Social Impact Episodes

Brad Deutser, an organizational psychologist, conducted research involving over 15,000 employees to examine the significance of belonging in the workplace. He identified five essential "Belonging Rules" that contribute to employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. Deutser also emphasizes the importance of addressing underlying power structures and norms to promote lasting change. He highlights the need to embrace diverse perspectives without requiring complete agreement, acknowledging that true belonging stems from accepting and valuing differences.

This new episode explores the motivations and implications of humanity's pursuit of space exploration. It asks if reaching for the stars should be our top priority. Our guest Savannah Mandel shares her journey from a space enthusiast as a child to a more critical anthropologist studying the space industry. She remains devoted to bringing anthropological methods to the field, diversifying voices, and furthering public understanding. Join the discussion including decolonizing space, diversifying perspectives in the industry, using anthropological research to create real-world impact, and studying speculative futures. This episode aims to provide a grounded anthropological perspective on the captivating world of space exploration and the space industry.

In this episode of This Anthro Life, I am joined by cultural anthropologist and author Paul Stoller. Paul shares his extensive fieldwork experiences among the Songhai people in Niger and Mali, as well as West African migrants in New York City. Through his research on magic, sorcery, and spirit possession, Paul explores the power of storytelling and the importance of deep listening. He also highlights the significance of sensory ethnography, which goes beyond words on a page to capture the full human experience. Join us as we delve into the world of wisdom, belief, and the unseen forces that shape our understanding of being human.

In this episode of This Anthro Life podcast, Dr. Jon Cohen shares invaluable insights gained from leading the nation in COVID-19 diagnostics testing. He emphasizes the importance of building a robust diagnostic infrastructure for future crises, drawing on lessons learned from the pandemic. The collaboration between healthcare providers and the sports industry also emerges as a noteworthy success, shedding light on the benefits of cross-sector partnerships during emergencies. Furthermore, Jon highlights the pressing need for enhanced mental health support. He underscores the limitations of traditional therapy methods and champions the accessibility and flexibility offered by telemedicine. With mental health challenges on the rise, he advocates for the expansion of telemedicine services to ensure accessible care for all.

in this new exciting episode, we explore the profound influence of language on our perception of experiences. We also tackle the intricate process of navigating trauma and uncovering growth in the face of adversity. Our guest, Amrita Subramanian, an esteemed expert in cultural contexts and relationships, illuminates the intricate interplay between language, trauma, and resilience in our daily lives. Amrita's expertise in emotional intelligence and her deep understanding of the complexities of language and identity offer a fresh perspective, challenging conventional beliefs and prompting introspection. With her extensive experience as a speaker, consultant, and educator, Amrita's profound insights into the human condition promise to leave a lasting impression.

Humans have an innate drive to cooperate and identify with groups, even strangers. This drive, known as tribalism, is essential for building trust and cooperation in large-scale societies. However, in the modern world, tribalism can also lead to division and conflict. In this podcast episode, David Samson, an evolutionary anthropologist, discusses the concept of tribalism and its implications for the modern world. He explains that humans are evolved for a different environment than the one we currently live in, and this disconnect, known as evolutionary mismatch, can contribute to societal challenges such as political polarization and social isolation. Samson also discusses the power of tribal signals, such as symbols, language, and music, in creating a sense of belonging and identity. He emphasizes the importance of being conscious of our identity stack, or the different tribes that we identify with. A healthy identity stack includes both abstract tribes, such as political part…

Science is a dynamic process of discovery and revision. This means that scientists are constantly learning new things and updating their understanding of the world. This can be challenging for the public to keep up with, but it is important for people to be engaged with science so that they can make informed decisions about their lives and the world around them. Dr. Nicholas B. Dirks and host Adam Gamwell discuss the changing relationship between science and society in their podcast episode. They note that science has become increasingly specialized and complex in recent decades, which can make it difficult for the public to understand and appreciate. However, they also argue that it is more important than ever for the public to be engaged with science, given the challenges that we face as a society, such as climate change and technological advancements.

In this episode of This Anthro Life, host Adam Gamwell talks with Janine de Novais about her new publication on Brave Community and teaching for a post-racist imagination. They explore the concept of "grounding for learning" as a method to enhance and sustain empathy to facilitate effective learning. Grounding for learning is described as the cornerstone of the classroom environment, empowering individuals to be more empathetic and intellectually courageous. Moreover, Janine talks about her book titled “Brave Community” and explains that Brave Community is a teaching and learning method that helps foster empathy and intellectual bravery. In this conversation we discuss: 👉 The importance of pedagogy in education and the Brave Community method 👉 The role of content and culture in meetings and discussions 👉 Grounding for learning and the importance of content and culture Here are a few of our favorite quotable moments: “The method of Brave Community is a teaching and l…

People with disabilities often face accessibility issues in physical environments, such as a lack of ramps, narrow doorways, and inaccessible transportation. Every barrier is a reminder that designs are choices, ones made without people with disabilities at the decision-making table.

In this episode, Angela Saini, award-winning science journalist and author of “The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule,” traces the material and social roots of patriarchy with host Adam Gamwell. The duo explores how anthropology can help us better understand the patriarchy and patriarchal power by contextualizing and breaking down big ideas.

Daughter of “Cosmos” co-writer Ann Druyan and astronomer Carl Sagan, Sasha talks with host Adam Gamwell about the power of ritual for making meaning across life, death, nature, and more. She also shares how she learned to ask questions, the value of finding awe in the most mundane of rituals, and how turning our attention anew to the natural world can help us add wonder back into our lives.

How to Build a More Resilient World The COVID-19 pandemic leveled the playing field between those who have the privilege to avoid or mitigate disasters and those who don’t. But the pandemic is just one of many ongoing challenges and crises that people are and have been facing for years.

Indigenous cultures around the world have a trickster god or figure in their mythos. For example, the Pacific Northwest Native Americans have the Raven, a selfish, hungry, and mischievous figure who transforms the world. Stories tell how the Raven...

Ashley Meredith serves as the National Cultural Anthropologist and Deputy National Historic Preservation Officer for the Federated States of Micronesia. Micronesia is a sovereign island country in Oceania situated northeast of Australia and Papua New Guinea and consists of 600 islands covering a massive area of around 1 million square miles. There are 18 languages spoken across the islands.

When we think about social science and social scientists working out in the world, we tend to jump to the science part, you know jobs that focus on research - consumer research, user experience research, or qualitative studies for non-profits. But if...

If you’re alive in 2022 you’ve probably also heard of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency or the blockchain. Whether you’re an active trader, just dabble, or think you’d never touch the stuff, cryptocurrency raises a fascinating challenge to the question of...

If Dr. Hellen Fisher isn’t a household name in your house (yet), her work certainly is. Helen is a biological anthropologist and basically the reason you can date online. She’s an expert on romantic love, gender differences, the evolution of human emotions and attraction. She has also been the Chief Scientific Advisor for Match.com and was instrumental in their offshoot, Chemistry.com. She has explored how love patterns are actually deeply coded in our physiology and neuropsychology. We talk abo...

TAL Correspondent Sara Schmieder brings us an all new interview about the power of cemetery restoration, race in the American South, and bringing legacy to light. Dr. Ryan Smith is a professor of religious history, material culture, and historic preservation at Virginia Commonwealth University. His latest book Death and Rebirth in a Southern City: Richmond’s Historic Cemeteries (2020) explores the history and reclamation of sacred cemeteries through the lens of race. By working with friends gro...

In today’s episode Adam and Astrid Countee are joined by multispecies anthropologist John Hartigan jr. John is an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at Austin. In his latest work, Shaving the Beasts: Wild Horses and Ritual in Spain, John studies the social lives of wild horses in Spain and Catalonia and the Spanish ritual dating back to the 1500s of “Rapa das Bestas”- in which villagers heard wild horses together into public ceremonial rings and shave their manes and tails. Why is...

Mary Gray is an anthropologist whose work explores how technology informs work, a sense of identity, and human rights. Gray applies these concepts as the Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and as the Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Additionally she remains in a faculty position at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Gray has also authored books such as In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Yo...

Take a walk with anthropologist and consultant Grant McCracken and host Adam Gamwell, as they discuss Grant's new book The New Honor Code: A Simple Plan for Raising Our Standards and Restoring Our Good Names and dig into Grant's uncanny ability to excavate and weave together (American) culture, media, and storytelling, and pull out provocative insights like the need to get more anthropologists and cultural experts into the C-Suite, how we might re-invent honor in the contemporary world, and how ...

In January 2021 armed rioters stormed the US Capitol in a harrowing and politically fomented insurrection. It was an apex of years of divisive and condemnable rhetoric and fear-mongering used to stoke insecurities and desperate action. How do we ensure this never happens again? Or how do we dismantle the social structures that feed hate, fear, and contempt? What this event, and on the flip side, our celebration of Martin Luther King jr. Day (when we recorded this episode 1/18/21), reveal is that...

When most people think of forensics or forensic anthropology the first thing that comes to mind are TV shows like CSI or Bones, or maybe in Six Feet Under. This may sound overly obvious, but people die every day. And this means that every day someone has to deliver dealth notifications to next of kin, especially when people live apart. Often times coroners are the ones who deliver these notifications. Coroners are elected or appointed public officials whose primary duty is to determine and certi...

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a next-generation observatory currently under development that has created a watershed moment for the scientific community and Hawaiian society. This is because of its planned location on Mauna Kea… the most sacred mountain in the Hawaiian religion. But the case of TMT and Mauna Kea is not an outlier because mountain summits often have profound meanings to both indigenous cultural practitioners and technology developers. For example, Kanamota is another sacred...