Celebrities following Trump's footsteps during midterms

+ reducing opioid use with cannabis US Edition - Today's top story: A new wave of celebrity politicians breaks the rules on acceptable behavior, inspired by Trump [View in browser]( US Edition | 2 November 2022 [The Conversation]( Most Americans I know (myself included) find it hard to resist paying attention to a celebrity doing or saying something outlandish. Most entertainers, after all, got famous because they know how to keep the spotlight on themselves. Midterm elections, on the other hand, tend not to keep viewers glued to their screens. But the 2022 midterms are getting a splash of celebrity influence, with football star Herschel Walker, TV anchor Kari Lake and TV show host Dr. Oz all running for office in Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania, respectively. And they have adopted a playbook by Donald Trump that involves “getting the public to [register transgressive behavior as entertainment](,” write social anthropologists Donna Goldstein and Kristin Drybread. It appears to be working. “Walker, Lake and Oz are now also using their celebrity status to defy long-established rules of political engagement and to make morally questionable entertainment a viable political strategy,” they explain. Also today: - [Who should pay for the harms of climate change?]( - [Why schools have long-failed students of color]( - [What does Christian nationalism mean?]( Amy Lieberman Politics + Society Editor Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for Arizona governor, campaigns at a rally on Oct. 9, 2022. Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images [A new wave of celebrity politicians breaks the rules on acceptable behavior, inspired by Trump]( Donna M Goldstein, University of Colorado Boulder; Kristen Drybread, University of Colorado Boulder GOP candidates Kari Lake, Herschel Walker and Dr. Mehmet Oz have caught people’s attention for outlandish stunts and false statements that are increasingly accepted in politics. Politics + Society - [Women get fewer chances to speak on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, according to an AI-powered, large-scale analysis of interruptions]( Ashique KhudaBukhsh, Rochester Institute of Technology An analysis of hundreds of thousands of interactions on cable news programs shows that women interrupt more often than men – and it may be because they also have to fight for equal airtime. - [Guns at voting sites have long sparked fears of intimidation and violence – yet few states ban their presence]( Robert Spitzer, State University of New York College at Cortland Election-related violence isn’t unheard of in the US. A scholar of gun laws explains how the threat is only increased by allowing people to carry firearms as they vote. - [Netanyahu on track to win in Israeli election – but there are many challenges ahead]( Ran Porat, Monash University The Likud leader looks set to return as Israeli prime minister after a period of political instability in the country – and five elections in less than four years. Health + Medicine - [Cannabis holds promise for pain management, reducing the need for opioid painkillers – a neuropharmacology expert explains how]( Benjamin Land, University of Washington Studies suggest that marijuana and CBD use might help relieve chronic pain while also reducing a patient’s need for opioids. Science + Technology - [Water was both essential and a barrier to early life on Earth – microdroplets are one potential solution to this paradox]( Nicolás M. Morato, Purdue University The chemical reaction that forms essential biomolecules like proteins and DNA normally doesn’t occur in the presence of water. Microdroplets provide a unique environment that make it possible. Ethics + Religion - [Talk of ‘Christian nationalism’ is getting a lot louder – but what does the term really mean?]( Eric McDaniel, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts Christian nationalist ideas are about more than simply being religious and patriotic. They form a worldview about how the nation should be structured and who belongs there. Environment + Energy - [Loss and damage: Who is responsible when climate change harms the world’s poorest countries, and what does compensation look like?]( Bethany Tietjen, Tufts University That’s the big question at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP27. Here are some of the ideas being floated. Arts + Culture - [Music inspires powerful emotions on screen, just like in real life]( Gena R. Greher, UMass Lowell Music and film have gone hand in hand ever since the release of ‘The Jazz Singer’ nearly 100 years ago. - [Parents have very warm feelings toward other parents – here’s why that could be bad news for the child-free]( Zachary P. Neal, Michigan State University; Jennifer Watling Neal, Michigan State University If parents prefer to associate with other parents, what does that mean for people who have decided against having kids? Education - [Why schools’ going back to ‘normal’ won’t work for students of color]( Adriana Villavicencio, University of California, Irvine A scholar explains why schools can’t focus only on closing pandemic-related learning gaps. - [Former math teacher explains why some students are ‘good’ at math and others lag behind]( Frances E. Anderson, University of Nebraska Omaha A former math teacher explains what’s behind the recent drop in math scores for the nation’s fourth and eighth graders. 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