By Stephanie Leiser, Director, Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, University of Michigan
According to our recent survey of officials in Michigan communities, local democracy is humming along and city hall is taking care of business.
The federal government was shut down in October and November 2025, but cities and towns around the United States continued to fill potholes, purify drinking water, respond…
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By George Michael, Professor of Criminal Justice, Westfield State University
Black Americans and white nationalists have joined forces in the past. And a number of cultural and political shifts have broadened Fuentes’ appeal to Americans of all races.
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By Yonatan Morse, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut
The countries, whose respective leaders recently won widely disputed elections, offer contrasting examples in how autocracies operate, evolve and change.
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By Bobbi Sutherland, Associate Professor, Department of HIstory, University of Dayton
The Middle Ages weren’t as dreary and desperate as you’d think, and peasants often had weeks of idle time during the holidays. On Christmas Day, the party was just getting started.
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By Adrian Kuenzler, Scholar-in-Residence, University of Denver; University of Hong Kong
Even when information is factually accurate, how it’s presented can introduce subtle biases. As large language models increasingly bring people the news, this bias is a looming problem.
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By Carl Kurlander, Senior Lecturer, Film and Media Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Polio may finally be defeated in the next 5 years. Will the world recognize what an extraordinary achievement that is?
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By Paul Whiteley, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
In the year and a half since Labour won a landslide in the 2024 general election, over 400 polls have been published. Combined, these polls tell a story of a government and its traditional opposition party losing support and fringe parties gaining ground. The big question this poses is whether Reform can win the next general election.
When these polls are combined into weekly averages since the general election, they show that Labour and Reform have averaged 25% in vote intentions over this period. The Conservatives…
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By Eamon McCrory, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology, UCL
Ritika Chokhani, PhD Candidate in Mental Health Science, UCL
Between 2014 and 2024, the proportion of people aged 16–24 in England experiencing mental health issues rose from 19% to 26%.
This means over 1.6 million young people – enough to fill Wembley Stadium…
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By Sara Read, Lecturer in English, Loughborough University
In the 17th century, patches were used to conceal blemishes like the scars left by diseases like smallpox or even syphilis.
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By Sayed Elhoushy, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Queen Mary University of London
Across the UK and Europe, campaign groups are pushing for limits on fossil-fuel ads in public spaces. But even counter-climate ads can trigger fatigue.
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