SAPIENS

Anthropology Magazine

Features

A grove of oil palm trees is shown turning brown.
Dwelling

Allying With Parasites to Fight Industrial Oil Palm

By Sophie Chao

In West Papua, industrial oil palm plantations threaten Marind people’s ways of life. Some in the community find solidarity with resilient parasite species—beetles, rats, fungi, and many more—that attack oil palm trees from within.

The image shows the dark bottom of a boat floating on the water and the outline of small fish.
Poetry

Middle Ground

By Dina Rivera

A poet-bioarchaeologist of the African diaspora confronts echoes of the Middle Passage in contemporary anti-Black environments.

A composite image shows quadrants of four people’s faces combined to make one face. Next to it, the word “race” is written in white letters on a black background.
Viewpoint / Irma McClaurin

Are We So Different?

A poet-anthropologist of the African diaspora responds to anti-Black racism and the question of race.