The Conversation

How Elon Musk’s deep ties to – and admiration for – China could complicate Trump’s Beijing policy

Written by Linggong Kong, Ph.D. Student, Auburn University

Elon Musk holds an outsized influence in the new Trump administration.

As head of his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the world’s wealthiest man has enjoyed nearly unfettered political power in slashing and refashioning the federal government as he sees fit. And it has quickly become clear that he has the president’s ear on...

Rising house prices don’t just make it harder to become a homeowner – they also widen the racial wealth gap

Written by Joe LaBriola, Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan

Homeownership – long a cornerstone of the “the American dream” – is increasingly out of reach for the average American. Over the past four decades, U.S. house prices have risen by 75% in real terms, pushing the costs of homeownership for the typical first-time homebuyer to a record high. At the same time, these rising...

3 ways Trump is acting like a king and bypassing the Constitution’s checks and balances on presidential authority

Written by David Lopez, University Professor of Law, Rutgers University - Newark

Donald Trump's efforts to expand presidential power defy the Constitutional separation of powers.zimmytws/iStock via Getty Images

I learned basic civics in my public school. But mostly, because it was more interesting, I also learned civics after school watching the animated series “Schoolhouse Rock,” often with my abuela – my...

Why including people with disabilities in the workforce and higher education benefits everyone

Written by Lauren Shallish, Associate Professor of Disability Studies in Education, Rutgers University - Newark

The employment rate for people with disabilities is about half that of nondisabled people.Johner Images via Getty Images

Whether it’s declaring that blindness prevents government employees from doing their jobs or suggesting that hiring workers with intellectual disabilities contributed to Federal Aviation Administration safety lapses, the...

As Pennsylvania inches toward legalizing recreational cannabis, lawmakers propose selling it in state-owned dispensaries similar to state liquor stores

Written by Daniel J. Mallinson, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Penn State

Advocates believe Pennsylvania and Hawaii may be the next fronts in recreational cannabis legalization. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

After a long, largely successful march over 25 years to liberalize cannabis laws in the United States, the movement had a tough election in 2024.

Legalization ballot measures failed in Florida, North Dakota and South...

Can animals have mental disabilities?

Written by Rachel Blaser, Professor of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior, University of San Diego

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.

Are there any animals with mental disabilities? – Adria G.

Max was a fun-loving Labrador retriever who enjoyed going for car rides and greeting clients at his owner’s office. But...

How Roman society integrated people who altered their bodies and defied gender norms

Written by Tom Sapsford, Assistant professor of Classical Studies, Boston College

A relief showing a gallus making sacrifices to the goddess Cybele and Attis.Sailko via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

A few weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders restricting the rights of trans workers in the federal government. The first was a renewal of the ban on transgender people joining the U.S. military &nda...

The quest to extend human life is both fascinating and fraught with moral peril

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has made it his life's mission to delay aging and death.Netflix

“Who wants to live forever?” Freddie Mercury mournfully asks in Queen’s 1986 song of the same name.

The answer: Quite a few people – so much so that life extension has long been a cottage industry.

As a physician and scholar in...

I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to see how Trump supporters are feeling − for them, a ‘golden age’ has begun

Written by Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University - Newark

Attendees take selfies at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 20, 2025. Andrew Harnick/Getty Images

At the start of his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump declared, “The golden age of America begins right now!”

A month later, Trump’s supporters gathered at the annual Conse...

Trump’s moves to strip employment protections from federal workers threaten to make government function worse – not better

Written by James L. Perry, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Emeritus, Indiana University

Federal workers' jobs may become more precarious than in the past.mathisworks/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

On top of efforts to fire potentially tens of thousands of federal workers, an early executive order from President Donald Trump’s second term seeks to reclassify the employment status of as many as 50,000 other federal workers...