Author: TheConversation

By Michael S. Jaffee, Vice Chair, Department of Neurology, University of Florida For most of the United States, the clock goes back one hour on Sunday morning, November 1, the “fall back” for daylight saving time. Many of us appreciate the extra hour of sleep. But for millions, that gain will not counter the inadequate sleep they get the rest of the year. About 40% of adults – 50 to 70 million Americans – get less than the recommended minimum seven hours per night. Some researchers are concerned about how the twice-a-year switch impacts our body’s physiology. The American...

By Nigel Gibson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College Psychiatric hospitals tend to create institutionalized patients, thus further alienating them from their communities. But what also became clear to philosopher Frantz Fanon, while working as a psychiatrist at Blida-Joinville Hospital in Algeria between 1953 and 1956, was that patient integration was impossible in colonial societies. By definition, colonies produce fragmented societies that are haunted by fear and suspicion. As such they remain divided and their culture, increasingly rigid. Fanon’s short article “Confession in North Africa” was first delivered at the 1955 Congrès de Psychiatrie et de Neurologie de...

By Bethany Albertson, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin President Donald Trump’s rhetoric is often referred to as “dog whistle politics.” In politician speak, a dog whistle is language that conveys a particular meaning to a group of potential supporters. The targeted group hears the “whistle” because of its shared cultural reference, but others cannot. In 2018, The Washington Post wrote that “perhaps no one has sent more dog whistles than President Trump.” When Trump this year planned a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the site of one of the worst acts of racial terror in U.S. history...

By Steven Webster, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana University As the 2020 presidential election draws near, one thing is clear: America is an angry nation. From protests over persistent racial injustice to white nationalist counter-protests, anger is on display across the country. The national ire relates to inequality, the government’s coronavirus response, economic concerns, race and policing. It’s also due, in large part, to deliberate and strategic choices made by American politicians to stoke voter anger for their own electoral advantage. Donald Trump’s attempts to enrage his base are so plentiful that progressive magazine The Nation called him...