The Conversation

Kaine was the logical choice as Hillary Clinton's Vice President

Written by Andra Gillespie, Associate Professor, Political Science, Emory University

Hillary Clinton has selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate.

While this news was not surprising – Kaine had long been suspected to be a top choice and made President Obama’s short list in 2008 – it does raise questions about Secretary Clinton’s choices. In an extremely polarized election contest where her own...

It'll take more than tech for Elon Musk to pull off audacious new Tesla master plan

Written by Andrew Maynard, Director, Risk Innovation Lab, Arizona State University

Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla Motors – has just revealed the second part of his master plan for the company. And it’s a doozy. Not content with producing sleek electric cars (which to be fair, was only ever a stepping stone to greater things), Musk wants to fundamentally change how we live our lives. But the road to Musk’s...

The one Roger Ailes hire that changed American politics forever

Written by Russell Frank, Associate Professor of Communications, Pennsylvania State University

Roger Ailes’ 20-year reign as the chairman of Fox News ended this week, the result of a sexual harassment scandal.

He will be remembered by journalism ethicists as the poster boy for conflict of interest. But of Ailes' many departures from journalistic norms of impartiality, the most egregious was his hiring of a cousin of presidential...

Drunk driving laws don't match the research

Written by Brad J. Uren, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan

Emergency physicians learn to be prepared for anything thrown at us in the clinical arena. Personal life is a different story. Last year a drunk driver with multiple prior offenses and no valid driver’s license smashed a truck through the wall of my son’s daycare.

Fortunately, the children and staff were in undamaged areas. But just...

Africa's growing and neglected cancer problem: We will all suffer

Written by Miles A. Pomper, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Uganda’s only radiation treatment machine broke down in April earlier this year, provoking widespread public criticism and leaving an estimated 30,000 new cancer patients stranded.

Yet the lack of adequate cancer care was hardly unique in the region: 80 percent of Africa’s one billion people have no access to radiotherapy although half...

Are gifted kids more sensitive to screen violence?

Written by Jonathan Wai, Research Scientist, Duke University

What's the impact of violence on screen?Donnie Ray Jones, CC BY

The past few weeks have been full of several unfortunate violent events: the massacre in Orlando, the killing of black men by police officers, the sniper attack in Dallas, the Bastille Day attack in France, the violent coup attempt in Turkey and the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Wh...

Why calls for 'unity' are not enough: Look at the 1930s and 1940s

Written by Wendy Wall, Associate Professor, 20th century American history, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Preaching unity in 1948 on the Freedom TrainUS National Archives and Records Administration

The U.S. is in the midst of a tepid economic recovery following a catastrophic downturn, but millions of Americans continue to feel left behind. Some turn their anger on corporations and Wall Street. Others target nonwhite immigrant workers. A charismatic...

In acceptance speech, Trump embraces role as hero of the forgotten

Written by Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication and Director of the Aggie Agora, Texas A&M University

Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for the presidency in a speech destined to be remembered by history as the “I am your voice” speech – a phrase that Trump repeated several times to tie together his themes of economic revitalization, military strength and government honesty.

As a scholar of American political...

Is the Constitution at stake in this year's election?

Written by Patrick Wiseman, Professor of Law, Georgia State University

If Senate Republicans are true to their word, the next president of the United States will nominate Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement.

Given the age of several other members of the Supreme Court and rumors of others’ retirement, it is likely the next president will make as many as four nominations.

This potentially dramatic change in...

More CO2 won't help northern forests or stave off climate change

Written by Noah Charney, Postdoctoral Research Associate of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona

Higher carbon dioxide levels will not result in faster-growing forests -- just the opposite in many places, study finds. rosskevin756/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

We’ve heard the predictions of how greenhouse gas emissions will drive changes in the temperatures and precipitation people experience. But how these changes affect the world’s forests...