All stories
Taking on Parkinson’s Disease—With Boxing Gloves and Punching Bags
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.
Inside Mexico City’s Surveillance State
An anthropologist investigates how one city’s rapidly expanding video surveillance system is transforming criminal investigation—sometimes in deeply flawed ways.
What Bigfoot Teaches Us About Public Mistrust of Science
In the 1960s, credentialed scientists, including physical anthropologists, hunted for the legendary Sasquatch. How did they fall for the hoax?
Twitter’s Blue Tick Is a Fake Signal
Evolutionary theory can help us better understand the recent debacle about social media platforms' popular symbol as a signaling problem.
“T”
A poet-anthropologist celebrates how the Orring people of southeastern Nigeria conceptualize the origins—and workings—of the cosmos.
Apparition in Sugarland
A poet-anthropologist evokes a popular myth that speaks to the repercussions of—and possibilities of repair from—U.S. violence in the Philippines during colonialism.
A Birth and a Death—a Haunting of Igbo Landing
A Ghanian American poet-anthropologist crafts her own African diasporic and Indigenous identity through weaving herself into a famous story of African resistance and survival.
Do Mountains Have Souls?
An anthropologist explores the resurgence of “new Animism”—interest in spiritual practices that recognize the interrelationships among animals, places, plants, and people.
Was Our Skin Meant for the Sun?
An anthropologist examines the history of human skin under the sun, revealing how evolution and culture conspired to shape our outermost organ.
A Reader’s Question About Surviving the Ice Age
An anthropologist describes the multiple ice ages of the Earth’s past and how our species survived the most recent one.
The Deep Human Story of Collecting Fossils
Dinosaur eggs, trilobites, and other fossils have intrigued humans for hundreds of thousands of years, inspiring their creative pursuits and their understanding of the natural world.
The Cosmic Serpent
With traditional Carnival celebrations throughout Brazil suspended for a second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a poet-anthropologist remembers the sweaty pulse of this exuberant street celebration—and zooms out for a broader view of our karmic journey through life.
What Chimpanzees Know About Giving Medicine
New observations of chimpanzees in Gabon lead researchers to wonder if the tendency for self-medication and medicating others really is unique to humans.
What’s the Appeal of Deep Voices in Men?
Low-pitched male voices are frequently seen as signs of dominance, strength, and sex appeal. Now anthropologists are sussing out whether there’s truth behind the stereotypes.
Five New Year’s Rituals of Renewal
An anthropologist explores a range of cultural celebrations around the world to mark the new year. Spoiler alert: They don’t all fall on January 1.
The Age of Digital Divination
An anthropologist asks what algorithms and astrology have in common in a digital era of predictive technologies.
