Being a “Good Man” in a Time of Climate Catastrophe
An anthropologist follows a group of men who work in India’s rickshaw industry, revealing how their practices of masculinity and mutual aid shape their responses to intensifying flood…
Tag: Disasters
Baltimore’s Toxic Legacies Have Reached a Breaking Point
In a new book, an anthropologist reveals the heavy tolls industries have placed on residents in this eastern U.S. city. Here, she explains how these burdens have only…
Strange Future
A Nigerian eco-activist and poet wonders what future lies ahead in the face of climate change impacts and resistance to large-scale emission reductions. “Strange Future” is part of…
The Persistence of Fukushima’s Fisherfolk
In a new book, an anthropologist with long-term ties to northeastern Japan shares stories of how fishing communities have continued making a living in uncertain waters after the…
Unearthing Culinary Pasts—With Help From Llama Poop
A food archaeologist investigates everyday eating and lean times among the ancient Moche of Peru through a remarkable discovery of thousands of llama “beans.” A DAY IN THE…
Slow Death by Volcano
A biocultural anthropologist shares new research on the surprising long-term hazards of volcanoes in Iceland—and how to address them. THE RISE OF ICELANDIC VOLCANOES In the fall of…
SAPIENS Podcast Season 5 Trailer
In the fifth season of the SAPIENS podcast, listeners will hear a range of human stories: from the origins of the chili pepper to how prosecutors decide someone…
When Disaster Tests the Strength of Human Cooperation
In the Andes, minga, a form of collective labor, has existed for centuries, often helping communities weather disasters. But how does it work in practice? ✽ Judith grew…
In Lebanon, Solar Power Is Booming. Why?
An anthropologist explores whether Lebanese turning to solar power is a story of resilience, environmental triumph, or something else. ✽ I recently returned to Lebanon, where I have…
Should You Feel Bad About Your Pandemic-Era Plastic Waste?
Plastic waste has grown exponentially across the globe during the pandemic. Matthew Williams-Ellis/Universal Images Group/Getty Images “Sometimes I want to avoid producing excessive waste…
The Nightmare of Pandemic-Era Teaching
Teachers face increasing challenges—from staff shortages to widely varying student achievement levels—with omicron infections sweeping across the country. Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronic…
Reactions and Ruptures: Ethnographies of Nuclear Life
Recording of Reactions and Ruptures This browser does not support HTML5 audio In one sense, nuclear materials direct our attention to the vibrancy and reactivity…
A Window on Humanity’s Turbulent 2021
[no-caption] John Finney Photography/Getty Images Amid forest fires, the storming of the U.S. Capitol, private space flights and more, 2021 saw the pandemic bed in. Each time it…
You Won’t Survive the Apocalypse Alone
Cooperation and kindness are key qualities necessary for surviving disasters, as demonstrated by the volunteers who distributed donated supplies after Superstorm Sandy hit New York City. Robe…
We All Live on Permafrost
Indigenous Sakha communities in Siberia raise a rare native horse breed that can survive the extreme cold. Susan Alexandra Crate One of the most distinct memories from my…
Adapt or Abandon? Hard Choices in the Himalayas
The Loba tribespeople living in the village of Dhe in Nepal are increasingly abandoning their homes as climate change transforms the landscape. Taylor Weidman/LightRocket/Getty Images On …
Did an Asteroid Shape This Famous Biblical Story?
Ancient ruins show the cosmic impact’s destruction layer about midway down exposed walls. Phil Silvia This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished un…
Dimitris Dalakoglou, Georgos Poulimenakos: The Past is on Fire: Wildfires, (Un)imagined Communities and the Shift to the Tourism of the 1%
In Greece, during the summer of 2021, we saw again a proliferation of wildfires that went on for days, like in 2020. While the climate change argument makes…
These Unheralded Workers Are Helping Prevent the Next Wildfire
The author’s late father, Juan Zárate (left), leads a weed abatement crew in Orange County, California. Jon Anderson/Orange County Weed Abatement Program A few months after the wildfire…
Climate Migrants Are on the Move—And the U.S. Needs Their Help
Farmworkers till soil during this summer’s record-breaking heat wave in Oregon. Nathan Howard/AP Photo Content Warning: The materials presented below contain details of racism and violent…
How to Survive Climate Change in the India-Bangladesh Borderlands
Homes along a river in the Sundarbans face a concrete embankment that protects land on the opposite side from rising waters. Megnaa Mehtta The Sundarbans is a region…
An Excavation of the COVID-19 Pandemic
[no-caption] Kim Herbst With over 131 million people fully vaccinated in the U.S. and numbers of new infections dropping nationwide, some have started to declare the “end” of…
Inviting disasters
One particularly warm morning in September 2020, I am looking at photographs and videos in the media depicting the aftermath of medicane (Mediterranean hurricane) Ianós that just rampaged…
The Fire This Time: Black and Indigenous Ecologies
In the past year, the world witnessed devastating fire seasons in Australia and the U.S. West, an Atlantic hurricane season with a record thirty storms, and a global…