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.

When Women Answer the Call of Duty

From Syria to Ukraine, the sight of women taking up arms to fight for a cause calls audiences to attention.…

What Is Freedom in a Brazilian Favela?

In a new book, Minoritarian Liberalism, an anthropologist explores how favela residents of Rio de Janeiro create their own versions…

What Ended This Hub of Ancient Maya Life?

A bioarchaeologist reflects on how a team of scientists investigated various elements that contributed to the destabilization and ultimate breakdown…

We All Love Roses

SAPIENS Poet-in-Residence Jason Vasser-Elong reflects on horrific cycles of violence—and highlights injustices that are often papered over. We All Love…

How a Coerced Confession Shaped a Family History

A researcher delves into her family’s oral history and local archives to tell the story of a relative—falsely accused as…

Looking Into the World of Frog Gigging

Hunting rituals have long been a focus of anthropological analysis. An ethnographer explores how hunting frogs for meat using gigs, or multipronged spears, is a beloved family tradition in some parts of the U.S. (Content warning: The images and text include graphic descriptions of hunting and butchering animals.)

Difficult Truths: Confronting Irish Industrial Schools

An anthropologist delves into the archives to uncover her family’s early 20th-century experiences with Catholic-run Irish industrial schools—institutions later revealed to be rife with child abuse.

Maize and Okra

A poet-anthropologist recollects when Muscogee (Creek) people offered his formerly enslaved ancestors refuge, extending the bonds of kinship.

Haunted by a Secret War

In a new book of ethnographic fiction on the lingering effects of the United States’ Secret War in Laos, the living must find ways to pacify the ghosts of those who suffered past violence.

Repatriation Is Our Future

In the SAPIENS podcast season 4 finale, listeners hear the story of Dr. Rachel Watkins and why repatriation matters for African American communities.