Oval Office debacle reflects new reality for Ukraine

Who’s who at the Vatican?

Daniel Speed Thompson, University of Dayton

The pope leads the Catholic Church, but some 2,000 other people work at the Holy See and city-state.

GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard

Paul Shafer, Boston University; Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University

Two health law scholars explain how the public health insurance program for low-income people and people with disabilities works, and why cutting its cost would be hard to pull off.

How are clouds’ shapes made? A scientist explains the different cloud types and how they help forecast weather

Ross Lazear, University at Albany, State University of New York

Puffy to wispy, barely there or dark and menacing, clouds come in many shapes and sizes. Each tells a story about what’s going on in the atmosphere.

What is isolationism? The history and politics of an often-maligned foreign policy concept

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

Rather than clarifying American foreign policy, the term has long been used to tar critics or obfuscate legitimate international affairs questions.

How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking, undermines democracy and threatens global stability

Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University

Trump’s angry outburst at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy illustrated why authoritarians are lousy dealmakers, particularly when autocratic instincts are exacerbated by toxic masculinity.

Making English the official US language can’t erase the fact that the US has millions of Spanish speakers and a long multilingual history

Daniel J. Olson, Purdue University

Trump’s campaign produced campaign materials in Spanish to reach more voters. Now that he’s president, his White House is going English-only.

From opposing robber barons to the New Deal to desegregation to DOGE, state attorneys general have long taken on Washington

Austin Sarat, Amherst College

All presidents should expect to be sued early and often by state attorneys general of the opposite party.

What is Tren de Aragua? How the Venezuelan gang started − and why US policies may only make it stronger

Verónica Zubillaga, University of Illinois Chicago; Rebecca Hanson, University of Florida

The State Department declared Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization, and news reports say its members are wreaking havoc across the country. The reality is more nuanced.

America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures

G. Patrick O'Brien, University of Tampa

Trump is not the first American leader to dream of northern expansion. History suggests these designs reveal simmering divisions inside the United States.

Trump administration sets out to create an America its people have never experienced − one without a meaningful government

What does 2025 hold for interest rates, inflation and the American consumer?

Deepfake detection improves when using algorithms that are more aware of demographic diversity