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How hip-hop learned to call out homophobia – or at least apologize for it

Matthew Oware, University of Richmond

Greater representation in rap from LGBTQ artists comes as mainstream artists atone for past lyrics.

Is there life in the sea that hasn’t been discovered?

Suzanne OConnell, Wesleyan University

From fluffy crabs that wear sea sponge hats to worms that glow in the dark, scientists are constantly finding amazing new life forms in the ocean.

Arsenic contamination of food and water is a global public health concern – researchers are studying how it causes cancer

Cristina Andrade-Feraud, Florida International University; Diana Azzam, Florida International University

Millions of people worldwide are exposed via soil and water to arsenic, whether naturally occurring or related to pollution. Chronic exposure is linked to the formation of cancer stem cells.

Saying that students embrace censorship on college campuses is incorrect – here’s how to discuss the issue more constructively

Bradford Vivian, Penn State

The quality of public debate over free speech in higher education matters. And the debate right now gets the facts all wrong.

Sudan’s war is wrecking a lot, including its central bank – a legacy of trailblazing African American economist and banker Andrew Brimmer

Christopher Tounsel, University of Washington

Andrew Brimmer, the first African American on the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, helped develop the blueprint for the Central Bank of Sudan.

Baseless anti-trans claims fuel adoption of harmful laws – two criminologists explain

Henry F. Fradella, Arizona State University; Alexis Rowland, University of California, Irvine

Transgender people are more than four times as likely to be the victim of a crime as cisgender people.

COVID-19 clawbacks, spending caps and a cut – what House Republicans got in return for pushing the US to the brink of default

Raymond Scheppach, University of Virginia

Congress passed and the president signed the deal just days before the US was expected to default on its debt.

Charities can get a 6% donations boost when Charity Navigator gives them more stars – but to get there, they might game the system

Jennifer Mayo, University of Missouri-Columbia

Getting an extra star or two from a prominent ratings group can make a bigger difference than a social media campaign or a slew of thank-you calls.

Birth of a story: How new parents find meaning after childbirth hints at how they will adjust

Darby Saxbe, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

How you tell the story of a momentous event can help you make sense of what happened. Research finds new moms’ and dads’ narratives around childbirth held clues about their transition to parenthood.

New anti-transgender laws will hurt Indigenous peoples’ rights and religious expression

‘Man, the hunter’? Archaeologists’ assumptions about gender roles in past humans ignore an icky but potentially crucial part of original ‘paleo diet’

‘Masked’ cancer drug stealthily trains immune system to kill tumors while sparing healthy tissues, reducing treatment side effects