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What MAGA means to Americans

A decade ago, Donald Trump descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York City and ignited a political movement that has reshaped...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Jesse Rhodes

Employers are failing to insure the working class – Medicaid cuts would leave them even more vulnerable

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 7.8 million Americans across the U.S. would lose their coverage through Medicaid – the public...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Sumit Agarwal

From glass and steel to rare earth metals, new materials have changed society throughout history

Many modern devices – from cellphones and computers to electric vehicles and wind turbines – rely on strong magnets made from a type of minerals...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Peter Mullner

Military force may have delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions – but history shows that diplomacy is the more effective nonproliferation strategy

While the U.S. military’s strikes on Iran on June 21, 2025, are believed to have damaged the country’s critical nuclear infrastructure, no evidence...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Stephen Collins

Capitalism and democracy are weakening – reviving the idea of ‘calling’ can help to repair them

Ask someone what a calling is, and they’ll probably say something like “doing work you love.” But as a management professor who has spent two...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Valerie L. Myers

Parents who oppose sex education in schools often don’t discuss it at home

Public battles over what schools can teach about sex, identity and relationships, often framed around “parental rights,” have become more intense...

previous day 5

The Conversation

Robin Pickering

Speedballing – the deadly mix of stimulants and opioids – requires a new approach to prevention and treatment

Speedballing – the practice of combining a stimulant like cocaine or methamphetamine with an opioid such as heroin or fentanyl – has evolved from a...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Andrew Yockey

Philadelphians with mental illness want to work, pray, date and socialize just like everyone else – here’s how creating more inclusive communities is good for public health

Do you remember the COVID-19 shutdowns? Many Americans could no longer do the activities they enjoyed once businesses, schools, churches, gyms and...

previous day 4

The Conversation

Mark Salzer

Conservatives notch 2 victories in their fight to deny Planned Parenthood federal funding through Medicaid

A provision in the big legislative package and a related Supreme Court ruling mark the culmination of a strategy to defund the health care provider...

previous day 30

The Conversation

Rachel Rebouché

One ‘big, beautiful’ reason why Republicans in Congress just can’t quit Donald Trump

As the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic tax and spending package, many critics are...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Charlie Hunt

Astronomers have discovered another puzzling interstellar object − this third one is big, bright and fast

Astronomers manning an asteroid warning system caught a glimpse of a large, bright object zipping through the solar system late on July 1, 2025....

previous day 2

The Conversation

Darryl Z. Seligman

War, politics and religion shape wildlife evolution in cities

People often consider evolution to be a process that occurs in nature in the background of human society. But evolution is not separate from human...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Elizabeth Carlen

AI is advancing even faster than sci-fi visionaries like Neal Stephenson imagined

Every time I read about another advance in AI technology, I feel like another figment of science fiction moves closer to reality. Lately, I’ve been...

wednesday 20

The Conversation

Rizwan Virk

What damage did the US do to Iran’s nuclear program? Why it’s so hard to know

The U.S. Air Force dropped a dozen ground-penetrating bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds (13,607 kilograms), in a raid on Iran’s nuclear site at...

wednesday 20

The Conversation

Joshua Rovner

Legal wrangling over estate of Jimmy Buffett turns his widow’s huge inheritance into a cautionary tale

Lawyers often tell their clients that everyone should have a will that clearly states who should inherit their assets after they die. But even...

wednesday 10

The Conversation

Reid Kress Weisbord

The Supreme Court upholds free preventive care, but its future now rests in RFK Jr.’s hands

On June 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling that preserves free preventive care under the Affordable Care Act, a popular...

wednesday 10

The Conversation

Paul Shafer

The rule of law is key to capitalism − eroding it is bad news for American business

Something dangerous is happening to the U.S. economy, and it’s not inflation or trade wars. Chaotic deregulation and the selective enforcement of...

wednesday 6

The Conversation

Robert Bird

Despite claims they’d move overseas after the election, most Americans are staying put

Based on pronouncements in 2024, you might think now is the time to see U.S. citizens streaming out of the country. Months before the 2024...

wednesday 4

The Conversation

Amanda Klekowski Von Koppenfels

Hurricane forecasters are losing 3 key satellites ahead of peak storm season − a meteorologist explains why it matters

About 600 miles off the west coast of Africa, large clusters of thunderstorms begin organizing into tropical storms every hurricane season. They...

wednesday 2

The Conversation

Chris Vagasky

Philadelphia’s $2B affordable housing plan relies heavily on municipal bonds, which can come with hidden costs for taxpayers

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy initiative, which was included in the city budget passed June 12, 2025, is an...

wednesday 3

The Conversation

Jade Craig

Keeping brain-dead pregnant women on life support raises ethical issues that go beyond abortion politics

Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old woman from Georgia who had been declared brain-dead in February 2025, spent 16 weeks on life support while doctors...

01.07.2025 40

The Conversation

Lindsey Breitwieser

Invasive carp threaten the Great Lakes − and reveal a surprising twist in national politics

In his second term, President Donald Trump has not taken many actions that draw near-universal praise from across the political spectrum. But there...

01.07.2025 30

The Conversation

Mike Shriberg

In LGBTQ+ storybook case, Supreme Court handed a win to parental rights, raising tough questions for educators

The Supreme Court tends to save its blockbuster orders for the last day of the term – and 2025 was no exception. Among the important decisions...

01.07.2025 20

The Conversation

Charles J. Russo

Why the US bombed a bunch of metal tubes − a nuclear engineer explains the importance of centrifuges to Iranian efforts to build nuclear weapons

When U.S. forces attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 21, 2025, the main target was metal tubes in laboratories deep underground. The tubes...

01.07.2025 10

The Conversation

Anna Erickson

Mexican flags flown during immigration protests bother white people a lot more than other Americans

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a series of raids throughout Los Angeles and Southern California in early June 2025,...

01.07.2025 10

The Conversation

Edward D. Vargas

Bill Moyers’ journalism strengthened democracy by connecting Americans to ideas and each other, in a long and extraordinary career

“Bill Moyers? He’s spectacular!” George Clooney said – and no wonder. I mentioned this legendary television journalist to the actor and filmmaker...

01.07.2025 10

The Conversation

Julie Leininger Pycior

1 in 4 Americans reject evolution, a century after the Scopes monkey trial spotlighted the clash between science and religion

The 1925 Scopes trial, in which a Dayton, Tennessee, teacher was charged with violating state law by teaching biological evolution, was one of the...

01.07.2025 3

The Conversation

William Trollinger

Pop, soda or coke? The fizzy history behind America’s favorite linguistic debate

With burgers sizzling and classic rock thumping, many Americans revel in summer cookouts – at least until that wayward cousin asks for a “pop”...

01.07.2025 5

The Conversation

Valerie M. Fridland

Humans and animals can both think logically − but testing what kind of logic they’re using is tricky

Can a monkey, a pigeon or a fish reason like a person? It’s a question scientists have been testing in increasingly creative ways – and what we’ve...

01.07.2025 2

The Conversation

Olga Lazareva

The hidden cost of convenience: How your data pulls in hundreds of billions of dollars for app and social media companies

You wake up in the morning and, first thing, you open your weather app. You close that pesky ad that opens first and check the forecast. You like...

01.07.2025 5

The Conversation

Kassem Fawaz

What’s at risk for Arctic wildlife if Trump expands oil drilling in the fragile National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

The largest tract of public land in the United States is a wild expanse of tundra and wetlands stretching across nearly 23 million acres of...

30.06.2025 10

The Conversation

Mariah Meek

Here’s a way to save lives, curb traffic jams and make commutes faster and easier − ban left turns at intersections

More than 60% of traffic collisions at intersections involve left turns. Some U.S. cities – including San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Birmingham,...

30.06.2025 8

The Conversation

Vikash V. Gayah

1 in 3 Florida third graders have untreated cavities – how parents can protect their children’s teeth

“He hides his smile in every school photo,” Jayden’s mother told me, holding up a picture of her 6-year-old son. I first met Jayden – not his real...

30.06.2025 4

The Conversation

Olga Ensz

Universities in every state care for congressional papers that document US political history − federal cuts put their work at risk

In 1971, the president of Mississippi State University, Dr. William L. Giles, invited President Richard Nixon to attend the dedication of U.S. Sen....

30.06.2025 5

The Conversation

Katherine Gregory

Why the traditional college major may be holding students back in a rapidly changing job market

Colleges and universities are struggling to stay afloat. The reasons are numerous: declining numbers of college-age students in much of the...

30.06.2025 5

The Conversation

John Weigand

From the marriage contract to breaking the glass under the chuppah, many Jewish couples adapt their weddings to celebrate gender equality

Traditional Jewish weddings share one key aspect with traditional Christian weddings. Historically, the ceremony was essentially a transfer of...

30.06.2025 2

The Conversation

Samira Mehta

How can the James Webb Space Telescope see so far?

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...

30.06.2025 1

The Conversation

Adi Foord

Who’s the most American? Psychological studies show that many people are biased and think it’s a white English speaker

In the U.S. and elsewhere, nationality tends to be defined by a set of legal parameters. This may involve birthplace, parental citizenship or...

30.06.2025 3

The Conversation

Katherine Kinzler