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TheConversationUS

@TheConversationUS@newsie.social

A nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of experts with the public, in accessible, trustworthy articles drawing on their research.

Pictured: just a few of our recent writers.

Free to read, without paywalls or ads (and free to republish, too, under Creative Commons license).

We combine academic rigor with journalistic flair.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

TheConversationUS , to random
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When a wild orangutan in Sumatra suffered a facial wound, he did something that caught the attention of the scientists around him:
He chewed the leaves of a liana vine, a plant not normally eaten by apes. Over several days, he carefully applied the juice to its wound, then covered it with a paste of chewed-up liana.
The tropical plant he selected has antibacterial and antioxidant properties and alleviates pain, fever, bleeding and inflammation.
https://theconversation.com/animals-self-medicate-with-plants-behavior-people-have-observed-and-emulated-for-millennia-229768

TheConversationUS , to AcademicChatter group
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Research-based tips for professors and administrators:
> Set norms and expectations about the conversation, not just rules
> Allow students to tell their stories, when they first heard about the issue and how it affected them
> Encourage curiosity by posing non-threatening questions
> Find out the root of the disagreement
> Find cooperative projects for students to act on
> Offer students a safe space after debates to talk and feel reassured
https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-foster-political-discourse-on-college-campuses-230365
@academicchatter

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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In honor of , here’s a reading list to help you understand the history and meaning of the holiday.

https://theconversation.com/6-books-that-explain-the-history-and-meaning-of-juneteenth-205266
@blackmastodon @bookstodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Teaching about slavery in schools and doing it well isn’t just about teaching the harshness of slavery. And educators can make about so much more than the end of slavery.

Today’s holiday offers abundant opportunities to teach about what it means to fight for freedom and maintain a sense of self-determination in the face of oppression.
https://theconversation.com/juneteenth-offers-new-ways-to-teach-about-slavery-black-perseverance-and-american-history-206056
@histodons

TheConversationUS OP ,
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@mlohbihler @histodons Indeed!

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Tombstones that used 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' restored a sense of dignity to people who had been denied it in life.

https://theconversation.com/how-black-americans-combated-racism-from-beyond-the-grave-207200
@blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The first commercial gambling operations emerged – by chance or not – at the same time as the study of mathematical probability in the mid-1600s.

Early writers on probability had explained how the ‘house advantage’ didn’t need to be large for a gambling enterprise to profit enormously.

But gamblers and gambling operators were slow to catch on.

https://theconversation.com/how-the-18th-century-probability-revolution-fueled-the-casino-gambling-craze-228347
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The song ‘Born in the USA’ has been used in iconic – and ironic – ways.

An example is in 1984, when Ronald Reagan used the song in his reelection and announced that Bruce Springsteen and him shared the same American dream. The Boss vehemently disagreed.

https://theconversation.com/born-in-the-usa-turns-40-and-still-remains-one-of-bruce-springsteens-most-misunderstood-songs-228348
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to folklore group
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"Dad, I’m hungry."

"Hi, hungry. I’m Dad."

There's an example of the beloved form of humor: The Dad Joke.

But what makes something a dad joke instead of just a corny joke? We've got two folklorists answering that question and looking at the history of the 'art' form. Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there, funny or not!

Leave a favorite in the replies, so we can all groan together
https://theconversation.com/an-homage-to-the-dad-joke-one-of-the-great-traditions-of-fatherhood-231996
@folklore

TheConversationUS , to random
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Are Biden and Trump too old to be president?

It's a question many of us are asking. But just because the 81-year-old Biden and 77-year-old Trump occasionally can't remember names doesn't mean their decision-making ability is at risk. The two things don’t really go together.

A cognitive psychologist weighs in on what really matters in assessing whether they're cognitively up for the job:
https://theconversation.com/biden-and-trump-may-forget-names-or-personal-details-but-here-is-what-really-matters-in-assessing-whether-theyre-cognitively-up-for-the-job-230554

TheConversationUS , to random
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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced recently that it plans to ease restrictions on cannabis – reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug, a category which includes products like Tylenol with codeine, testosterone and other anabolic steroids.

This is a historic shift, signaling an acknowledgement of the promising medicinal value of cannabis 🌿
https://theconversation.com/how-cannabis-and-psilocybin-might-help-some-of-the-50-million-americans-who-are-experiencing-chronic-pain-225887

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Georgia is in play in 2024.

“I believe that Trump can be placed among a long line of demagogues who possess the skills needed to tap into the fears and anxieties of a group of people that perceives itself as marginalized, at risk and not in control.”

It worked for Democrat Lester Maddox in 1967, and it’s working for Trump this year
https://theconversation.com/preying-on-white-fears-worked-for-georgias-lester-maddox-in-the-60s-and-is-working-there-for-donald-trump-today-227749
@blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to random
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A-
That’s what a historian gives Biden for his record on – the best for a president since FDR.
“The man dubbed ‘Union Joe’ has lived up to the claim, with one notable error.”
https://theconversation.com/bidens-labor-report-card-historian-gives-union-joe-a-higher-grade-than-any-president-since-fdr-228771

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Every year, researchers discover 2-3 entirely new pathogens: the viruses, bacteria and microparasites that sicken and kill people.

While some of these discoveries reflect better detection methods, genetic studies confirm that most of these pathogens are indeed new to the human species.

Even more troubling, these diseases are appearing at an increasing rate.

Lessons from ancient – and modern – #history:
https://theconversation.com/future-pandemics-will-have-the-same-human-causes-as-ancient-outbreaks-lessons-from-anthropology-can-help-prevent-them-224622
#Health #Histodons #anthropology @histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Today is the 80th anniversary of and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe.

A curator from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History shares 5 artifacts that help us remember the heroism of the landings.

Here are dog tags one Jewish sailor wore, along with a coin from British Palestine, during his fight against the Nazis.

https://theconversation.com/a-jacket-a-coin-a-letter-relics-of-omaha-beach-battle-tell-the-story-of-d-day-80-years-later-225127 @histodons

TheConversationUS OP ,
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Another good bit of history: how the new "ranger" units of the US Army, formed on a British model, heroically led the way across Omaha Beach.

Nearly 400 of the 1000 soldiers who went ashore were killed, wounded or missing.
https://theconversation.com/rangers-led-the-way-in-the-d-day-landings-80-years-ago-227299 @histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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70 years after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board, one of its most significant side effects − the large-scale loss of Black teachers − continues to affect America’s schools.
Before Brown, Black teachers were 35% to 50% of the teacher workforce in segregated states.
Today, Black people account for just 6.7% of America’s public K-12 teachers.
https://theconversation.com/how-black-teachers-lost-when-civil-rights-won-in-brown-v-board-229687
@histodons @blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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On this day in 1984, Bruce Springsteen released “Born in the USA” - a gruff patriotic ballad that was entirely misunderstood by President Ronald Reagan (but Donald Trump is no fan)
https://theconversation.com/born-in-the-usa-turns-40-and-still-remains-one-of-bruce-springsteens-most-misunderstood-songs-228348
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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We want you to know the name Alice Ball. She was the first woman and first African American to earn a master’s degree in science from the College of Hawaii.

Ball remarkably developed a treatment for leprosy, but she passed away shortly after.

Arthur Dean, chair of the College of Hawaii’s chemistry department, took over the project, and renamed Ball’s method to the “Dean Method,” never crediting Ball for her work.

https://theconversation.com/a-young-black-scientist-discovered-a-pivotal-leprosy-treatment-in-the-1920s-but-an-older-colleague-took-the-credit-224922
@blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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The idea that seeing or talking about LGBTQ+ themes in books poses a threat to children or society goes back to medieval times.

Records of queer people and their lives from the Middle Ages are more plentiful than many people realize, but writings about the history were censored by religious leaders.

https://theconversation.com/dont-say-gay-rules-and-book-bans-might-have-felt-familiar-in-medieval-europe-but-queer-themes-in-literature-survived-nonetheless-228974
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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At a time of rising authoritarianism, and when U.S. politics seem mired in chaos, it’s worth looking back at how societies centuries ago defined bad governance:
https://theconversation.com/medieval-europe-was-far-from-democratic-but-that-didnt-mean-tyrants-got-a-free-pass-227214
#News #USPolitics @histodons #history

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Today is the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history – and one that continues to haunt Americans.

One of them is Gregory Fairchild, whose grandfather was caught up in it, and whose family history personally inspires his work.

(From 2021): https://theconversation.com/100-years-after-the-tulsa-race-massacre-lessons-from-my-grandfather-161391

@blackmastodon @histodons

TheConversationUS , to random
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Today's conviction of Trump won’t end the legal case, which could quickly be appealed and possibly rise to the level of the US Supreme Court.
It's a historic conviction, no doubt.
But practically speaking, the verdict means only that Trump can't possess a firearm – like all other felons.
A felony conviction won’t keep him from running or serving as president.
A law professor explains a few other key points:
https://theconversation.com/trump-found-guilty-5-key-aspects-of-the-trial-explained-by-a-law-professor-231236

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Beethoven is A great composer, but not THE great composer, according to a music professor who believes it’s time to reframe Beethoven’s greatness “within the context of historic ideals of whiteness and patriarchy.”

“If Americans could acknowledge that our music and music education are deeply rooted in these two ideologies, then we could realize that Beethoven, surely a good composer, was simply one of many.”

https://theconversation.com/was-beethoven-truly-the-greatest-229660
#BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #Music

TheConversationUS , to random
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"In high-stakes situations, it can be morally permissible to choose to peacefully break certain laws in order to raise awareness of greater injustices."
https://theconversation.com/campus-protests-are-part-of-an-enduring-legacy-of-civil-disobedience-improving-american-democracy-230152

TheConversationUS , to random
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Most Americans, including those enacting 6-week , don’t actually understand how the timing or dating of pregnancy works. Many women don't know yet they are pregnant at 6 weeks.

Scholars explain how research on what Americans understand about raises “serious questions about whether Americans without medical training – much like those in our state legislatures – have the necessary knowledge needed to regulate abortion access.”

https://theconversation.com/confusion-over-how-pregnancy-dates-are-measured-is-widespread-and-makes-for-uninformed-debate-over-abortion-limits-229167

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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There’s nothing groundbreaking about protesters’ tactics of taking over university buildings or erecting encampments on college lawns.

These students – knowingly or unknowingly – are part of a long history of radical student organizing. There are echoes of both the protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s and more recently, of South African apartheid in the 1980s.

https://theconversation.com/calls-for-divestment-from-apartheid-south-africa-gave-todays-pro-palestinian-student-activists-a-blueprint-to-follow-229591
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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How do you get cargo and supplies to a shoreline where there are no ports or piers?

That’s the problem the relief effort faced in Gaza, and one that military forces and humanitarian groups have faced countless times in .
During World War 2, a navy engineer figured out a solution, using this model of cigar boxes as the prototype to show how a steel pontoon causeway could be made.

https://theconversation.com/how-the-gaza-humanitarian-aid-pier-traces-its-origins-to-discarded-cigar-boxes-before-world-war-ii-230267
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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It’s been 1 year since Seattle’s Mayor signed a racial and social justice law, placing its existing Race and Social Justice Initiative under the city’s office of civil rights and charging the whole city government with ‘implementing change toward ending institutional racism.’

Lessons for other cities from the first year:
https://theconversation.com/what-cities-can-learn-from-seattles-racial-and-social-justice-law-225765
@blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to AcademicChatter group
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In the late ‘60s, to right-wing activists, communists were over-running campuses and administrators needed to be subpoenaed and law enforcement sent in to forcibly end protests.

In 2024, to right-wing activists, antisemites are over-running college campuses and university administrators need to be subpoenaed and law enforcement sent in to forcibly end protests.

A historian of the reaction to campus protests lays out the parallels:
https://theconversation.com/college-administrators-are-falling-into-a-tried-and-true-trap-laid-by-the-right-228732 @academicchatter

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Is being ‘woke’ a badge of honor?

Historically, the word was used as a warning to be aware of racial injustices.

https://theconversation.com/back-in-the-day-being-woke-meant-being-smart-215635
@blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to random
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"Academic psychologists tell us that between 65% and 75% of jurors make up their minds about a case after the opening statement.

What’s even more incredible is that 85% of those jurors maintain the position they formed after the opening statement once all evidence is received and the trial is closed."

A Harvard Law School professor previews the psychology of today's court proceedings:
https://theconversation.com/expect-lawyers-to-set-the-tone-in-trumps-hush-money-trial-with-dramatic-possibly-explosive-opening-arguments-228366

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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What was dreamt up in 1932 by acoffee corporation and a Jewish advertising executive went on to become one of the most popular and influential haggadah in America.
https://theconversation.com/how-a-coffee-company-and-a-marketing-maven-brewed-up-a-passover-tradition-a-brief-history-of-the-maxwell-house-haggadah-180503
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to random
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Forcing a Chinese company to sell TikTok won’t solve the biggest problem with : the fact that so people get their “” from platforms that are designed to hijack attention for commercial gain, not to deliver reliable information.

If China wants information on Americans, they can buy it from companies since there are no effective laws.

And American-owned Facebook and X have shown themselves to be as bad or worse as TikTok at spreading .

https://theconversation.com/tiktok-fears-point-to-larger-problem-poor-media-literacy-in-the-social-media-age-226667

TheConversationUS , to random
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Here’s your reminder that even if you don’t understand clearly what government workers do, they do in fact care deeply about their work, helping the public and pursuing the stability and integrity of democracy.
https://theconversation.com/politicians-may-rail-against-the-deep-state-but-research-shows-federal-workers-are-effective-and-committed-not-subversive-225061

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Two tracks on Beyoncé’s new album feature the voice of Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black female country music artist, who faced exclusion in #countrymusic throughout her career

https://theconversation.com/the-most-important-voice-on-beyonces-new-album-226907
@blackmastodon #BlackMastodon

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Stop it, Shapiro – rap is and has always been a form of music.

https://theconversation.com/ben-shapiros-hip-hop-hypocrisy-and-white-male-grievance-lands-him-on-top-of-pop-music-charts-for-a-brief-moment-222545
#Music #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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It’s unlikely that Trump will wind up in an orange jumpsuit, and most likely not before election day, in any case.

But if he does, he would not be the first candidate to run for the White House from the Big House.

Here’s the story of Eugene V. Debs, a Socialist Party presidential candidate in 1920, who polled nearly a million votes without ever hitting the campaign trail:
https://theconversation.com/trump-wouldnt-be-the-first-presidential-candidate-to-campaign-from-a-prison-cell-225492
#election2024 #uspolitics #History #Histodons @histodons

TheConversationUS , to random
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The U.S. is on track to have one of the worst measles years since 2019, when Americans experienced the largest measles outbreak in 30 years. Simply put, it’s because people aren’t getting the vaccines.
Let’s be clear:
Measles is extremely dangerous for everyone, and especially for young children. The vaccine is safe, effective and proven. Please get your measles vaccine, and encourage those around you to do the same (especially if you live in Florida).
https://theconversation.com/measles-is-one-of-the-deadliest-and-most-contagious-infectious-diseases-and-one-of-the-most-easily-preventable-224493
#measles #vaccine

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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“The problem is not a general lack of historical knowledge but its disparity along racial lines. Black students do know this history, or at least more of it than their white peers.”

https://theconversation.com/the-black-history-knowledge-gap-is-widening-and-gop-politicians-are-making-it-worse-223605
#BlackHistory #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #History #Histodons #USPolitics

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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Like Donald #Trump, scandal followed Richard #Nixon throughout his political career.

Like Trump, Nixon positioned himself as the defender of the common person against the political elite.
Like Trump, Nixon made expansive claims of immunity.
And, like Trump, Nixon always managed to claw his way back into the political forefront.

But unlike Trump, Nixon acknowledged the fundamental importance of accountability in a democracy.
https://theconversation.com/nixon-declared-americans-deserved-to-know-whether-their-president-is-a-crook-trump-says-the-opposite-224484
#USpolitics #Histodons @histodons

TheConversationUS , to random
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Tucker Carlson, and his visit earlier this year to Moscow and subsequent interview with Putin, has unintentionally provided a perfect example of propaganda.

Here’s a great explainer on the key elements of propaganda, and how to tell when the reporting abandons journalism and is straight up propaganda:

https://theconversation.com/how-you-can-tell-propaganda-from-journalism-lets-look-at-tucker-carlsons-visit-to-russia-223829

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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“It’s not just the beating me down that is hard,” one Black woman PhD candidate told a researcher. “It is the fact that it feels like I’m villainized and made out to be the problem for trying to advocate for myself.”

Women interviewed for the study report feeling isolated, abused and overworked. One said she had been tricked into handling a two- to four-person job entirely by herself.

https://theconversation.com/the-hostility-black-women-face-in-higher-education-carries-dire-consequences-224319
#DEI #Inclusion @blackmastodon #BlackMastodon
@academicchatter

TheConversationUS , to bookstodon group
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To create ‘Dune’, Frank Herbert found inspiration in unlikely places.
Conservation practices of the Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest taught him about ecology, and helped inspire the planet Arrakis. Thanks to Leslie Reid’s pioneering ecological study “The Sociology of Nature” he found a model for the ecosystem of Arrakis in the Guano islands of Peru.
The ecological movement fully embraced 'Dune' after its publication in 1965.
https://theconversation.com/how-dune-became-a-beacon-for-the-fledgling-environmental-movement-and-a-rallying-cry-for-the-new-science-of-ecology-225156
@bookstodon

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
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An unpopular president. A war that’s dividing the president’s party. A looming election.
We’re talking about 1968 – What year were you thinking of?

In that year President Lyndon B. Johnson just 6 months before the election, he surprised the nation by deciding not to seek re-election. Some Democrats are hoping Biden will follow that example. But a historian looks back at the chaos in 1968 and resulting victory for Nixon:
https://theconversation.com/hopes-that-biden-will-quit-his-reelection-campaign-ignore-the-differences-and-lessons-of-lbj-and-1968s-democratic-catastrophe-225069
@histodons

TheConversationUS , to random
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Parents of school shooters have rarely been prosecuted, but the parents of Ethan Crumbley have now been convicted.
Making parents responsible is part of a strategy for violence prevention: “According to a 2019 assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 76% of the guns used in school shootings came from a parent or close relative, and approximately half the weapons were easily accessible.”
https://theconversation.com/gross-negligence-why-a-parent-like-james-crumbley-can-be-found-guilty-for-their-childs-crimes-225836

TheConversationUS , to random
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The trial judge “split the baby”, giving something to both sides, in his ruling on whether Fani Willis and her prosecutor should be barred from the prosecution of and his allies in Georgia.

He ruled there was no conflict of interest, but the appearance of one.

A Harvard Law School professor analyzes today’s ruling:
https://theconversation.com/why-fani-willis-was-allowed-to-stay-on-as-prosecutor-of-criminal-case-against-trump-in-georgia-and-what-happens-next-225532

TheConversationUS , to blackmastodon group
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Have you heard Beyoncé’s new country hit album?

Her new songs are arriving at a moment when country music’s reputation as overwhelmingly white is finally starting to crack.

(And we’ll drop in the reply a link to a playlist of Black country music, then and now, discussed in the article.)
https://theconversation.com/with-beyonces-foray-into-country-music-the-genre-is-finally-breaking-free-from-the-stereotypes-that-have-long-dogged-it-223831
@blackmastodon

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