Ending political bribery: What Ukraine can teach America about how to deal with our oligarch problem
Viktor Medvedchuk was the Rupert Murdoch of Ukraine. He ran a rightwing television network and owned TV stations across the country, while simultaneously being one of the richest men in that nation. He promoted hate and division, tax cuts for the rich and gutting the...
Evading algorithmic detection: How “algospeak” became the newest version of linguistic subterfuge
By Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis A linguistic arms race is raging online, and it is not clear who is winning. On one side are social networks like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. These sites have become better and...
Tax Plan: IRS moves forward with pilot program for a free e-filing system in 2024
Most taxpayers are interested in filing their taxes directly to the IRS for free, a new report said, and that option will be tested next year. The IRS has spent the past nine months studying whether U.S. taxpayers want to see a free, e-filing system run by the...
Antibiotic tolerance: Looming behind a growing resistance to some bacteria is another infection crisis
By Megan Keller, Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology, Cornell University Have you ever had a nasty infection that just won’t seem to go away? Or a runny nose that keeps coming back? You may have been dealing with a bacterium that is tolerant of, though not yet resistant...
Low-income communities suffer high rates of parasitic infections in states that neglect sewage systems
By Theresa E. Gildner, Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Intestinal infections take a heavy toll on impoverished Black communities that have out-of-date sewage systems. These infections often...
Juneteenth 2023: A retrospective of how Milwaukee has celebrated Emancipation Day in recent years
Milwaukee is home to one of the longest held Juneteenth Day celebrations in the United States. Juneteenth, a commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has long held profound significance in American history. June 19, 2023 marks the 52nd...
Untold Stories: Why enslaved Black people stayed in slaveholding states to help others find freedom
By Viola Franziska Müller, Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in history, University of Bonn For generations, the Underground Railroad has been the quintessential story of resistance against oppression. Yet, the story is incomplete. What is far less known is that...
Supervisor Peter Burgelis vows to continue fight for LGBTQ+ equality after suffering from violent assault
County Supervisor Peter Burgelis was subjected to a violent assault on June 12 in an unprovoked incident that occurred at Mayfair Mall. While details surrounding the assault are still being investigated by law enforcement, it was confirmed that Supervisor Burgelis...
The Pentagon Papers: How Daniel Ellsberg’s courage has inspired whistleblowers since the Vietnam War
By Christian Appy, Professor of History, UMass Amherst The history-making whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, who by leaking the Pentagon Papers revealed longtime government doubts and deceit about the Vietnam War and inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard...
Polluting streams of news: Why our democracy is unlikely to survive Fox’s mendacious propaganda
Recovering from three years of pandemic, our middle class staggered by 42 years of Reagan’s neoliberalism, rejecting the efforts of Republican neofascists in the mold of Trump, America appears poised on the edge of an egalitarian renaissance. America and much of the...
Efforts to guide federal research of AI unveiled by White House with emphasis on collaboration
The White House announced efforts to guide federally backed research on artificial intelligence in late May, as the Biden administration looked to get a firmer grip on understanding the risks and opportunities of the rapidly evolving technology. Among the moves...
Neo-Luddites: When society grapples with how to ensure future technologies do more good than harm
By Andrew Maynard, Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions, Arizona State University The term “Luddite” emerged in early 1800s England. At the time there was a thriving textile industry that depended on manual knitting frames and a skilled workforce to create...
