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Where Qualitative Meets Quantitative Data w/ Delve co-founders LaiYee Ho and Alex Limpaecher

In this episode Adam Gamwell talks with Alex Limpaecher and LaiYee Ho, co-Founders of Delve. While Delve is a qualitative research suite, to help …

GUEST PODCAST: AnthroDish 49: Exploring Quinoa Production through Design Anthropology with Dr. Adam Gamwell

For this episode, we're doing something a little different. I'll be your guest. I got interviewed by the wonderful Sarah Dunigan on her podcast …

The Surprising Connections between Climate Finance, Sacrifice and the Spirit of Capitalism

In this episode, Adam and Aneil reflect on Aneil’s fieldwork in climate finance. Climate finance is an area of finance focused on mobilizing …

Fear and Loathing in Truth or Consequences, performed by Taylor Genovese: Storyslamming Anthropology Series #2

Storyslamming Anthropology Series, Story 2. Written and Performed by Taylor Genovese

In recent years, the terms Public and Anthropology have been …

Don't Yuck My Yum w/ Julie Lesnik (Edible Insects, pt 3)

Adam and Andrea continue the conversation with Julie Lesnik, author of Edible Insects and Human Evolution, but this time they’re going prehistoric. …

A Bugless Life w/ Julie Lesnik (Edible Insects, pt 2)

Think you could eat a cricket? What about a spider? In this episode of TAL Adam Gamwell and guest host Andrea Eller are chatting with Julie Lesnik …

Why Don't You Eat Bugs?

Edible Insects part 1. Will crickets ever catch on as an alternative source of protein in the United States? How about cockroach “milk”? Why do people in so many parts of the world NOT eat …

The Social Life of Robots, pt 2: Sex and Temperament in Three Cyborg Societies

Part 2 of The Social Life of Robots, with Emma Backe. In this episode hosts Adam Gamwell, Ryan Collins and Emma Backe tackle sex and gender norms …

Heritage Survival Across Borders: Identity, Language and Migration

Welcome to CultureMade: Heritage Enterprise in a World on the Move, an audio collaboration between the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the American …

The Social Life of Robots, pt 1: Spoiler Alert

In the pop culture imagination, perceptions of robots and AI occupy a space of mystery and intrigue that gravitates between harbingers of impending …

The Craft of Curation

Welcome to CultureMade: Heritage Enterprise in a World on the Move, an audio collaboration from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the American …

Switched on Pop

On this episode of This Anthro Life, hosts Adam Gamwell and Matt Artz are joined by assistant professor and musicologist Nate Sloan and music …

Weaving Social Fabric: The Craft of African Fashion

Welcome to CultureMade: Heritage Enterprise in a World on the Move , an audio collaboration from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the American …

Sharing Sonic Space: Music as Home, Soul and Connector

“I hope that more people will listen to more music outside of their own little comfort zone. I think that we enrich ourselves, we are better human beings when you open up your heart to …

Art is a Movement

Welcome to CultureMade: Heritage Enterprise in a World on the Move, an audio collaboration series from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the …

EPIC Evidence with Dawn Nafus and Tye Rattenbury

This Anthro Life is opening the conversation with EPIC (the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community) on the theme of Evidence. Taking center stage at this year's Annual EPIC Conference. …

The Awe is Shared: Evolution and Public Science with Andrea Eller - This Anthro Life

Andrea Eller is a biological anthropologist driven by a question of how do our bodies continue to react to things today? In other words, how does …

Tech Ethnography, Data and Social Justice w/ Dr. Tricia Wang

Dr. Tricia Wang sees her work consulting as sitting at the crossroads of data and social justice. As a global tech ethnographer, Dr. Wang is obsessed …

EPIC Innovation w/ Dr. Alexandra Mack - This Anthro Life

Welcome back listeners! Adam and Ryan have taken some time away as of late to finish and defend their dissertations. Now that Ryan is done, and Adam defends in just one week (so close!), …

Consulting Podcasters: Prototyping a Democratic Tool for Multiple Voices, Storytelling and Solution Finding

Thanks to the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) for having Adam Gamwell and Matt Artz of This Anthro Life present at the annual meeting in …

Marching for Science w/Valorie Aquino

On this episode of This Anthro Life, hosts Ryan Collins and Adam Gamwell are joined by TAL correspondent and guest host Astrid Countee and by a very …

#MeToo: Stories in the Age of Survivorship by Emma Backe: Story Slamming Anthropology #1

Welcome to Story Slamming Anthropology. This series features both innovative narrative and audio performance drawing on the deep toolkit and methods …

Carving a Niche between Software and Social Science: Anthropology in Industry w/ Natalie Hanson

Design and anthropology have been  seen together with increasing frequency over the last few years, but how  do design and anthropology fit together …

Diversity + Inclusion in Higher Education, part 1

Welcome listeners to the first installment of our Diversity and Inclusion crossover series, bringing together This Anthro Life with Brandeis University. For those of you who are new to the …

Coming to Our Senses

In this Conversations episode of This  Anthro Life, Adam Gamwell and Ryan Collins explore the subject of  sensory ethnography –  a focus in …

Are Emojis and Hieroglyphs Universal Language?


Will Emojis be the death of writing? Are emojis modern day hieroglyphs? Is the increased use of emojis in textual conversations a sign of the end of language as we know it? Join us for one …

Fall for This Anthro Life: Back in Action, New Content, and our Patreon Campaign

Hey Listeners! Adam and Ryan are back from their brief summer hiatus (a time filled with fieldwork, dissertation writing, and travels abound) with new content, a fresh Patreon campaign, …

The Happiness Fetish Revisited

In response to several surveys that attempt to quantify happiness, Ryan, Adam, and Aneil spend this episode of This Anthro Life exploring happiness through the lens of fetishism. They …

The Stories Bones Tell w/ Kristina Killgrove

This Anthro Life has teamed up with Savage Minds to bring you a special 5-part podcast and blog crossover series. While thinking together as two …

Anthropology + Science Journalism = A New Genre? w/ Daniel Salas of SAPIENS

This Anthro Life has teamed up with Savage Minds to bring you a special 5-part podcast and blog crossover series. While thinking together as two …

Writing “in my Culture” w/ Zoe Wool and Alex Golub of Savage Minds

This Anthro Life has teamed up with Savage Minds to bring you a special 5-part podcast and blog crossover series. While thinking together as two …

Visual Anthropology Revisited, pt 2


We like to bring you some of our favorite conversations from our catalogue as we think about new ways to explore the topic. This week we’re bringing …

Visual Anthropology Revisited, pt 1

We like to bring you some of our favorite conversations from our catalogue as we think about new ways to explore the topic. This week we’re bringing …

On the Craft of Writing w/ Dr. Anita Hannig


How do academics write for a variety of audiences? Is routine a necessary part of creating? How many times will Ryan mention Stephen King? In this episode of This Anthro Life, Adam and …

Dating your Ancestors is Complicated: The Strange Case of Homo Naledi

On this episode, Adam and Ryan dive into the complexities of our ever  evolving human family. How we understand our ancient ancestors,  cousins, and …

Culinary Catalysts and Scientific Shifts: Peruvian Quinoa in the Age of Genetics and Gastronomy


This episode of This Anthropological Life presents a little differently from our normal episodes. The Society for Applied Anthropology generously …

FreeThink 5: Finding Balance in the Midst of Burnout

Freethink #5: Finding Balance in the midst of Burnout

In this week’s free think Ryan and Adam talk burning out and finding balance. They reflect on their travels to conferences for the …

FreeThink #4: On Art, Creativity, and Bringing Awe back to Anthropology

As you may have noticed, TAL has been on a bit of a break from releasing new episodes. But, the good news is that we have not been idle. The other night when Ryan and Adam were out and …

Investigating the Untethered Journey between Psychedelic Science, Medicine, and Drug Scheduling with Hamilton Morris


Psychedelia is the culture and experiences of psychedelic substances. Where did all the research on psychedelic drugs go? Could psychedelics be used …

Waiting w/ Serra Hakyemez

with Aneil and Ryan 

Special Guest: Serra Hakyemez
Is waiting political? Can you cut in line at Starbucks during your hectic morning commute?  In …

D+A #2: What Makes a Protest Successful and How do I get involved?

Today’s D+A minisode follows last week’s powerful conversation with Jara Connell on protests and people-powered forms of resistance. In this minisode …

Protesting the Powers that Be and Being the Power that Protests w/ Jara Connell

 
What does mass-protesting accomplish? Does no arrests equate success? Why is protesting disruptive? And more! In this action packed episode of This …

When your Business Stalls, it’s time to Evolve: Unpacking Corporate Anthropology with Dr. Andi Simon

How can we make change easier? Do women lead differently from men? What is corporate anthropology? Ryan, Adam, and Aneil are back to answer these …

FreeThink 3: PRX Podcast Garage Meetups, Building Bridges, and Expanding the Podcast

Do you need Podcast advice? How is social media transforming the nature of protesting? Can we hatch a good episode out of chickens? Join us in our latest Free Think where we talk upcoming …

Don’t Panic! The Neuroscience behind falling into Balance w/ Vivek Pandey Vimal

Are balance and movement something that can be culturally shaped? Why aren’t female rats being used in drug studies? In this episode of This …

On Kindness and What the World Needs Now w/ Hannah Brencher

Have you ever felt disconnected from your relationships and your life because of your reliance on your phone and social media? Do you ever feel …

Multi-species and non-Human Centered Anthropology: Conversations Revisited

Join us for another listen of TAL Conversations favorites on Multi-species and Non-Human Centered Anthropology. Originally aired December 2013, with …

Myths of American Democracy: Contradictions, Troubling Numbers, and Searching for Sense in the System

Do you find yourself increasingly frustrated at the lack of real conversations between candidates and politicians? Are you confused about why someone …

FreeThink #2 – Moving Beyond the Mic: On Collaborations and Working Across Disciplines

Join Aneil, Adam and Ryan for the second FreeThink episode, where they talk unscripted about upcoming projects and potential interdisciplinary …

Beer Revisited

Glad you’re here! Check out some of our favorite episodes in any order and get to know the anthropological life. And, if you’re long-time listeners …

FreeThink #1: TaL Back in the Studio! What’s Next??

Adam, Aneil, and Ryan are all back in the TaL studio for the first time in 18 months! And it feels good. Today we talk shop about where we’ve been and where we’re going with TaL. Check out …

Is Corporate Anthropology Selling Out? A Conversation on Consulting with Vyjayanthi Vadrevu

We’re stoked to bring you TAL’s first ever three-city episode! Join Adam (in Peru!) and Ryan (in Boston!) and special guest Vyjayanthi Vadrevu (somewhere between NYC and Austin!) for an …

Making Sense of Finance: Boundaries, Institutions, and Power with Caitlin Zaloom

Join TaL’s Aneil Tripathy and Caitlin Zaloom, NYU Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, as they discuss Zaloom’s research on futures …

Guest Podcast: Food Futures: Playing our Way to Conservation? Experimental Economics in the Andean Countryside

Special guest podcast from our friends at the Food Futures Podcast

Corinna Howland interviews Adam Gamwell about experimental games, or field …

Stewardship and Heritage: Bringing Archaeology to the Public with Emily Jane Murry

Join TAL’s Ryan Collins and Aneil Tripathy as they interview Emily Jane Murry about her work as a publicly engaged archaeologist in Northern Florida …

Faded Paint and Yellowed Photos: On, Image, Inspiration, and Memory with Javier Urcid

How does a camera and a deep sense of curiosity lead to a lifetime of archaeological research on ancient peoples, their symbols, art, and writing? …

A Business for the Future? Redefining Value, Quinoa and the Quest of Pachakuti Foods w/ Alexander Wankel

We’re back in Peru! Join Adam and special guest Alexander Wankel of Pachakuti Foods for a conversation about the future of food production, agrobiodiversity, sustainability, and keeping …

Exploring Boundaries: From Access to Female Sexworkers to the Question of Research

When designing a research project, a researcher’s initial plans are often interrupted by what data we actually can access. Whether negotiating …

Mate: The Drink Beyond a Drink w/ Guilherme Heiden

Mate (pronounced mah-tay), or more commonly known as yerba mate for English speakers, is an herbal tea drink native to parts of South America – Southern Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and …

Anthropology without Borders? Bringing the Study of People to the People 5

Join TAL as they explore the meaning and movements behind the buzz words that shape anthropology when it reaches beyond the classroom. Applied, …

History, Power, and a Mapuche Bible: A Shaman’s Story with Ana Mariella Bacigalupo

Join TAL’s Aneil Tripathy and Ryan Collins as they interview Ana Mariella Bacigalupo of SUNY Buffalo. Ana’s discussion of her research on Mapuche …

The Thrill of Discovery

Whether exploring a ruined tomb by torchlight, submerging to great depths in search of lost ships, or sending lone robot emissaries to search the stars, human experience is shaped by …

Return of the Ethnographers: Life After Fieldwork

Start your week off by tuning in to the TAL crew, the entire TAL crew, back from fieldwork (albeit briefly) as we talk about our experiences in …

Back from the Field: Syncing into Holly Walter’s Research Part 2

Holly Walter’s joins TAL in the studio to share her experiences and insights into Shaligram  stones! Her fieldwork took her from Kathmandu to Mustang …

Applying, Designing, and Bringing Anthropology to the Public

Welcome back listeners new and old to the new and exciting season of This Anthropological Life! This season we at TAL have a lot of new content and …

Syncretism in the Land of Sacred Stones w/ Holly Walters

Sometimes ethnographic investigations are pretty straight forward. Sometimes, its like getting submerged in a ball pit with the task of sorting all …

Unearthing the Past: Interview w/ Ryan Collins

Ever wanted to know what its like to be an archaeologist? Can you really dig a whole and interpret the past with the materials you find? Is anything …

Human Endurance w/ Ben Gebo

Join us for our 50th episode! Return guest host Ben Gebo joins Adam, Aneil, and Ryan as we uncover the human quest to endure, and to push ourselves to the limit. From marathons to surviving …

Buried in Snow! Thinking about landscapes as they change

It’s winter time here in the northern hemisphere, and in New England that means snow… a lot it. What can we learn from it? Join Aneil and Ryan as they dive (or attempt to unbury) the human …

The World According to Quinoa w/ Adam Gamwell

Today we dive into the world of food! Come hungry as we introduce the world of food studies and explore the changing roles and meaning food has had …

How Humans Cope

How do humans cope in the face of uncertainty, challenges, and trauma. Join your friendly neighborhood co-hosts Adam and Ryan as we explore coping across time, scales and space! From the …

Genderless Gingerbread Figures and the Custom of Costumes

Ryan and Adam explore genderless gingerbread cookies in Australia – do these cookies reveal something about shifting gender paradigms? Also, we explore a bit about how and why we wear …

Ebola: The Passion and the Politics (Virology pt 2)

Join us for part two in our series on Ebola. This episode we discuss recent moves and displays by journalists and media outlets to cover various …

Ecologies of Happiness

Smile! What is the relationship of happiness to place? What is the where of happiness? In part one of our series on happiness, we explore happiness as a place-based phenomenon.

 

Episode 44

iPhone, Therefore I am.

With the yearly release of new mobile phones, companies like Apple and Samsung have to sell the idea that we need a new device. With the release of wearable peripherals like Google Glass …

Police Militarization, Race, Trust, Violence and Ferguson, MO

Join Amy, Ryan, Aneil and Adam and special guest Delande Justinvil for an important episode of This Anthropological Life as we take head-on the …

Humans as a Playful Species w/ Michael D’Angelo, Host of Old School Game Show

Join us for our funnest episode yet! Amy, Aneil, Ryan and Adam Exploring humans as a playful species through the world of gameshows, trivia, and …

The Burning Man Experience w/ Ben Gebo Part 2!

Join us for our first ever extended conversation, part of our new “This Anthropological Life After Hours” extended episode series. On occasion we …

The Burning Man Experience w/ Ben Gebo

Episode 41, Season 4

Join Adam, Aneil, and Ryan with returning guest expert and commentator Ben Gebo as we dive into the rabbit hole of Burning Man. …

Ebola and Virology

Episode 38, Season 3

Amy and Adam are joined in studio again by season 1-2 host Ryan Collins, recently returned from fieldwork in Mexico. We turn our …

Long Haul: The Lives of China’s Truckers w/ Rachel Katz

Episode 37, Season 3
Join us for a special episode with guest researcher, consultant, and author Rachel Katz for an intimate look at the lives of …

Urban Cycling

Episode 36, Season 3, Aired 7/29/14

Urban cycling is both a global and local phenomenon. From Boston to Bombay to Beijing, bike cultures differ across …

Access Denied: Protests, Urban Green Spaces, and Changing Transportation

Episode 35, Season 3. Aired 7/22/14

From Access Denied to Transforming Access, numerous cases of the re-appropriation of space from occupy protesters to Shock Top beer fests, cars to bikes, …

Lost in Space: From the Universe to the Space Between Atoms

Episode 34, Season 3

This week Aneil and Adam tackle Space in all of its complexity and multi forms, from the universe to the space between atoms we …

Stress Test w/ Luke Hanlin

Episode 33, Season 3

Feeling Stressed? Join Aneil and special Guest Luke Hanlin, Psychology PhD student, as they discuss the psychology of stress and …

Reproducing Rights and Wrongs: Personhood, Religious and Reproductive Freedoms, Gender, and SCOTUS

Episode 32, Season 3

Special Episode on the Supreme Court’s rulings over religious freedom and freedom of speech.

On this week’s episode we take on 5 …

The Beautiful Game: World Cup 2014

Episode 31, Season 3, Aired 6/24/14

 

Gooooooooooolllllll!!!!! Today we turn our anthropological lens towards the most popular sport in the world and …

The Power of Vulnerability

Episode 29, Season 3

Vulnerability evokes multiple feelings simultaneously-intense discomfort, respect and awe, intimacy, and fear. Why does it …

Up in the Cloud: Computing in the 21st Century (so far)

Episode 28 Season 3

“Up in the Cloud: Computing in the 21st Century (so far)” online now!

The idea of a cloud evokes an immaterial floating world of information. Adam and Aneil turn the …

A House to Make a Home? w/ Mengqi Wang

“A House to Make a Home?” Season 3, Episode 27 Aired 5/27/14



We are joined by guest expert Mengqi Wang to delve into the fascinating world of housing, …

Let There Be Light!

Season 3, Episode 26 – Aired 5/20/14



Light is all around us, but we don’t often think about it. Light comes to us as energy, as necessary for vision, as a metaphor for good and seen as …

Special Conversation: Reflections on Anthropology: Why do we do what we do?

For our 25th episode we bring you a special, raw moment in the show in which we turn the conversation more directly to ourselves as anthropologists. …

Environmental Anthropology, pt 1. Nature, Culture, Power

Are nature and culture separate things? How do our definitions of land, space, and place affect how we view the environment? Trees, bees, garbage, …

The Politics of Difference and Relatedness

Episode 39, Season 3

Join us this week for a trip to the ancient…present? This week Ryan, Aneil, and Adam cover the politics of difference through an …

Non-Human Rights

Episode 23 Non-Human Rights Available now!

Join us as we  dive into the world of non-human rights centered

around recent court cases dealing with the rights of chimpanzees, our closest …

Visual Anthropology Revisited

Join us for an ‘enlightening’ trip as we ‘shed some light’ on the world of sight, seeing, and visual anthropology. In this episode we explore the …

Coffee Cultures

From the farms of Central and South America and Africa to your favorite neighborhood coffee house, join us as we turn our anthropological eye towards …

Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Visual Storytelling

Turning 75 isn’t only a big deal for Batman, it also marks a generational tradition of using graphic media to illustrate, comment on, and showcase different aspects of our own society. Even …

The Crisis in Crimea with guest Dr. Emily Canning

Join us today for a very special episode with Central Asian expert Emily Canning. Today we turn our anthropological lens to the ongoing international …

Garbology, Space Junk and Digital Dumping

3/18/14 We will be discussing the world of disposable objects and material culture: garbage culture and digital dumping, polluting the (final) …

Altered States, part 2 with Ben Gebo

Head on over to our Podcasts page and stream the episode or download it for a mind bending journey through the worlds of psychedelics and hallucinogenics, the effects of music on the brain, …

Altered States of Consciousness

Hey y’all – we had a great show today and would love for you to check it out and hear what you think! Continuing some of the themes we’ve been …

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Start listening to Are Emojis and Hieroglyphs Universal Language?
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