Featured Archived
Seasons Episodes
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Announcement

After ten years of exploring humanity in all its diversity, SAPIENS has concluded its publishing chapter.

While the magazine has closed, its living archive endures—open to all and preserving the many ideas, voices, and discoveries that deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.

Misperceiving Life Expectancy in the Deep Past

An archaeologist explains that most people do not calculate life expectancy correctly. This leads to misunderstandings. This article was originally…

Finding Mental Health Issues Hidden in the Past

An archaeologist speculates about how to uncover evidence of depression, anxiety, and neurodiversities in ancient humans. ✽ Hi, my name…

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…

Did Margaret Mead Think a Healed Femur Was the Earliest Sign of Civilization?

An anthropologist digs into the origins of a popular story attributed to Margaret Mead about the original sign of civilization.

Living With the Prospect of Assisted Dying

In a culture that valorizes battling for life until the very end, a man diagnosed with ALS grapples with what it means to stop fighting.

Is Donated Blood a Gift or a Commodity?

An anthropologist dives into the morally fraught blood and plasma industry and what it reveals about human societies—the good, the bad, and the gory.

Do Children Need Special Foods?

An anthropologist slices through myths about “picky” eating and the biological necessity of kids’ foods, and reimagines ways to feed future generations.

We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill

The abortion pill revolutionized activists’ fight for reproductive rights in Ireland in the 2000s—but in the U.S., cultural narratives have been slow to catch up to how medication has transformed abortion access.

Impossible Choices at the Crossroads of Motherhood and Fieldwork

Two anthropologists who’ve conducted fieldwork while being pregnant or new moms bravely share their personal experiences and call for family-friendly work cultures that align with human evolution.

Unmasked: Illustrating COVID-19 in Okoboji

An anthropologist and comic artist collaborated to bring to life the cultural squabbles and social complexities of the first pandemic year in Okoboji, a tourist town in northwest Iowa.