Paleogenomic research has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, igniting heated debates about handling human remains. Who gives consent…
Centering Black Lives in the Study of Human RemainsA contributor to a special series on decolonizing anthropology reckons with bioarchaeology’s racist past by focusing on Black women’s creativity…
A Native Alaska Community’s Reckoning With Vaccine HesitancyAn anthropologist’s research with Tlingit communities in Alaska shows they have good reasons to be skeptical about vaccines. They know…
Will a Nobel Prize Make Paleogenomics More Accountable?An anthropologist offers possible directions for ancient DNA studies moving forward—especially regarding the field’s complex histories with Indigenous communities and…
Is Donated Blood a Gift or a Commodity?An anthropologist dives into the morally fraught blood and plasma industry and what it reveals about human societies—the good, the bad, and the gory.
Requiem for a War RobotAn anthropologist explores the brave new world of virtual warfare—and the fraught relationship between humans and machines.
Should You Feel Bad About Your Pandemic-Era Plastic Waste?Anthropologists in Hong Kong explore how COVID-19 has intensified consumers’ reliance on single-use plastics—revealing the limits of individual action in the face of a global crisis.
The Cultural Anxieties of XenotransplantationA genetically engineered pig heart was transplanted to a human body for the first time this year. While many celebrated, others remain uneasy. Anthropologists can shed light on why.
The Hard Labor That Fuels the Hair TradeAnthropologists are studying the global supply of human hair—a billion dollar industry for wigs, weaves, toupees, and more—that relies on hair pickers who gather discarded strands from streets and drains to make ends meet.
Head of a MaidenA poet-anthropologist considers the life of a looted fourth-century B.C. Etruscan maiden.
