Stay ConnectedThe Arch and Anth Podcast aims to provides entertaining and educational content about archaeology and anthropology. Hosting the show is Dr Michael B. C. Rivera, an expert in the study of human biology, human behavior and human societies worldwide, from the earliest beginnings to modern times. Episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, featuring a special guest talking about their work.
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Copyright: The Arch and Anth Podcast © 2019
For this episode, Dr. Krishna Balasubramaniam (UC Davis) takes us through his research on behavioral ecology, human-wildlife interactions, primate health and disease and primate social evolution, studying both wild species living in urban and peri-urban settings, as well as captive monkeys.
What is behavioral ecology and why are behavioral ecological questions interesting to consider for biological anthropologists? What are the ecological and anthropogenic factors that may influence group-living and social network structures in animals like macaques? How could aspects of group living and relatedness between individuals predict whether macaques share infectious pathogens and gut microbes inside them? How do primatologists collect and analyze this data, to understand the relationships between sociality and disease risk?
We also consider the human-wildlife interfacts so common in the urban and peri-urban environments of Malaysia and India. In these overlaps and interactions between humans and rhesus macaques, long-tailed macaques and bonnet macaques, how have Krishna assessed the impact of human attitudes, beliefs and experiences towards animal conservation and policy-making? What are the main challenges in Krishna's work, studying macaques both in captivity and in urban settings? Where is Krishna hoping to take his research going forward?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
Krishna can be found on Twitter and his website if you have any questions or feedback.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
In this episode, Dr. Cara Ocobock (University of Notre Dame) talks to us about her investigations in human biology, anatomy, physiology, evolution, energetics and environmental adaptation. One the main projects she is involved in assesses cold adaptations among reindeer herders in Finland.
What are the daily and seasonal activities of reindeer herders living around the Arctic Circle in the north of Finland? How does Cara collect ethnographic and biological data that will give clues as to how these indigenous communities are adapted to the cold behaviorally and physiologically? What is brown adipose tissue, and how does this type of fat help cold populations live in such extreme conditions? How might Cara's insights be expanded to study global climate change's effects on human populations living in these high-latitude locales?
Besides her work with the reindeer herding cooperatives, Cara also shares some of her thoughts on how COVID-19 is affecting her research community and new research she would like to do studying the physical and emotional impacts of the current pandemic on athletes and weightlifters. Together with Dr. Christopher Lynn (he guested on Episode 54), Cara is also the co-host of Sausage of Science, another fantastic interview-based podcast about human biology and evolution. You can find Cara's and Chris' podcast, The Sausage of Science, on iTunes, Stitcher or the Human Biology Association webpage.
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
If you have feedback or questions for Cara, you can find her on Twitter and on her website.
She has a new American Anthropologist paper that just came out over the weekend entitled, "Human energy expenditure in anthropology and beyond" - you can read Cara's thoughts on the paper in her latest blog post.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram too.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
To close out the week, Carmen Lucia Cano Roca (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is on the show to share her work in food science, food safety and Salmonella microbiology. Which multiple disciplines does food science draw from? For her PhD research, how does Carmen study how risks of Salmonella infection can be better controlled?
How did Carmen take what she learned in her earlier life and education in Guatemala, and choose food microbiology as her chosen scientific discipline? What are the different physical, chemical and microbial hazards food scientists are concerned with? Where are the different moments microbe infection is particularly risky during different stages of food production, food distribution and food consumption? How are some commensal bacteria 'good' for our bodies, and actually help keep bad bacteria out of our systems?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
If you want to get in touch with Carmen, you can find her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
On this episode, Jayson Maurice Porter (Northwestern University) talks about Mexican ecological history, the tropical histories of medicine, technology and agriculture, Black and Latinx geographies, and how social and political manifestations of violence are intertwined with relationships between people and environment.
What early life experiences gave Jayson his first exposure to different environments food systems, cultures, and ideas about politics, race and class? How does Jayson work with his colleagues to design curriculum that provides students with an awareness of the racial, social and political instruments that mediate how medicine is practiced and food is grown and distributed? By looking at the history of pesticide use, such as the use of arsenic-based herbicides, how can we better understand how the military, public health and agricultural are all intwined in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Sinaloa between 1920–1980?
More broadly speaking, what are the connections between Mexican and American agricultural systems and political developments over the last century? By studying Mexican biodiversity, how does Jayson see the country's food production and environment as a major influence on the culinary world globally? What connections does Jayson draw between his work on impunity, police budgets, resource distribution, a history of violence in Mexico, and what we're seeing this week as the Black Lives Matter calls for justice are happening?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
Check out Jayson's other interview on the Historias podcast, in which he talks about the Green Revolution in Mexico. On Discurso Revista, you can also find Jayson's piece on arsenic use in Mexico and the United States.
If you want to get in touch with Jayson to share questions or thoughts, you can find him on Twitter or his personal website.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
In this episode, Dr. Orisanmi Burton (American University) calls in from Washington, D.C. to share his view on the Black Lives Matter movement this week, speaking as a social anthropologist who examines state repression, grassroots organization and the Black radical demands generated within U.S. prisons that imagine alternative futures.
What important ideas did Ori learn from prominent thinkers on prison reform and abolition such as organizer and educator, Miriame Kaba, prison reform visionary, Eddie Ellis, and Black Marxist professor, Cedric Robinson? How important is language use in academic discourse and popular media in defining what white supremacy, state repression and police violence actually entail and how can overgeneralizations miss important aspects of historical context or axes of analysis? Why is racism a 'malleable' concept that does not only denote white-on-black violence and oppression? According to Ori, who (or what purpose) do prisons serve?
In addition, what drives huge collectives of protestors to take part in these movements? What might reformed social systems or new world orders look like and do anthropologists or academics have a role to play in imagining them? As a father, how does intergenerational oral history factor into the way Ori frames his research?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
Give support to the Justice For Breonna Taylor fund, learn from Miriame Kaba on her website and this podcast episode of How to Survive The End of the World, and consider giving to Project Nia, which aims to end the incarceration of minors and young adults.
You can find Ori on his university webpage or Twitter profile if you have questions for him.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
Imani Strong-Tucker (Griffin & Strong, P.C.; London School of Economics' International Inequalities Institute) is Operations Manager for a team conducting disparity studies and demographic and anecdotal data analyses. We talk about the Black Lives Matter movement, affirmative action policy in the U.S. and the various ways systemic racism keep Black folks from being safe or having equal opportunity.
How does Imani manage the operations with her firm, collecting data as part of disparity studies? What are the primary bits of information on demography and experience Imani collates in order to prepare pertinent evidence of discrimination for a court of law? For her PhD research, what questions did Imani start asking about why courts make certain decisions, how people change their engagement with capitalism to fit audit requirements, and how entrepreneurs engage with their identities?
Also, what can we say anthropologically about the current Black Lives Matter protests happening in the U.S. and increasingly in the U.K.? Why might affirmative action not be the answer to capitalism, the election system, or the education system, and simply be a way to increase diversity within a system that fundamentally cannot sustain diversity? What needs to be dismantled for a more equitable and just world?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
Please consider offering a donation or support via the Black Lives Matter UK Fund and the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.
If you want to get in touch with Imani to share questions or thoughts, you can find her on LinkedIn or her GSPC webpage.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
In her work, Kyle Marian Viterbo (Science Friday; The Symposium: Academic StandUp) works and runs events mainly centered around science comedy, science writing and social media communication, racial and social justice advocacy, striving to decolonize the way science is performs, and supporting academics in their studies and research.
How did Kyle move from a primarily anthropological and archaeological education into working in the world of science comedy and communication? What is life like as a New York-based comedian and what is unique about existing in this space as a Filipina comedian in the U.S. right now?
Also, what has Kyle learned and shared with other comedians regarding experiences, lessons and backgrounds on the scene? In what ways must we all think more intersectionally in how we think and interact day-to-day to strive for social justice and equality for members of various groups who face discrimination and hate today?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
Please consider checking out the Black Visions Collective, a Black, trans and queer-led organization that is committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence, and shifting the public narrative to creative transformative, long-term change. Also support Unicorn Riot, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to exposing root causes of dynamic social and environmental issues, and brainstorming solutions to those.
For footage of the Asians Strike Back: A Coronavirus Comedy & Science Show, look on YouTube at the NowThis News and South China Morning Post.
You can follow Kyle on Twitter and Instagram.
You can find Michael Rivera on Twitter and Instagram as well.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
On this episode, we have Bill Auchter (Archaeothoughts; ArchaeoRPG) to talk about his career journey from bank teller to cultural resources manager, then from telecommunications archaeologist to archaeogamer.
What is the history of Maryland, where Bill is based? How was he inspired by the Smithsonian museums closeby in Washington, D.C.? Why did Bill pivot from working in banking to undertaking an undergraduate course in archaeology, and what strengths did working in banking give him during his studies? What is involved in the day-to-day work of cultural resource management (CRM), and what are some of Bill's favorite memories of working in CRM?
Why did Bill stop working in commercial archaeology fieldwork recently and what projects in virtual archaeology has been up to most recently? What is archaeogaming, and how can children, students and adults learn archaeology through the world of computer games, board games and massive multiplayer online roleplaying games? What themes or topics are archaeologists exploring in games currently?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
If you have feedback or questions for Bill, you can get in contact with him on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
In this episode, Dr. Anna Ploszajski ('rial Talk; Handmade) is on the show to talk about her recent work so far in materials science, academia, science podcasting, science comedy and popular science book writing.
What do materials scientists research, and what can we understand about different materials' properties by looking at their atomic structures? In human history, how have certain materials like iron and steel become such important materials for humans to manipulate and innovate with? What are smart materials (or intelligent or responsive materials) and how do are these materials designed to respond in a controlled fashion to external influences?
In addition, how has Anna used multiple forms of outreach and media to share materials science with wider audiences? What was the main inspiration behind starting a podcast focused around materails, 'rial Talk? What can interested listeners look forward to in Anna's first popular science book, Handmade, coming out soon? What is Anna's best advice for any scientists/science communicators who might want to try science comedy?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
If you have feedback or questions for Anna, you can find her on Twitter and read more about her communication and scientific work on her website.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
Today, Jianne Soriano (Youth4IG, Cinema Escapist, Hong Konger Project) is on the show to talk all about her work so far on youth and internet governance, as well as promoting ethnic minority rights and stories in Hong Kong.
A journalism graduate of Hong Kong's Baptist University, Jianne now writes, collaborates and creates online content for the causes she cares about: internet governance, empowerment for young people in advocacy and society, and awareness of the ethnic minority experience in Hong Kong.
First, why are youth an important group to include in discussions surrounding issues such as data privacy or social media use? What do cross-cultural perspectives contribute to conversations about topics like internet connectivity or online engagement by and between young people in different national and regional contexts? How do Jianne and her peers submit comments on how working groups and stakeholders may better tackle internet governance in policy-making processes, and what are the main challenges in doing this work?
You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website.
If you want to get in touch with Jianne, you can find her on Twitter.
Youth4IG is a grassroots community working in Asia-Pacific and collaborating on internet governance issues, and enhancing youth awareness and community engagement through mentorship program activities.
You can also check out Hong Konger Project, where Jianne will be sharing different Hongkonger stories and experiences. For Jianne's reviews of Asian cinema and TV, check out her work at Cinema Escapist.
You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.
The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.
If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.
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