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.
An archaeologist studying 1,000-year-old dog burials reflects on the need for imagination in archaeology. ✽ WITH STEADY HANDS, a crouching…
Padi Nyawa UrangA poet and aspiring anthropologist in Indonesia reflects on the values reflected in rice cultivation in a traditional village in…
Dreamscapes of Refusal: A ChorusSAPIENS poet-in-residence for 2025 listens to a chorus of dreams in her field recordings from Kashmir. ✽ “Dreaming has a…
A Linguist’s Night at the BallWalk with a linguistic anthropologist through the sounds, politics, and fabulosity of a kiki ball in Puerto Rico. Since its…
Emic/EticA poet-anthropologist offers an “anti-glossary” to contest ways of knowing in social science that objectify people(s) into categories. “Emic/Etic” is…
Harvest SongA poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day…
The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge StoneAfter two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland. This article was originally…
Payangko, or Echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)After a 60-year haitus, an Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna was seen in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains. A poet-anthropologist reflects on the echidna’s…
An Ancient Child Who’s Changing ArchaeologyA Brazilian archaeologist reexamines the way people treat ancestral Indigenous remains housed in museums—starting with one important encounter. Can museums…
What a Community’s Mourning of an Owl Can Tell UsThe outpouring of grief over New York’s Flaco the owl, who died recently, reveals how much attitudes toward these creatures…
