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What’s the current state of the union?
Listening to President Joe Biden give this annual presidential speech last night, it appears to be a roller coaster of high highs and low lows. There’s economic growth and prosperity, and there’s also the risk of democracy crumbling.
Biden’s sweeping address was a mishmash of many issues − including the economy, reproductive rights and U.S. involvement in foreign wars − that are weighing on the country in the lead-up to the presidential election.
Biden also called for immediate congressional action on a bipartisan immigration bill that failed to pass the Senate this year, but that he says is necessary for addressing surging border crossings.
There’s a reason why immigration has become a top concern for Americans, explains immigration legal scholar Jean Lantz Reisz of the University of Southern California. And there are also clear limits to what the president alone can do to respond to immigration challenges.
“The president’s power regarding immigration is limited to enforcing existing immigration laws. But the president has broad authority over how to enforce those laws,” Reisz explains in today’s top story.
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Amy Lieberman
Politics + Society Editor
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President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on March 7, 2024.
Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images
Jean Lantz Reisz, University of Southern California
A rising number of Americans say that immigration is the country’s biggest problem. Biden called for Congress to pass a bipartisan border and immigration bill during his State of the Union.
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Economy + Business
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Ana Santos Rutschman, Villanova School of Law
An inhaler that costs nearly $300 in the US goes for just $9 in Germany. What gives?
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Jamie Hanson, University of Pittsburgh
A study of more than 100 teens and their caregivers showed a unique link between hardship and behavior problems.
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Bob Bussel, University of Oregon
Despite intermittent efforts over the past three decades, the UAW union has been unable to organize employees of foreign-based automakers in states such as Alabama and Tennessee.
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Education
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Kerri Raissian, University of Connecticut; Jennifer Necci Dineen, University of Connecticut
Research shows that more children have handled household guns than their parents think.
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Science + Technology
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Kathleen Abadie, University of Washington; Elisa Clark, University of Washington; Hao Yuan Kueh, University of Washington
When faced with a threat, T cells have the decision-making flexibility to both clear out the pathogen now and ready themselves for a future encounter.
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Gareth J. Fraser, University of Florida
Because hammerhead sharks give birth to live young, studying their embryonic development is much more complicated than harvesting some eggs and watching them develop in real time.
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Environment + Energy
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Douglas Bessette, Michigan State University; Jacob White, Michigan State University
Detroit’s plan to install solar panels in city neighborhoods may conflict with residents’ desires to see lower energy bills and more housing.
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Politics + Society
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Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Colorado State University
A spate of recent high-profile murders has put focus on the role of patriarchy and misogyny in persistent rates of anti-woman violence in Italy.
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Arts + Culture
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Naoko Wake, Michigan State University
For all its praise, the film furthers the dominant narrative of the bombs as a morally fraught but necessary project, with American anxieties playing a starring role.
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Jill R. Fehleison, Quinnipiac University
By compiling stories about the accomplishments of women, Christine set out to build an allegorical city where women and their achievements would be safe from sexist insults and slander.
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The Conversation Quiz 🧠
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Here’s the first question of this week’s edition:
Joe Biden and Donald Trump nearly swept the Super Tuesday voting, but Trump failed to carry one state and Biden failed to carry one territory. Which state and territory were they?
- A. Georgia and Guam
- B. Vermont and American Samoa
- C. California and the District of Columbia
- D. Maine and Puerto Rico
Test your knowledge
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