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As protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, my first reaction was “I can’t believe this is happening.” Then my journalistic reflexes kicked in and I immediately thought “I need to get in touch with Ore Koren” to help explain what at the time seemed unthinkable, unfathomable and unreal.
Koren is an expert at Indiana University in political violence and civil conflict. I conducted an interview with him late yesterday afternoon, and while many things he said stuck with me, the one that haunts me is that “having a history of political violence is a pretty strong predictor of future violence.” Read his interview to gain perspective and see the hopeful part of what he said. My hope is that his analysis will help make yesterday’s events a little less unfathomable.
Also today:
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Protesters forcing their way into the Capitol.
Win McNamee/Getty Images News via Getty Images
Naomi Schalit, The Conversation
A conflict scholar calls events at the U.S. Capitol 'a messy riot where people lashed out at the heart of American democracy.'
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Politics/Election '20
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Clayton Besaw, University of Central Florida; Matthew Frank, University of Denver
Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, disrupting Congress's certification of Joe Biden as president-elect. Coup experts explain this violent insurrection wasn't technically a coup.
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Paul Bruski, Iowa State University
We may think of flags as fixed symbols with a specific meaning, but there are few symbols whose significance is truly permanent.
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Robert Speel, Penn State
Clergy often possess the rhetorical skills and community ties that can launch political careers. Yet traditionally, few have held elective office. Could that be starting to change?
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Marc-André Argentino, Concordia University
Conspiracy theories spread online are the backbone of Donald Trump's falsehoods about his loss in the U.S. election. The real world consequences of those conspiracies have now exploded.
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Donald Nieman, Binghamton University, State University of New York
The framers of the Constitution were very clear that presidential terms have time limits. Not four years and a day. Not three years and 364 days. Four years.
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Health
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Maria Howard, Gonzaga University
States and hospitals are starting to declare 'crisis standards of care' as the pandemic floods their ERs. The orders have consequences – both good and bad, as a medical ethicist explains.
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Science + Technology
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Terezie Tolar-Peterson, Mississippi State University
There are some factors you can't change about your metabolism. But there are things you can do to influence how much energy your body uses over the course of the day.
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Trending on site
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Pedro Mendes, University of Connecticut
Researchers say around 70% of the US needs to get the coronavirus vaccine to stop the pandemic. But questions around the vaccines and regional differences add some uncertainty to that estimate.
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Edl Schamiloglu, University of New Mexico
High-power microwave weapons are useful for disabling electronics. They might also be behind the ailments suffered by US diplomats and CIA agents in Cuba and China.
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Donald Brand, College of the Holy Cross
The 1887 Electoral Count Act spells out the process for Congress to convene and review election results on Jan. 6, and it requires both the House and Senate to uphold any challenges to Biden's win.
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