How palm oil became the world's most hated, most used fat source

Palm oil is responsible for widespread deforestation and labor abuses, but it's also cheap and incredibly useful. That's why many advocates call for reforming the industry, not replacing it.

Jonathan E. Robins, Associate Professor of Global History, Michigan Technological University • conversation
June 24, 2021 • ~10 min

Australia, fighting Facebook, is the latest country to struggle against foreign influence on journalism

The battle between media companies and foreign governments over who controls the news dates back some 150 years, to when European and US wire services dictated the world's headlines.

Vanessa Freije, Assistant Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington • conversation
Feb. 19, 2021 • ~10 min

The Marshall Islands could be wiped out by climate change – and their colonial history limits their ability to save themselves

Climate change is a true existential threat for small island nations, but the US has done little to help the Marshall Islands, which it administered for decades.

Caroline E. Ferguson, PhD candidate in Environment and Resources, Stanford University • conversation
Dec. 11, 2020 • ~10 min

Some bees are born curious while others are more single-minded – new research hints at how the hive picks which flowers to feast on

New research suggests individual bees are born with one of two learning styles – either curious or focused. Their genetic tendency has implications for how the hive works together.

Chelsea Cook, Assistant Professor in Biology, Marquette University • conversation
Oct. 5, 2020 • ~7 min

Enslaved people's health was ignored from the country's beginning, laying the groundwork for today's health disparities

The health care inequities suffered by Black Americans today began centuries ago.

Eric Kyere, Assistant professor, social work, IUPUI • conversation
July 30, 2020 • ~6 min

Five must-read novels on the environment and climate crisis

Eco-fiction to help you rethink your role in the climate crisis.

Ti-han Chang, Lecturer in Asia-Pacific Studies, University of Central Lancashire • conversation
July 9, 2020 • ~7 min

Why the Anthropocene began with European colonisation, mass slavery and the 'great dying' of the 16th century

It marked the point when humans began to exert a geologically-huge influence on the environment.

Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at University of Leeds and, UCL • conversation
June 25, 2020 • ~8 min

Archaeologists have a lot of dates wrong for North American indigenous history – but we're using new techniques to get it right

Modern dating techniques are providing new time frames for indigenous settlements in Northeast North America, free from the Eurocentric bias that previously led to incorrect assumptions.

Sturt Manning, Director of the Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory and Professor of Classical Archaeology, Cornell University • conversation
April 29, 2020 • ~9 min

Social distancing works – just ask lobsters, ants and vampire bats

Using distance to avoid getting sick has deep evolutionary roots for humans and many other species.

Julia Buck, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington • conversation
April 3, 2020 • ~8 min

Climate change: how Senegal's colonial history made it more vulnerable

We need to understand colonial histories to understand climate risks.

Nick Bernards, Assistant Professor of Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick • conversation
March 6, 2020 • ~7 min

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