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Seasons Episodes

A person with short black hair looks away from the viewer out of a window on the room’s back wall. Between the person and the window is a narrow bed with blue, pink, and red linens.

video / Human Rights

What It’s Like to Grow Old on the Margins

Magdalena Zegarra Chiappori

In a brief documentary, an anthropologist provides a glimpse into the precarious lives of poor older Peruvians whose experiences mirror those of countless elders around the world.

With several people around them, a person wearing an olive green headwrap and white long-sleeved shirt cradles a beige cat who is facing the viewer. They are in a building topped with an ornately decorated gold dome.

column / Entanglements

For the Love of Cats in Turkey

On a visit to feline-friendly Turkey, an anthropologist considers what long-standing practices of caring for cats reveal about human societies.

At sunset, a large, gently rippling body of water reflects yellow, orange, and pink light. Small lights scatter along dark silhouetted mountains on the horizon.

poem / Reflections

Fishing for Dust

Mesak Takhelmayum

A poet-historian from Manipur, India, shapes tensions between violence and beauty into an allegory, calling residents and readers alike to stay awake.

An older person wearing a black headscarf and embroidered skirt sits on the ground, resting against a concrete wall.

essay / Human Rights

Living as Stateless Palestinians in Jordan

Michael Vicente Pérez

Israel’s war on Gaza that erupted in 2023 continues a long history of systemic displacement of Palestinians. Over 2 million Palestinian refugees currently live in Jordan in indefinite exile, tens of thousands without citizenship in any country.

essay / In Flux

Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years.

A crowd of people, with several taking pictures on cellphones, surround a damaged structure in a public square. The small building, with its tiling cracked and wooden seating splintered, has a large arrangement of white flowers in front of it.

poem / Identities

At the Intersection of Sarinah Plaza, Thamrin Street

Moh. Faiz Maulana

A poet-anthropologist in Indonesia criticizes extremist militants who use religion to commit violence.

A person wearing a black baseball cap and a shirt covered in a collage of different images of a man’s face walks down a presentation hall. A screen showing many people elsewhere is to their right and a poster with a graphic of a gun hangs over a booth in front.

essay / Viewpoint

Among Gun Rights Activists, Fears About Survival Reign

An anthropologist delves into what the rising ranks of local firearm-touting militias in Virginia reveal about intensifying political polarization in the U.S.—and what these shifts might mean for the 2024 presidential election.

Two people—one in a white T-shirt and the other in burgundy robes—work together to hang a string of white pieces of cloth with black writing on them.

essay / Material Culture

Replacing Plastic Prayers With Biodegradable Blessings in the Himalayas

Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia, Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa, Ang Dolma Sherpa, and Pasang Yangjee Sherpa

As synthetic prayer flags and scarves pollute the Himalayan region, a team of scholars and activists work to spread sustainable materials drawn from Indigenous knowledge.

A person wearing a long-sleeved black maxi dress and a red headscarf holding a green umbrella walks on a public street with a silver truck and several people in black hats, helmets, and khaki uniforms in the background.

poem / Reflections

08.03.2019

Sanjna Girish Yechareddy

A poet-anthropologist from India recalls a checkpoint encounter in Sri Lanka, just months after the Easter Sunday bombings.

A person with short gray hair wearing a blue shirt holds a black camera up to their face and points it at a figure that looks like a hairy unclothed person with one hand on their lap and the other on its chin.

What’s Behind the Evolution of Neanderthal Portraits

Cindy Hsin-yee Huang

Since the 1800s, Neanderthal depictions have evolved not only with changing science but also due to social views. An archaeologist explains why visualizations of our evolutionary cousins matter.

In a wooden structure without walls, three people wearing loincloths and no shirts, and two individuals wearing T-shirts surround and point to spots on a large tan and green map.

essay / Cultural Relativity

Finding Footprints Laid at the Dawn of Time

Mariana Petry Cabral

In the Brazilian Amazon, a university-trained archaeologist and Wajãpi Indigenous people understand traces from the past differently—but their partnership bears fruit for both.

Shot from above, a close-up photograph features a cluster of flowers with white petals and yellow centers with green blades of grass growing out of a rough, rocky plot of brown soil.

poem / Human Rights

Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member

Whitney L. Duncan

A poet-anthropologist who has been an expert witness in asylum proceedings for Mexican nationals resists dehumanizing legal and political language to make space for the humanity of asylum-seekers.

Taken from an upward angle, a photograph features a shirtless person wearing a red, blue, yellow, and black feathered headdress, colorful bracelet, and several beaded necklaces. They are holding a yellow and green flag.

essay / Wayfinding

Reading the Future of an Amazonian Mine

Sebastián Vacas-Oleas

In Ecuador, Shuar people, an Indigenous group in the region, face increasing threats to their ways of life from industrial mining. But some find strength and courage to resist through knowledge gained by using hallucinogenic plants.

On a wood-paneled floor, four barefoot people wearing different outfits in shades of red, yellow, and blue dance in front of a gray wall. Captured in motion, and therefore blurry, each has several of their dance moves overlapping and visible at once.

poem / Reflections

Making Anthropological Poetry Reel

Esteban M. Gómez

In featuring three SAPIENS poems, students in a digital anthropology seminar infused video reels for Instagram with vivid history and powerful emotions.

On the left, smoke billows out from the top of several large smokestacks on a long sandy shore that a few people are walking along. On the right, over dark blue water, an orange sunset illuminates a pier in the distance.

poem / Wayfinding

Between the Lines

A poet-anthropologist in Israel looks to his students and their surroundings, calling for “seekers of peace” to create lifelines across social and geopolitical divides.

Perched on dirt ground beside fallen leaves and a log, a tan and black monkey raises a beige stone in its right hand while looking down at a small black object placed on a rock in front of it.

op-ed / Material World

Tools of the Wild: Unveiling the Crafty Side of Nature

Michael Haslam and Abigail Desmond

Once considered a uniquely human activity, tool use has been spotted across diverse species. It’s time to rethink what tools reveal about their users’ intelligence and evolution.

A computer-rendered graphic shows a rocky hill with sparse greenery at its base against a dark blue, starry sky.

essay / Decoded

Taking Cultural Preservation to a New Dimension

Stephen Wessels, Benjamin Schoville, Jayne Wilkins, and Sechaba Maape

A multidisciplinary team of researchers explains historical, cultural, and ethical issues they considered while developing a 3D scan of a South African site to be shared with the world online.

Between tall wooden walls, a child peers over a short wooden door. A pitch-black background is behind her.

poem / Reflections

A Mausoleum of Our Everydays/Nai nsang negu herouki

Haidamteu Zeme Newme

A humanities and social science doctoral student from Manipur, India, takes readers on a journey through ordinary moments interwoven with violence.

In a dark and rainy forest, a large Tyrannosaurus rex stares into a green car with its headlights on. The car has a yellow and black graphic on its hood with text that reads, “Jurassic Park.”

essay / Lab Bench

Celebrity Status Almost Ruined Ancient DNA Research

Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias

An evolutionary anthropologist draws lessons from paleogenetic’s journey from Jurassic Park fiction to Nobel Prize reality.

A crowd of adults and children wearing T-shirts, flip-flops, and denim shorts or sarongs looks at a water tap with the word “Italy” stamped on its side and a giant silver lock on it.

poem / Wayfinding

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.

A large, brown sculpture depicts a cluster of people looking outward, one cradling a child in their arms. A village and blue sky are visible in a distant horizon.

essay / Expressions

Poems of Witness and Possibility: Inside Zones of Conflict

Christine Weeber, Ather Zia, and Toiba Naseema

Anthropological poems from around the globe speak to people’s creative will, resistance, and resilience—and the significance of our shared humanity.

Surrounded by an otherwise occupied crowd, a person wearing a white cap and shirt uses gloved hands to work with the finger of a person seated beside them. The second person wears a red-orange dress and holds a baby while a slightly older child stands beside them, looking at the viewer.

op-ed / Maladies

Gene Therapy’s Promise Meets Nigeria’s Sickle Cell Reality

Morenike Samuel

Breakthrough treatments can now cure sickle cell anemia in the U.S. But the pricey therapies will hardly help in Nigeria, where social changes could do more for millions impacted by the disease.

A person with short gray hair wearing a pink, long-sleeved shirt and black pants hits a small swinging punching bag.

essay / Phenomenon

Taking on Parkinson’s Disease—With Boxing Gloves and Punching Bags

Julia K. Sloane

In a California gym, people living with Parkinson’s practice noncontact boxing to redefine their experience of the disease and maintain a sense of self.

arias personas se agolpan en la amplia sala de la exposición de un museo. Unas estatuas de color beige que representan partes de cuerpos humanos en pose se alinean en las paredes laterales de la sala.

op-ed / Crossroads

Cómo desaparecen objetos de los museos

Jeannette Plummer Sires

Tras los presuntos robos en el Museo Británico, una conservadora de museos explica los desafíos de llevar el registro de las colecciones —y las limitaciones legales para devolver material cultural a las comunidades de origen—.

In sepia tones, a slightly blurry image features two people wearing head coverings and tunics seated against a blank wall. The one on the left holds up a piece of paper with a person’s face printed on it.

poem / Reflections

Earlier I Had Nightmares, Now I Have Insomnia

A Kashmiri poet-anthropologist records the restless despair many feel under Indian occupation.

A zoomed-out photograph shows a large green, grassy field with several football pitches in front of a line of trees. The trees separate the field from a large cityscape in the background.

essay / In Flux

Tackling the Wreckage of War

Jonathan Gardner

An archaeologist traces how rubble from World War II bombings helped turn London marshlands into a footballing utopia.

Three people stand on a grassy field holding signs with pictures of young people’s faces pasted on them. Also on the signs, in colorful text, are two phrases: “Invest in Us” and “End the War on Drugs” with the word “Drugs” crossed out and the word “Blacks” added before it.

interview / Viewpoint

How Racism Shapes the U.S. Opioid Epidemic

Marlaina Martin

Public health officials say opioid use and related deaths have reached a crisis point in the U.S. An interview with anthropologist and psychiatrist Helena Hansen unpacks the racial disparities in how drug addiction is interpreted, portrayed, and treated.

Photographed from behind, two children wearing flip-flops hold hands and walk on a dirt trail between rows of tall trees. The taller child wears a skirt, and the other wears capris and a polo shirt.

poem / Reflections

A Long Road Ahead

SAPIENS’ 2023 poet-in-residence questions where peace of mind can come from for Indian-occupied Kashmir.

On a paved city street fenced off and lined with people, three people wearing colorful clothing stand and hold signs. These read: “Monogamy is not for everyone,” “I love my girlfriend’s boyfriend,” and “Sharing is Caring.”

op-ed / Human Nature

What Is “Natural” for Human Sexual Relationships?

A biological and anthropological researcher explains how humans' diverse ways of mating might have evolved.

A computer-rendered graphic depicts a group of people in torn clothes and furs with black smudges on their faces and bodies. They gather in front of a rock overhang, with one sitting in front and poking at a pile of wood near which are dangling pieces of meat.

essay / Counterpoint

Dismantling the “Man the Hunter” Myth

Sarah A. Lacy and Cara Ocobock

Two biological anthropologists analyze archaeological and physiological evidence to debunk enduring assumptions about the gendered division of labor in ancient times.

With human figures painted as dark silhouettes, a large mural depicts a soldier wearing a helmet and large backpack reaching toward two children holding flags with orange, white, and green horizontal stripes. They stand against a bright yellow, orange, and red background with three black helicopters—one displaying the same flag—flying overhead.

poem / Human Rights

This Militarization

A poet-anthropologist conveys her life when she was coming of age under the increasing mobilization of military forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Taken through a wire fence, a photo shows a few people passing by a yellow building with several works of graffiti written on its wall and piles of square stone blocks in front of it.

poem / Counterpoint

Documenting the Kashmir Conflict Through Poetry

SAPIENS’ 2023 poet-in-residence sketches the history she speaks to in three poems from Indian-occupied Kashmir.

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Poem / Human Rights

Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member

A poet-anthropologist who has been an expert witness in asylum proceedings for Mexican nationals resists dehumanizing legal and political language to make space for the humanity of asylum-seekers.

By Whitney L. Duncan

19 Feb 2024

Shot from above, a close-up photograph features a cluster of flowers with white petals and yellow centers with green blades of grass growing out of a rough, rocky plot of brown soil.

“Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member” is part of the collection Poems of Witness and Possibility: Inside Zones of Conflict. Read the introduction to the collection here.

Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member - Listen

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Whitney L. Duncan

Whitney L. Duncan is a Colorado-based anthropologist, author, and activist whose creative and academic work centers on immigration, global mental health, and the intersections between culture, the body, and the natural world. Her books include Transforming Therapy: Mental Health Practice and Cultural Change in Mexico and the forthcoming co-edited volume Accompaniment With Im/migrant Communities: Ethnographic Engagements (with Kristin Elizabeth Yarris). Duncan is a professor of anthropology at the University of Northern Colorado and adjunct faculty at the Colorado School of Public Health. She was a founding member of the Anthropologist Action Network for Immigrants and Refugees and is a member of the 2023–2024 Lighthouse Writers Workshop Poetry Collective. She serves as an expert witness for the National Qualified Representative Program.

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