Guests
Is Santa’s sleigh zero carbon? The answer lies in reindeer poo
Mike Jeffries, Northumbria University, Newcastle for The Conversation Santa’s sleigh is famously pulled by eight reindeer, nine if you include the luminous Rudolf who pitches in when it’s foggy. The classic eight are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Vixen and Blitzen. Those last two are an easy-on-the-ear translation of Dutch, but the whole eight sound […]
A Christmas letter to the undiscovered country
Phil, You’ve been away for a good long while so here’s a Christmas letter to catch you up on all the news you’ve missed. So much has changed. Time steals like a shadow over the living, rendering us all Henry Adams at history’s eclipse. There’s much I want to share, because you could have helped […]
Opinion: Four more children dead, and a nation shrugs. Is enough finally enough?
Families in Michigan will set an empty place at the table this holiday season in the wake of the mass shooting at Oxford High School in southeast Michigan that left four children dead and seven more injured. The deaths at Oxford this week came a little more than two weeks before the ninth anniversary of […]
Opinion: How a Supreme Court decision limiting access to abortion could harm economy
Michele Gilman, University of Baltimore For The Conversation The Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, heard oral arguments in a case that may result in a ruling that overturns Roe v. Wade. But reproductive health isn’t just about abortions, despite all the attention the procedures get. It’s also about access to family planning services, contraception, […]
‘Hunker down’ is not enough: 2021 hurricane season showed US isn’t prepared
Marina Lazetic, Tufts University and Karen Jacobsen, Tufts University for The Conversation Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. This time the levees held. Billions of dollars invested in reinforcing them had paid off – at least for part of the population. […]
Guilty verdicts in Arbery killing give no pleasure, only relief
There’s no pleasure to be taken from the guilty verdicts returned Wednesday by a Glynn County jury in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery; there is only relief and thanksgiving that in the end justice could be done, at least in a case in which the evidence was so well-documented and seemingly obvious. Given that they […]
Giving thanks for vaccines, investments in American people, and those fighting gerrymandering
“Unfurrow your brow.” My mom’s frequent admonition to her easily impassioned daughter. I need a lot of reminding. I feel like I’ve been furrowing my forehead nonstop for almost two years straight. But on Turkey Day, I will take a moment, if not the whole day, to unknit that brow and give thanks for small […]
Giving thanks to America’s medical community for life-saving vaccines
If we were not still in the grip of a deadly pandemic, with the seven-day average U.S. death toll from the coronavirus hovering just over 1,100 a day, I probably would not have thought of giving thanks this year for the medical researchers who have given this country protection against many life-threatening illnesses. Back in […]
Pfizer’s vaccine for children: A pediatrician explains how it was tested for safety and efficacy
By Debbie-Ann Shirley, University of Virginia Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have granted approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Elementary school children in the United States will soon have one more layer of protection to keep them safe from COVID-19. […]
Commentary: Racial discrimination is linked to suicidal thoughts in Black adults and children
By Janelle R. Goodwill of the University of Chicago for The Conversation Frederick Douglass is regarded as one of the most prominent abolitionists the world has ever seen. Alongside his extraordinary contributions as an influential speaker, writer and human rights advocate, Douglass – who was born into slavery and gained freedom in September 1838 – also wrote […]
Flu season paired with COVID-19 increases threat of a ‘twindemic’
By Mark S. Roberts and Richard K. Zimmerman of the University of Pittsburgh for The Conversation As winter looms and hospitals across the U.S. continue to be deluged with severe cases of COVID-19, flu season presents a particularly ominous threat this year. We are researchers with expertise in vaccination policy and mathematical modeling of infectious disease. Our […]
The U.S. government’s treatment of Haitian asylum seekers reeks of hypocrisy
After horrific photos emerged of men falling from airplanes and babies in great peril at the Kabul Airport weeks ago, I noticed a dramatic uptick in my various news feeds of the phrase “moral obligation.” Across all mediums, I heard righteous call for the United States and nations around the globe to remember promises made […]