FTC steps in as subscription economy balloons

How to overcome your device dependency and manage a successful digital detox

Kelley Cours Anderson, College of Charleston; Karen Anne Wallach, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Disconnecting from the digital realm from time to time is good for your well-being, but doing so can be difficult. There are steps you can take, however, to get in the habit of putting your phone down.

‘Safe route’ or ‘sushi route’ − 2 strategies to turn yuck to yum and convince people to eat unusual foods

Alexandra Plakias, Hamilton College

Past shifts in food habits suggest there are 2 paths to the adoption of new foods: One relies on familiarity and safety, the other on novelty and excitement.

Jobs report gives a final lackluster snapshot prior to election − but overall, the economy under Biden has been a tale of 2 eras

Christopher Decker, University of Nebraska Omaha

The US added just 12,000 jobs in October 2024.

St. Augustine was no stranger to culture wars – and has something to say about today’s

Michael Lamb, Wake Forest University

Augustine had divisive opinions – and didn’t mind sharing them. But his writing also has lessons about talking to people who don’t see eye to eye.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations blend Indigenous customs and European thinking in surprising ways

Ezekiel Stear, Auburn University

The Aztecs deliberated on how to continue their traditions and preserve their group identity following the Spanish invasion.

Sudan’s civil war has left at least 62,000 dead by our estimate − but the true figure could be far higher

The work of estimating conflict mortality is difficult. But that doesn’t make this grim exercise, nor accounting for the broader effects of conflict, any less critical.

The colonial legacy lurking beneath economic unrest in the French Caribbean

David A. Vivian, Soka University of America

Recent protests in the French overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe are ostensibly over cost-of-living increases. But the roots of inequality go much deeper.

No, America’s battery plant boom isn’t going bust – construction is on track for the biggest factories, with over 23,000 jobs planned

James Morton Turner, Wellesley College; Joshua Busby, The University of Texas at Austin; Nathan Jensen, The University of Texas at Austin

The future of these job-generating gigafactories, many of them in Republican states, could be at risk if the next president tries to wipe out the programs that made them possible.

Monkeys know who will win the election – primal instincts humans share with them shape voters’ choices

Michael Platt, University of Pennsylvania

Every human brain still holds primitive instincts that we share with our monkey ancestors. Is that part of your brain in charge when you cast your ballot?

Elon Musk misses Philly court date, stalling ‘illegal lottery’ case against him − an expert on Philadelphia politics weighs in

Richardson Dilworth, Drexel University

The tech billionaire did not show up to the Thursday morning hearing, which was moved to a courtroom at City Hall due to security concerns.

For one survivor, the 1920 Election Day massacre in Florida was ‘the night the devil got loose’

Jerald Podair, Lawrence University

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the use of racist literacy tests and poll taxes to ban Black voters. It came too late for Black voters in Ocoee, Florida.

Denver slaughterhouse ban could affect food systems in Colorado and beyond

Jennifer Martin, Colorado State University

Ballot measure 309 would ban the only slaughterhouse in Denver, which processes up to 20% of the country’s lamb product.

Trump’s Detroit insults are based on old narratives local media are rewriting every day

Danielle K. Brown, Michigan State University

A professor of urban journalism explains what the national press has overlooked about Detroit’s grit and revival.

International election monitors can help boost people’s trust in the electoral process − but not all work the same way

Sarah Bush, University of Pennsylvania; Lauren Prather, University of California, San Diego

While the US supports nonpartisan election observers in other countries, the practice has a low profile in this country.

Who formally declares the winner of the US presidential election?

Amy Dacey, American University

No, it’s not the TV news networks. The presidential election certification process is a lot more complicated than that − and as Americans learned in 2020, it can take a long time.

Making a Snickers bar is a complex science − a candy engineer explains how to build the airy nougat and chewy caramel of this Halloween favorite

Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats

Why vote for Harris or Trump? A cheat sheet on the candidates’ records, why their supporters like them and why picking one or the other makes sense

Here’s the first question of this week’s edition:

According to a University of Michigan linguist, which term for a person from Michigan is used most by people *who actually live in Michigan*?

1. A. Michigander
2. B. Michiganian
3. C. Michfit
4. D. Mitten Kitten

Test your knowledge