All stories

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.”

What Is “Natural” for Human Sexual Relationships?

A biological and anthropological researcher explains how humans' diverse ways of mating might have evolved.
A wooden medicine cabinet on a wooden table displays numerous clear and green medicine bottles.

Finding Mental Health Issues Hidden in the Past

An archaeologist speculates about how to uncover evidence of depression, anxiety, and neurodiversities in ancient humans.
A man wearing a white durag and lime-green tank top props a young boy in a gray T-shirt and jeans on his shoulders while holding a pink rose from a rose bush to his nose.

What the Anthropology of Smell Reveals About Humanity

Millions of people have lost their sense of smell to COVID-19 and other conditions. Anthropologists are investigating the surprising significance of this underrated sense.

Biological Science Rejects the Sex Binary, and That’s Good for Humanity

Evidence from various sciences reveals that there are diverse ways of being male, female, or both. An anthropologist argues that embracing these truths will help humans flourish.
Two rows of people wearing colorful clothing lean against dark orange and light orange surfaces.

5 Questions About the History of Humanity


In this live interview, archaeologist and author David Wengrow discusses his New York Times bestselling book The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (co-authored with the late anthropologist David Graeber).
Five children sit with their backs to the camera, all raising an arm in the air.

What Industrial Societies Get Wrong About Childhood

The industrial world’s practice of placing children in classes of similar ages with an adult teacher is not the only way to learn—and it might not be the most effective.
Two large almond-shaped rocks with cutmarks covering their surfaces lie on brown wood with a small metal coin between them.

How Human Are We?

An evolutionary theorist considers how traits we think of as human may have been shared by other hominins.
Brown grasses and white flowers cover a hill overlooking agricultural land, neatly planted trees, and flat top mountains in the distance.

What Drove Homo Erectus Out of Africa?

Excavations at the site of 'Ubeidiya are at the heart of a debate about Homo erectus migrations, with profound implications for questions of human resilience and adaptability.
An ancient dog skull sits against a black backdrop.

The Macabre and Magical Human-Canine Story

Zooarchaeologists and geneticists are exploring how wolves and domestic dogs have been humanity’s predator, prey, and partner.
A male Olympic weightlifter snatches a weighted barbell.

Sex in Sport: Men Don’t Always Have the Advantage

Research shows that real differences exist in athletic capacities, on average, between men and women. But they cut both ways.
A group of people stand with their backs to the camera around a bonfire at night

How Early Humans Shaped the World With Fire

An archaeological project in Malawi shows how nearly 100,000 years ago, humans used fire to create wide-scale, permanent transformations of the natural environment. It's time to abandon the idea of “pristine nature.”
Eduardo Kohn Sarayaku - The Sarayaku community hopes to convince Ecuador’s highest court that their territory is entitled to exist unmolested. Similar rights have been granted to the Ganges River and Te Urewera in New Zealand.

The Fight to Secure Rights for Rainforests

The Sarayaku people of Ecuador seek legal protection for Amazonian plants and animals. Anthropologist Eduardo Kohn’s work on “thinking forests” might help.
Humo ludens collaborans

dear gretas

An anthropologist offers a letter-poem for the pandemic era to environmental activist Greta Thunberg—and to the rest of us—while reenvisioning our species as Humo ludens collaborans (humorous playful collaborators).
Conservationist Madeleine Nyiratuza (center) walks through Rwanda’s Gishwati Forest with three eco-guards, who were charged with protecting the area.

The Green Woods of Resilience

An anthropologist unwinds the complex threads of forest conservation, revealing how Rwanda’s Gishwati Forest has emerged as a place of hope after decades of turmoil.
counterterrorism ethnography - A British army helicopter flies over Estonian forests during a massive annual military training exercise.

The Public Problem With Counterterrorism

Ethnographic research with people who have survived terrorist attacks and with those who protect the public reveals how little these two groups understand each other.
nonbinary

My Nonbinary Child

An anthropologist muses on what her career and child have taught her about gender stereotypes and fluidity.