Snapshot

The Pandemic and the Process of Becoming

With no end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, people find themselves in a prolonged liminal state of transition. Why does that feel so unsettling?
The Casual Menace of a Trump Rally

As the U.S. closes in on Election Day 2020, an anthropologist remembers the chilling mix of cruelty and cheer he witnessed at a Trump victory rally after the 2016 election.
What’s Behind Humanity’s Love-Hate Relationship With Exercise?

Evolutionary history can help resolve the question of why so many people desire a physical break even when their bodies need movement.
When Coronavirus Emptied the Streets, Music Filled Them

A singer-songwriter anthropologist who has been experiencing Italy’s COVID-19 quarantine reflects on how pandemic-inspired songs connect people and reveal shifting power dynamics.
What Migrants Leave Behind

Piles of backpacks, empty water jugs, and even high heels left scattered on migrant trails leave visible markers of the desperation and endurance of those who traveled there.
$Chinese oracle bones - These “oracle bone” fragments, some of which show an ancient Chinese script, are housed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The pieces here are just a tiny fraction of the many thousands discovered thus far at a single site in China.$
The Chinese History That Is Written in Bone

The bones of 3,000-year-old sacrificial victims in China are revealing unexpected new twists.

The Pandemic and the Process of Becoming