Swan Lessons
This past month, the swans have taken up residence in our local cove, for the first time in the six summers we’ve lived here. What could be a…
This past month, the swans have taken up residence in our local cove, for the first time in the six summers we’ve lived here. What could be a…
Here’s what I imagine could–and should–emerge from this viral nightmare. Locally, stranger-neighbors will (re)discover each other. Re-appreciate the bonds of co-residence. …
Lesson 1: Like the ducks and brants my husband and I see congregating regularly by the dozens along the shore’s edge of Narraganssett Bay near our coastal home,…
[no-caption] Marcel Hirshegger/SAPIENS When anthropologist Cathryn Townsend headed into the field in 2009 to study generosity, she knew the project was for her. That’s because she was the…
A group of women and children from the Ik tribe share a meal. Cathryn Townsend In January 2016, Cathryn Townsend set out to live among “the loveless people.”…
Museum objects such as this painting—Frieze of Dancers, by Edgar Degas—are often impressive and beautiful. But what do they tell us about the cultures that created them? Andrew…
A new bioarchaeological approach suggests health care has a long human history. Over 4,000 years ago, in a small hunter-gatherer settlement in northern Vietnam, a young man survived…
Can ten-year-olds be feminists? Absolutely. This group of fifth graders just voted to forfeit their basketball season unless their co-ed team is allowed to compete, girls included. Feminism…
(photo by Alma Gottlieb) The doors of our metro car opened and closed, opened and closed with increasingly alarming dysfunction. On any other day, the many more dozens…
Dear Dean and Mona, At four years old and ten months old, you are both too young to understand why the grown-ups around you keep talking about…
Dear Nathaniel and Hannah, I am sorry that my generation has failed you. We have bequeathed you a world that has too many problems, too much fear, and too much…
Cell phones . . . couches . . . gyms and community centers . . . archaeologists of the future will unearth countless artifacts and buildings that will testify…