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.

When Biblically Inspired Pseudoscience and Clickbait Cause Looting

A team of anthropologists argues that shoddy research linking biblical Sodom to an archaeological site created media hype that harms science and leads to looting.

The Age of Digital Divination

An anthropologist asks what algorithms and astrology have in common in a digital era of predictive technologies.

What Netflix Got Wrong About Indigenous Storytelling

Two anthropologists look back on one of the year’s most binged animated shows on Netflix—the supernatural Filipino crime thriller Trese—and what it missed about the stories of Indigenous peoples.

The Sisters of Loretto Share a Kinship With the Earth

An anthropologist looks to a religious community of women in rural Kentucky for scientifically informed lessons in land stewardship. Could they be a model for activists and policymakers to move beyond partisan approaches to climate change?

Five Solstice Sites That Aren’t Stonehenge

Across time and around the world, many ancient monuments were built as calendars to track the sun’s journey.

The Struggles of a “River People” in Assam

For decades, the Mising people, a minority group in Northeast India, have fought for tribal autonomy and cultural recognition. Today they face growing challenges to their way of life.

Can the Holy Spirit Be Livestreamed?

What worshipping online during the COVID-19 pandemic has meant to African Australians.

Sutton Hoo’s Story Goes Deeper Than The Dig

The archaeologist in charge of the Sutton Hoo burial mounds recounts what has been discovered at the famous English site since the 1930s excavation portrayed in the movie The Dig.

What a “Safe and Dignified” Burial Means During a Pandemic

When public health protocols disrupt normal funeral and mourning practices, such as in Cameroon, alternative approaches need to be engaged to keep people safe while respecting the dead and their loved ones.