Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Willa Cather Professor of political science at Nebraska, and Jeff Spinner-Halev, Kenan Eminent Professor of Political Ethics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discussed their book “Respect and Loathing in American Democracy: Polarization, Moralization and the Undermining of Equality” on the Aug. 1 episode of the “FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.” “I think this idea that the two sides have moralized their worldviews really drives the disrespect, because anybody who disagrees with them is evil, by definition, because it’s moralized,” Theiss-Morse said.
Pierce Ekstrom, assistant professor of political science, was interviewed for an Aug. 9 New York Times article on the contrasting Midwestern upbringings of vice-presidential hopefuls JD Vance and Tim Walz. “A rural identity is bound to mean different things to different people and to vary over time,” Ekstrom said. “Campaigns have a lot of material that they could choose to work with, or not.” (This article requires a subscription.)
Tyler White, associate professor of practice in political science, director of the National Security Studies program and faculty director of the University Honors Program, was interviewed for an Aug. 22 Straight Arrow News story on the United States updating its nuclear defense strategy to address increasing threats by Russia, China and North Korea. “This is about preparing for nuclear conflict or the escalation toward it — establishing the doctrine, the procedures and the options available to the president in response to such a situation,” he said.
A study led by Dan Metz, a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Biological Sciences, was featured in an Aug. 9 National Geographic article. The study found that the microscopic parasite Haplorchis pumilio is able to generate an army of clones whose only purpose is to attack other parasites competing for space inside a host. Metz was interviewed for the article.
Allison Johnson, research assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences, was interviewed for an Aug. 12 ABC Australia article on the splendid fairy-wren (Malurus splendens). She said the birds are typically found as a breeding pair with male helpers, often the sons of the breeding male. Young males may hang around to one day inherit the breeding male’s territory, she said.
Laura K. Muñoz, history and ethnic studies, was a featured guest on Phoenix’s KJZZ on Aug. 12. Muñoz, author of “Desert Dreams: Mexican Arizona and the Politics of Educational Equality,” discussed how best to teach English to bilingual students.
Joy Castro, English and ethnic studies, director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, was interviewed for an Aug. 13 story on South Florida’s WLRN about the first English-Spanish version of “Lagrimas y Flores,” a poetry collection written by her grandfather, Feliciano Castro. The Husker faculty member co-edited the translated version, to be released in October, with Rhi Johnson, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University.
Timothy Schaffert discussed his latest novel, “The Titanic Survivors Book Club,” in the September 2024 issue of World Literature Today. Schaffert is the Adele Hall Chair of English and director of the Creative Writing program at Nebraska.
