The Conversation

How high school sports became the latest battleground over transgender rights

Written by Elizabeth A. Sharrow, Associate Professor of Public Policy and History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

High school athletes, including Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood, both transgender girls, compete in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2019.AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb

This year, 20 states proposed to ban transgender girls – meaning those assigned male at birth but who live and identify as girls – from competing on girls interscholastic sports...

The morality of feeling equal empathy for strangers and family alike

Written by Brendan Gaesser, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York

In a divided nation, a little empathy goes a long way.Brent Stirton/Getty Images

The year 2020 has been no stranger to suffering. In the midst of a global pandemic, widespread financial hardship and violence arising from systemic racism, empathy for others’ suffering has been pushed to the front and center in U.S. society.

As society grapples...

South Africa's inability to honestly confront AIDS shows the dangers of America's COVID-19 denialism

Written by Renee Schatteman, Associate Professor of Postcolonial and World Literature, Georgia State University

A South African woman mourning her husband who died of AIDS covers herself, according to custom, during the burial.Per-Anders Pettersson via Getty Images

At a time when the U.S. is experiencing one of the worst COVID-19 infection rates among wealthy nations, Americans could take some cautionary lessons from South Africa, the nation that fared the...

Thousands of ocean fishing boats could be using forced labor – we used AI and satellite data to find them

Written by Gavin McDonald, Senior Project Researcher, University of California Santa Barbara

Fishing on the high seas is expensive, and the profits are often small. piola666/E+ via Getty Images

Fishing on the high seas is a bit of a mystery, economically speaking. These areas of open ocean beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any nation are generally considered high-effort, low-payoff fishing grounds, yet fishers continue to work in them...

The psychology of fairness: Why some Americans don't believe the election results

Written by David M. Mayer, Professor of Management & Organizations, University of Michigan

Polls show that some three-quarters of Republicans claim the election was rigged.Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis News via Getty Images

The electoral votes have confirmed Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election. The presidential electors gave Biden 306 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 232 votes. Biden also recorded a so...

Oppression in the kitchen, delight in the dining room: The story of Caesar, an enslaved chef and chocolatier in Colonial Virginia

Written by Kelley Fanto Deetz, Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley

Stratford Hall in Westmoreland, Virginia, where enslaved cook and chocolatier Caesar lived and worked in the kitchen.Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

The holidays are here, and among the many treats of the season are chocolate and hot cocoa. While these traditions provide a hefty dose of sugar, there’s a bittersweet side to chocolate’s history, too.

T...

Obama book offers key insight about how laws really get made

Written by David Webber, Associate Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Missouri-Columbia

In a photo from 2004, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, right, speaks with a fellow legislator on the floor of the state Senate chamber.AP photo/Randy Squires

Amid all the attention on former President Barack Obama’s new book, what may not have shown up in the reviews is mention of a two-page summary that, for legislative scholars like me,...

Secular 'values voters' are becoming an electoral force in the US – just look closely at 2020's results

Written by Phil Zuckerman, Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies, Pitzer College

Being counted -- secular voters are a growing forceMario Tama/Getty Images

The voting patterns of religious groups in the U.S. have been scrutinized since the presidential election for evidence of shifting allegiances among the faithful. Many have wondered if a boost in Catholic support was behind Biden’s win or if a dip in support among...

Why do different countries have different electric outlet plugs?

Written by Theodore J. Kury, Director of Energy Studies, University of Florida

It doesn't fit! AndreyPopov/iStock via Getty Images

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@theconversation.com.

Why do different countries have different electric outlet plugs? – Evie H., age 9, Seattle, Washington

You find yourself in an airport...

New antidepressants can lift depression and suicidal thoughts fast, but don’t expect magic cures

Written by Nicholas Mischel, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences; Director, Interventional Psychiatry and Neuromodulation Research Program, Wayne State University

Alleviating major depression for the long term involves more than just drugs.Rafa Elias via Getty Images

Depression is the most common cause of disability in the world. Chances are high that you or someone you know will experience a period when depression gets in the way of work, social life or family life. Nearly two in three people with...