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    Talking Culture

    Talking Culture is about what it means to be human and all the paths anthropology takes to explore that question. The deep conversations and stories layered with field recordings and found sound approach a broad range of anthropological topics. Produced with support from CKUT and the McGill University Anthropology department.
    en-us49 Episodes

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    Episodes (49)

    Queering Anthropology

    Queering Anthropology

    In this episode, Daniel interviews Marielle Aithamon, a PhD student from Université de Montréal. They discuss what would it mean to queer anthropology, from creating research questions, to the field, and the classroom.

    You can read more of her exciting work by looking at her article: "Silence: A predicament for feminist anthropology and social innovation" (Feminist Anthropology, 3: 373-380. https://doi.org/10.1002/fea2.12096).

    Talking Culture
    en-usNovember 29, 2022

    Entwined Practices

    Entwined Practices

    In the opening episode of season three, Alejandra introduces the season's theme "practice" with a refection on her own fieldwork experience, and the ways in which she saw her own practices mirrored in those of her participants.

    Works Cited:

    Asad, Talal, ed. 1973. Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press.

    Castaing-Taylor, Lucian and Ilisa Barbash, directors. 2009. Sweetgrass. Cinema Guild.

    Clifford, James, and George E. Marcus. 1986. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
    Flaherty, Robert, director. 1922. Nanook of the North. Pathé Exchange.

    Haraway, Donna. 1984. “Teddy Bear Patriarchy: Taxidermy in the Garden of Eden.” Social Text 11: 20-64.

    Itano, Nicole, and Paul Harvey. 2020. “Our Planet: Our Impact.” WWF Report. https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-09/wwfuk_our%20planet%20impact%20report_final.pdf.

    MacDougall, David, and Judith MacDougall, directors. 1982. A Wife Among Wives. Berkeley Media. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/a-wife-among-wives.

    MacDougall, David. 2005. The Corporeal Image: Film, Ethnography, and the Senses. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Mead, Margaret, and Gregory Bateson. 1951. “Trance and Dance in Bali.” Video. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Accessed October 18, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs02425201/.

    Mead, Margaret, and Gregory Bateson. 1977. “Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson the Use of the Camera in Anthropology” Studies on the Anthropology of Visual Communication 4(2): 78-80.



    Season Two Wrap Up

    Season Two Wrap Up

    In this episode Alejandra, Daniel, and Meghan discuss our favourite episodes from the season and lessons learned. Plus we announce the our theme for season 3 which will be Practice.

    Keep an eye on our social media for an official season announcement and episode pitch callout this summer. We can't wait to work with you to bring your ideas to Talking Culture!


    The Charon Job

    The Charon Job

    In this episode Alejandra explores the possible in anthropology through an original piece of speculative fiction entitled The Charon Job

    Lila is three years post-PhD and struggling to find her place in the academic job market when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself. I mean, what university will turn down the anthropologist who went to space. 

    Music and sounds in this episode are used courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com. Detailed music accreditation can be found at https://www.talkingculture.ca/sources.

    Surfaces for the Possible

    Surfaces for the Possible

    In this episode,  Khando Langri discusses what she conceives of as "surfaces for the possible;" surfaces which help exiled Tibetans navigate what Edward Said describes as the pathos of exile. Focusing on the roads built by Tibetan refugees in the 1960s, she posits that in enacting everyday acts of beauty - planting flowers in repurposed oil cans, work songs sung against a backdrop of rock breaking - refugees recast foreign landscapes into collective spaces of survival and transformation.


    In the News: March 2022

    In the News: March 2022

    This week, it comes as no surprise that Alejandra and Daniel discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They come at it from two different angles. While Daniel looks at the way Russian media is portraying the situation, Alejandra compares 'Western' responses to the invasion to responses to other invasions and occupations.

    Articles and sources cited in this episode:

    https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/6/what-the-war-in-ukraine-thought-us-palestinians

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yucxuoa3xm4  

    Russia: Putin cracks down on media over Ukraine war- Channel 4 News 

    https://youtu.be/M6ZbeBTGaGM  

    Two Days of Russian News Coverage: An Alternate Reality of War- New York Times 

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/world/europe/russia-ukraine-media.html 

    What Russian’s Think of Putin’s War- Today, Explained 

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/35ZVgcIqx0N1Xhv0A4aYIs?si=22f26f13189641c0 

    Russia’s Media Crackdown: “The Future is Pretty Dark” -The Journal 

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/4q24an2uRKLtwiA3O9nXQ7?si=aa80ae2860fb4d9a 


    A Heart-Centered Practice

    A Heart-Centered Practice

    This week Meghan talks to Dr. Kisha Supernant and Dr. Natasha Lyons about a heart-centered practice of archaeology and the book they co-edited Archaeologies of the Heart. They examine the ways in which we can make room for care, emotion, and relationality alongside rigour in our work and how the seemingly simple idea of beginning from the heart can radically change the way we practice archaeology.

    Dr. Kisha Supernant is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta. You can find Dr. Supernant on twitter @archaeomapper and if you’d like to learn more about the work of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology you can find them on social media @uofa_ipia as well as through their website: www.ualberta.ca/prairie-indigenous-archaeology

    Dr. Natasha Lyons is an archaeobotanist and co-owner of Ursus Heritage Consulting as well as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. To learn more about Dr. Lyons’ work you can check out the Ursus Heritage website: www.ursus-heritage.ca

    The Sapphic Date Generator

    The Sapphic Date Generator

    An episode filled with loads of play, laughs, and sapphic yearning, Alejandra and contributor Rhian Lewis discuss Rhian's creation "the Sapphic Date Generator" and how  it explores the possibilities of lesbian love that moves beyond cisheteronormative scripts. 

    Special thanks to Kit Mitchell, Diana Nguyen, Kate Bundy, Sarah Wishloff, Daisy Couture, and Angie Sassi for their participation in this episode. 

    Check out the Sapphic Date Generator: https://www.galpals.xyz/ 

    Works Cited: 

    Luiselli, Valeria. Smashing Snow Globes: A Writer On Essays, Novels And Translation. 
    https://www.npr.org/2014/12/21/371261474/smashing-snowglobes-a-writer-on-essays-novels-and-translation

    Gainza, Carolina: Código, Lenguaje y Estéticas en la Literatura Digital Chilena
    https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/full/10.25025/perifrasis201910.20.06

    Season 2 UPDATE

    Season 2 UPDATE

    Talking Culture is taking a short break, but don't worry we'll be back soon!

    Look for a new In the News on Thursday, January 6th and a new full episode on Thursday January 20th. And in the meantime, come follow us on twitter @talkculturepod and instagram @talkculturepodcast. 

    Theme music for Talking Culture is by Justin Cober, cover art by Sophia Melian. Additional sounds in this episode were used under a CC 0 1.0 license. 




    In the News: November 2021

    In the News: November 2021

    Alejandra and Meghan discuss the SB8 abortion ban in Texas and its implications for other legal rights in the United States as well as the COP26 climate action meetings taking place in Scotland.

    Episode sources: https://www.talkingculture.ca/sources

    Show your support for abortion access in Texas by donating to:
    The Lilith Fund   https://www.lilithfund.org/donate
    or at www.payforabortions.com

    Possibility and Climate Change

    Possibility and Climate Change

    Alejandra, Daniel, and Meghan host their colleague and friend Adam Fleischmann, an anthropologist, writer, teacher, and currently a PhD candidate at McGill University.  In this episode, Adam explores the idea of possibility by sharing anecdotes from his research and a thoughtful reflection on how we might consider what is possible in the face of a problem like the climate crisis that can often seem insurmountable.

    Episode sources: https://www.talkingculture.ca/sources

    Music attribution:
    Lee Rosevere (CC BY 3.0), https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-podcasts-the-complete-collection

    • Making Connections
    • The Past
    • We Don't Know How it Ends
    • What Happened in the Past Doesn't Stay There

    Angelo Guido (CC BY-NC 3.0), https://secretpress.bandcamp.com/album/heimat

    • Conca