Selling Dreams of the Good Life in Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, as in other countries around the world, multilevel marketing companies like Mary Kay appeal to potential recruits by promising new economic opportunities and a revitalized sense…
In Kazakhstan, as in other countries around the world, multilevel marketing companies like Mary Kay appeal to potential recruits by promising new economic opportunities and a revitalized sense…
Welcome to the (sur)reality that is the American election of 2016. The latest in a series of Perplexing Statements that People Believe Despite Immeasurable Evidence to the Contrary…
Road infrastructure, hydroelectric development, and climate change all factored into the floods and landslides that struck the Indian Himalayas in 2013, killing at least 5,748 people. Paul Co…
Clear-cutting of forests in West Papua for large-scale oil palm cultivation is in some cases turning local wildlife into orphans, reshaping the relationship between local communities and the envi…
A rain dance won’t make water fall from the sky. Casting a spell won’t cure cancer. Tarot cards can’t really reveal the future. Yet rituals like these have…
Native Americans from many different tribes have unified behind the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest in North Dakota against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. The controversial…
Hurricane Katrina rearranged Katie Williams’ home on its foundation. Katie and her family had the capacity to reclaim their lives, but the disaster recovery system sabotaged their cultural…
Graffiti in U.S. national parks has become increasingly common. Carving into rocks or writing and painting on them leaves images and impressions that are difficult to remove—forever changing…
Yesterday, the Charlie Rose Show repeated interviews with comics Billy Eichner, Amy Pohler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, and Seth Meyers. A couple of comments jumped out.…
A teary-eyed member of Fiji’s women’s rugby team raised the Fijian flag after the men’s rugby team won the Olympic gold medal. Viewers watched on a big-screen TV…
Elaine Aron’s book The Highly Sensitive Person was like my own personal Da Vinci Code—riveting, compelling, and totally solved a mystery about myself I didn’t know existed. My…
The 2016 Rio Olympics cost an estimated $11.46 billion. Most would say the Olympics don’t make financial sense. So why do countries want to host them? Felipe Dana/Associated…
The World Health Organization stated that there was “no public health justification” to postpone the 2016 Rio Olympics due to the Zika virus. Is the fear of Zika…
How did human friendship evolve? Vampire bats offer a unique opportunity to study the phenomenon of friendship through observing their strong social bonds. Josh More/Flickr Gerald Carter …
In the 1980s, anthropologist John J. MacAloon argued that the real power of the Olympic Games lies in the unscripted, celebratory street festivals that erupt in public spaces.…
Protestors in Brazilian favelas—poor neighborhoods in urban areas—have been caught between the police and gangs. Marcos De Paula/Associated Press On the night of June 24, 2013, the street…
While many people get caught up in the nationalistic pageantry of the opening ceremony, the reality of the international sports world today is one of increasingly fluid citizenship…
When it comes to food, few topics are as contentious and polarizing as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Hyperbole is rampant in this debate. GMOs are everything we…
Offensive and bombastic rhetoric is key to Donald Trump’s campaign. Why are voters drawn to this taboo-violating candidate? Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Associated Press Donald Trump is the …
Media commentary on Micah Johnson, the African-American who killed five police officers in Dallas on July 7, has focused on his animus against white police and his interest…
Before I was old enough to go to school- before I was stupid enough to believe ‘there’s no such thing as witches’… I knew one. She haunted every…
After the horrific mass murder in June focusing on the LGBTQ community at an Orlando club, the only thing worse than the massacre has been the thread of…