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Repeated storms are turning disaster recovery into a way of life, and leaving communities facing disaster fatigue
Fast-moving floodwater from a storm damaged bridges and homes and broke apart Million Bible Church in Richmond, Ky., in late June 2026. Jon Cherry/Getty Images Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, University of North Dakota Flash flooding has been tearing up communities across the U.S., with heavy downpours sending creeks and rivers rushing over their banks from…
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How did it feel to be an American colonist in 1776? Probably itchy, achy and slightly nauseated
Life went on in the late 18th century, regardless of your everyday ailments. Archive Photos/Getty Images Katherine Ott, Smithsonian Institution Trade the tricorn hats, bonnets and homespun shirts for flip flops, sneakers and soccer jerseys, and the intrepid revolutionaries of 1776 would have looked a lot like the people of 2026. But their sense of…
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Bullying is common in elementary school – and it’s more likely to happen in classrooms that are chaotic
Experiencing bullying frequently in childhood can have lifelong consequences. Malte Mueller/iStock illustrations/Getty Qingqing Yang, University at Albany, State University of New York About 1 in 4 elementary students in the United States reports being bullied at least once during a given school year. Children who are frequently bullied are more likely to struggle in school,…
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Why Easter is called Easter, and other little‑known facts about the holiday
What is the origin of Easter eggs? Katie Morrow, CC BY-NC-ND Brent Landau, The University of Texas at Austin The date of Easter, when the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place, changes from year to year. The reason for this variation is that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the…
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How a coffee company and a marketing maven brewed up a Passover tradition: A brief history of the Maxwell House Haggadah
A Jewish family welcomes home their Navy man and gathers for a Passover Seder at their home in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1943. Minnesota Historical Society/CORBIS/Corbis Historical via Getty Images Kerri Steinberg, Otis College of Art and Design For more than a millennium, the haggadah has been the centerpiece of the Jewish holiday of Passover.…
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How craft is good for our health
Craft can be done solitary or with other people, and its up to you to decide. rawpixel unsplash Susan Luckman, University of South Australia At a time when many of us feel overwhelmed by the 24/7 demands of the digital world, craft practices, alongside other activities such as colouring books for grown-ups and the up-surge…
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How a 22-year-old George Washington learned how to lead, from a series of mistakes in the Pennsylvania wilderness
A young George Washington was thrust into the dense, contested wilderness of the Ohio River Valley as a land surveyor for real estate development companies in Virginia. Henry Hintermeister/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Christopher Magra, University of Tennessee This Presidents Day, I’ve been thinking about George Washington − not at his finest hour, but possibly…
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MLK’s vision of love as a moral imperative still matters
Joshua F.J. Inwood, Penn State More than 50 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the United States remains divided by issues of race and racism, economic inequality as well as unequal access to justice. These issues are stopping the country from developing into the kind of society that Martin Luther King, Jr.…
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Can’t keep your New Year’s resolutions? Try being kind to yourself
Making New Year resolutions? Kalyan Kanuri, CC BY-SA Kristin Neff, The University of Texas at Austin Many of us will start out the New Year by making a list of resolutions – changes we want to make to be happier such as eating better, volunteering more often, being a more attentive spouse and so on.…
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How Charles Dickens redeemed the spirit of Christmas
The title page from the first edition of A Christmas Carol. John Leech via Wikimedia Commons Richard Gunderman, Indiana University Though today regarded as the literary titan of the Victorian age, in late 1843 the 31-year-old Charles Dickens worried that his popularity was fading. His latest novel was not selling well, his finances were strained…
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How Hanukkah came to America
In the United States, Hanukkah has gained much significance. Tercer Ojo Photography/Shutterstock.com Dianne Ashton, Rowan University Hanukkah may be the best known Jewish holiday in the United States. But despite its popularity in the U.S., Hanukkah is ranked one of Judaism’s minor festivals, and nowhere else does it garner such attention. The holiday is mostly…
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Trump has promised to eliminate funding to schools that don’t nix DEI work – but half of the states are not complying
While other presidential administrations have issued ‘Dear Colleague’ letters to schools, the Trump administration is the first to treat the letter like a law that mandates action. iStock/Getty Images Plus Hilary Lustick, UMass Lowell It’s been about six months since the U.S. Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to all schools that receive…
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Why 2025 became the summer of flash flooding in America
Rescuers searched for survivors after a flash flood in Texas Hill Country on July 4, 2025, that killed more than 130 people. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Jeffrey Basara, UMass Lowell The National Weather Service had already issued more than 3,600 flash flood warnings across the United States in 2025 by late July, close to its average…
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Along with the ideals it expresses, the Declaration of Independence mourns for something people lost in 1776 − and now, too
Right around the Fourth of July, Americans pay renewed attention to the country’s crucial founding document, the Declaration of Independence. Whether Republican or Democrat or independent, some will say – with reverence – that adherence to the values expressed in the Declaration is what makes them American. President Barack Obama, in his second inaugural address,…
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Trump targets NPR and PBS as public and nonprofit media account for a growing share of local news coverage
Republicans in Washington have their sights – once again – on defunding public media. On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the termination of taxpayer support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that helps fund American public media stations of all sizes, from NPR and PBS, to smaller outlets like WBHM in…
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Betty Smith enchanted a generation of readers with ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ − even as she groused that she hoped Williamsburg would be flattened
Eighty years ago, in the winter and spring of 1944, Brooklyn-born author Betty Smith was entering a new chapter of life. A year earlier, she was an unknown writer, negotiating with her publisher about manuscript edits and the date of publication for her first book, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” a semi-autobiographical novel about the poor but…
You missed what may have been the most interesting, for me at least, hearing of the week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEUDhcWdo7I Here you…