SAPIENS is a digital magazine about everything human, told through the stories of anthropologists.
In January 2016, we launched SAPIENS with the aim of bringing together the voices of scholars who are eager to share the findings, ideas, and perspectives of anthropology with a broad global readership. As people who study other people, anthropologists look to the past, present, and future to assemble vital observations on what it means to be human. This work matters. Yet all too often their research remains inaccessible to public audiences.
Our purpose is to amplify anthropological insights to make a difference in how people see themselves and those around them. We hope to make people more curious about—and empathetic toward—their fellow humans. We aim to provide critical understandings of how and why humans behave and believe as they do. We want to help address the inequalities, injustices, and harms humans perpetrate against one another and our planet.
Each year, millions of readers come to the free magazine to dig into the wonders and complexities of human biology, culture, history, and language. One day you might learn about Neanderthals who created art or about a tribe in Peru that invented its own sign language. Another day you might question whether humans are naturally generous or read an interview with an anthropologist working to combat anti-Black racism in Brazil. We cover humankind’s labyrinthine relationships with politics, power, food, art, animals, race, nature, sex, sports, violence, technology, morality, and much more.
The SAPIENS team invites you to be part of our community. If you’re a scholar, consider contributing a story. If you are an educator, explore SAPIENS’ teaching units. If you are an avid reader, sign up for our weekly newsletter, subscribe to our podcast, follow our channels on social media, and share our stories with your family and friends.
SAPIENS is a publication of the Wenner-Gren Foundation and published in partnership with the University of Chicago Press, while maintaining unconditional editorial independence.
Vision:
Amplifying anthropological insights to build a more just and sustainable world.
Mission:
Delivering trusted, compelling, and relevant anthropology stories to public audiences.
Commitments:
- Share a broad range of human stories with integrity and clarity
- Bring marginalized voices to the center of conversations
- Treat our community of authors, readers, and story subjects with empathy and respect
- Bridge academic and public spaces
- Help anthropologists become engaging storytellers
- Demonstrate the value of anthropology in the wider world
- Confront what anthropology was, challenge what it is, and dream what it could be