Matt Tomlinson on Culture and Theology in the Pacific
I’m very happy to announce that I have a new interview up at New Books Network. This one is with Matt Tomlinson, an anthropologist of the Pacific at…
Author: Rex
Maile Arvin on Possessing Polynesians
I announce my publications and interviews and things on social media but I have fallen behind on announcing them on my blog, which is supposed to be a…
Remembering Michael Silverstein
Like many people, I was deeply, deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Michael Silverstein, a member of my dissertation committee. Although I knew he was ill,…
Nancy Mattina on Gladys Reichard
My interview with Nancy Mattina on Gladys Reichard, ‘America’s least appreciated anthropologist’ is now live over at the New Books Network. Go take a listen! Nancy’s carefully…
Copious Free Time: UCL, Chicago, NYU, Melville House, Harvard kinda
Where to start? Dulam Bumochir’s book from UCL Press, The State, Popular Mobilisation and Gold Mining in Mongolia looks promising. Not familiar w/the author, but love the press…
Copious Free Time: Rutgers and Melville House
More ebooks for your Copious Free Time! Rutgers is offering free ebooks related to COVID-19 and, unlike some offers, these books are actually tightly related to this topic,…
Copious Free Time: The Verso/Haymarket Edition
I like ebook sales because they give me an opportunity to obsessively comb through publisher’s lists — which is obviously an incredibly healthy and normal thing to do,…
Copious Free Time: History of Anthropology Addition
The joke is that we are supposed to have more free time because we are stuck indoors. But in my case — and I’m sure I’m not alone…
Go read my chapter on ‘Leviathans’
My chapter on ‘Leviathans’ is now available in the new volume Anthropocene Unseen: A Lexicon from the awesome open access publisher Punctum Books. I’ve long been a fan…
Go read my review of Varel’s “The Lost Black Scholar”
After quite some time — and without a chance for me to review the final edits (!) — History of Anthropology Review has published my review of David…
Website Refreshenating
I’ve done some refreshing of this website, adding a new background (a cc’d image of a William Morris floral textile print, iirc), updating my about page, and, most…
The history of semiotics in anthropology
Someone in one of the my email lists was asking about the history of semiotics in anthropology, and that made me realise that I didn’t know very much…
Honey and Poi featured in USCJ’s “Journeys”
Honey and Poi is a history of my synagogue in Hawai‘i. I helped research it and Matt, my collaborator and friend, wrote it. In a short column for…
Two new podcasts: Charles King and Don Kulick
It’s been a very busy time of year for me and so I’ve done a bad job publicising my podcasts for New Books Network, and this despite my…
Go read my new encyclopedia article on mining!
I’m very happy to announce that my new entry on ‘mining’ is now available on the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. I worked pretty hard on this piece so……
An anthropologist’s guide to Chicago’s 75% off ebook sale
I love ebook sales. They’re a great way to pick up books you’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford. In fact, they’re a great, low-cost way to take a…
Christina Thompson on Prehistorians of the Pacific
My new episode of New Books in Anthropology is up — it’s an interview with Christina Thompson on her book The Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia. It’s…
Edward Westermarck on ‘English Conditions’
Today most anthropologists remember Edward Westermarck as one of Malinowski’s two main teachers at the London School of Economics. In fact, I think Malinowski owes a lot to…
I’m a podcast host! Go listen to David Varel on Allison Davis
I’m proud to announce that I’ve become one of the hosts for the New Book Network’s New Books in Anthropology podcast! In my inaugural episode, I talk with…
George Washington’s Letter to the Jews
I recently returned from a trip to New England to visit the affines. While there, my children received a gift from one of the aunts — a printed…
Why ‘Anthropology Yesterday’
After taking a break from social media for a year, I’ve finally settled on a suite of projects I want to pursue for the next couple of years.…
I finished reading Incomplete Nature and really liked it
It took me eight months but I finally finished reading Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged From Matter by Terrence Deacon. It’s pretty impressive. The guys starts with some…
I went to Switzerland and Learned about Transparency
I was very lucky to visit Switzerland last week for the first time. I have a lot of positive things to say about the country (pluses for me:…
Some of my new publications are now available on ResearchGate
For some reason I’ve chosen to put my work on ResearchGate rather than Academia.edu… I’m afraid I don’t have the energy to put everything I write on both…