The Familiar Strange

This week Carolyn sits down with Jason De León, anthropologist, photographer and author. He is currently the director of the Undocumented Migration Project (UMP) and his research interests revolve around violence, materiality, Latin American migration, photoethnography, forensic science, and archaeology of the contemporary.

Throughout this conversation, Carolyn asks questions around photography, doing ethnography and photography together and how cameras can be used in ethnographic settings.

Jason then discusses his work “The Land of Open Graves Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail” and the various processes and decisions he made in collaboration with his co-creator, Michael Wells. It was an enlightening and very honest conversation about what goes into doing photography for fieldwork and we hope you enjoy!

head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!

This week the strangers are joined by Kathryn Allan! Kathryn is currently completing her PhD at the school of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on stateless persons, refugees, and asylum seekers. She is also regional president of Amnesty international of NSW and ACT. Welcome Kathryn!

In this episode, Kathryn kicks us off by asking the Strangers about activism and anthropology. She poses questions around the issues that arise from the interplay between being an advocate and activist and being an anthropologist. Kathryn, asks questions around representation and amplification of the voices that matter and what we as anthropologists can do to participate in activism in a way that does minimal harm. What do you think? Is there a place for activism in anthropology?

Next, Joe discusses the COP26 Conference held in Glasgow recently. He asks questions about activism and specifically addresses the foreign minister of Tuvalu’s address to the summit. Joe breaks down how it is that people become “humanitarian victims” which leads to discussions around refugees and worthiness. What do you think? How do you think people should respond to crises such as climate change or asylum seeking?

Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!

Matt’s back this week with an interview with one of the original Familiar Strangers Dr Ian Pollock.

Ian discusses the origins of the Familiar Strange, why it started and whether it helped or hindered his PhD. Matt discusses his involvement in the early days of TFS and what it contributed to his education as a communicator. Ian and Matt then discuss the future of public anthropology and how we can best engage with anthropological knowledge and thought.

This month we dive into the recent political scandals in Australian politics. Familiar Stranger Alex gives us a brief overview of the current scandal involving former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. He asks the strangers to consider what the relationship is between the states and their respective constituents. What do you think? Is pork barreling that big of a deal?

Next Matt shares a funny interaction that he had recently and reflects on how social distancing and lockdown measures have changed his social interactions with the people around him. He asks the Strangers if they’ve had any changes in their social interactions and the answers are quite enlightening. What do you think? Has social distancing changed how you interact with the wider world?

Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations.

For this episode, Joe sits down with Susanna Trnka from the Anthropology department at the University of Auckland. Susanna is an associate professor in the anthropology department at the University of Auckland. Susanna received her PhD from Princeton before moving to Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2003. Her research has been undertaken in Fiji, the Czech Republic, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Susanna is the author of three books: ‘State of Suffering: Political Violence and Community Survival in Fiji’, ‘One Blue Child: Asthma, Responsibility and the Politics of Global Health,’ and her 2020 book ‘Traversing: Embodied Lifeworlds in the Czech Republic.’ She is the co-author of ‘Young Women of Prague’ with Alena Heltlinger and has edited five other books. Her many articles and chapters cover topics such as embodiment, state-citizen relations, subjectivity, responsibility, states of emergencies, Covid-19 responses, and the politics of medicine.

Joe begins by discussing Susanna’s upcoming role as editor-in-chief of American Ethnologist and her plans for the journal. They then talk about Susanna’s book ‘Traversing’ and how anthropologists might think about the idea of lifeworlds and conclude with a discussion regarding Susanna’s work on the current pandemic in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Head over to our Website for a full list of links and citations!

This week we’re diving into the world of Reborn dolls and celebrating Social Sciences week!

Familiar Stranger Carolyn kicks us off by giving us an introduction into the world of reborn dolls, or dolls that have been “reborn” to mimic human babies. The familiar strangers ask about the uncanny valley, the various uses for treatment and where the judgement of these reborn dolls comes from. What do you think? Are these dolls a bit too life-like? Or just another hobby?

Familiar Stranger Alex then turns the discussion to the purpose of anthropology in honour of social sciences week. The Strangers discuss their personal experiences with reciprocity and what the “true” value of social sciences are. What do you think? Do we still need anthropology? Are we a social science?

Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!

This week is familiar stranger Jarrod’s first interview!

For this episode, Jarrod sits down with Dr Nicholas Ng, from the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture, and Institute for Culture and Society (Western Sydney University).

Jarrod and Nicholas start by defining the term of ethnomusicology and where it sits in relation to anthropological practises of the past. They then explore Nicholas’s musical journey and how he ends up in a community centre filled with old men in Western Sydney.

Also, tune in this week for a special musical break!

Head over to our website for a full list of links and citations!

This week we’d like to introduce you to our newest Familiar Stranger, Ruonan Chen! Ruonan is currently doing her fieldwork around hospitals and healing practises in the Tibet autonomous region. In this episode, the strangers dive into Ruonan’s work and learn more about how “healing” can take on many different forms. Ruonan describes her work and details a run in with a particularly insightful fortune teller.

Next, familiar stranger Joe brings up the topic of shopping malls, and how certain elements are signifiers of class and social status. Alex regales us with tales of being a listless teenager heading to “Chaddy” and Carolyn describes the in-depth instagram stalking she has been doing on various shopping centres around Melbourne.

Just a note on sound quality: We are still conducting our panels over Zoom so the internet and audio quality might not be as clear in some places. The podcast editing team is working on a solution!

Head to our website for a full list of links and citations mentioned in this weeks episode!

Before we dive into today’s episode we’d just like to add a content warning for this episode for mentions of slavery and sexual assault

This week, we’re bringing you an extra special interview/panel.

Familiar stranger Alex Zoomed in with Dr Caroline Schuster, Dr Sarah Abel and Dr Catherine Frieman to take a deeper dive into the dark side of genetic testing and what it means for people today that are trying to interact with the past.

With research interests around race, genetic testing and ancient communities, it was a great conversation which “unearthed” some interesting resonances between our panel members. The panelists ask questions like “Who or what decides how you are in society?” and “What kind of power does data have?” What do you think? Reach out and let us know on our socials!

Head over to our website for a full list of books and papers mentioned in today's episode

And we’re back!

This week we’d like to introduce our newest Familiar Stranger, Joe Clifford. Joe has just completed his Masters in Development Studies from the University of Auckland!

To kick off his first panel, Joe discusses his research into the concept of Gotong Royong or mutual assistance in Indonesia. The rest of the Strangers weigh in on the place of these mutual assistance programs and how “mutual” is “mutual assistance”? How much responsibility do you think individuals should have? How much responsibility should the government take when it comes to mutual assistance?

Clair then raises the topic of the “value” of the Olympics and what it means to the host nation. The Strangers compare the Olympics of the past and how things have changed over time, especially regarding sponsorship and national pride. What do you think about the Olympics? Will you be watching?

Our Facebook page and Facebook group are back up and running so don’t forget to head over to our Facebook group The Familiar Strange Chats. Let’s keep talking strange, together!

If you like what we do and are in a position to do so, you can help us to keep making content by supporting us through Patreon.

Our Patreon can be found at www.patreon.com/thefamiliarstrange

This anthropology podcast is supported by the Australian Anthropological Society, the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and is produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association.

Music by Pete Dabro: dabro1.bandcamp.com

Shownotes by Matthew Phung

Podcast edited by Simon Theobald and Matthew Phung