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The Conversation

A video game based on the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ is the most recent example of innovative retelling of this popular story

  • Written by Michael Naparstek, Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Tennessee
imageGaming enthusiasts at the 2023 Gamescom gaming fair on Aug. 23, 2023, in Cologne, Germany.Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

The recent launch of the video game “Black Myth: Wukong” has broken numerous records around the world for the number of users. The game is set in the world of the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the...

Read more: A video game based on the Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ is the most recent example of...

Inside the collapse of Disney’s America, the US history-themed park that almost was

  • Written by Jared Bahir Browsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
imageDisney has long promoted a sanitized and nostalgic view of American history.Bettmann/Getty Images

As a top producer of children’s entertainment, Disney is no stranger to America’s culture wars.

Liberals have long criticized the company for its products’ promotion of gender stereotypes and racist tropes. Meanwhile, conservatives...

Read more: Inside the collapse of Disney’s America, the US history-themed park that almost was

Goodwill created a new high school for dropouts − it led to better jobs and higher wages

  • Written by Patrick Turner, Associate Research Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame
imageGraduates found jobs in high-paying sectors, new research shows.izusek/E+ via Getty Images

When Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana realized most of the clients in its job-training program lacked a high school diploma, it set out to address the issue.

In 2010, with the help of per-pupil funding from the state, the nonprofit opened The Excel...

Read more: Goodwill created a new high school for dropouts − it led to better jobs and higher wages

A weakened Hezbollah is being goaded into all-out conflict with Israel – the consequences would be devastating for all

  • Written by Asher Kaufman, Professor of History and Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

For almost a year, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in increasingly provocative cross-border skirmishes as onlookers warn that this escalating war of attrition could land the region in all-out conflict. The past few days have made that devastating scenario closer to a reality.

First came Israel’s pager and walkie-talkie attack, an...

Read more: A weakened Hezbollah is being goaded into all-out conflict with Israel – the consequences would be...

Why can’t it always be summer? It’s all about the Earth’s tilt

  • Written by Stephanie Spera, Assistant Professor of Geography and the Environment, University of Richmond
imageOne hemisphere has summer, while the opposite has winter.Prasit photo/Moment via Getty Imagesimage

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.

Why can’t it always be summer? – Amanda, age 5, Chile

With its long days just itching to...

Read more: Why can’t it always be summer? It’s all about the Earth’s tilt

Gentrification isn’t inevitable − it can hinge on how residents view their neighborhood

  • Written by Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
imageFamilies on bikes at a July Fourth parade in Houston's Northside neighborhood.Jimmy Castillo, CC BY-ND

Gentrification has become a familiar story in cities across the United States. The story line typically goes this way: Middle- and upper-income people start moving into a lower-income or poor neighborhood. Housing prices rise in response, and longt...

Read more: Gentrification isn’t inevitable − it can hinge on how residents view their neighborhood

Trump and Harris vocabularies signal their different frames of mind

  • Written by Patricia Friedrich, Vice Provost and Professor of Sociolinguistics, Arizona State University
imageThe debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris revealed more about each person in what they said and how they said it.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In their campaigns, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris project different emotions and moods. The contrast between them was particularly sharp during their debate on Sept. 10, 2024....

Read more: Trump and Harris vocabularies signal their different frames of mind

Men are carrying the brunt of the ‘loneliness epidemic’ amid potent societal pressures

  • Written by Alvin Thomas, Associate Professor, Phyllis Northway Faculty Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison
imageSinger Justin Bieber is seen on May 16, 2024, in Los Angeles.BG046/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

A few weeks before Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, announced in May 2024 that they were expecting, the pop icon posted a selfie where he appears tearful and distraught.

While media attention quickly pivoted to the pregnancy, there was little attention paid...

Read more: Men are carrying the brunt of the ‘loneliness epidemic’ amid potent societal pressures

Wind phones help the bereaved deal with death, loss and grief − a clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone

  • Written by Taryn Lindhorst, Professor of Social Work, University of Washington
imageThe first wind phone was built in 2010 in Otsuchi, Japan.Matthew Komatsu/Wikimedia Commons

My mother died in my home in hospice in 2020, on the day my state of Washington went into COVID-19 lockdown. Her body was taken away, but none of the usual touchstones for grief were available to our family. There was no funeral or supportive gathering, no...

Read more: Wind phones help the bereaved deal with death, loss and grief − a clinical social worker explains...

Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments − why?

  • Written by Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Iowa
imageStigma and prejudice make it difficult for Black gay men to access PrEP.Willie B. Thomas/DigitalVision via Getty Images

At a pharmacy in Iowa, a 42-year-old Black gay man couldn’t find a medication he needed. The pharmacist, a white woman, told him they didn’t stock that medication. But while he waited to pay for his other purchases, he...

Read more: Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments −...

More Articles ...

  1. College can be confusing for first-generation students – but it doesn’t have to be
  2. Self-forgiveness is more than self-comfort − a philosopher explains
  3. Nepal’s revamped truth commissions will need to go beyond ‘ritualism’ to deliver justice to civil war victims
  4. Rare Florida fossil finally ends debate about how porcupine jaws and tails evolved
  5. Pager attack on Hezbollah was a sophisticated ‘booby-trap’ operation − it was also illegal
  6. Immigrants are unsung heroes of global trade and value creation
  7. How Israel’s Netanyahu survives in his job
  8. Why the cost of water for poor Black Detroit voters may be key to Kamala Harris winning – or losing – Michigan
  9. Invasive caterpillars can make aspen forests more toxic for native insects – a team of ecologists explains how
  10. TRUTH in Labeling Act would heighten the warning for shoppers looking to cut sugar, salt and saturated fat intake
  11. You want to vote in the 2024 election − here is how to make sure that your voice is heard
  12. 50 years after the first procedure, Tommy John surgery is more common than ever − especially for young athletes
  13. Collaboratively imagining the future can bring people closer together in the present
  14. Fed slashes rates by a half-point – what that means for the economy and the presidential election
  15. Pagers and walkie-talkies over cellphones – a security expert explains why Hezbollah went low-tech for communications
  16. Preventive care is free by law, but many Americans get incorrectly billed − especially if you’re poor, a person of color or don’t have a college degree
  17. What the jet stream and climate change had to do with the hottest summer on record − remember all those heat domes?
  18. What James Earl Jones can teach us about activism and art in times of crisis
  19. To American revolutionaries, patriotism meant fair dealing with one another
  20. UN’s pact to protect future generations will be undermined by Security Council’s veto and its use in cases of mass atrocity
  21. Why Pennsylvania is the key to a Harris or Trump Electoral College victory
  22. Young professionals are struggling to socially adapt in the workplace – educators can help
  23. Abortion rights are on 10 state ballots in November − Democrats can’t count on this to win elections for them
  24. How the Israeli settlers movement shaped modern Israel
  25. Eviction filings can destabilize tenants’ lives – even when they win their case
  26. Trump’s second assassination attempt is shocking, but attempts on presidents’ lives are not rare in US history
  27. Happiness swings votes – and America’s current mood could scramble expectations of young and old voters
  28. Why holding kids back fails − and what to do about it
  29. Denver’s experiment in providing a soft landing for newly arrived migrants and asylum-seekers isn’t cheap – but doing nothing might cost more
  30. Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein’s theory of time have to do with misunderstandings about climate change
  31. Health care under Harris versus Trump: A public health historian sizes up their records
  32. ‘They’re eating pets’ – another example of US politicians smearing Haiti and Haitian immigrants
  33. Tiny robots and AI algorithms could help to craft material solutions for cleaner environments
  34. TikTok ban goes to the court: 5 essential reads on the case and its consequences
  35. America’s dairy farms are disappearing, down 95% since the 1970s − milk price rules are one reason why
  36. Class and race can create divides between donors and a cause they support − putting stress on those nonprofits
  37. Empowering engineering students through storytelling
  38. Women are still underrepresented in local government, despite a woman running for president
  39. Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot system has a problem − but it’s not what Trump is making unfounded claims about
  40. Intoxication nation: a double shot of US history
  41. Will your phone one day let you smell as well as see and hear what’s on the other end of a call?
  42. What are halal mortgages?
  43. How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long-term health effects − and hides racial disparities
  44. Plants get a GMO glow-up: Genetically modified varieties are coming out of the lab and into homes and gardens
  45. Vatican News: How to Stay Informed on the Global Religious Landscape
  46. Students ride the rails in this course to learn about sustainability and tourism
  47. Creative life after death − or yes, you can control spinoffs from beyond the grave
  48. Sunflowers make small moves to maximize their Sun exposure − physicists can model them to predict how they grow
  49. Voters’ ‘moral flexibility’ helps them defend politicians’ misinformation − if they believe the inaccurate info speaks to a larger truth
  50. Wild ginseng is declining, but small-scale ‘diggers’ aren’t the main threat to this native plant − and they can help save it