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Happy Sunday − and welcome to the best of The Conversation U.S. Here are a few of our recently published stories:
As the new year begins, so does the 2024 election season, with the first nominating contest a little more than a week away on Jan. 15, in Iowa. Readers are already paying very close attention, at least based on two of last week’s most engaging stories on our website. Although on different if overlapping themes, both articles follow our coverage plan, focused on equipping readers to navigate what’s likely to be a very messy and long election cycle.
Religion frequently plays a large role in U.S. elections, and religious voters will help determine the next president. Tobin Miller Shearer, a historian and a religious studies scholar at the University of Montana, for example, highlights three key ways religion will play out on the campaign trail: “intensified end-times rhetoric, more claims of divine support and relative silence from the evangelical community on the rise in Christian nationalism.”
Pundits are another group that plays an outsized role in elections. But is their role good for democracy or are they partisan spewers of opinion who destroy trust? The answers, according to University of Colorado Boulder journalism professor Mike McDevitt, depend on what’s motivating their verbal combat. “Pundits can play a productive role by focusing on issues rather than identities,” he writes. “Recent scholarship has demonstrated that issue polarization is less of a problem as long as opponents see humanity in the other side.”
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Bryan Keogh
Managing Editor
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Readers' picks
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Attendees at evangelist Franklin Graham’s ‘Decision America’ tour in Turlock, Calif., in 2018. The tour was to encourage Christians to vote.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tobin Miller Shearer, University of Montana
The 2024 elections may see a more intense end-times rhetoric, claims of divine support and a failure to condemn the rise in Christian nationalism, writes a religion scholar.
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Mike McDevitt, University of Colorado Boulder
Pundits are everywhere, giving their analyses of current events, politics and the state of the world. You’ll hear a lot more from them this election year. Is their rank opinion good for democracy?
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Megan Bryson, University of Tennessee
For many Buddhists today, both in East Asia and across the world, the Lotus Sutra offers religious support for various gender identities.
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Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University; Casey Fiesler, University of Colorado Boulder; Kentaro Toyama, University of Michigan
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and the tech industry is racing along to develop ever more powerful AIs. Three scholars look ahead to the next chapter in this technological revolution.
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Behzad Ebrahimi, University of Chicago; Mark Korpics, University of Chicago
Radiotherapy takes many forms: from directing powerful high-energy beams toward specific areas of the body to placing radioactive seeds right next to tumors.
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Editors' picks
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Many commercial fishing boats do not report their positions at sea or are not required to do so.
Alex Walker via Getty Images
Jennifer Raynor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
A new study reveals that 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are hidden from public view.
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D. Brian Blank, Mississippi State University; Brandy Hadley, Appalachian State University
And will the vibecession ever end?
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Danny Weathers, Clemson University
A streak can motivate you to keep on keeping on with behaviors ranging from praying to running to sharing pictures on social media. Here’s what goes into making them so compelling.
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Daryl Van Tongeren, Hope College
Intellectual humility includes owning your own biases and the possibility that you’re wrong about your beliefs or worldview. It means being open to changing your mind in response to new information.
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News Quiz 🧠
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Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation
Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on Iowa, Israel, the economy and the pope.
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