From gay Nazis to ‘we’re here, we’re queer’: A century of arguing about gay pride
Gay pride has many exuberant advocates. It also has critics in unexpected places.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Pride
Analysis and Comment
How to make sense of the Senate health care bill: 4 essential reads
The Senate released its new health care bill on June 22, 2017, and it differs slightly from a bill passed by the House in May. Read what our experts have written in recent months about key pieces.
Employment helps white men’s health more than women and blacks
Employment is good for health, but it is even better for white men than for others. And unemployment is worse for white men than others. Could these findings shine light on our political situation?
What happens if Trump’s White House invokes executive privilege?
Laws that limit presidential power won't enforce themselves – Congress must act.
African-American Music Appreciation Month: 5 essential reads
The story of African-American music is a story of eclipsing expectations and subverting norms.
Energy wonks have a meltdown over the US going 100 percent renewable. Why?
How fast can the US transition to clean energy and with what energy sources? Here's why an impassioned debate among energy wonks matters to the rest of us.
Forget the insight of a lone genius – innovation is an evolving process of trial and error
We don't know much about the origins of most human achievements – scientific and otherwise. Like evolution, does progress occur as random insights are selected for or against?
Teaching machines to understand – and summarize – text
Nobody can understand the legal language in privacy policies. Can artificial intelligence digest the text and produce a human-readable explanation?
Drew Faust and old, white men: The changing role of university presidents
Most university presidents in the US are still white, male and over the age of 60. But as they retire, is there an opportunity to reshape college leadership and, with it, higher education itself?
Are LGBT Americans actually reaping the benefits of marriage?
Marriage has long been tied to better health. The first study of the relationship between marriage, health and quality of life for LGBT Americans affirms the benefits of marriage – with some caveats.
Why the latest wave of terrorism will get worse before it gets better
The latest wave of terrorism aims to kill as many people as possible, as horrifically as possible, with new tools and methods. That makes fighting back more difficult.
Government action isn’t enough for climate change. The private sector can cut billions of tons of carbon
Without the private sector cutting carbon emissions – rather than just lobbying the government for action on climate – the world will never reach the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement.
Even ugly animals can win hearts and dollars to save them from extinction
Must the money raised to save wildlife always aid the most popular animals? New research suggests that marketing can persuade donors that northern hairy-nosed wombat lives matter too.
Why cash remains sacred in American churches
ATMs began appearing in churches providing a way for people to come up with ready cash to give to God and their church. But why was cash necessary?
Most expensive race in House history turns out nearly 58 percent of Georgia district’s voters
But there's little evidence the high spending changed any minds, says a political scientist who lives in the district.
Fixing a toxic culture like Uber’s requires more than just a new CEO
Ethical scandals at Uber and Fox have focused attention on the leaders of the organizations, but the problems of a toxic culture often embed deep within an organization.
What happened to the openly gay athlete?
Since Michael Sam came out in 2014, no one in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL has done the same. Are the barriers to coming out still holding firm? Or are there signs that the tide could soon turn?
Marine Le Pen didn’t win over women. Can anyone on the far right?
Populist parties like France's Front National typically stress traditional family values. So is it possible for them to appeal to traditional leftist voters like single women and the queer community?
ATMs dispense more than money: The dirt and dope that’s on your cash
What's on your cash? Studies show our money carries everything from pet DNA and old food to E.coli and traces of cocaine.
Reverse engineering mysterious 500-million-year-old fossils that confound our tree of life
With no identifiable body parts, it's hard to know how these fossilized creatures lived. A new approach models how the ocean's water would interact with their unique shapes – hinting at their lifestyle.
Challenging the status quo in mathematics: Teaching for understanding
Math instruction is stuck in the last century. How can we change teaching methods to move past rote memorization and help students develop a more meaningful understanding – and be better at math?
Media
From the Pentagon Papers to Trump: How the government gained the upper hand against leakers
American citizens have long favored government openness over secrecy. But with heightened anti-leak and anti-press rhetoric, do some now want strengthened government control of information?
When is a leak ethical?
Leaking classified information violates the law. But it doesn't mean that people are abandoning their ethics.
AHCA
How Obamacare may morph into Medicaid
Senate Republicans have been trying to find a way to get enough votes to repeal Obamacare. Here's how their delay could lead to a result they did not expect – more Medicaid.
Could the individual insurance market collapse in some states? Here’s how that could happen
The Republican House plan for health care has been decried for its effect on the poor, the aged and the sick. Ultimately, though, it could affect everyone, if healthy people don't sign up.
Not just for the poor: The crucial role of Medicaid in America’s health care system
As Republicans seek to repeal Obamacare, they have added an overhaul of Medicaid to their plans. Here's a look at the program and the surprising number of people who would be affected by cuts.
Environment
Once at the vanguard of national policy, California plays defense under Trump
Defiant against Trump's policies on immigration and environment, California finds itself defending its way of life – the California Dream itself.
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
American slavery: Separating fact from myth
On Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the ending of slavery in the US, a historian dispels myths about the 'peculiar institution' of slavery.
Can yoga be Christian?
Wednesday, June 21, is International Yoga Day. A scholar explains how yoga is being Christianized in different parts of the world. So, what then is real yoga?
In Tupac’s life, the struggles and triumphs of a generation
Tupac's sensitivity, intelligence and creativity confronted the hostile forces that antagonized black youth across the country in the 1970s and 1980s.
Do poor people eat more junk food than wealthier Americans?
There's an assumption that the poor eat more unhealthy fast food because it's relatively cheap, leading some governments to try limit their access. Two researchers tested that assumption.
What went wrong with the F-35, Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter?
The most expensive defense program in world history has yielded a multi-role fighter plane that is an inelegant jack-of-all-trades, but master of none.
To slow climate change, India joins the renewable energy revolution
India, the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter, long resisted calls to fight climate change. Now it is investing heavily in clean energy and expects to meet its Paris climate accord target early.
Loving v. Virginia: Exploring biracial identity and reality in America 50 years after a landmark civil rights milestone
In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in Virginia for the crime of being married. The couple helped spark an effort to strike down laws against interracial marriage in the United States.
The decline in foreign students hurts America’s future
International student integration can (and should) be fostered on college campuses for the sake of national security and professional readiness.
Working memory: How you keep things ‘in mind’ over the short term
Both psychologists and neuroscientists are interested in how working memory holds on to items over brief intervals – and are investigating from different angles.
Research transparency: 5 questions about open science answered
Partly in response to the so-called 'reproducibility crisis' in science, researchers are embracing a set of practices that aim to make the whole endeavor more transparent, more reliable – and better.
Is there structural racism on the internet?
The physical world is racially segregated as a result of structural racism. A researcher examines whether similar problems exist online.
What rural, coastal Puerto Ricans can teach us about thriving in times of crisis
At society's margins, people without access to the mainstream job economy are able to carve out lives rich in other resources and community.
The demographics of the #resistance
Who are those people out there marching on Washington, DC? Researchers at the University of Maryland did a survey to find out.
New public database reveals striking differences in how guns are regulated from state to state
How have state firearm laws changed over time? Over the past 27 years, some states have loosened the rules for gun owners and the gun industry, while others are getting stricter.
The rising homegrown terror threat on the right
The United States is seeing an uptick in far-right extremist violence. It's time to pay more attention to this scourge and its causes.
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