Author: cathywhite

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Films Anthropologists just keep making interesting documentaries, and the Chicago Sun Times points us toward an upcoming documentary about the closing of Wisconsin Steel in the 1980s and how an entire pathway to the middle class quickly disappeared. You may…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media The Usual Suspects Genevieve Bell is interviewed yet again by the New York Times and ranges over a number of topics while not being allowed to go deep. It’s unfortunate. It is refreshing to hear someone talk realistically about technological…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Sex and Money Apparently, crickets were chirping in the Brazilian brothels during the World Cup, contrary to everyone’s expectations. Thaddeus Blanchette, an anthropologist with the Prostitution Observatory, explains why everyone got it wrong. Meanwhile, back in Canada, anthropologist Frances Shaver…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Do-Gooders Pacific Standard published an in-depth article on Nancy Scheper-Hughes and her research into the global organ transplant trade. The article is informative and balanced, no matter which side of the Scheper-Hughes fence you come down on. Adam Taylor of…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media We’re #2! Anthropology is ranked near the top of the Irish Independent’s list of the top 50 jobs of the future. As you read down the list, try not to feel too smug. We’ve all learned to take articles like…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Summer Books Nicholas Wade’s new book A Troublesome Inheritance has been in the news for a few weeks now, but criticisms of his ideas linking genetics to social behaviors continue to mount. You can’t swing a fossilized Australopithecus without hitting…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Just in time for summer, New Republic offers this amusing anthropological perspective on locals coping with tourists. It was just a matter of time before Game of Thrones made it into AnthroCurrents. The blog Making Game of Thrones interviewed linguist David Peterson…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media In the Field The Lethbridge Herald covers the research of Jillian King, a graduate student in anthropology, who is interviewing Canadian parents about why they are vaccinating their children (or not). Immunization has been a hot topic in both the…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Anthropology in Medicine It will surprise no one here that anthropologists are among the specialists being sent to Africa to handle the Ebola outbreak. They will help determine the best ways to approach the public and prevent the virus from…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media AnthroBasics: Food. Water. Shelter. In a video update of an earlier TEDx Talk, Wenonah Hauter warns about the dangers of privatizing poultry inspection. Hauter is the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch and an applied anthropologist. You can watch…

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media Our Electronic Lives Netflix hired anthropologist Grant McCracken to look at “binge-watching.” Be sure to get off your couch if Grant comes knocking on your door! Anthropology gets the nod in an article about parents ignoring their kids while they…