On this month’s panel, we welcome Will Grant from The Wholesome Show onto the podcast and introduce Kylie Wong Dolan, one of TFS' Editorial Board members who is making her podcast debut! Dr Will Grant is a senior lecturer, researcher and Graduate Studies convenor at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science … Continue reading Ep. #39 Heartless Foundation, Stories, Reconciliation & Failed Election Prophecies: This month on TFS
Author: The Familiar Strange
On Being Declared Missing in the Himalayas
Neither the Fulbright Commission overseeing my work nor the US Embassy in Kathmandu could contact me and, in the interim, the three other visitors to Mustang had all been declared missing and then subsequently found dead. This was one of those situations where, due to the fact that I was believed to be hurt or lost, a series of emergency procedures would go into effect. I would also later find out that several staff members at Fulbright had already been quietly talking about what kind of memorial they would be holding when the inevitable news arrived.
Ep. #37: Democracy sausage, fan identity, mental health policy & being anthro-diplomats: This month on TFS
This month, we’d like to welcome and thank special guests Dr Jill Sheppard and Martyn Pearce from Policy Forum Pod for joining our semi-themed panel discussion, inspired by the upcoming Australian Federal Election. Dr Jill Sheppard is a lecturer and political scientist at the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University, … Continue reading Ep. #37: Democracy sausage, fan identity, mental health policy & being anthro-diplomats: This month on TFS
On Writing Ethnography ‘At Home’
My friends know that I am writing about them, but they do not know how I will do so. They do not know if I will be able to capture the nuances of their gender identities, if I will take their words and actions out of context or expose their secrets, shared after whispers of “this can’t go in your study, okay?”
Activist Anthropology and the Politics of Doing Good
Some people might do things differently, some people might do things the same but think about them differently. I personally think I probably prevented 'burnout' in some cases by helping people understand the complexities of their situation. That could be seen as a good thing to reduce the turnover of people working in Indigenous affairs, but maybe not if you think those people should leave.
Ep. #35: Loneliness, Positionality, Personhood & Violence: This Month on TFS
This month Julia (0:59) starts us off with the relationship between loneliness and health after listening to an episode of 'All in the Mind', a podcast that explores the connections between the brain and behaviour. She stresses that loneliness is something that everyone is vulnerable to and is becoming more of a problem in our … Continue reading Ep. #35: Loneliness, Positionality, Personhood & Violence: This Month on TFS
Weeds don’t exist in the wild: What can that tell us about humans?
Each so-called weed, after all, has a remarkable story to tell. Each is the product of millions of years of evolution. Each is a descendant from an ancient species that had migrated across seas and continents. Each has a life trajectory – dormancy, germination, establishment, secondary growth, bolting, pollination, seed dispersal, reproduction, death, decomposition.
Ep. #33: Getting ready for the field: Themed panel with Dr Siobhan McDonnell
This month on TFS, we bring you a special themed panel with Dr Siobhan McDonnell about getting ready to go to the field. Siobhan is a legal anthropologist and Research Fellow the Australian National University with interests in Indigenous land rights, climate change and gender studies. [We had some technical difficulties during the recording of … Continue reading Ep. #33: Getting ready for the field: Themed panel with Dr Siobhan McDonnell
Single Shot: Tractors on Kochi Beach
I was used to seeing the sand coated in washed up Styrofoam, thongs, coconut shells, and water hyacinth. However, on this day I was greeted with tractors, preparing the beach for tourist season.
Fluid Masculinity: The case of Krishna
As Rama becomes more and more the icon of “virile Hinduism” and the symbol of a new kind of hegemonic, patriarchal, masculinity, so Krishna is held up as the counterpoint: masculine but not man; gendered but fluid; and sexual but not bound by cultural or even biological norms.
The Familiar Strange 