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Democratic Party’s embrace of organized labor in 2024 elections has long roots that had started to wither

  • Written by Robert Forrant, Professor of U.S. History and Labor Studies, UMass Lowell
imageDelegates cheer during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.AP Photo/Paul Sancya

I wonder what my dad, a butcher and a die-hard union man, would think about the state of our country’s political affairs. Is it “Morning in America” as Ronald Reagan exclaimed? “American Carnage” as Donald Trump...

Read more: Democratic Party’s embrace of organized labor in 2024 elections has long roots that had started to...

Los Angeles is in a 4-year sprint to deliver a car-free 2028 Olympics

  • Written by Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University
imageLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass waves an Olympic flag on her return from the closing ceremony of the Paris games, Aug. 12, 2024.tienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

With the Olympic torch extinguished in Paris, all eyes are turning to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics.

The host city has promised that the next Summer Games will be “car-free.”...

Read more: Los Angeles is in a 4-year sprint to deliver a car-free 2028 Olympics

Politicians step up attacks on the teaching of scientific theories in US schools

  • Written by Ryan Summers, Associate Professor of Science Education, University of North Dakota
imageCurrent efforts to stifle scientific theories in school are reminiscent of the attacks on the teaching of the theory of evolution. iStock / Getty Images Plus

Scientific theory has had a rough time in America’s public schools.

Almost 100 years ago, science teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating a Tennessee law that prohibited teaching...

Read more: Politicians step up attacks on the teaching of scientific theories in US schools

Do Charli XCX’s and Kid Rock’s endorsements make a difference? 19% of young people admit they might

  • Written by Richard T. Longoria, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
imageSinger Megan Thee Stallion performs at a Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta on July 30, 2024. Megan Varner/Getty Images

British pop star Charli XCX sent many young people’s group text chats and social media feeds wild when she endorsed Kamala Harris by playing off a term she coined in a song, and posted on X, that “kamala IS brat.”

Whi...

Read more: Do Charli XCX’s and Kid Rock’s endorsements make a difference? 19% of young people admit they might

AI pioneers want bots to replace human teachers – here’s why that’s unlikely

  • Written by Annette Vee, Associate Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh
imageHistory shows technological solutions in education often fall flat. Alexander Sikov via Getty Images

OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy envisions a world in which artificial intelligence bots can be made into subject matter experts that are “deeply passionate, great at teaching, infinitely patient and fluent in all of the world’s...

Read more: AI pioneers want bots to replace human teachers – here’s why that’s unlikely

Blood sugar fluctuations after eating play an important role in anxiety and depression

  • Written by Mary Scourboutakos, Family Medicine Resident and Nutrition Expert, Eastern Virginia Medical School
imageConsuming these types of foods regularly can contribute to mental health risks. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The proverbial “sugar high” that follows the ingestion of a sweet treat is a familiar example of the potentially positive effects of food on mood.

On the flip side, feeling “hangry” – the...

Read more: Blood sugar fluctuations after eating play an important role in anxiety and depression

The mystic and the mathematician: What the towering 20th-century thinkers Simone and André Weil can teach today’s math educators

  • Written by Scott Taylor, Professor of Mathematics, Colby College
imageAndré Weil (left, in 1956) and Simone Weil (in 1922) were siblings who became prominent in mathematics and philosophy, respectively.Konrad Jacobs (right) and Anonymous (left) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Like most mathematicians, I hear confessions from complete strangers: the inevitable “I was always bad at math.” I suppress...

Read more: The mystic and the mathematician: What the towering 20th-century thinkers Simone and André Weil...

Readers prefer to click on a clear, simple headline − like this one

  • Written by David Markowitz, Associate Professor of Communication, Michigan State University
imageTurns out, people like it when their information is delivered in a straightforward way.Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty Images

In an era when people trust news less than ever, how can journalists break through and attract the attention of average people to provide information about their communities, the nation and the world?

By not complicating things.

O...

Read more: Readers prefer to click on a clear, simple headline − like this one

75 years ago, the KKK and anti-communists teamed up to violently stop a folk concert in NY

  • Written by Nina Silber, Professor of History, Boston University
imageFighting rages in Peekskill, N.Y., on Aug. 27,1949, as veterans break up a scheduled concert by singer Paul Robeson.AP Photo

Few Americans today know about the events that occurred 75 years ago in the small Hudson Valley community of Peekskill, New York. That’s where a riot broke out at a folk concert that marked a significant turning point...

Read more: 75 years ago, the KKK and anti-communists teamed up to violently stop a folk concert in NY

Does Democratic VP candidate Walz swear too damn much?

  • Written by Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
imageTim Walz said 'damn' four times while speaking at a union campaign event in Wayne, Mich., on Aug. 8, 2024. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

During a campaign event with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Michigan on Aug. 8, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, used the word “damn” four times during his brief...

Read more: Does Democratic VP candidate Walz swear too damn much?

More Articles ...

  1. Sharks are taking a bite out of anglers’ catch in the Gulf of Mexico, but culling isn’t likely to help
  2. Biden administration’s negotiated price cuts for 10 common prescription drugs likely to save Medicare billions, beginning in 2026
  3. Why don’t more politicians retire? A medical anthropologist explains how the US could benefit from a mandatory retirement age
  4. Could we use volcanoes to make electricity?
  5. Ancient Rome had ways to counter the urban heat island effect – how history’s lessons apply to cities today
  6. Astronomers have warned against colonial practices in the space industry − a philosopher of science explains how the industry could explore other planets without exploiting them
  7. Anthropology students present their research in poetry, plays and op-eds in this course
  8. Who is the ‘Laughing Buddha’? A scholar of East Asian Buddhism explains
  9. Banana apocalypse, part 2 – a genomicist explains the tricky genetics of the fungus devastating bananas worldwide
  10. US voters say they’re ready for a woman president − but sexist attitudes still go along with opposition to Harris
  11. Editing fetal genomes is on the horizon − a medical anthropologist explains why ethical discussions with the target communities should happen sooner rather than later
  12. His crayon is purple – but is Harold a Black boy?
  13. Most young voters support Kamala Harris − but that doesn’t guarantee they will show up at the polls
  14. Complicated app settings are a threat to user privacy
  15. West Nile virus season returns − a medical epidemiologist explains how it’s transmitted and how you can avoid it
  16. Hard-to-treat traumas and painful memories may be treatable with EMDR – a trauma therapist explains why it is gaining popularity
  17. US has its first national strategy to reduce plastic pollution − here are 3 strong points and a key issue to watch
  18. US military presence in Syria carries substantial risks, but so does complete withdrawal
  19. What is mpox? A microbiologist explains what’s known about this smallpox cousin
  20. In praise of the weird
  21. Catholics are debating whether to remove paintings by a priest accused of abusing women − but let’s not confuse the artist and the art, writes an art historian
  22. Real-time crime centers are transforming policing – a criminologist explains how these advanced surveillance systems work
  23. Chicagoans watch films of the violent 1968 convention protests to get ready for the Democratic convention
  24. Hispanic women are less likely to get PrEP treatment − new intervention could change that
  25. Raising the retirement age won’t defuse China’s demographic time bomb – but mass immigration might
  26. Trees compete for space, light and resources, and those clashes can leave battle scars
  27. Students with mental health struggles linked to absenteeism and lower grades, showing clear need for more in-school support
  28. Local elections are less partisan because voters will cross party lines when issues hit close to home
  29. Kamala Harris’ sudden political rise echoes that of another female politician, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern
  30. How back-to-back hurricanes set off a year of compounding disasters for one city − and alarm bells about risks in a warming world
  31. 3 years after fall of Kabul, US Congress has still not acted to secure future of more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees in US
  32. Ukraine’s cross-border incursion challenges Moscow’s war narrative – but will it shift Russian opinion?
  33. Historians diving for balloons and hoping for hot dish: What Smithsonian curators will be doing at the Democratic National Convention
  34. Offensive names dot the American street map − a new app provides a way to track them
  35. Americans love free speech, survey finds − until they realize everyone else has it, too
  36. Fluid keeps your brain from crushing itself and shields your spine from shock – a neurologist explains what happens when it stops working
  37. Future lawyers learn key lessons from studying poetry in parks in this course
  38. Philly schools are in disrepair − the municipal bond market is 1 big reason
  39. 3 of Jane Austen’s 6 brothers engaged in antislavery activism − new research offers more clues about her own views
  40. Kamala, a common name in India, is associated with several deities and is a symbol of wisdom
  41. LGBTQ people have a troubled relationship with police − new survey shows high rates of harassment, abuse and distrust
  42. Even fictional presidents don’t look like Kamala Harris − although Black men and white women have been represented in the Oval Office
  43. SpaceX’s Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president – what this could mean for US space policy
  44. Hotel guests are getting used to refillable shampoos and less housekeeping, study suggests
  45. International students will offer a big boost to the US economy this back-to-school season
  46. How Ohio schools reduced chronic absenteeism
  47. Wildfires don’t just burn farmland − they can contaminate the water farmers use to irrigate crops and support livestock
  48. JD Vance is no pauper − he’s a classic example of ‘poornography,’ in which the rich try to speak on behalf of the poor
  49. Mammary glands in a dish − what miniature organs reveal about evolution, lactation, regeneration and breast cancer
  50. FDA rejects MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD treatment – a drug researcher explains the challenges psychedelics face