The Conversation

Afghan government collapses and Taliban on verge of controlling country: 5 essential reads

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

U.S. personnel were evacuated from the U.S. embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, as Taliban insurgents broke through the city's defensive line, Aug. 15, 2021.AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

The president of Afghanistan has fled and the government apparently fallen, after Taliban insurgents captured the capital city of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021. The Taliban also...

Afghan government collapses, Taliban seize control: 5 essential reads

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

Personnel were evacuated from the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, as Taliban insurgents broke through the capital city's defensive line.AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

Panic and turmoil grip Afghanistan after Taliban insurgents captured the capital city of Kabul and the president fled on Aug. 15, 2021.

There would be “no transitional government in...

Cómo los barrios gay en Estados Unidos utilizaron la experiencia del VIH para ayudar contra el COVID

Written by Daniel Baldwin Hess, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University at Buffalo

Los grupos de salud y apoyo del VIH ofrecieron pruebas de COVID-19 y otros servicios comunitarios durante la pandemia iStock / Getty Images PlusiStock / Getty Images Plus

A lo largo de la pandemia, los vecindarios han desempeñado un papel fundamental y bien documentado al brindar los servicios sociales y de salud necesarios para que las...

The disturbing history of how conservatorships were used to exploit, swindle Native Americans

Written by Andrea Seielstad, Professor of Law, University of Dayton

The Osage Nation were once among the wealthiest people in the world.FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Pop singer Britney Spears’ quest to end the conservatorship that handed control over her finances and health care to her father demonstrates the double-edged sword of putting people under the legal care and control of another person.

A judge may...

How religious fervor and anti-regulation zealotry laid the groundwork for America's $36 billion supplement industry

Written by Conor Heffernan, Assistant Professor of Physical Culture and Sport Studies, University of Texas at Austin

More than half of Americans regularly take supplements.James Keyser/Getty Images

Spend any time watching television or scrolling through social media, and you’ll inevitably see advertisements for pills, powders and potions that promise to grow muscle, shed body fat, improve your focus and resurrect your youth.

Most of us have used them. At...

Women make fewer political donations and risk being ignored by elected officials

Written by Kira Sanbonmatsu, Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University

From 2001 to 2020, female donors accounted for 23% of all general election contributions in statewide races while men accounted for 77%. Mykola Sosiukin / EyeEm via GettyImages

Candidates ignore female voters at their peril: Women have outvoted men since 1980. Census data shows that nearly 10 million more women than men cast ballots in the 2020...

In Afghanistan, the US again gets to choose how it stops fighting

Written by Thomas Alan Schwartz, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University

The U.S. military is handing the keys over to Afghan forces.Joe Marek/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

As headlines proclaim the “end” of “America’s longest war,” President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of the remaining U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan is being covered by some in the news media as though it means...

Colleges are using federal stimulus money to clear students' past-due debts – an economist answers five questions

Written by William Chittenden, Presidential Fellow, Texas State University

Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C. is one of several colleges using federal money to clear their students' debt. Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Editor’s note: A growing number of colleges and universities across the country are using money from the American Rescue Plan to clear their current and...

What America's social justice activists can learn from past movements for civil rights

Written by Anthony Siracusa, Senior Director of Inclusive Culture and Initiatives, University of Colorado Boulder

The aftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre, during which mobs of white residents attacked Black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District in June 1921. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

With Congress considering legislation to protect voting rights and address police accountability, it’s worth remembering that throughout U.S. history new...

The aching red: Firefighters often silently suffer from trauma and job-related stress

Written by Arash Javanbakht, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

Firefighters regularly face scenes of loss and suffering. Mike Dohmen/EyeEm via Getty Images

Matthew was exposed to unimaginable scenes of pain and suffering in his job over more than a decade as a firefighter. The last straw came when he witnessed the death of a teenager – who was the same age as his son – from an overdose.

“The...