Ep. #27 TFS at AAA: Elevator pitches, problem labels, public anthropology, & estrangement in practice – Guest panel with Dr Esteban Gómez & Dr Carie Little Hersh

This month we bring you a special panel episode straight from the AAA (American Anthropological Association) Conference in San José, California. In this episode, our own Julia Brown and Ian Pollock are joined by Dr Esteban Gómez, a professor at University of Denver and co-host of the Sapiens podcast, and Dr Carie Little Hersh, an associate … Continue reading Ep. #27 TFS at AAA: Elevator pitches, problem labels, public anthropology, & estrangement in practice – Guest panel with Dr Esteban Gómez & Dr Carie Little Hersh

Ep. #26 Mining Banaba: Katerina Teaiwa talks mining phosphate & decolonising modern anthropology

“The body of the people is in that landscape so when it's mined and crushed and dug up, you’re not just doing it with rock, you’re also doing it with people, with the remains of people, and we know that happened on Banaba.” Katerina Teaiwa, Associate Professor at the School of Culture, History and Language … Continue reading Ep. #26 Mining Banaba: Katerina Teaiwa talks mining phosphate & decolonising modern anthropology

Ep. #25: Zombie nouns, meaningful objects, biopolitics in politics, and value trials: This month on TFS

This month Julia (0:59), starts us off with a discussion about zombie nouns – non-nouns that have been turned into nouns – such as sociality, relationality, neoliberalisation, and so on. Referring to Alex Di Giorgio’s blog post about academic jargon, Julia asks us the ultimate question: why can’t social scientists communicate using simpler words? She … Continue reading Ep. #25: Zombie nouns, meaningful objects, biopolitics in politics, and value trials: This month on TFS

Ep. #24 Learning in disaster: Kim Fortun talks STS, knowledge politics & anthropology’s role in a crisis

“We need to be experimental because we’re not up to the task at hand; there’s a real practical and ethical call to responsibility, that drives that experimental commitment.” Kim Fortun, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, author of ‘Advocacy After Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New World Orders’ which won the 2003 Sharon Stephens … Continue reading Ep. #24 Learning in disaster: Kim Fortun talks STS, knowledge politics & anthropology’s role in a crisis

Ep. #23 Decolonizing anthropology, with Sana Ashraf and Bruma Rios-Mendoza: this month on TFS

"We think we are supposed to be comfortable. As long as we are trying to do everything to be comfortable, we will never make a change." In this themed panel discussion, our own Jodie and Simon sat down with Sana Ashraf and Bruma Rios-Mendoza, two PhD candidates in anthropology at ANU, to talk about decolonization: … Continue reading Ep. #23 Decolonizing anthropology, with Sana Ashraf and Bruma Rios-Mendoza: this month on TFS

Ep. #22 Just the way things are: Steve Woolgar talks mundane governance, & the rules that run our lives

"Although this stuff is very ordinary, very day-to-day, very unremarkable... it's actually quite dangerous, too." Steve Woolgar, emeritus professor at the Saïd School of Business at Oxford University and giant in the field of science and technology studies (STS), spoke to our own Jodie-Lee Trembath about the little niggling rules that we run up against … Continue reading Ep. #22 Just the way things are: Steve Woolgar talks mundane governance, & the rules that run our lives

Ep. #21 Misogyny, irrational politics, the ontological turn, and multi-media learning: this month on TFS

Jodie (1:04), drawing on the book Down Girl by Australian philosopher Kate Manne, starts us off by asking what misogyny is, and how we should tackle it as a culture. “If our goal is behaviour change, for bigots to stop being bigots, racists to stop being racists, misogynists to stop being misogynists… is the approach … Continue reading Ep. #21 Misogyny, irrational politics, the ontological turn, and multi-media learning: this month on TFS

Ep #20 Wearing the black armband: Mick Dodson talks ongoing colonisation in Australia

“We don’t look back enough to go forward, I don’t think. We need to look in the rear view mirror everyday”. Professor Mick Dodson AM, a Yawuru Aboriginal man, Australian barrister, academic and recently retired Director of the National Centre of Indigenous Studies at ANU, talks to our own Julia Brown about some of the ongoing struggles for Indigenous Australians.

Ep. #19 Anthro & policy-making, digital disruption, online research, & what is love? This month on TFS

This month, Simon starts us off (1:08) asking, how can we make the knowledge we gain from anthropology matter for policy and government? "There’s no reason why [anthropology] can’t be scaled up. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a chief anthropologist to the government.” As Jodie argues, "unless, as a discipline, we are willing … Continue reading Ep. #19 Anthro & policy-making, digital disruption, online research, & what is love? This month on TFS

Ep. #18 What taste is made of: Brad Weiss talks pig farming and the meaning of food in America

"Livestock are essential to our lives. We live in a world that is saturated with livestock, and not just with the food that we eat, but with the lives that we live and in the other byproducts that come through livestock production." Brad Weiss, head of the anthropology department at the College of William and … Continue reading Ep. #18 What taste is made of: Brad Weiss talks pig farming and the meaning of food in America