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Top headlines
Lead story
In an ideal world, Super Tuesday would be the beginning of the most exciting season of American politics, when people across the nation come together to talk about where they want the country to go next.
This year is not ideal. Millions of Americans are politically exhausted. But brace yourself: There are eight more months of campaign season before Election Day in November.
Political science scholar Jared McDonald explains that the problem isn’t just polarization, and the damage isn’t just to the candidates.
If people aren’t speaking up about their hopes and fears and ideas, they’re not engaging in the crucial work a democracy requires of all its citizens, he writes. With such a limited public discussion, government has no way to reflect the will of the people.
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Jeff Inglis
Politics + Society Editor
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Campaign volunteers set up signs encouraging people to vote.
AP Photo/Vasha Hunt
Jared McDonald, University of Mary Washington
It’s not just polarization that’s driving voters’ malaise − it’s something else, which carries a stark warning for the health of American democracy.
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Environment + Energy
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Erle C. Ellis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Scientists have been debating the start of the Anthropocene Epoch for 15 years. I was part of those discussions, and I agree with the vote rejecting it.
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Michael A. Rawlins, UMass Amherst; Ambarish Karmalkar, University of Rhode Island
A new study shows how thawing permafrost and intensifying storms will change how water moves into and through Arctic rivers.
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Education
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Amaarah DeCuir, American University
Federal law protects students’ rights to request some religious accommodations, including during the month of Ramadan.
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International
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Julie Weise, University of Oregon; Shahar Shoham, Humboldt University of Berlin
The contours of the Middle East conflict have long influenced Israel’s migrant worker policy.
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Myunghee Lee, Michigan State University; Sungik Yang, Arizona State University
Critics of the South Korean leader accuse him of eroding democracy at home while embracing a historic enemy on the international stage.
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Politics + Society
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Paul Ringel, High Point University
Unlike some GOP politicians, a college professor who teaches Black history to mostly white students was excited that the Black national anthem was being played at the Super Bowl.
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Mark Robert Rank, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
During the Cuban missile crisis, World War III was likely averted by what one US official called ‘just plain dumb luck.’
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Science + Technology
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Nazanin Andalibi, University of Michigan
Loss of privacy is just the beginning. Workers are worried about biased AI and the need to perform the ‘right’ expressions and body language for the algorithms.
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Ethics + Religion
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David W. Stowe, Michigan State University
Plenty of movies have explicitly religious themes, but some of the most interesting examples of faith or transcendence on screen are much more subtle.
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Gustavo Morello, Boston College
Historically, many Christians got tattoos around Holy Week − usually a cross − to honor Christ’s martyrdom.
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Joelle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island
European women’s rights expanded in early medieval cities, though they were still limited. Last wills and testaments were some of the few documents women could dictate themselves.
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Arts + Culture
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Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, University of Southern California
Through their media savvy, two consultants were able to make the Oscars as much about the attire as the gold statuettes.
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