Anthropology

Anthropology

episodes

Interviews with anthropologists about their new books.

Linguistic Diversity as a Bureaucratic Challenge

November 15, 2024

Linguistic Diversity as a Bureaucratic Challenge

Clara Holzinger
Hosted by Ingrid Piller

How do street-level bureaucrats in Austria’s public service deal with linguistic diversity? In this episode of the Language on the Move podcast, Ingri…

Scott J. Weiner, "Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)

November 13, 2024

Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States

Scott J. Weiner
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Tribe-state relations are a foundational element of authoritarian bargains in the Middle East, and in particular in the Gulf States. However, the stru…

David Shoemaker, "Wisecracks: Humor and Morality in Everyday Life" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

November 13, 2024

Wisecracks

David Shoemaker
Hosted by Damian Maher

What good is a good sense of humour especially when the humour may be ethically questionable? Although humour seems a valuable part of a good conversa…

Nandini Sundar, "The Burning Forest: India's War In Bastar" (Verso, 2019)

November 12, 2024

The Burning Forest

Nandini Sundar
Hosted by Stuti Roy

The Burning Forest: India's War Against the Maoists (Verso, 2019) by Nandini Sundar is an empathetic, moving account of what drives indigenous peasant…

Roxani Krystalli, "Good Victims: The Political as a Feminist Question" (Oxford UP, 2024)

November 11, 2024

Good Victims

Roxani Krystalli

In the latest edition of Ethnographic Marginalia, we talk with Roxani Krystalli about her new book Good Victims: The Political as a Feminist Question …

Sharonah Esther Fredrick, "An Unholy Rebellion, Killing the Gods: Political Ideology and Insurrection in the Mayan Popul Vuh and the Andean Huarochiri Manuscript" (U Nebraska Press, 2024)

November 10, 2024

An Unholy Rebellion, Killing the Gods

Sharonah Esther Fredrick
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

An Unholy Rebellion, Killing the Gods: Political Ideology and Insurrection in the Mayan Popul Vuh and the Andean Huarochiri Manuscript (University of …

Harvey Whitehouse, "Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World" (Harvard UP, 2024)

November 10, 2024

Inheritance

Harvey Whitehouse

Each of us is endowed with an inheritance--a set of evolved biases and cultural tools that shape every facet of our behavior. For countless generation…

"The Languages of Indonesian Politics" Revisited

November 8, 2024

"The Languages of Indonesian Politics" Revisited

Dwi Noverini Djenar
Hosted by Natali Pearson

In 1966 Benedict Anderson published 'The Languages of Indonesian Politics', a seminal paper exploring the development of Indonesian as a new language …

Ethel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)

November 7, 2024

Care Activism

Ethel Tungohan
Hosted by Ailin Zhou

Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden …

Sanaullah Khan, "Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self" (Lexington Books, 2023)

November 3, 2024

Carceral Recovery

Sanaullah Khan
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self (Lexington Books, 2023) explores the interrelation between carceral conditio…

Kristina Kolbe, "The Sound of Difference: Race, Class and the Politics of 'Diversity' in Classical Music" (Manchester UP, 2024)

November 2, 2024

The Sound of Difference

Kristina Kolbe
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

What happens when the elitist space of 'Western' classical music seeks to diversify itself? And what are the social effects worked through diversity d…

When We Prioritize Data and Metrics, What Happens to Human Connections?

October 31, 2024

When We Prioritize Data and Metrics, What Happens to Human Connections?

Allison Pugh

Today’s book is: The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World (Princeton University Press, 2024), by Dr. Allison Pugh, which exp…

Jamie Hakim, "Digital Intimacies: Queer Men and Smartphones in Times of Crisis" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

October 31, 2024

Digital Intimacies

Jamie Hakim, James Cummings, and Ingrid Young
Hosted by Qing Shen

Queer men's cultures of intimacy have long been sites of fierce contestation. Indeed, debates have raged for decades over issues such as monogamy, saf…

Judging Refugees: Narrative and Oral Testimony in Refugee Status Determination

October 30, 2024

Judging Refugees

Anthea Vogl

Dr Laura Smith-Khan speaks with Dr Anthea Vogl about her new book, Judging Refugees: Narrative and Oral Testimony in Refugee Status Determination (Cam…

Jia Tan, "Digital Masquerade: Feminist Rights and Queer Media in China" (NYU Press, 2023)

October 29, 2024

Digital Masquerade

Jia Tan
Hosted by Qing Shen

Digital Masquerade: Feminist Rights and Queer Media in China (NYU Press, 2023) offers a trenchant and singular analysis of the convergence of digital …

Sabina Faiz Rashid, "Poverty, Gender and Health in the Slums of Bangladesh: Children of Crows" (Routledge, 2024)

October 29, 2024

Poverty, Gender and Health in the Slums of Bangladesh

Sabina Faiz Rashid

Poverty, Gender and Health in the Slums of Bangladesh: Children of Crows (Routledge, 2024) provides comprehensive ethnographic accounts that depict th…

Townsend Middleton, "Quinine's Remains: Empire’s Medicine and the Life Thereafter" (U California Press, 2024)

October 28, 2024

Quinine's Remains

Townsend Middleton
Hosted by Rounak Bose

What happens after colonial industries have run their course—after the factory closes and the fields go fallow? Set in the cinchona plantations of Ind…

Kostas Kampourakis, "Ancestry Reimagined: Dismantling the Myth of Genetic Ethnicities" (Oxford UP, 2023)

October 27, 2024

Ancestry Reimagined

Kostas Kampourakis

Recent social and political psychological research indicates that increased access to ancestry testing has strengthened the notion of genetic essentia…

Larisa Jasarević, "Beekeeping in the End Times" (Indiana UP, 2024)

October 26, 2024

Beekeeping in the End Times

Larisa Jasarević
Hosted by Yadong Li

Every hundred years, as the story goes, two angels wonder out loud whether the bees are still swarming. For as long as the bees are swarming, the ange…

Omer Aijazi, "Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024)

October 25, 2024

Atmospheric Violence

Omer Aijazi

Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024) grapples with the afterlife of environmental disasters and armed c…