Share The Conversation with a smart friend

How can America heal from the Trump era? Lessons from Germany’s transformation into a prosperous democracy after Nazi rule

Sylvia Taschka, Wayne State University

The US faces many of the same problems Germans faced after World War II: how to reject, punish and delegitimize the enemies of democracy.

Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before

Bill Ritter Jr., Colorado State University

A former governor explains what Biden's "all hands on deck" approach could look like as the new administration takes on five big climate challenges.

The Constitution doesn’t have a problem with mask mandates

John E. Finn, Wesleyan University

A constitutional law scholar says that the arguments made by anti-mask protesters that the Constitution protects their freedom to go maskless are just wrong.

Would you eat indoors at a restaurant? We asked five health experts

Laurie Archbald-Pannone, University of Virginia; Kathleen C. Brown, University of Tennessee; Ryan Huerto, University of Michigan; Sue Mattison, Drake University; Thomas A. Russo, University at Buffalo

Experts weigh in on whether they would sit and eat at a restaurant.

Why should I trust the coronavirus vaccine when it was developed so fast? A doctor answers that and other reader questions

Lana Dbeibo, Indiana University School of Medicine

Now that two COVID vaccines have been authorized by the FDA, questions arise. Today, a physician from Indiana University School of Medicine answers five reader questions.

The office is dead! Long live the office in a post-pandemic world

Beth Humberd, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Deborah Salon, Arizona State University; Scott F. Latham, University of Massachusetts Lowell

The post-pandemic office will be a lot more flexible but still will be necessary to help build relationships among colleagues, according to three scholars.

Racial stereotypes drive students of color away from STEM, but many still persist

Ebony O. McGee, Vanderbilt University

Coping with racial stereotypes that permeate STEM culture is like having another full-time job, argues a researcher who studies racism in these fields.

The long history of how Jesus came to resemble a white European

Anna Swartwood House, University of South Carolina

Protests for racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.

Fences have big effects on land and wildlife around the world that are rarely measured

Alex McInturff, University of California Santa Barbara; Christine Wilkinson, University of California, Berkeley; Wenjing Xu, University of California, Berkeley

Millions of miles of fences crisscross the Earth's surface. They divide ecosystems and affect wild species in ways that often are harmful, but are virtually unstudied.

Connected workouts can help you get fit alongside virtual buddies during the pandemic

Deborah Feltz, Michigan State University; Karin Pfeiffer, Michigan State University

From step counters and active video games to apps for exercisers and tech-enabled gear, there are a lot of ways to combine your workouts with your digital life.

Should I kill spiders in my home? An entomologist explains why not to

Matt Bertone, North Carolina State University

The case for why you should be nice to spiders you encounter in your home, and consider a live-and-let-live policy.

How Crisco toppled lard – and made Americans believers in industrial food

Helen Zoe Veit, Michigan State University

Crisco's main ingredient, cottonseed oil, had a bad rap. So marketers decided to focus on the 'purity' of factory food processing – a successful strategy that other brands would mimic.

How ‘Karen’ went from a popular baby name to a stand-in for white entitlement

Robin Queen, University of Michigan

Generic names can take on a linguistic life of their own, becoming powerful forms of social commentary.

Want to get articles like these in your inbox daily?

Or, if you'd like to try us out more slowly, we offer a weekly newsletter on politics or on science, health and technology.