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The Conversation

Religions talk about the value of humility − but it can be especially hard for clergy to practice what they preach

  • Written by Elise Ji Young Choe, Psychology Researcher, the Danielsen Institute, Boston University
imageIt can be hard to be humble when people look to you for answers.pastie/E+ via Getty Images

Being a religious leader means wearing many different hats. At times, their congregations expect them to convey passionate confidence – to be models of faith and strength. But wise leadership also means listening and being willing to change your mind:...

Read more: Religions talk about the value of humility − but it can be especially hard for clergy to practice...

Ballot measures to legalize recreational use of cannabis fail in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota

  • Written by William Garriott, Professor of Law, Politics and Society, Drake University
imageFlorida's marijuana measure needed 60% of the vote to pass and got only 56%.Tina Russell for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Nov. 5, 2024, was a tough day for cannabis legalization supporters.

Recreational legalization ballot questions in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota all failed.

Two medical measures passed in Nebraska but face legal...

Read more: Ballot measures to legalize recreational use of cannabis fail in Florida, North Dakota and South...

‘Yellowstone’ highlights Montana’s long-forgotten connection to the Confederacy

  • Written by Randi Lynn Tanglen, Professor of English and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, University of North Dakota
imageDuring and after the Civil War, thousands of Confederate soldiers resettled in the Big Sky State.Donovan Reese/Photodisc via Getty Images

The popular “Yellowstone” TV series, set and filmed in Montana, taps into a lesser-known chapter of the state’s history: its settlement by Confederates and ex-Confederates during and after the...

Read more: ‘Yellowstone’ highlights Montana’s long-forgotten connection to the Confederacy

Military veterans are disproportionately affected by suicide, but targeted prevention can help reverse the tide

  • Written by Jordan Batchelor, Research Analyst at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety, Arizona State University
imageMounting evidence shows that veterans need targeted suicide prevention services.adamkaz/E+ via Getty Images

America’s military veterans make up about 6% of the adult population but account for about 20% of all suicides. That means that each day, about 18 veterans will die by suicide.

In the U.S., the overall rate of suicide has largely...

Read more: Military veterans are disproportionately affected by suicide, but targeted prevention can help...

Microplastics promote cloud formation, with likely effects on weather and climate

  • Written by Miriam Freedman, Professor of Chemistry, Penn State
imageGiant cumulonimbus clouds in Australia.Steve Christo - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Clouds form when water vapor – an invisible gas in the atmosphere – sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into liquid water droplets or ice crystals. In a newly published study, we show that microplastic particles can have the same...

Read more: Microplastics promote cloud formation, with likely effects on weather and climate

America’s glass ceiling remains − here are some of the reasons why a woman may have once again lost the presidency

  • Written by Farida Jalalzai, Professor of Political Science; Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech
imageA hand fan depicting Kamala Harris lies on the sidewalk in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 6, 2024. Bastien Inzaurralde/AFP via Getty Images

Kamala Harris was a candidate of many firsts, including the first Black and South Asian woman to run for president as the Democratic nominee.

Her resounding, swift loss in the presidential race to Republican Donald...

Read more: America’s glass ceiling remains − here are some of the reasons why a woman may have once again...

Iran’s currency was already tumbling − and then news of Trump’s victory broke

  • Written by Nader Habibi, Henry J. Leir Professor of Practice in Economics of the Middle East, Brandeis University
imageTraders are exchanging 700,000 Iranian rials for the dollar in Tehran.Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg

As the world absorbed news of Donald Trump’s comeback victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, concern in Iran turned to the impact of the election on its own economy amid escalating regional tensions.

Iran’s currency, the rial, fell to an...

Read more: Iran’s currency was already tumbling − and then news of Trump’s victory broke

Now the Electoral College votes for president – 4 essential reads

  • Written by Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation US

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 outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be determined by the Electoral College.

The Conversation U.S. has had several articles explaining the history...

Read more: 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’

  • Written by Jeremy David Engels, Professor of Communication, Penn State
imageThe three wise monkeys, embodying the proverbial principle from Buddhist philosophy: 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.'Natallia Pershaj/iStock/Getty images plus

Democracy depends upon using words wisely. With the right words, citizens can live and work together, even in disagreement – and resolve conflicts peacefully.

Today,...

Read more: 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

  • Written by Sally C. Harris, Distinguished Lecturer in English, University of Tennessee
imageFictional books on private investigators hold invaluable clues about justice and how the world works. iStock / Getty Images Plusimage

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Whodunit?: Detective Stories

What prompted the idea for the course?

I had just finished...

Read more: This course uses crime novels to teach critical thinking

More Articles ...

  1. Trump’s comeback victory, after reshaping his party and national politics, looks a lot like Andrew Jackson’s in 1828
  2. What is ‘ballot curing’? Election expert explains the method for fixing errors made when voters cast their ballots
  3. 2024’s quick win for Trump will go down in the history books alongside 1964 and 1980 Election Day landslides
  4. Will the lights go out on Cuba’s communist leaders? With fewer options to prop up economy, their future looks dimmer
  5. Kristallnacht’s legacy still haunts Hamburg − even as the city rebuilds a former synagogue burned in the Nazi pogrom
  6. Carl Sagan’s scientific legacy extends far beyond ‘Cosmos’
  7. Cells have more mini ‘organs’ than researchers thought − unbound by membranes, these rogue organelles challenge biology’s fundamentals
  8. Only 5.3% of welders in the US are women. After years as a writing professor, I became one − here’s what I learned
  9. Beefing up Border Patrol is a bipartisan goal, but the agency has a troubled history of violence and impunity
  10. Is the election making you feel adrift and wobbly? That’s ‘zozobra’ – and Mexican philosophers have some advice
  11. How Native Americans guarded their societies against tyranny
  12. Quincy Jones mastered the art of arrangement, transforming simple tunes into epic soundscapes
  13. The 27 Club isn’t true, but it is real − a sociologist explains why myths endure and how they shape reality
  14. What poll watchers can − and can’t − do on Election Day
  15. Political bickering and policy uncertainty take a toll on business investment, research shows
  16. I’m a Muslim immigrant and a psychiatrist living in Michigan – I haven’t decided how to vote yet
  17. How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths
  18. As the stars of hip-hop’s golden age approach their golden years, some confront questions about whether old blood can make new music
  19. Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy because of the symbolic value of seeds
  20. Osteoporosis, the silent disease, can shorten your life − here’s how to prevent fractures and keep bones healthy
  21. The racist ‘one-drop rule’ lives on in how Trump talks about Black politicians and whiteness in America
  22. Undoing the ‘deep state’ means Trump would undo over a century of progress in building a federal government for the people and not just for rich white men
  23. Election anxiety doesn’t need to win − here are 3 science-backed strategies from a clinical psychologist to rein in the stress
  24. Massachusetts could be the next state to get rid of the ‘subminimum wage’ for tipped workers
  25. Massachusetts votes to keep its ‘subminimum wage’ for tipped workers
  26. Jobs report gives a final lackluster snapshot prior to election − but overall, the economy under Biden has been a tale of 2 eras
  27. US government tries to rein in an out-of-control subscription economy
  28. ‘Safe route’ or ‘sushi route’ − 2 strategies to turn yuck to yum and convince people to eat unusual foods
  29. How to overcome your device dependency and manage a successful digital detox
  30. St. Augustine was no stranger to culture wars – and has something to say about today’s
  31. The colonial legacy lurking beneath economic unrest in the French Caribbean
  32. Monkeys know who will win the election – primal instincts humans share with them shape voters’ choices
  33. No, America’s battery plant boom isn’t going bust – construction is on track for the biggest factories, with over 23,000 jobs planned
  34. No, America’s battery plant boom isn’t going bust – construction is on track for the biggest factories, with thousands of jobs planned
  35. For one survivor, the 1920 Election Day massacre in Florida was ‘the night the devil got loose’
  36. Elon Musk misses Philly court date, stalling ‘illegal lottery’ case against him − an expert on Philadelphia politics weighs in
  37. Trump’s Detroit insults are based on old narratives local media are rewriting every day
  38. Denver slaughterhouse ban could affect food systems in Colorado and beyond
  39. Denver voters reject slaughterhouse ban, allowing Superior Farms to continue selling lamb in Colorado and nationwide
  40. International election monitors can help boost people’s trust in the electoral process − but not all work the same way
  41. Who formally declares the winner of the US presidential election?
  42. Sudan’s civil war has left at least 62,000 dead by our estimate − but the true figure could be far higher
  43. With Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Republicans’ ‘strict father’ has become the creepy uncle
  44. Independent voters think for themselves and stay out of politics – 3 essential reads
  45. Tariffs are back in the spotlight, but skepticism of free trade has deep roots in American history
  46. New Orleans schools still separate and unequal 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education
  47. In Hawaii, parasites and viruses team up in the battle against fruit flies – an entomologist explains the implication for global pest control
  48. Rust Belt voters aren’t all white, but election coverage of the region often ignores the concerns of people of color there
  49. The next president will play a key role in shaping US trade policy – here’s what voters need to know
  50. Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats