The Conversation
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Media

How should you read unnamed sources and leaks?

Anthony Fargo, Indiana University, Bloomington

With an explosion of media outlets that don't adhere to mainstream journalistic standards, it's became difficult for readers to know whether to trust reports based on unnamed sources and leaks.
Law enforcement officers move in to verify the identity of people in a field outside the Fort Lauderdale airport after a mass shooting. Andrew Innerarity/Reuters

Culture

Is mass murder becoming a form of protest?

Lisa Wade, Occidental College

New ways of expressing discontent are constantly emerging. Could mass shootings join what sociologist Charles Tilly has dubbed the 'repertoire of contention'?
French essayist Michel de Montaigne once described a ceremony between two male lovers at Saint John at the Latin Gate in Rome. Gary Ferguson

History

A same-sex marriage ceremony in… Renaissance Rome?

Gary Ferguson, University of Virginia

Same-sex marriage is not a 20th-century phenomenon; couples have long claimed the right to marry.
TV networks are trying to win back cord-cutters. 'Falling TV' via www.shutterstock.com

Television

Could Hulu and Google upend the TV industry in 2017?

Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan

Next year Hulu and Google will introduce their own bundled channel services. Will it spark an online TV revolution or simply lead to more of the same?
Once you start, you can’t stop. 'Injection' via www.shutterstock.com

Gender

Why are young women without wrinkles using Botox?

Dana Berkowitz, Louisiana State University

By getting young women hooked before they've even formed wrinkles, Botox peddlers have realized they can enlist them in a lifetime of treatment.

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Editors’ Picks

‘Maus’ and ‘Watchmen’ are two of the most well-known graphic novels. Ken Whytock/flickr

Literature

How the graphic novel got its misleading moniker

Joel Priddy, Pennsylvania State University

The graphic novel has become a literary phenomenon, but the name doesn't adequately describe the medium's flexibility, diversity and potential.
'Shredded papers' via www.shutterstock.com

Media

Does nonpartisan journalism have a future?

Justin Buchler, Case Western Reserve University

In a complex media environment, it's become incredibly difficult for the neutral press to point out Donald Trump's lies without having that information discounted as partisan bias.
Clockwise, from left: White nationalist William Pierce, domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh, white nationalist Richard Spencer, British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, professor Kevin MacDonald, and Breitbart News founder Andrew Breitbart. Nick Lehr/The Conversation

Race

The seeds of the alt-right, America’s emergent right-wing populist movement

George Michael, Westfield State University

An academic who has studied the American far right explores whether the alt-right can become a sustained political force.
New forms of entertainment and consumption abound. And yet the book endures. Swikar Patel/AP

Literature

The myth of the disappearing book

Simone Natale, Loughborough University and Andrea Ballatore, Birkbeck, University of London

E-book sales are falling, even though many said they would "kill" print books. Computers and television were also supposed to spell the book's demise. At one point, people even feared the phonograph.
In life, happiness can seem fleeting and elusive, something just out of reach. Steve Corey/flickr

Psychology

Why you shouldn’t want to always be happy

Frank T. McAndrew, Knox College

The positive psychology movement led to hundreds of studies dedicated to improving human happiness. So why has nothing changed?

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  1. Trump isn’t lying, he’s bullshitting – and it’s far more dangerous
  2. The story of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, America’s first black pop star
  3. Why do conservatives want the government to defund the arts?
  4. A same-sex marriage ceremony in… Renaissance Rome?
  5. The Super Bowl’s evolution from football game to entertainment extravaganza

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