The Conversation

Democratic bill attempts to undo voter restrictions of past 15 years

Written by Nicholas Espíritu, Lecturer in Law, University of California, Los Angeles

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and fellow Democrats address reporters on H.R. 1 at the Capitol in Washington on March 3, 2021. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photos

The recent national elections — conducted in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic — highlighted difficulties Americans face to register to vote and cast a ballot. But...

Interstate water wars are heating up along with the climate

Written by Robert Glennon, Regents Professor and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy, University of Arizona

Aerial view of Lake Powell on the Colorado River along the Arizona-Utah border.AP Photo/John Antczak

Interstate water disputes are as American as apple pie. States often think a neighboring state is using more than its fair share from a river, lake or aquifer that crosses borders.

Currently the U.S. Supreme Court has on its docket a case between Tex...

Brazil’s economic crisis, prolonged by COVID-19, poses an enormous challenge to the Amazon

Written by Peter Richards, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University

A deforested piece of land in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, in the state of Rondonia, in northern Brazil, on Aug. 23, 2019.Carl De SouzaA/FP via Getty Images

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed his country’s participation in a virtual climate summit convened by the U.S. for April 22 and 23, vowing in a recent letter to U.S....

Competition heats up in the melting Arctic, and the US isn't prepared to counter Russia

Written by Rockford Weitz, Professor of Practice & Director, Fletcher Maritime Studies Program, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Russia has been beefing up its Arctic icebreaker fleet to take advantage of the climate changes.Lev Fedoseyev\TASS via Getty Images

For decades, the frozen Arctic was little more than a footnote in global economic competition, but that’s changing as its ice melts with the warming climate.

Russia is now attempting to claim more of the Arctic...

Has any US president ever served more than eight years?

Written by David Yalof, Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, standing at center and facing left just above the eagle, takes the presidential oath of office for the third time in 1941.FDR Presidential Library and Museum via Flickr, CC BY

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversa...

No, vaccine side effects don't tell you how well your immune system will protect you from COVID-19

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

It's not a bad sign if you feel fine after your COVID-19 shot.Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images

If someone gets a headache or feels a bit under the weather after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s become common to hear them say something like “Oh, it just means my immune system is really working hard.” On the flip side,...

Forget the debate over public health versus jobs – the same people suffer the most either way

Written by Alicia R. Riley, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco

Throughout the pandemic, millions of Americans wondered: “Is the cure worse than the disease?”

The question implies a trade-off between “the cure,” in the form of economic shutdowns, and “the disease,” COVID-19. This debate dominated headlines in the first months of the pandemic. More than a year later, it...

Are America's schools safe for Asian Americans?

Written by Charissa S. L. Cheah, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Eight out of 10 Asian American youths reported being bullied and harassed during the pandemic.RyanJLane/E+ via Getty Images

The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic has prompted many Asian American parents to enroll their children in remote learning out of concern for their child’s safety at school. Asian American youths are...

Biden administration's $39 billion child care strategy: 5 questions answered

Written by Taryn Morrissey, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University School of Public Affairs

High-quality day care has always been scarce in the U.S.FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

States are getting US$39 billion from the federal government to support child care. The money comes from the $1.9 trillion relief package that President Joe Biden signed in March 2021 and is on top of $10 billion for child care included in the $900 million relief...

Being skeptical of sources is a journalist's job – but it doesn't always happen when those sources are the police

Written by Danielle K. Kilgo, John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity, and Equality, University of Minnesota

Police body camera video shows Adam Toledo's hands were raised just before he was shot.Chicago Police Department via AP

The death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo might well have made international headlines on March 29, 2021 – the day he was shot and killed by a police officer – had the emerging narrative been different.

Instead, early news...