The Conversation

Trump’s first 100 days show him dictating the terms of press coverage − following Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán’s playbook for media control

Written by Adam G. Klein, Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Pace University

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during a meeting in the Oval Office on May 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stood before a captivated audience of conservative activists from the U.S. and laid out his vision for American politics....

50 years later, Vietnam’s environment still bears the scars of war – and signals a dark future for Gaza and Ukraine

Written by Pamela McElwee, Professor of Human Ecology, Rutgers University

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. bombed and defoliated vast areas of forest and protective mangroves.AP Photo

When the Vietnam War finally ended on April 30, 1975, it left behind a landscape scarred with environmental damage. Vast stretches of coastal mangroves, once housing rich stocks of fish and birds, lay in ruins. Forests that had boasted...

Trump administration’s attempt to nix the labor rights of thousands of federal workers on ‘national security’ grounds furthers the GOP’s long-held anti-union agenda

Written by Bob Bussel, Professor Emeritus of History and Labor Education, University of Oregon

Airline passengers wait at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint before boarding to flights in Denver in 2022.Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

As the Trump administration seeks to shrink the federal workforce, slash nonmilitary spending and curb opposition to its policies, it is taking steps beyond the firing and furloughing of...

Bureaucrats get a bad rap, but they deserve more credit − a sociologist of work explains why

Written by Michel Anteby, Professor of Management and Organizations & Sociology at Questrom School of Business & College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University

It’s telling that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration wants to fire bureaucrats. In its view, bureaucrats stand for everything that’s wrong with the United States: overregulation, inefficiency and even the nation’s deficit, since they draw salaries from taxpayers.

But bureaucrats have historically stood for...

Italy’s Meloni is positioning herself as bridge between EU and Trump – but will it work?

Written by Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Associate Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University

Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks to thread a divide.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently became the first European leader to visit the United States after President Donald Trump announced a new tariff regime on trading partners, including a 20% levy on imports from the European Union.

While...

Pope Francis filled the College of Cardinals with a diverse group of men – and they’ll be picking his successor

Written by Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross

The Catholic Church's 115 cardinal-electors take part in a mass in St. Peter's Basilica on March 12, 2013, ahead of entering the conclave for a papal election.Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images

Following the death of 88-year-old Pope Francis on Easter Monday, several cardinals who were already in Rome, or who traveled only short...

Granular systems, such as sandpiles or rockslides, are all around you − new research will help scientists describe how they work

Written by Jacqueline Reber, Associate Professor of Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate, Iowa State University

Sand is one type of granular system – hundreds of grains act collectively. Nenov/Moment via Getty Images

Did you eat cereal this morning? Or have you walked on a gravel path? Maybe you had a headache and had to take a pill? If you answered any of these questions with a yes, you interacted with a granular system today.

Scientists classify any...

Cancer research in the US is world class because of its broad base of funding − with the government pulling out, its future is uncertain

Written by Jeffrey MacKeigan, Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University

Without federal support, the lights will turn off in many labs across the country.Thomas Barwick/Stone via Getty Images

Cancer research in the U.S. doesn’t rely on a single institution or funding stream − it’s a complex ecosystem made up of interdependent parts: academia, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology startups, federal...

Detroit’s lack of affordable housing pushes families to the edge - and children sometime pay the price

Written by Meghan Wilson, Assistant Professor of American Politics and Public Policy, Michigan State University

Some of Detroit's unhoused population take refuge in abandoned buildings, cars and parks. Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As outside temperatures dropped to the low- to mid-teens Fahrenheit on Feb. 10, 2025, two children died of carbon monoxide toxicity in a family van parked in a Detroit casino parking garage.

We are political...

How does soap keep you clean? A chemist explains the science of soap

Written by Paul E. Richardson, Professor of Biochemistry, Coastal Carolina University

Be sure to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.Mladen Zivkovic/iStock via Getty Images Plus

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.

How does soap clean our bodies? – Charlie H., age 8, Stamford, Connecticut

Thousands of...