Christine Hallquist became the first transgender candidate to be nominated for a governorship by a major party when she won Vermont’s Democratic primary Aug. 14. The nomination marks a seismic shift in the social culture of our nation, says an expert on transgender adults at Washington University in St. Louis.

Papa John’s should consider whether it needs a facelift and a new identity after its highly recognizable founder resigned amid continuing controversy. That’s the perspective of a public-relations expert, longtime practicing professional and leader in business communications at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School.

The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has renewed debate about the future of Roe v. Wade. Mary Ann Dzuback, chair of the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies in Arts & Sciences, suspects that conservative justices will continue chipping away at reproductive choice, rather than mount a frontal assault on the decision. But she warns that by undermining Roe’s guarantee of reproductive choice, the court risks its own reputation and authority.

President Donald Trump on June 20 directed his administration to detain migrant families together instead of separating parents from their children, but one of the nation’s leading immigration experts argues that jailing migrant families is still “cruel and unnecessary” under U.S. law.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 14 struck down a ban on clothing with political messages being worn inside polling places. Greg Magarian, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on free speech and the law of politics, says the court’s decision in the case was very narrow.

North America, even in the face of controversial policies regarding immigration under President Trump’s administration, had more to offer soccer’s international governing body, says Patrick Rishe, a sports business expert from Washington University in St. Louis. As a result, the “United Bid” of the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup on the eve of this year’s competition in Russia.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 11 upheld Ohio’s efforts to purge its voter rolls. The move spreads voting discrimination across America, argues a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Curiosity Rover mission found signs of organic materials on Mars dating back about 3.5 billion years, NASA announced June 7. It could be a big deal, said Raymond Arvidson, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences.

While this week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision siding 7-2 with bakery owner Jack Phillips in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission was “far from explosive,” it still sends important signals on how such cases will be handled in the future, said a legal scholar at Washington University in St. Louis.

Our daily lives revolve around the internet, whether it’s personal contact, news or the sharing of political views. As such, there remains significant work to do so the internet can deal with the real challenges it faces, rather than ones it fails to consider, an internet privacy expert at Washington University in St. Louis said.