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Now the Electoral College votes for president – 4 essential reads

The voters have cast their ballots, and after those ballots have been counted, and a winner has been projected by news organizations, that’s not the conclusion of the election. The actual outcom...

Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

What Buddhism can teach in this moment of deep divisions: No person is ‘evil,’ only ‘mistaken’

The three wise monkeys, embodying the proverbial principle from Buddhist philosophy: 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.'Natallia Pershaj/iStock/Getty images plusDemocracy depends upon using wo...

Jeremy David Engels, Professor of Communication, Penn State

This course uses crime novels to teach critical thinking
Fictional books on private investigators hold invaluable clues about justice and how the world works…
Trump’s comeback victory, after reshaping his party and national politics, looks a lot like Andrew J…
Donald Trump speaks to supporters early on the morning of Nov. 6, 2024.AP Photo/Evan VucciAs the nat…
What is ‘ballot curing’? Election expert explains the method for fixing errors made when voters cast…
An imperfect signature on an absentee ballot can necessitate ballot 'curing,' when election workers …
2024’s quick win for Trump will go down in the history books alongside 1964 and 1980 Election Day la…
Voters line up to cast their ballots at a voting location in Bethlehem, Pa., on Nov. 5, 2024. Samuel…

2024’s quick win for Trump will go down in the history books alongside 1964 and 1980 Election Day landslides

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a voting location in Bethlehem, Pa., on Nov. 5, 2024. Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images Election nights are always simultaneous moments of triumph and tragedy. ...

Shannon Bow O'Brien, Associate Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin

Will the lights go out on Cuba’s communist leaders? With fewer options to prop up economy, their future looks dimmer
Cubans have endured days of blackouts since a grid failure in Havana on Oct. 18, 2024.Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty ImagesCuba’s communist leaders are in the midst of crisis – and not for the first time.On Oct. 18, 2024, the nation’s electrical grid fa…
Kristallnacht’s legacy still haunts Hamburg − even as the city rebuilds a former synagogue burned in the Nazi pogrom
Commemorating the anniversary of the 1938 pogrom in Hamburg, on the former site of the Bornplatz Synagogue, in November 2018. Axel Heimken/DPA/picture alliance via Getty ImagesJohanna Neumann was 8 when she witnessed a mob of local citizens and Nazis vandalizing the Bor…
Only 5.3% of welders in the US are women. After years as a writing professor, I became one − here’s what I learned
The author welds a headboard.Jo MackiewiczAlthough I have a good gig as a full professor at Iowa State University, I’ve daydreamed about learning a trade – something that required both my mind and my hands. So in 2018, I started night courses in welding at D…
Cells have more mini ‘organs’ than researchers thought − unbound by membranes, these rogue organelles challenge biology’s fundamentals
Specialized compartments within cells carry out specific functions.Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty ImagesThink back to that basic biology class you took in high school. You probably learned about organelles, those little “organs” inside c…

Is the election making you feel adrift and wobbly? That’s ‘zozobra’ – and Mexican philosophers have some advice

Is it a lovely autumn day, or is America burning to the ground?Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesEver had the feeling that you can’t make sense of what’s happening? One mome...

Carlos Alberto Sánchez, Professor of Philosophy, San José State University

Beefing up Border Patrol is a bipartisan goal, but the agency has a troubled history of violence and impunity
With U.S. voters across the political spectrum strongly concerned about border security, presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been trying to one-up each other on who can reduce migration at the nation’s southern border fastest and most effec…
How Native Americans guarded their societies against tyranny
A purple and white flag representing the world's oldest democracy, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, flies above a Mohawk flag at a Native American gathering.Giordanno Brumas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesWhen the founders of the United States designed the Consti…
How Music Affects our Daily Lives
I was sitting by a window in the hallway of the hospital waiting for a test, worrying about the results. Feeling the warmth and comfort of the sun’s rays upon my face, I felt an immediate sense of peace. I noticed something else that brought even more relief and peace…
Quincy Jones mastered the art of arrangement, transforming simple tunes into epic soundscapes
Quincy Jones left his indelible touch on some of the 20th century's most iconic albums.Arnold Turner/Getty Images for NetflixOn the sleeve notes of some of the most memorable and best-selling albums of all time, you’ll find the words “Produced and arranged b…

What poll watchers can − and can’t − do on Election Day

Poll watchers keep an eye on voting in Georgia in November 2022.AP Photo/Ben GrayWhen most people think of their experience of voting in person, they may remember other voters at the polls, or the har...

Mollie J. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Purdue University

Political bickering and policy uncertainty take a toll on business investment, research shows
Factionalism isn't great for the bottom line. Sefa Ozel/E+ via Getty ImagesPartisan squabbling isn’t just annoying – it’s also bad for business.That’s what my colleagues and I found in a recent study on how uncertainty in environmental policy affects business investment.First…
As the stars of hip-hop’s golden age approach their golden years, some confront questions about whether old blood can make new music
52-year-old rapper Common performs on Sept. 11, 2024, in Atlanta.Paras Griffin/Getty ImagesIt’s always awkward telling people what I do for a living. I’m a rapper. I also work as a professor of hip-hop.I work at the intersection of artmaking and academic research. I write music as part o…
How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths
A photo of Jupiter taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft in September 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, image processing by Tanya OleksuikCurious 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 does Ju…
Osteoporosis, the silent disease, can shorten your life − here’s how to prevent fractures and keep bones healthy
With some simple lifestyle changes, you can lower your risk of osteoporosis.MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty ImagesBecause there are typically no symptoms until the first fracture occurs, osteoporosis is considered a silent disease. Some call it a silent killer. Osteoporosis is a bone diseas…
Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds
The entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.Martin Zwick/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesTwo-thirds of the world’s food comes today from just nine plants: sugar cane, maize (corn), rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava. In the past, farme…

Now the Electoral College votes for president – 4 essential reads

What Buddhism can teach in this moment of deep divisions: No person is ‘evil,’ only ‘mistaken’

This course uses crime novels to teach critical thinking

Trump’s comeback victory, after reshaping his party and national politics, looks a lot like Andrew J…

What is ‘ballot curing’? Election expert explains the method for fixing errors made when voters cast…

2024’s quick win for Trump will go down in the history books alongside 1964 and 1980 Election Day la…

More military veterans and active duty service members are dying by suicide than in battle – understanding why can help with prevention

How much damage could a Russian cyberattack do in the US?

What's the record for how long it's ever rained without stopping?

Trump’s rhetoric after his felony conviction is designed to distract, stoke fear and ease the way for an anti-democratic strongman

Goodbye Kepler, hello TESS: Passing the baton in the search for distant planets

Thwaites Glacier: the melting, Antarctic monster of sea level rise – podcast

What the First Amendment really says – 4 basic principles of free speech in the US

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is so intense, it just ran out of storm names

How humans became the best throwers on the planet

Why some Indians want to change the country's name to 'Bharat'

The ancient Irish get far too much credit for Halloween

2024’s quick win for Trump will go down in the history books alongside 1964 and 1980 Election Day landslides

Will the lights go out on Cuba’s communist leaders? With fewer options to prop up economy, their future looks dimmer

Kristallnacht’s legacy still haunts Hamburg − even as the city rebuilds a former synagogue burned in the Nazi pogrom

Only 5.3% of welders in the US are women. After years as a writing professor, I became one − here’s what I learned

Cells have more mini ‘organs’ than researchers thought − unbound by membranes, these rogue organelles challenge biology’s fundamentals

Is the election making you feel adrift and wobbly? That’s ‘zozobra’ – and Mexican philosophers have some advice

Beefing up Border Patrol is a bipartisan goal, but the agency has a troubled history of violence and impunity

How Native Americans guarded their societies against tyranny

How Music Affects our Daily Lives

Quincy Jones mastered the art of arrangement, transforming simple tunes into epic soundscapes

What poll watchers can − and can’t − do on Election Day

Political bickering and policy uncertainty take a toll on business investment, research shows

As the stars of hip-hop’s golden age approach their golden years, some confront questions about whether old blood can make new music

How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths

Osteoporosis, the silent disease, can shorten your life − here’s how to prevent fractures and keep bones healthy

Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds