Author: TheConversation

By Rebecca Scofield, Associate Professor of History; Chair of the Department of History, University of Idaho; and Elyssa Ford, Associate Professor of History, Northwest Missouri State University The misguided assumption that rural America is hopelessly backward and bigoted erases centuries of same-sex relationships in rural communities. It tells young queer people that they must flee their rural hometowns to far-flung cities in order to find safety and acceptance. That is why we see so much value in the work of photographer Luke Gilford. For “National Anthem,” his collection of images on display at Manhattan’s SN37 Gallery, Gilford photographed participants...

By Sean Lang, Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University When the late historian Sir Ben Pimlott embarked on his 1996 biography, his colleagues expressed surprise that he should consider Queen Elizabeth II worthy of serious study at all. Yet Pimlott’s judgement proved sound and, if few academics have followed his lead, the political role of the monarchy has received thoughtful treatment in the creative arts. Stephen Frears’s 2006 film, The Queen, showed her dilemma after the death of Princess Diana; Peter Morgan’s stage play The Audience showed the monarch’s weekly meetings with her prime ministers. And she has...

By Sarah Bennett, PhD candidate, School of English, University of Nottingham Diana, Princess of Wales, died 25 years ago after a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Her death led to a global outpouring of grief and media attention. Much of the public reaction criticized the royal family for what many saw as an unfeeling response to the sudden death of the Prince of Wales’ former wife. The shock of Diana’s death also sparked countless conspiracy theories. Decades later, many have not given up the idea that Diana may have been the victim of a...

By Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez, Research Scholar of Economics, Rice University With Americans having fewer children and the nation’s labor force getting older, many employers in manufacturing, aviation and other industries are having trouble finding enough workers. The gap between the demand for labor and its supply was already forming in 2017. By 2018, the U.S. economy had increasingly more job openings than unemployed workers. That gap has widened during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people have died, retired early or simply dropped out of the job market. By July 2022, as the pandemic’s effects on the workplace were easing,...

By Mitchell Nathanson, Professor of Law, Villanova School of Law When the Major League Baseball Players Association sent union authorization cards to approximately 5,000 minor league players in an attempt to unionize them, I was both surprised and not surprised at all. If any industry is crying out for unionization, it is this one. Minor league baseball players are subject to some of the poorest wages and most dreadful working conditions in America. Most of them toil for years before being washed out of the game without ever having reached the promised land of the big leagues. On the...