The Conversation

'The Activist' reality TV show sparked furor, but treating causes as commodities with help from celebrities happens all the time

Written by Alexandra Budabin, Senior Researcher of Human Rights, University of Dayton

Usher, shown speaking in 2019 at an event hosted by the nonprofit he started, and two other celebrities shot five episodes of the canceled series.Paras Griffin/Getty Images

CBS quickly backpedaled after an announcement about “The Activist,” a new reality TV series it planned to broadcast, drew widespread backlash.

The show was going to...

Can healthy people who eat right and exercise skip the COVID-19 vaccine? A research scientist and fitness enthusiast explains why the answer is no

Written by Richard Bloomer, Dean of the College of Health Sciences, University of Memphis

Several thousand protestors opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine march through the streets of midtown Manhattan in New York on Sept. 18, 2021. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis News via Getty Images

I’m a fitness enthusiast. I also adhere to a nutrient-dense, “clean” eating program, which means I minimize my sugar intake and eat a lot of...

How better funding can increase the number and diversity of doctoral students

Written by Shaun M. Dougherty, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Education, Vanderbilt University

Financial concerns are a big barrier for students wishing to apply to graduate school. SilviaJansen/E+ via Getty Images

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

The big idea

When a doctoral program in education introduced a comprehensive funding package that covered tuition, it led to an increase in the number of...

More guns, pandemic stress and a police legitimacy crisis created perfect conditions for homicide spike in 2020

Written by Justin Nix, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha

What role did the pandemic play in the hike in murders in 2020?Mark Makela/Getty Images

Homicides in the U.S. spiked by almost 30% in 2020.

That was the main takeaway from figures released on Sept. 27, 2021, by the FBI that showed almost uniform increases across America in the murder rate.

The fact that big cities, small cities, suburbs and rural...

How Sen. Joe Manchin's support for natural gas could derail Biden's US climate plan

Written by Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from the coal state of West Virginia, is in a powerful position for directing the nation's climate future.Samuel Corum/Getty Images

President Joe Biden has a goal for all U.S. electricity to come from zero-carbon sources by 2035. To get there, he’s counting on Congress to approve an ambitious package of incentives...

What Ötzi the prehistoric iceman can teach us about the use of tattoos in ceremonial healing or religious rites

Written by Allison Hawn, Instructional Faculty in Communication, Arizona State University

A man takes a picture of a statue representing the 5,300-year-old mummy named Ötzi, discovered in the Italian Alps 30 years ago.Andrea Solero/AFP via Getty Images

Ötzi the Iceman remained hidden to the world for millennia until two German tourists discovered it 30 years ago in a glacier in the Italian Alps.

Tattoos on the mummy of...

Should teens taking ADHD, anxiety and depression drugs consume energy drinks and coffee?

Written by Lina Begdache, Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Binghamton University, State University of New York

The American Academy of Pediatrics says teens should never consume energy drinks.monkeybusinessimages/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.

Should teens taking ADHD, anxiety or depression drugs consume...

Mexican communities manage their local forests, generating benefits for humans, trees and wildlife

Written by David Bray, Professor of Earth and Environment, Florida International University

Jungle near the Palenque ruins, Chiapas, Mexico.Lawrence Murray/Flickr, CC BY

The United Nations is preparing to host pivotal conferences in the coming months on two global crises: climate change and biodiversity loss. As experts have pointed out, these issues are fundamentally, inescapably intertwined. In both cases, human activities are harming...

Big fires demand a big response: How 1910's Big Burn can help us think smarter about fighting wildfires and living with fire

Written by William Deverell, Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Before satellites, fire crews watched for smoke from fire towers across the national forests.K. D. Swan, U.S. Forest Service

Over two days in the summer of 1910, wildfires roared across the bone-dry forests of the inland Northwestern U.S., the Rockies, and parts of British Columbia. Whole towns burned. The blazes scorched 3 million acres of forest,...

How civil rights activist Howard Fuller became a devout champion of school choice

Written by Jon Hale, Associate Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Education reformer Howard Fuller has worked with GOP leaders in support of school vouchers.Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As a longtime civil rights activist and education reformer, Howard Fuller has seen his support for school choice spark both controversy and confusion. That’s because it aligns him with polarizing...