

WeWork went from unicorn darling with a nearly US$50 billion valuation to a cautionary tale for gullible investors worth just $8 billion in a matter of months. It did so in part by wrapping its real estate sublet business in the cloak of a tech startup destined to...

Read more: WeWork debacle exposes why investing in a charismatic founder can be dangerous

With anti-Semitism on the rise again, there are steps everyone can take to counter it

  • Written by Jamie Levine Daniel, Assistant Professor, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, IUPUI
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, watching the installation of a menorah outside Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue.AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Keeping track of all the attacks against American Jews these days is just about impossible unless it’s your full-time job. Consider these incidents, some of many that occurred or came to light just during the month...

Read more: With anti-Semitism on the rise again, there are steps everyone can take to counter it

What is 'dark money'? 5 questions answered

  • Written by Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation, Columbia University
These Iowan supporters of Steve Bullock may hope he'll make good on promises to get 'dark money' out of politics.AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

With the 2020 campaign season upon us, “dark money” is again in the news.

Maine’s Republican Sen. Susan Collins has decried what she contends is a “dark money” campaign against...

Read more: What is 'dark money'? 5 questions answered

Not all candy is candy – at least for tax purposes

  • Written by Hayes Holderness, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Richmond
A convenience store worker hands out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween.AP Photo/Wong Maye-E

Halloween shoppers have many delicious decisions to make before trick-or-treaters show up at their doors. And in many states, those choices will change how much tax they pay.

In Illinois, for example, locals pay a higher state sales tax rate – 6.25...

Read more: Not all candy is candy – at least for tax purposes

We mapped how food gets from farms to your home

  • Written by Megan Konar, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Where has your produce been?CoolR/Shutterstock.com

My team at the University of Illinois just developed the first high-resolution map of the U.S. food supply chain.

Our map is a comprehensive snapshot of all food flows between counties in the U.S. – grains, fruits and vegetables, animal feed, and processed food items.

To build the map, we...

Read more: We mapped how food gets from farms to your home

5 milestones that created the internet, 50 years after the first network message

  • Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University
This SDS Sigma 7 computer sent the first message over the predecessor of the internet in 1969.Andrew 'FastLizard4' Adams/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Fifty years ago, a UCLA computer science professor and his student sent the first message over the predecessor to the internet, a network called ARPANET.

The log page showing the connection from UCLA to...

Read more: 5 milestones that created the internet, 50 years after the first network message

Trump has upended the long history of US investment in Ukraine's democracy

  • Written by Matthew Pauly, Associate Professor of History, Michigan State University

On a cold December night in 2016, Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, spoke to an anxious audience at a library in the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa. The audience was eager to hear what the recent election of Donald Trump might mean for their own security.

Yovanovitch had been my boss at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine 15 years...

Read more: Trump has upended the long history of US investment in Ukraine's democracy

How steak became manly and salads became feminine

  • Written by Paul Freedman, Chester D. Tripp Professor of History, Yale University
Food didn't become gendered until the late 19th century.Maisei Raman/Shutterstock.com

When was it decided that women prefer some types of food – yogurt with fruit, salads and white wine – while men are supposed to gravitate to chili, steak and bacon?

In my new book, “American Cuisine: And How It Got This Way,” I show how...

Read more: How steak became manly and salads became feminine

The future of the US workforce will rely on AI, but don't count human workers out just yet

  • Written by Katherine Newman, Interim Chancellor and Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Boston
Robots have already started moving into Amazon's workforce alongside people.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Artificial intelligence has replaced many skills in recent years – including the skills needed to do some human jobs.

The tech revolution has not gone unnoticed by American workers. A 2018 Gallup poll revealed that 70% of Americans believe AI...

Read more: The future of the US workforce will rely on AI, but don't count human workers out just yet

As the climate changes, architects and engineers need to design buildings differently

  • Written by Nicholas Rajkovich, Assistant Professor of Architecture, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
A house in western New York during the 'Snowvember' snowstorm of 2014.Duane Warren, CC BY-ND

In the past seven years, four major disasters have caused serious disruptions in the Northeast and Midwest United States. Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York City in 2012, inflicting nearly US$11 billion in damage to buildings. In 2014, a storm dubbed...

Read more: As the climate changes, architects and engineers need to design buildings differently

More Articles ...

  1. When Halloween became America's most dangerous holiday
  2. Leaf peep for science – I want your old photos of fall foliage
  3. How forceps permanently changed the way humans are born
  4. In Paraguay, rural communities facing deforestation see power – and profit – in a beloved drink
  5. Why the US has nuclear weapons in Turkey – and may try to put the bombs away
  6. Syrian refugees in Turkey are there to stay, at least for now
  7. ¿Vales educativos suponen una mejor educación? Nuevas investigaciones dejan interrogantes
  8. They're not all racist nut jobs – and 4 other observations about the patriot militia movement
  9. Analyzing online posts could help spot future mass shooters and terrorists
  10. Most witches are women, because witch hunts were all about persecuting the powerless
  11. 5 tips for surviving in an increasingly uncertain world
  12. Oil companies are thinking about a low-carbon future, but aren't making big investments in it yet
  13. Community colleges open the door to selective universities
  14. Sulfur pollution from coal and gas is insanely bad – but a new chemistry innovation could clean it up
  15. A new chemistry innovation could reduce smog, acid-rain and asthma-inducing pollution
  16. What is sex really for?
  17. Deportation to Syria could mean death for women, children and LGBTQ refugees in Turkey
  18. If you’re using 'millennial' as a meaningful measurement, you should probably stop
  19. Voting could be the problem with democracy
  20. Have we become too paranoid about mass shootings?
  21. Even when they aren't fired for being pregnant or gay, teachers face strict moral demands
  22. New evidence that an extraterrestrial collision 12,800 years ago triggered an abrupt climate change for Earth
  23. Bans on rebuilding in disaster-prone areas ignore homeowners preferences – raising costs works better
  24. Cities with more black residents rely more on traffic tickets and fines for revenue
  25. Wildfire rebuilding: Taxes are better than bans for keeping homeowners from rebuilding in fire-plagued areas
  26. Why don't evergreens change color and drop their leaves every fall?
  27. Your political views can predict how you pronounce certain words
  28. Americans, especially millennials, are embracing plant-based meat products
  29. Trump is flouting global trade rules with China yet embracing them with the EU – here's why it matters
  30. Where is my Xanax Rx? Why your doctor may be concerned about prescribing benzodiazepines
  31. Blockchain voting is vulnerable to hackers, software glitches and bad ID photos – among other problems
  32. Pope affirms Catholic Church's duty to indigenous Amazonians hurt by climate change
  33. How Mister Rogers' faith shaped his idea of children's television
  34. The Chicago teachers' strike isn't just about kids – it's about union power too
  35. This overdose-reversal medicine could reduce opioid deaths – so why don't more people carry it?
  36. Here's what's missing in efforts to curb heavy drinking and hazing on campus
  37. Our world is getting smaller
  38. In fire-prone California, many residents can't afford wildfire insurance
  39. Bosses face more discrimination if they are women – from employees of any gender
  40. A UN treaty guarantees youth rights everywhere on earth – except the United States
  41. Pell Grants are getting their due in the 2020 campaign
  42. China's worldwide investment project is a push for more economic and political power
  43. Lower refugee limits are weakening resettlement in the US
  44. Study: Racism shortens lives and hurts health of blacks by promoting genes that lead to inflammation and illness
  45. Keeping students safe is a growth industry struggling to fulfill its mission
  46. I study teen suicide and believe clinical science can predict who is at risk
  47. How gambling built baseball – and then almost destroyed it
  48. Los Angeles is far from ending homelessness – but other American cities can still learn a lot from it
  49. Why a computer will never be truly conscious
  50. Iowa's farmers – and American eaters – need a national discussion on transforming US agriculture