News
Demise of liberal democracy: We are living in the final stage of Reaganism’s dystopia
Back in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in and implicitly promised to destroy our government because it was “the problem,” many of us who strongly opposed him wondered what the final stage of Reaganism would look like. Now we know. We are there. Violence toward...
An infatuation with darkness: The character of the far-right can be seen in their hideous heroes
You can learn a lot about the people who make up a political party by identifying their heroes. So, who are the heroes of today’s Republicans? If your first thought was Ronald Reagan, you’re showing your age. Reagan was the answer of an earlier time, when we had a...
Social media never forgets: Why the digital experience of daily life makes it hard to move on from a breakup
By Kate G. Blackburn, Post Doctoral Researcher, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts; Leah E. LeFebvre, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Alabama; and Nick Brody, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Puget...
The loss of “Black Twitter” would make it harder to discuss racism and publicize police brutality
By Deion Scott Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Argumentation & Advocacy, Emerson College Before the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile and Sandra Bland were propelled into the media spotlight, their names were Twitter #hashtags. In 2020,...
Disney’s Magic: When people come close to crossing the boundaries between consumerism and religion
By Hannah McKillop, Doctoral Student in Religious Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa Disney has been making the headlines lately, but it has not been about blockbusters. Recently, people have been up in arms over a ruined Disney park proposal and a...
Simmering Tensions: Why talking across the political aisle helps reduce hostility
By Dominik Stecuła, Assistant professor of political science, Colorado State University; and Matthew Levendusky, Professor of political science, University of Pennsylvania Simmering tension in American politics came to a head two years ago, when a mob of Trump...
Race, Ethnicity, and Age: Why employers are forced to be more flexible as workplace diversity grows
By Adia Harvey Wingfield, Professor of Sociology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Increased immigration, longer life expectancy and a decline in birth rates are transforming the U.S. workforce in two important ways. The people powering this...
Joy of Nature: After generations of racial exclusion Black Americans are re-embracing the Great Outdoors
In Monroe, Georgia, on July 31, 1946, “The Savannah Tribune” reported a “mass lynching,” in which a “mob of 20 or more men, who lined up two Negro men and their wives in the woods, shot them to death.” This horrific practice was as uniquely American in the...
Stalled Funding: Wisconsin explores regional services as fix for struggling emergency mental health system
When Chrissy Barnard faced a mental health crisis and most needed care, law enforcement handcuffed her, placed her in the back of a patrol car and drove her five hours to Wisconsin’s only state-run mental health facility for the general public. Barnard remembers the...
Reasons for despair: Why the new “Great Depression” comes from our profound sense of political dread
A similar thing happens to me on many mornings lately. My eyes open and I suddenly become aware that I am awake. My mind quickly begins assembling the first few seconds of my day … making plans, organizing my checklist, when a terrible interruption breaks in and...
What America Denies: The racial myths and fabrications that Whiteness tells itself
On November 8, my daughter, Samantha Sencer-Mura, a professional educator, became the first Japanese American elected as a representative from her district to the Minnesota State Legislature. And yet the story of our family and community is not necessarily one of...
Why President Biden should follow President Truman’s courage and revive a Berlin-style Airlift for Ukraine
This is not the first time Russia has tried freezing and starving people to death to get them to submit. They have done it at least twice before, once successfully in 1932 and once unsuccessfully in 1949. Although I would not be born for another two years, I...
