This month, Kylie [0:50] kicks off our conversation by reflecting on our blog about racism in sport and asks us about the ethics of ad targeting on social media. This comes after we decided to try boosting the blog post through a paid Facebook advertisement, since we felt this was a topic that needed to … Continue reading Ep #49: Intolerable Ads, Introvert Anthros, Irrevocable Ties & Indigenous Symbols: This Month on TFS
Author: The Familiar Strange
Ep. #48 The Nature of Anthropology: Andrew Kipnis on China, Funerals, Ethnographic Socialising & Academic Speech
"I think you’d be crazy to go into something like anthropology if you want to learn how to say whatever other people tell you to say - you know, maybe you should become a lawyer!" This week we bring you a special treat - an interview between our good friend Zoe Hatten and her PhD … Continue reading Ep. #48 The Nature of Anthropology: Andrew Kipnis on China, Funerals, Ethnographic Socialising & Academic Speech
Ep. #47: Meaningful Declutter, Local Activism, Managing Fire & Writing Up: This month on TFS
Firstly, we’d like to introduce you all to Alex D’Aloia, who is managing our Facebook group TFS Chats – you might remember the blog post that he wrote for us at the start of this year: "Anthropologists and Dragons". Make sure to check out the chat group after listening to this episode and let us … Continue reading Ep. #47: Meaningful Declutter, Local Activism, Managing Fire & Writing Up: This month on TFS
Beyond the sensory art of sorting fruit
Sorting fruit may be a sensory art, and it is possible to get entirely lost in the aesthetics of skilful hands and the physicality of localised knowledge. But these depictions should not come at the cost of a loss of context, and we should question why this work takes place, who largely occupies these roles, and what power they hold in these socioeconomic systems.
Ep. #45: Financial Identity, Quiet Fields, Silencing Students & Angry Anthropologists: This Month On TFS
Simon [1:00] begins our chat by asking what happens to your identity when you become a dependent spouse; that is, when your partner is supporting the household financially and you are not, especially in a new country. “For the last maybe 20 or 30 years, the assumption has been that both men and women will … Continue reading Ep. #45: Financial Identity, Quiet Fields, Silencing Students & Angry Anthropologists: This Month On TFS
“We will give to you so that you can give to us”: A Tale of Two Manuscripts
I debated for quite a long while as to what kind of second project I thought would be the most useful, given the circumstances. ... My main concern, however, remains: what will be the most accessible and useful for Shaligram practitioners themselves?
The arguments against climbing Uluru… and why people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
Author: Dr. Yasmine Musharbash, senior lecturer in anthropology at the Australian National University. The focus of her ethnographic work has been on Warlpiri people living in Yuendumu, in the Northern Territory, Australia. Her interests include the anthropology of the everyday, human/other-than-human interactions, and the anthropology of emotion. Editorial note: On July 15th 2019, an Australian … Continue reading The arguments against climbing Uluru… and why people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
Ep. #43: Deepfakes, words vs actions, hatred in anthropology and social dissociation: This month on TFS (Re-Release)
On this month's panel episode, digital anthropologist Dr Stephanie Betz (5:50) discusses “deepfakes”. It's been possible to doctor images to a very high degree of believability for a long time - Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, was fooled by fake images of two young girls playing in their garden with a community of fairies back in 1917! But deepfake technologies are now making it possible to create fake video footage so realistic that it's almost impossible to detect with the naked eye, and so easy to create that all you need is a smart phone. How will society adapt to these changes?
I did it for the data
As an ethnographer of porn, I entered the field with some hard limits and never crossed them. I never ended up doing anything I regretted, but the pressure to push myself and my boundaries was palatable that evening.
Ep. #41: Mediocrity, Confusing Cake, Public Accountability & Gift Reciprocity: This month on TFS
Simon (0:48) kicks off this panel by asking us about mediocrity. He reflects on his fieldwork in Iran, where he observed – particularly in the education sphere - that there was a very small difference between being ‘perfect’ and being a ‘failure’. “In Australia we…have this kind of uncomfortable-ness, I think, with excellence and the … Continue reading Ep. #41: Mediocrity, Confusing Cake, Public Accountability & Gift Reciprocity: This month on TFS
The Familiar Strange 