In Japan, Rethinking What It Means to Care for the Dead
Facing an increasing aging population and other societal shifts, people are looking beyond traditional family-based mortuary practices. ✽ It’s August in Tokyo—hot and muggy, as usual. So I’ve…
Facing an increasing aging population and other societal shifts, people are looking beyond traditional family-based mortuary practices. ✽ It’s August in Tokyo—hot and muggy, as usual. So I’ve…
Utterances like “um,” “wow,” and “mm-hmm” aren’t garbage, they keep conversations flowing. This article was originally published at Knowable Magazine and has been republished under Creative Commons. …
Using an ancient Arabic poetic form, a poet-archaeologist from Florida cycles through feelings of entrapment growing up queer in the U.S. South. But in the end, they celebrate…
Using an original poetic form, a poet chips away at a difficult history—becoming an agent of her own remaking and more than just an estranged daughter. “Debitage” is…
The speaker in this broken sonnet form utters disobedience for structures that extract care in the Anthropocene. “Broken Sonnets for the Anthropocene” is part of the collection Poets…
When activist and anthropologist Graeber died unexpectedly in 2020, scholars gathered to mourn him. Contributors to a resulting volume, As If Already Free, reflect on his legacy. ✽…
In a series of essays, a collaborative research project brings together “space anthropologists” to investigate how communities around the globe are grappling with the current boom in outer…
An anthropologist explores laughter as a far more complex phenomenon than simple delight—reflecting on its surprising power to disturb and disrupt. ✽ WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I tended…
Amsterdam, like other European cities, hosts growing populations of non-native parakeets. An anthropologist unpacks what shifting attitudes toward these birds reveal about humans. ✽ When I came to…
Marriage Material by Abigail Ocobock explores the transformative impact of same-sex couples on the institution of marriage in 21st-century America. Drawing on interviews and survey data, Ocobock effe…
A poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day of the Dead, and Halloween—all of which draw…
As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community…
Middle-class, conservative women in Pakistan have found a political voice as supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party—putting them at odds with the secular women’s movement their own daughters…
SAPIENS is seeking poetry submissions for a curated collection that will publish next year. Deadline: September 1, 2024. ✽ SAPIENS Anthropology Magazine invites creative works for the upcoming…
An anthropologist discusses her film that honors and grieves the loss of Kime, a friend who passed away after experiencing physical and state violence. Content Warning: This article…
As civil war continues to rip apart and threaten communities and families in Manipur in Northeast India, a poet reflects on those who leave and those who stay…
An anthropologist takes us on a journey “down the line” to explore what freediving can teach us about ourselves and kinship with the sea. ✽ Face down in…
An anthropologist examines what the outpouring of grief over New York’s Flaco the owl, who died recently, reveals how much attitudes toward these creatures have changed. This article…
As increasing numbers of pilgrims walk the Camino, a European network of historic pilgrimage routes, those who journey to “slow down” their lives often don’t recognize the burdens…
On a visit to feline-friendly Turkey, an anthropologist considers what long-standing practices of caring for cats reveal about human societies. ✽ While visiting eastern Turkey to climb Mount…
A biological and anthropological researcher explains how humans’ diverse ways of mating might have evolved. ✽ Marrying more than one person constitutes a crime across most of the…
Does the transition from childhood to adulthood have to be so difficult? This question sent famed anthropologist Margaret Mead to American Samoa in 1925—and ignited decades of controversy.…
A famed anthropologist’s controversial research in American Samoa reveals the biggest questions about growing up and being human. This special SAPIENS podcast season, co-hosted by Doris Tulifau and…
In a new book, an anthropologist and father of three, including a daughter with Down syndrome, reflects on the pressures of parenting. Excerpted from An Ordinary Future: Margaret…