An anthropologist working in Azerbaijan looks beyond forensic science to understand the value of culturally specific ways people navigate uncertainty in protracted conflict zones. ✽ I first met Sarmaya—or Sarmaya Aunty as I called her—in the summer of 2020. (Last names of interviewees have been left off to protect people’s identities.)As we sat in her garden in a village in northern Azerbaijan, Sarmaya Aunty told me about her son Mahir, who disappeared during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994) between Armenia and Azerbaijan. After he disappeared, she visited a fortune teller named Mal ..read more

Gogi is a comic strip character who boldly addresses issues of women’s rights in Pakistan and the broader Muslim world. A cultural anthropologist interviews Gogi’s creator, Nigar Nazar, to talk about how comics can be a vehicle for social justice. As a form of popular culture, comics have provided humor, action, and entertainment to readers of all ages and across generations. But comics also intertwine art and humor to creatively make political statements, challenge media censorship, and address controversial issues of the times. This podcast episode focuses on how comics can be tools for soci ..read more

An anthropologist shines a light on Romani and Egyptian recyclers whose work has been made illegal, calling for a new way of viewing humanity’s garbage. ✽ One afternoon on my way home from work in Tirana, Albania, I came across a Romani boy dragging his feet and complaining to his family walking in front of him. At first sight, it could have seemed like a normal occurrence—a teenager being forced into a family activity. Except this family was headed to pick through the trash.   “Nuk dua të mbledh kanoçe!” the boy said. (I don’t want to pick up cans.) The interaction made me turn my h ..read more

The proliferation of smartphones is transforming basic structures of human existence, experience, and performance. How do these machines change what it means to be human? Where is your smartphone right now? If you’re like most smartphone users in the United States, it’s probably within a few feet of your reach, if not sitting in your hand. In the last 15 years, smartphones have quickly, seamlessly, and profoundly been embedded in the daily lives of most Americans. There are now few, if any, domains of modern life that are unaffected by smartphone use. This episode explores our interactions and ..read more

Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program, has proliferated in California’s carceral system. An anthropologist investigates the program, which sees criminality as a chronic addiction that can be treated through intervention. ✽ In a large, sunlit room in Los Angeles, I wait for the meeting to start. Volunteers pull aside a room divider and haphazardly set chairs in rows facing a plastic folding table. Some people sit with friends and crack jokes. Others struggle to handle their fussy children. Some sit solemnly, appearing worn down. Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous (CGA ..read more

The scientific community in Argentina is facing a crisis. In response, scientists are protesting to stand up for their work and community. María Pía Tavella is an Argentine biological anthropologist and science writer. In conversation with host Eshe Lewis, María shares a snapshot of the multiple hurdles the scientific community is facing in Argentina and reflects on the role of science communication. How is scientific research related to our daily lives? In what ways are science contributions so valuable to our societies that we shouldn’t cut spending on them, even in times of economic crisis ..read more

A poet interrogates the garden of Eden origin story by reimagining it against the backdrop of East Africa’s coastal environment. Coastal Eden – Listen in the evening, frangipani fronds unfurl their lemon-yellow limbs into a cloud that fills the garden. the coastal breeze lifts palms and verdant leaves as if limp arms. coastal current, not salty brine but telluric, carrying memory thwarting geography, sea becoming alpine. coastal gusts sweet busy with heat, dizzying twisting twisting until they lie still under a sky scattered with stars burning hot. the garden bears witness holds court at dusk ..read more

An anthropologist shares his story of the environmental, sociocultural, and political consequences of a hydropower dam in India for communities living downstream. Discussions about the impacts of dams around the world are often focused on the displacement of communities due to the creation of reservoirs and the submergence of towns and cities. What happens when a dam affects more people downstream than it displaces upstream? How does a dam impact humans living downstream? In this episode, Parag Jyoti Saikia shares how the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project, one of India’s largest dams under ..read more

A team of researchers will journey by railway to Lac Seul First Nation in Canada to better understand alternative ways of seeing the world. OUTSIDERS PREPARE TO VISIT INSIDERS Next year, a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers will travel 27 hours by train from Toronto, Canada, to Lac Seul First Nation in the northwestern part of Ontario to engage with Knowledge Keepers. For two years, they have been meeting over Zoom as part of a seven-member Teaching Circle. Imagine joining the team as they journey from Toronto’s Union Station. They will leave behind a vast urban world of more th ..read more

A sociocultural anthropologist explores the cultural significance of funeral rituals and food traditions worldwide. Funeral traditions around the world involve a range of rituals. From singing to burying to … eating. Why is food such a common practice in putting our loved ones to rest? In this episode, Leyla Jafarova, a doctoral student at Boston University, examines the role of funeral foods in different cultural contexts—from the solemn Islamic funeral rites of the former Soviet Union to the symbolic importance of rice in West Africa. Food rituals help with bereavement because they carry cul ..read more