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Editor's note
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For generations, Americans tended to prefer sober-minded politicians for the country’s highest office. That all changed with JFK. Ever since his short-lived presidency, Americans have been drawn to charismatic candidates with celebrity appeal, nominees who were camera-friendly and quick on their feet. With Kennedy’s centennial approaching, historian Steven Watts explains why JFK can be thought of as the nation’s first modern president – with many of his successors mimicking his style.
JFK’s immediate successor, Lyndon Johnson, banked his presidency on building a Great Society and creating social programs to help the poor and aged. Policy expert Simon Haeder of West Virginia University writes how the current president’s budget and a Republican health care law could would hollow out America’s safety net, which has evolved since the New Deal and the Great Society.
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer for many Americans. Consider observing it by picking up a new bottle of sunscreen. UC Riverside chemist Kerry Hanson explains how the sun’s rays affect our skin – and how the chemicals in the sunscreen you should be slathering on protect you from skin damage and cancers.
Can a video game change your mind, or even influence your actions in real life after you’re done playing it? Lindsay Grace, head of the Game Lab at the American University School of Communications, answers the question and introduces a new game telling truth from fiction.
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Nick Lehr
Editor, Arts and Culture
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Top story
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President John F. Kennedy watches as planes conduct anti-sub operations during maneuvers off the North Carolina coast in April 1962.
Associated Press
Steven Watts, University of Missouri-Columbia
Reagan, Clinton, Obama and Trump would all pull from the Kennedy playbook, from mastering the media to exuding masculine vitality.
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Health + Medicine
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Simon Haeder, West Virginia University
The CBO analysis of the new health care bill not only shows that tens of millions would lose insurance. It is a major shift in this country's attitudes and policies toward helping the poor.
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Marni Sommer, Columbia University Medical Center
For millions of girls and women, menstruation is a burden. Here's why helping displaced and poor women and girls with their periods is a way to show true respect for them.
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Science + Technology
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Kerry Hanson, University of California, Riverside
Energy from the sun's rays can cause skin damage and cancers. Sunscreens can absorb or reflect the dangerous UV light. Here's how it works.
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Lindsay Grace, American University School of Communication
Readers read, viewers watch and players do. That level of engagement gives games real power to influence people both within and outside the play itself.
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Politics + Society
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Linda J. Bilmes, Harvard University
In past wars, taxes were increased to cover some of the extra spending. That's not the case for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the costs are adding up fast.
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Michael Hogan, University of Illinois at Springfield
John Fitzgerald Kennedy consistently ranks as one of America's most popular leaders. A presidential historian argues that didn't just happen – it was the result of an effort to create an image.
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From our International Editions
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Natasha Ezrow, University of Essex
Of all the places for a jihadist militant group to operate, it would be hard to find a more conducive country than Libya.
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Liam Viney, The University of Queensland; Adam Behr, Newcastle University; Catherine Strong, RMIT University; Christine Feldman-Barrett, Griffith University; James Arvanitakis, Western Sydney University; Stuart Medley, Edith Cowan University
Dubbed the greatest album ever by Rolling Stone, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is turning 50. We asked six experts how it had stood the test of time and found opinions diverged widely.
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Jonathan Roberts, Queensland University of Technology
Star Wars was a swashbuckling space fantasy that inspired some of the technology we see today, four decades after the film's release.
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Nic Cheeseman, University of Birmingham
As we celebrate Africa Day and reflect on how far the continent has come since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, it's a good time to assess whether democracy is working.
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