Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
Table of contents
Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8
How a Megadam Disrupts the Flow of Water—and Money

In Northeast India, a controversial hydropower dam moves toward completion—causing great uncertainty for downstream dwellers whose livelihoods depend on the…

Cultivating Dragon Fruit’s Political Power in Ecuador

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, an anthropologist explores how the Shuar people are betting on dragon fruit cultivation to reclaim economic…

Unwrapping Operation Christmas Drop

An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies…

A Dam’s Downstream Consequences

An anthropologist shares his story of the environmental, sociocultural, and political consequences of a hydropower dam in India for communities…

Conflicting Times on the Camino de Santiago

As increasing numbers of pilgrims walk the Camino, a European network of historic pilgrimage routes, those who journey to “slow…

In Delhi, Women Find Their Place on the Metro

Over the past two decades, the subway system has reshaped social relations in India’s densely populated capital—especially for women, who…

Did Meat Do Neanderthals In?

Studying zinc levels in unearthed Neanderthal skeletal remains, an archaeologist examines whether the carnivorous eating habits of Neanderthals in the…

A Somali Archaeologist Is Championing Heritage in the Horn of Africa

An interview with Sada Mire dives into the difficulties and rewards of preserving history and letting local perspectives guide heritage…

Do Children Need Special Foods?

An anthropologist slices through myths about “picky” eating and the biological necessity of kids’ foods, and reimagines ways to feed future generations.

Do Things Have to Be This Way?

In The Dawn of Everything, archaeologist David Wengrow and the late anthropologist David Graeber question the West’s most deeply entrenched—and often damaging—assumptions about human nature and society.